Meet Kyle and Evan

I'm thrilled to announce the release of my third novel-length e-book, Take Me Home.

Take Me Home is the story of Kyle and Evan, two friends who've known each other for over 10 years and who are both at a turning point in their writing careers. Every December they take a holiday trip from California home to Ohio. This year's trip is quite different, though. For starters, Kyle has a journal from his grandfather that someone desperately wants to get their hands on, and it seems a cross-country train trip won’t stop them from coming after it.

That’s not all that’s distracting Kyle and Evan from their writing. This is the first time they’re making the trip alone since their initial drive out to California. Evan’s former boyfriend isn’t going with them, and now they are ready to finally face what they mean to each other. Or are they?

Thank you to my lovely editor, Antonia, and everyone at Loose Id for helping this story find its way.

Inspiration Pics for Kyle and Evan

Kyle

Evan

 

 

Blurb for TAKE ME HOME

Aspiring television writer Evan Walker has been in love with his best friend since high school, but Kyle doesn’t do boyfriends. Never has. Never will. Evan knows it’s a bad idea to give in to desire when he wants more than a friend with benefits. He has a new dream job. Now all he needs is the dream partner.

Kyle Bennett is a mystery novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. He needs a change. He has three days on their cross-country train trip home for the holidays to figure out how to tell Evan he’s staying there for good. He also has to write the overdue pages for his editor. Only, he’s a little too distracted by the close quarters in their sleeper compartment—and Evan’s ass—to get much done.

The sparks that fly between them are hotter than ever. Good thing they have a real-life mystery to focus on: why people all around them, including Evan’s new boss, want to get their hands on a journal that once belonged to Kyle’s grandfather.

When a blizzard traps them in the mountains, Kyle and Evan steam up the train’s windows and must finally face their true desires.


Excerpt from TAKE ME HOME

Evan shivered. Which made no sense. He was still warm from the run, the sweat on his skin not even dry yet.

Kyle took another step. Evan wanted him to stop. He wanted to shout all the reasons why this had to stop, before it got started, wanted to tell Kyle not to move another inch.

He didn’t.

And Kyle didn’t stop coming at him until they were practically touching, Kyle staring down at him.

Evan tried to focus on Kyle’s words, on the news about the journal and his grandpa, but all he could think about was what he’d seen when he’d walked into the apartment: Kyle, all skin and taught muscles, wearing only his tight-as-sin white underwear, the briefs stretched over his cock, and the way Kyle had looked at him in the dim light of the hallway.

Just once. He’s leaving anyway. Evan closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate on the conversation. He looked up at Kyle again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Kyle said the word with a slight curve of his lips. He took a step back and reclined against the wall, looking casual, like he was about to flirt with a bartender for a free drink. “After I read it, I was thinking about that night in the motel room in Iowa on our first drive out here.” He slowly swung his head in Evan’s direction. “Do you remember that night?”

Evan nodded.

“Do you ever think about it?” Kyle’s voice was barely a whisper.

Up until a few months ago, Evan hadn’t let himself, but since he’d moved in with Kyle… “Sometimes.”

“Like right now?”

“Yeah.”

Kyle slid along the wall, traveling the last remnants of space between them. “Ev, I’ve been waiting ten years to finish what we started.” He pushed off the wall and turned until they were face-to-face again, his dark eyes unflinching as he leaned in. He stopped before their lips touched. The heat of that mouth and body so close stoked the fire inside Evan.

His own body reacted, his cock pushing at his shorts. He wanted to shove Kyle against the wall and kiss him until morning, do everything he’d ever dreamed of when it came to touching Kyle, everything he ached to feel about the man.

The smile Kyle gave him next wasn’t the usual cocky one he’d used with countless guys over the years. He pressed forward and slid his lips along Evan’s skin from the base of his neck to his earlobe, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. He lingered over Evan’s ear and whispered, “You smell so damn good. I want to fuck you, Ev.”

Evan shivered again. “We shouldn’t…” He couldn’t say more. Didn’t want to. The time for talking was over. Kyle ran the tip of his tongue along the outside of Evan’s ear, and Evan instinctively moved closer. His breath hitched with the touch of Kyle’s bare abs against him. Why had he worn a T-shirt to go running?

