Jeff Adams Writes

8Jan12 Get Writing in 2012!

The last half of 2011 got away from me. I did focus as much as I should on writing. This year, however, is going to be a year of better focus and more awareness of how I’m using my time. So far, after the first week, things are going well. Here are a couple quick bits of news:

1) Bicycle Built for Two became my best selling short story so far. The most exciting thing around that is that the royalties I’ve earned so far–just under $250–will go towards Braking the Cycle. Forty-two dollars went to the cause for the 2011 ride, and the rest of it is going into the 2012 ride. That account for the first two quarters the story was out. Later this month I’ll get a new royalty statement, which should include the third party sales, such as though Amazon. I’m looking forward to seeing how much more will go to the cause.

2) The Adventures of Jake #1,which appeared as part of Nerdvana in 2009, is going to become a stand-along e-book later this year. My new year opened with JMS Books contracting to publish the story. I’m excited to work with J.M. since I’m a big fan. Plus, it will be great to pump some new life into this story that I really like. More details on the release as I get them.

3) So far I’ve been focused on writing pretty well during this first week of the year. I’m determined to keep that going as I want to wrap up work on the Neutral Zone novel and get it out for consideration.

No Comments Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Adventures of Jake #1, Bicycle Built for Two

30Jun11 “Bicycle” on Amazon… Very Cool

Wow!

I don’t know what more to say than that. I was checking the web to see what bits of news about Bicycle Built for Two I might find. I’ve seen a couple reviews/rankings on Goodreads, which is always fun to see. But tonight I found the Google listing for the novella in Amazon’s Kindle Store.

The rankings the book had made me happy too (although I have no comparison to know if this is the expected ranking for a book in it’s second day out). As I write this, within the Kindle store it has got these standings:

#21 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Romance
#26 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
#44 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian

This makes me a happy author…and hopefully everyone who has purchased the book, and contributed to these rankings, are enjoying it!

Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Bicycle Built for Two

29Jun11 Release Day for “Bicycle Built for Two”

I won’t lie, it was exciting to see Bicycle Built for Two staring back at me from the homepage of Dreamspinner Press‘ website this morning.

I’m looking forward to seeing reader reaction to this story over the next few weeks and months. Hopefully they will fall in love with Jason and Ben in the same way that I did while writing it. I’m also hoping the story will put some good money into the coffers of Braking the Cycle. Not only are my royalties from the story going to the charity, but I hope that readers are inspired to donate as well…or even better, to get on their bike and do a charity ride.

Once you read the story, I hope you’ll come back here or visit the book’s page on Goodreads and let me know what you think.

Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Bicycle Built for Two, Dreamspinner Press

20Jun11 “Bicycle Built for Two” Debuts June 29

Six months ago the contract for Bicycle Built for Two was signed and now the novella is less than 10 days away from publishing from Dreamspinner Press.

Here’s the official blurb: “While on a three-day charity bike ride from Boston to New York City, Jason Karn makes an unexpected stop to help a fellow rider having trouble with a flat tire. Ben Stewart is new to long-distance rides, and Jason takes him under his wing. The mutual attraction is obvious even before they make it to New York City, but there’s a minor roadblock: Ben lives in Chicago. Flying back and forth seems like the only option until Jason comes up with an idea that will bring them together permanently—if they can work out the details.” (As with my other Dreamspinner titles, this does contain adult situations.)

Paul Richmond did a gorgeous cover for the story that captures Ben (the red head) and Jason out in a fall Connetcuict-esque landscape. (In fact, I’ve cycled down a very similar looking road.) I’m thrilled that he’s the artist for my first story to get a cover all its own.

As I’ve mentioned before, all of my author royalties from this novella will be donated to Braking the Cycle, which benefits the HIV/AIDS services at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City. My fundraising is going well this year so far, with three months to go. Please help the cause if you can–buy the novella when it comes out, tell your friends to buy it when it comes out and, if you’d like, you can also directly donate to my rider account.

1 Comment Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Bicycle Built for Two, Dreamspinner Press

25Jan11 “Bicycle Built for Two” Gets Contract

Some excellent news came into my inbox today. The short story, actually it’s being classified as a novella, Bicycle Built for Two was picked up by Dreamspinner Press for release later this year (looks like it will be published in June).

