Welcome Tara Lain!

Hello and welcome everyone! Please help me in welcoming my very first guest blogger ever: the sickeningly fierce Tara Lain! The two of us are release day buddies at Etopia Press and I am ecstatic to have her here! So, without further ado...take it away Tara!

Hi everyone. I'm delighted to be here at Brien's place. And I need to mention right off that he is currently hanging out on my blog so be sure and visit him there http://taralain.blogspot.com . He is giving away a copy of his new book, Last Friday Night . But don't go yet! Because if you leave a comment here, you have a chance to win a copy of my new book, Fire Balls, or a $10. Amazon GC.
My name is Tara Lain. Brien and I both have new releases today from Etopia Press. Brien and I both write gay romances. I am a het female and he is a gay male -- uh, I'm making that assumption from his delicious choice of decorative material on his blog. There's no doubt that Brien knows what readers want in MM romance. And me? Well, you see the average reader of MM romances is a heterosexual female between 30 and 60. So I guess we have to admit we both know our audience even if from a different angle.
I got interested in writing gay romance after reading some terrific books -- most of them written by women. As with a lot of people, I was surprised that women both wrote and read a majority of gay romance fiction but I loved it. From book one, I was hooked. Gay romance takes away any of the sexual roles and traditional stereotyping that accompany a lot of traditional romance. For someone who likes to play with gender roles and turn stereotypes on their head, gay romance is a perfect place to do it. Like in my new book, Fire Balls. My two heroes are a hunky firefighter and a tiny, flamboyant artist. You read the description and think the story will have a certain interaction but, in fact, the artist is the dominant lover.
Would you like a chance to win a copy of Fire Balls? Read the excerpt and decide. If yes, enter my contest. I'm having a drawing this coming Friday. Leave a comment here with your email and you'll be entered in that drawing. Go over to my Contest Blog http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com and leave another comment with your email and you will be entered Again. And there are more chances to Win. Go to my Web Site http://www.taralain.com and look under events. It's all there.  First leave your comment here.  Don't forget the email. And thank you again to Brien and to you for coming to say hi!
:  )

Excerpt:

Rodney Mansfield is tiny, flamboyant and, oh yeah, a black belt in karate. He is also one of southern California's greatest artists. Too bad the work of art he really wants is firefighter, Hunter Fallon. But the gorgeous “straight gay” guy could never want the Runtback of Notre Dame, so when Rodney's handsome, surfer friend, Jerry, develops an unexpected passion for the beautiful firefighter, Rodney breaks his own heart by helping Jerry land his man. And then Rod makes it worse by embarrassing Hunter when he protects him from a firehouse bully. Hunter hates gay guys like Rodney - doesn't he? Then why can't he get the powerful pipsqueak's face out of his mind… and cock out of his ass? And why does he risk his job and his life to rescue Rod from a burning building? Isn't it time for him to admit he's not an alpha male after all and that he is the property of the artist?

