Yaoi and Me

I'm the new kid on the block when it comes to reading Yaoi. I can't really recall what made me start reading it a second time. The first time I read yaoi was about a year and a half ago, and my attempt was not successful. As a matter of fact I purchased the manga and was so disappointed I contemplated heading back to the bookstore to get my money back. (A thing I have never done before, and didn't end up doing then). So the yaoi manga got tucked in amongst Stephen King's and Laurell K Hamiliton's collections. I dusted off my hands and called it a bust. Yaoi manga wasn't for me. The manga I had chosen was so sweet it gave me a headache and the sex did not deliver. IMHO. I'm all ruined from writing erotica, so I like my stuff explicit.




Anyway, only about three weeks ago I decided to try it again. I can't recall what made me start reading. I just know I ran across this fantastic site with a promising storyline and I started reading my eyes out. Scantalations made it possible for me to devour yaoi to my hearts content. I made sure to purchase some of my favorite reads if they were available on Amazon because I feel it's important to support your favorite artists.

I've learned quite a lot about Japanese culture while reading yaoi manga. Terms like bishie, uke, seme; distinguishing honorifics for your elders, superiors, strangers, and family members. I've picked up a few Japanese words along the way, and thanks to the way mangas are drawn I've developed the habit of reading from left to right, even when I'm not reading manga.

Now, if you have never read yaoi or adult manga(non-yaoi manga), period, you should know two things straight off the bat. You have to be able to get past the fact that some of these ukes and semes will not be 18yrs or older, and even those who are professed twenty-somethings still sometimes look like kids. It is the nature of the genre.I believe that you are not considered an adult in Japan until you are twenty, so even if the main characters are eighteen, technically, in Japan, they are still teenagers.

Secondly, if the idea of noncon and dubious consent squicks you out than yaoi probably is not for you. Now, that is not to say yaoi readers support noncon and dc, but we have the ability to see it as the fiction (in some people's case, the fantasy) that it is. It helps that these are drawings and not real folks.

Well, if you can accept those two (society taboos) then I think you can get down to the business of enjoying yaoi, like I did.


Fair warning: It is highly addictive, and may be the cause of a delinquent muse. :p

Favorites of November 2009

Books
Yaoi Time:
1. Heart Strings by Akira Norikazu (manga)
2. Under Grand Hotel by Sadahairo Mika (manga)
3. Sleeping With Money by Barbara Katagiri (yaoi novel)
4.Temptation Recipe by Narazaki Souta (manga)

Movies
1. Precious
2. Australia
3.From Dusk Til Dawn
4. Bride Wars

TV
1. Martin
2. Iron Man
3. Mystery Diagnosis
4. Snapped

Music
1.Dare You to Move performed by Switchfoot
2.Morning has Broken performed by Cat Stevens
3.Ava Maria performed by Pavarotti
4.Swing Low performed by Rocco Deluca and The Burden

Favorites of October 2009

Books
1. Going Deep by G.A. Hauser
2. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
3. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
4. Handyman by Claire Thompson (again)

TV
1.Snapped
2.Wildest Police Videos
3.Women of Broward County
4.I'm Alive

Movie
1.Lakeview Terrace
2.White Oleander
3.Pan's Labyrinth
4.From Dust Til Dawn



Music
1.Stuttering performed by Ben's Brother
2.Ricki Don't Lose That Number performed by Steely Dan
3.This is Halloween performed by Marilyn Manson
4.Lilac Wine performed by Jeff Buckley

The Little Engine That Couldn't

After a long hard debate, a miraculous effort on my part to be patient and understanding, I have come to the end of my rope and will be silent no longer about the train wreck that is Cacoethes Publishing.

First, let me say I have all the respect in the world for the bold upstarters of ebook companies. It takes a lot of courage, hard work, dedication, and insight into the publishing market and its readers. There are a lot of fly-by-night companies that have to close their door almost as soon as they open. Dreaming is nice, but you have to have a plan. Cacoethes was built on sandcastles and fluffy clouds. It was too hollow to hold up under the pressure and now the CEO won't even own up to the dream that turned into a nightmare.