It’s always exciting to get a contract and I’m particularly happy this sold. The story is a romance between two guys who meet doing a bike ride that’s based on Braking the Cycle. All of my royalties from the story will be donated to the charity (and that’s true for not only this year, but for the life of the story).

I’m glad I was able to get something out rather quickly after The Dancer and Sexy Big Man too. Dancer got some good reviews and I’m hopeful that the readers from that story will want to pick up the new title. Coming up in a few days I’ll get the sales report from Q4. I’m curious to see how Dancer performed in sales and to see if it bumped up sales on 2009′s Rivals.

My latest quandary is if I should write the story that’s been gnawing on my brain for the past week or if I keep focused on my novel revisions, which is what I’ve been doing most of this month. I may put the novel aside when I finish the current revision task, write up the first draft of the new story and then going back to novel revisions while I let the new story rest a bit before I start revisions on it.

I have to admit, it is fun having to decide between two such fun and engaging tasks.

Of course, I’ll keep everyone posted as Bicycle Built for Two works its way through the publishing process.

// via JeffAndWill.com //

1 Comment Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Bicycle Built for Two, Dreamspinner Press, story ideas

27Nov10 “Dancer…” Gets Good Reviews, New Story Nearly Complete

The Dancer & Sexy Big Man has been out just a couple weeks now and it seems to be doing well so far. On Dreamspinner’s Nap-Size Dreams Bestseller list the short story has been at #1 for nearly the entire time its been out. This is exciting because Rivals got only to #3 during its new release period.

Dancer has also yielded some good reviews.

Lydia at “Michele ‘n Jeff Reviews” said: “Not only did the world in which Dancer and Sexy Big Man take place come alive, but the author was able to show the instant and strong connection characters Todd and Nathaniel felt for each other in such away that it seemed real, rather than forced.” Thanks, Lydia, for the “four kiss” review!

Right here on JeffAdamsWrites.com, Jambrea left this comment: “I love So You Think You Can Dance. It is my all time favorite show. So when I saw that you had a book out with a dancing show I HAD to get it and I’m so glad I did. I loved this book! Thank you for writing it.”

Over on Goodreads, Leaundra Ross gave the story a five star review, saying “This was really a sweet story. Wish it would have been longer. I guess you could say it was ‘short and sweet.’

It’s been great getting reader feedback on this book, whether its good or something other than good. Rivals also didn’t generate much in the way of reader feedback either when it came out so it has been fun to see some feedback trickle its way onto the Internet.

Meanwhile, over the past couple weeks I’ve finished the draft of a new story, which is tentatively titled Bicycle Built for Two. It revolves around two guys who meet during a bike ride from Boston to New York City. The story just went to my beta readers this morning. The plan is to get it sent out within the next couple weeks to see if it can find a home.

// via JeffAndWill.com //

Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Bicycle Built for Two, Dancer & Sexy Big Man, Dreamspinner Press

10Nov10 “The Dancer & Sexy Big Man” Now Available

“The Dancer & Sexy Big Man” released today from Dreamspinner Press (eBook ISBN: 978-1-61581-650-7). You can pick up a copy in all of the usual eBook formats over at Dreamspinner for the very reasonable cover price of $2.99. If you missed my first Nap Sized Dream with DSP, “Rivals,” it’s still available as well. (Remember, both titles contain adult situations.)

“The Dancer & Sexy Big Man” takes place inside a reality dance competition where a technician, who also happens to be a fan of the show, ends up meeting and getting to know one of his favorite dancers. As a lover of the dance competition genre (I never miss So You Think You Can Dance and wish it would do two cycles a year like Dancing with the Stars does), this was a fun story to write. To play around with the “what ifs” that presented themselves in bringing a dancer and a technician together had a lot of possibilities and I like where this story ended up.

You can read more about the story over on Dreamspinner’s blog. On the DSP site you can read excerpts of both “The Dancer & Sexy Big Man” and “Rivals.”

While you’re there you can also check out Andrew Grey’s latest release, Taste of Love. Andrew can always be counted on to tell a good story and the blurb on this one sold me right away. It just released this week so please give it a look as well.