   
  Rodney glanced over to see how his model was doing. Total heart stop and brain malfunction. Perfect. Every line and curve. Every angle. Hunter's body was so lean that each muscle stood out against his tan skin like a piece of sculpture. The pose twisted his torso just enough to make his narrow waist seem even slimmer against the breadth of his shoulders and his hard, curved pecs. His legs were long and looked carved from marble. Even his feet were perfect. Oh God. Rod wanted to suck each toe in homage.
      And in the middle of all this art, surrounded by light tan skin and at the end of a happy trail of silken dark hair, was a magnificent cock lying relaxed against Hunter's right leg. He was a low hanger, a real shower. Long and graceful, framed by loose balls and a soft pubic nest, this was a penis of the gods. Rodney wanted to paint it all alone in every possible posture. Yeah, preferably erect. Shit, he had to quit staring, or at least pretend the staring was professional and not prurient. Sure, right.
      Hunter's cock might be relaxed but the rest of his body was vibrating with tension. Rodney tried not to think how much he would like that to be reversed. Had to put the guy at ease before he had a coronary.
      He grabbed his camera from the worktable and started snapping. “Looks great, Hunter. Perfect. Just relax as much as you can while I snap some photos. I'll use these to work on the painting when you're not here. I can use the shots to get general massing and proportion but I like to have the model live to put in texture and shadow. Nothing beats life for that kind of detail.” He was babbling but he hoped it would help the guy relax.
      The beautiful body seemed to melt into the daybed, his arm over his eyes relaxed, and his fingers opened. Rod drew closer to capture a close-up of that graceful, powerful hand, then hurried back to the table and grabbed the sketch pad, leaving the camera behind. God, those long fingers. He stared at the calluses that seemed in conflict with the dance-like beauty of the relaxed hand. Scribbling, he committed the pose to paper before shifting his attention. A fast interpretation of Hunter's carved mouth, the top lip intriguingly fuller than the bottom, giving the architectural symmetry of his face an unexpected pout. A quick swirl to capture his cleft chin, then a loving sketch of the gorgeous collarbone that defined the hard, muscular shoulder.
      Down and down. Rodney hummed. Hunter seemed unconcerned, his breath having slowed. Maybe he needed a good nap. Man, look at those abs. That was a twelve-pack, baby. Down the happy trail and…he stopped sketching in awe. What a cock. Had to capture it. His fingers flew over the paper as he quietly chuckled. Yeah, he'd like to capture it. In his hands or mouth. He did study after study glancing up to be sure Hunter wasn't watching Rod fixate on that dick.
      OK, enough. “Hunter, move if you need to,” Rod murmured.
      “Huh?” The arm came off his eyes, and he raised his head. “Oh man, I think I was nearly asleep.”
      “Sorry to wake you. Go ahead and sleep and I'll just draw.”
      He sat up. “No. I better stretch or I'll get really stiff. Sorry. I just got off a double shift. Didn't realize I was so tired.”
      Rod pointed to a clothes tree beside the platform. “Need a bathrobe?”
      Hunter gave a shy grin. A-fucking-dorable. “Nah, I guess not. We're both guys.”
      Rodney struck a pose with hand on hip. “But since we're both gay guys the implications are slightly different, wouldn't you say?”
      Hunter shook his head. “No fishing in another guy's pond.”
      Rod's heart tripped. “You mean you and Jerry?”
      “No, I mean Bill. He seems like a great guy.”
      Rod smiled. “He is, but we're just friends.”
      Hunter sat on the edge of the daybed, that gorgeous cock hanging down between his legs. Distracting much? Rod busied himself blocking out the figure on the huge canvas.
      “I thought you two were on a date.”
      “Yeah. Our first and last. Dutch from now on. We realized we make better pals than lovers.”
      “Oh, sorry.”
      Rod looked up. “Nothing to be sorry about. Not everyone fits.”
      “But wouldn't you have liked it to work?”
      He stopped drawing. Would he? “I kind of have a thing for someone else. Unrequited. But it makes getting into a relationship harder.” He spoke the truth.
      “You need to find someone who appreciates you. A talent like you doesn't come along every day.”
      “Yeah, well, maybe.” A small crack opened in his heart.
      “Shall I lie back down?”
      “Need the bathroom or anything?”
      “No, I'm good.” Hunter lay down.
      Rod looked away. Shit. He would not cry. Deep breath. He returned to the canvas and tried for a rakish smile. “Besides, I imagine Bill's a top. We would have killed each other. He'd push me down and I'd fight and grab him. It would have been ugly. Blood all over, both of us trying to dominate.”
      Silence. Deafening silence. Rod glanced up. Hunter lay in the prescribed position, arm over eyes. But his formerly relaxed cock had risen to half-mast. What had gotten him going? Bill? Being a top? Killing each other. Hmm.
      Let's find out. “I'd try to stick my cock in his ass, and he'd be trying to grab me and hold me down. What a battle.”
      Sure enough, the slow rise continued. Rod edged closer. Crap, the fireman wasn't just a shower. Look at that gorgeous thing. Closer. What would happen if he touched? He wanted to touch so badly. His hand rose as he took another step.

Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn't love - at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara only fell in love with EROM in 2009 and, through perseverance and lots of workshops, had the first novel she ever wrote published in January of 2011. Then she capped off the year by being voted Best Author of 2011 in the LRC Awards and had her Genetic Attraction Series named runner-up for Best Series of 2011! A very good year. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga “way before it was fashionable”. Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas, she says on her tombstone it will read, “Yes”.


E-mail:                   tara@taralain.com
Website:              http://www.taralain.com
Author blog:       http://taralain.blogspot.com
Book blog:           http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com
Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain
Savvy Authors:  http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/member.php?2398-Tara-Lain
Twitter:               http://twitter.com/taralain
Facebook:           http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Lain/100001514105686
FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Lain/205042046209804


Thanks again for dropping by, Tara! It was a blast having you! And everyone don't forget to check me out over on her blog.