I say it is a nightmare because what else could you call such unprofessional behavior? In the following list I will break down the things that have gone on in this company since signing my contract.

1. The first sign I naively ignored was bad editors. Back in 2007 they hired a woman who helped me edit my first book Torn. If anyone has ever read Torn they may find it an enjoyable read, but it is littered with grammar and continuity issues that should have been caught in the editing process. I even had to go back and have books pulled off the virtual shelves to have more editing done. What you are seeing is 'actually' vastly improved.

2. Firing and Hiring. The CEO, Denise Mosely, has gone through at least four personal assistants, who knows how many editors,two bookeepers(as far as I know) and even about three web masters.I have had a different editor--fresh off the hiring block--for all four of my releases with them.

3. Late issues. Cacoethes has never been on time with book releases, sales reports, or payments. As a matter of fact they owe me about four or five checks if not more right now. Cac has also been late in delivering orders on paperbacks for customers and authors who had book signings. I never would do a book signing as a author for them for this very reason.

4. Hidden Fees. Cacoethes released a notice to all their authors almost a year after they opened their doors to tell us about these new fees that would come out of our paychecks.(Our nonexistent paychecks)

5. Site upkeep. Take a look for yourself at the poorly organized site(The banner at the top is a St. Patrick's banner.They used it in March, but now they just turned it gray and white and posted it again.) There used to be author bios but I don't know what happened to them. There used to be a guest book but the customers and authors posted so many complaints on it that they had it removed.

6. Cac used to have a (virtual) magazine called Lotic back in 2007 and early 2008 but the magazine only had about four issues. I suspect it was too costly for them to keep up. I won't begrudge them the fact that the few issues they released were pretty nicely done, if as poorly edited as their books, but having a outdated magazine on their site about six months after its release did not make us look professional at all.

7. No customer service. I cannot tell you how many customers emailed me about not being able to get in touch with anyone when they did not receive their orders or they could not navigate the site well. I usually pointed them in the All Romance Ebooks direction--who also distribute my ebooks.

8. Inconsistency. At first Cac had a model for book prices according to their length which they NEVER stuck by. However, the prices have become more outrageous--jacked up by fifty cents to a dollar or lowered by the same degree. There is no ryhme or reason for what they are doing. They notify no one about their changes.


With all this said I ask that any readers of my books do not hand another dollar to this company. I cannot ask for other authors because I don't know if they are getting paid. I'M NOT GETTING PAID! Cacoethes has a sale going on for $2 right now on EVERY book, no matter how long or short. Folks are calling it a firesale and maybe it is, but I urge you to not pay them a single dime of your hardearned money. I do not begrudge you readers who have already purchased my books any of your enjoyment. I thank you for your support and appreciate every one of you. You can expect to see me under honest and reputable publishers from now on. I'm over at Total-E-Bound if you need to find me.

Me and Cac are through.

You can also find out more about how bad it is over a Cac on Writer's Beware.

Winners

The Winners of the Be Honest Contest are Jan S., Pia Veleno, and Nemine Gavran! Congratulations to all!

Be Honest Contest

Sage is taking an unofficial poll of what readers want to, well…read.
In order to be placed in the drawing for a free pdf copy of Broken, Sage asks that participants email her their top three favorite features in a story.
Examples of what she means are as follows:

~Gay for you storylines
~Best friends becoming more
~Shapeshifting/action stories
~Alpha hero coupled with a submissive hero
~Angst—obstacle-ridden stories

(Feel free to provide ideas not listed here. You are not restricted to my examples.)


NOTE: Please email all THREE answers in the body of your email to whistlercon at yahoo. com . That is whistlercon@yahoo.com.
Do not send answers to sagewhistler@gmail.com. All answers appearing in that inbox will not be entered into the drawing. Also, please do not send answers via Sage’s website contact page. Again, all answers sent in this way will not be entered into the drawing.

Winners will be announced (and personally contacted) September 15th. There will be a drawing of three.