1 Comment Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Andrew Grey, Dancer & Sexy Big Man, Dreamspinner Press

17Oct10 “Dancer & Sexy Big Man” Has Nov. 10 Release, Excerpt Available

A lot has happened in the past week with my new short story, “The Dancer & Sexy Big Man.” Dreamspinner Press set a November 10 release date for the eBook short story, which is publishing as part of its Nap Size Dream line (just as “Rivals” did last year). I also got to go over the gallery proof, which is always exciting since it’s a chance to see it all laid out and formatted for publishing. At the end of the week an excerpt also went up on the Dreamspinner site (note, the excerpt is suitable for general audiences but the story does contain adult situations).

Elsewhere in the my writing world…

I’m working through another lesson in the “How to Revise Your Novel” course so that Neutral Zone becomes the best it can be. This one is interesting focusing on the promises you make to your readers. I’m curious to see how many I made and how many I kept across the 200+ pages.

Will and I are two weeks away from starting National Novel Writing Month and working to create our first co-written story ever. I’m excited!!!

I’m also pondering a new short story (or maybe novella…not sure yet). The idea is just forming, but I’d like to write something that is set inside a bike ride like Braking the Cycle. We’ll see what comes of this over the coming weeks.

// via JeffandWill.com //

Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Dancer & Sexy Big Man, Dreamspinner Press, Neutral Zone, story ideas

18Sep10 “Dancer & Sexy Big Man” Goes Into Editing

At the end of July I signed a contract with Dreamspinner Press for the short story “Dancer & Sexy Big Man.” I’d worked on this story on and off since last December and was thrilled when Dreamspinner said they waned it about a month after I submitted it. This past week I got notification that the story was headed into the editing queue, which gets it that much closer to publication. I don’t have a date yet, but I imagine it will be out sometime this fall.

The story is a romance set inside a So You Think You Can Dance type show. After publishing a hockey-themed story last year it was only a matter of time before I did something around dancing. In this story it’s not two dancers who make a connection, but a dancer and one of the show’s technicians. It was fun to write and I’m excited it publishes soon, especially with Dreamspinner because I had such a good experience with “Rivals.”

Besides this story coming out, the plan is to spend the fall working hardcore on Neutral Zone and getting some serious revision work done. The spring and summer was mostly about prepping for the Braking the Cycle ride so the fall and winter are going to be about novel revisions.

/ via JeffandWill.com /

Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Dancer & Sexy Big Man, Dreamspinner Press, Neutral Zone, Rivals

20Jul10 Two Stories Looking for Homes…and Other Updates

It’s been way too long since I’ve posted here. It’s been way too long since I’ve been working on writing projects too. Time got away from me as I started training more for the September Braking the Cycle ride, which benefits the HIV/AIDS services and the LGBT Center in NYC (you can read more about the ride over in the right column). The writing time became riding time and over the past couple weeks I’ve been striving to balance the two a little better.

I did put a couple of stories out into the marketplace.

1) “Friday Night Snacking,” which I originally wrote trying to get into the Dreamspinner Necking anthology is out to another publisher who is doing a Halloween-themed anthology. This vampire/werewolf/human story seems like a good fit so we’ll see what they say. I just submitted that this morning so I expect it will be a few weeks before I hear anything.

2) The story set with a dance competition show as its background is being reviewed now with a publisher. I like this story a lot so I’m hopeful it will make its way into print.

I recently got a couple of nice comments on “Rivals.” RJ Scott, a great author you should check out, gave “Rivals” five-stars on Goodreads (Thanks RJ!). Clare London, another fab author worthy of your time, also took a moment to tell me that she enjoyed the story and that was great to hear.

I’ve recently discovered a great YA review site (I hope to end up on this site one day once I get my own YA novel revised and published). Dreaming in Books covers a vast array of YA and is run by John who says on the site that he started it “to make a difference in the reading lives of teenage and adult readers alike.” I’ve been reading the site for a couple weeks now and have added some books to my wish list based on his reviews. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Posted by Jeff in Writing
Tagged Friday Night Snacking, reviews, Rivals, story ideas, websites

New Release

Now Available

Recent Posts

Authors I Follow...

New @ JeffandWill.com