Using only the weight of his body, Kyle turned them until Evan’s back was against the hall wall, then flattened his palms to the wall on either side of Evan’s head. He licked his lips and spread his legs until their bodies lined up groin to groin, then rolled his hips, putting pressure against Evan’s cock. “God, Ev…”

With that movement, those two words, Evan groaned and let his head fall back to the wall. He couldn’t stop himself. He rocked his hips in time with Kyle’s. The feel of Kyle’s body, his hard cock against him, drove his own arousal higher.

Kyle spoke again, his voice even lower. “It could be so fucking good.”

Evan lost track of the arguments he’d been telling himself since he’d left the apartment earlier. He raised his head, and their lips met, the softest brush of flesh until Kyle opened his mouth, seized Evan by the back of the head, and slid his tongue into the touch. The kiss deepened, and Evan thought he’d never be able to stop feeling Kyle’s mouth on his, their tongues pressed together.


Take Me Home is available now at Loose Id.

Thanks to all my readers for their support!

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com

Author Interview: Josh Lanyon

Author Name: Josh Lanyon

Year started writing for LI: Spring 2006

Titles: The Dark Horse, The Adrien English Mysteries, The Hell You Say, Partners in Crime, Dangerous Ground

Web Page: http://www.joshlanyon.com

What genre do you write in, and why? : I’m strictly GLBT or M/M romantic-suspense or mystery-romance. I write GLBT for a number of reasons – yep, it’s a deliberate choice (I could be – and have been -- more commercially successful by writing mysteries with straight or heterosexual protagonists) and, yes, I do have a political and social agenda. The key is to never push that agenda down a reader’s throat; to inform and educate and persuade by telling entertaining and moving stories of mystery and romance between men.

How much time do you spend writing every week? : I’m a full-time writer. Between writing and the business of writing, I put in about sixty to seventy hours a week. I’m a little obsessive, but that’s what happens when you’re self-employed. It helps that I love what I do – even when I’m cross-eyed and incoherent with exhaustion.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) : The first story I’m aware of writing was this thing about clouds in the third grade. I don’t remember the details (maybe I’ve blocked them out as too dreadful to remember), but I remember my teacher telling me that I would be a writer when I grew up.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
By my own physical response to what I write (as well as my response – or lack of response – to what others write). I know what turns me on, and I try to capture that for readers. Also, I pay attention to what my core readership has to say. But the thing is, I’m probably more frugal with my sex scenes than the typical Loose Id writer. I’m a believer in the Less is More theory. Fewer scenes but greater emotional impact.

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Jeez. What are you ladies writing that you can’t picture it in your minds? Ah, I get it. It’s just an excuse to have more sex with your partners: that’s a GREAT idea!

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Well, no. What kind of men are you sleeping with? Oh, you mean for your writing? No.

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Uh…vintage?

Favourite candy while writing? :
Sees. Dark chocolates – assorted nuts and creams.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
Here’s my little trick. I don’t write unusual plots – although my stories are plot-intensive. I write tried and true basic mystery and romantic-suspense. I depend on my characters and my “voice” to make my stories unique and memorable. So, actually, the more corny and time-worn the plot, the more fun it is to me. Granted, not every reader and reviewer gets the joke, but most do, and I have to amuse myself too when I write. I like the challenge of taking something old and making it new again.

What inspires you to write? : Good writing, bad writing, music, movies, rain… You know, I write all the time so it’s hard to say what my trigger is. Opening my eyes in the morning?

What music inspires your writing? : I’m very eclectic in my musical taste. I think dark minor and harmonic chords evoke an emotional response from me – and that makes me want to write.

Plotter or a Panster? : Depends on the length of the work. For novellas, no outline necessary. For novel-length work, I outline, although the outline changes as I go. That’s because writing is an organic process. And of course I sell off of proposals, which means you need an outline and/or synopsis.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? : Interesting question. I think it was – maybe still is – a little difficult to go from being known as a mystery writer to being known as an erotic-mystery writer. For some reason adding sex into your stories puts you in a different category for many readers, reviewers, publishers. It weakens your credibility as a story-teller. That shouldn’t be true, but it is.

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
The dentist’s office

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
It depends. Actually, I talk a lot about this and other writing quandaries in MAN, OH MAN: Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks and Ca$h. It’s a writing book aimed specifically at women (and men) targeting the M/M and GLBT market. The book is due out at the end of February through MLR Press.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past? Of course!

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
An Irish music festival

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
Oatmeal. You had to be there.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Mysteries.

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Yes.

Sex with anyone famous? :
Myself?