Please, also include your first name or nickname and last initial in your email, as long as you agree to have it announced on the contest page in the event that you are one of the winners.

Contest deadline: 12:00pm September 15th Eastern,US time.

Excerpt From Broken

Coming September 14th to Total-E-Bound!

Warning: This story features intimacy between twins and gay sexual practices. It is not suitable for persons under 18 years of age, or those who might be easily offended.



Tristan was sitting at the bar shelling peanuts when Gabriel slipped onto the stool next to him.

“Howdy, pardner,” Gabriel rumbled in his ear, reaching over to snag Tristan’s beer. He took a sip. “Enjoying the night life?”

Obviously tipsy, Tristan giggled. “It’s past my bedtime.”

“You ready to go home?”

“Nope. Red head.” He held his hands out well past his chest. “Big boobs. Be back in th-thirty hours.”

Gabriel chuckled, pretty sure his brother was too damn drunk to know the difference between thirty minutes and thirty hours.

He tugged Tristan’s arm. “Come on. We’ll wait for her in my car.” And while they were at it, he’d get Tristan home and tucked into bed.

“’Kay.” Tristan waved sloppily at the bartender. “Bye, Keif.”

Keith smiled fondly and waved back. “Take care, Tristan.” He nodded at Gabriel. “Brogan driving?”

“Yeah.” He’d had only two and a half beers, but he wasn’t taking any chances, especially if he didn’t have to. Brogan was waiting outside with his jeep to take them both home. Luckily, the crowd in Orion knew to be on their best behaviour. Any confrontation with the members of Thrice Broken was an automatic ejection and revoking of club rights. He went pretty much unmolested in his own place.

Wrapping Tristan’s arm around his neck and his arm around his twin’s waist, Gabriel supported his brother’s weight as they moved through the crowd. Tristan wasn’t fall down drunk. In fact except for a stumble or two, he walked under his own power. It was just easier to get them both to the same destination at the same time. Or so Gabriel told himself as he traded the body-heated club air for the cool, fresh air outside.

Brogan didn’t get out to open the door. The fucker. Gabriel smiled to himself, not even bothering to ask. He knew what Brogan would say. “I’m not a fucking chauffeur, boss.” True. He’d fired D’angelo three months ago and had never gotten around to hiring a new one.

Gabriel got Tristan into the jeep with little trouble. It was when they were both seated that the problem arose. Either Tristan thought he was with the buxom red-head or he imagined Gabriel could be his pillow because he cuddled right up to his brother, squeezing his waist and burying his face in the side of Gabriel’s neck. Tristan huffed then sighed, settling down.

Gabriel’s heartbeat picked up an anxious rhythm. Tristan was too close for comfort and parts of him were starting to take notice.

Brogan glanced up at the rear-view mirror. “You okay, Gabe?”

“Huh? Yeah, fine,” Gabriel said, praying it was too dark in the interior for Brogan to see how ‘not fine’ he really was with Tristan curled around him. He debated whether to try and pry off Tristan and, finally, decided that at least removing his arm would be a good idea.

No sooner had he wrapped his hand around Tristan’s wrist than his brother became animated—well, at least, his lips did. “Red head. Big Boobs. She reminded me of Bekah. Hmm…bitch.”

Brogan snorted with laughter in the front seat.

Gabriel ignored him. Curious, he asked, “Who is Bekah?”

“Ex. She left me after I lost my beer.”

More laughter from Brogan.

Gabriel tried to slap Brogan in the back of the head, but his arm wouldn’t reach unless he shifted Tristan. Idiot.

“You mean money,” Gabriel corrected.

“Erm…no…mag-ma-ga-zeen. Playgirl. Lost it, and she found it.”

His heart skipped a beat in his chest. Inadvertently, his fingers dug into Tristan’s shoulder until his brother made a distressed sound. “Sorry. Listen to me, Tristan. Was it Playgirl or Playboy?” He asked the question as if his life depended on it. It probably did.

Tristan huffed against his neck. “Playgirl. No gays for Bekah.”

“Holy shit!” Brogan said from the front seat.

Holy shit was right.