Virtual Book Tour: Shade's Champion

Please welcome back my good friend and fellow author, Cheryl Headford, here to celebrate the release of Shade's Champion!

Author Name: Cheryl Headford   

Book Length 214 Pages

Book Name: Shade’s Champion

Release Date: 18th December 2015

Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Cover Art by: Kellie Dennis: Book Covers by Design

	Blurb

Shade has been kept in the dark for eight long years. Now he’s facing a world that terrifies him. A world that seems to hold no place for him.

When the authorities are unable to find a home for Shade, Penny, reluctantly accepts him into the secure school she manages, despite thinking it’s the wrong place for him. Penny fears for his safety among the other troubled children. In an attempt to forestall the disaster she predicts will happen she appoints one of them as his champion.

Dory, an engaging seventeen year old with mental health issues, is proud to be chosen as Shade’s champion and throws his heart and soul into the job. In doing so he is forced to face the thing he fears most – his own emotions.

An unexpected friendship begins to grow into something more, until a spiteful act tears them apart and leaves them broken.

When Dory falls ill, Shade is forced to face his demons and struggles to find the strength and courage he needs to fight for the right to love, and to be there for his champion when he needs him most.

	Excerpt

“YOU CAN’T be serious. No. It’s out of the question.” 

“Penny, you’re our last option. The hospital won’t keep him any longer. They can’t. His own family don’t want him, and no foster family will take him. He can’t go to a children’s home because he’s such a high risk. Frankly, I have no idea what to do with him.” 

“But this is a secure unit, and that kid’s done nothing wrong to anyone but himself. Do you have any idea what kind of kids we have here? We can’t watch him all the time, and half the little bastards would be queuing up to hand him the razor blades.” 

“What else can we do? He’s stable enough for the psychiatric unit to discharge him, but he can’t live alone, and no one else wants him. We’re out of options.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, I feel for the kid. He’s in an impossible situation, but we’re just not set up to handle someone like him. Are you sure he wouldn’t be better in a care home or psychiatric unit?” 

“Honestly? I believe that’s where he’s likely to end up, but the kid’s sixteen and has been through the most horrific experience. He deserves a chance.” 

“And you think he’s going to get it here?”  

Penelope Creedy, Penny to her friends, struggled and failed to keep the incredulity out of her voice. It was obvious the social worker was new; she hadn’t had the idealistic desire to help everyone beaten out of her by “the system”. 

“No, no I don’t, not really, but the poor thing has to go somewhere.” 

“I don’t understand why he can’t go to Hillcrest or Maes Y Ffynnon.” 

“They won’t take him. It’s too much responsibility for them, and they can’t give him a high enough level of care.” 

“Care? We don’t provide care to our kids, Donna. We provide food and shelter and locked rooms. If we’re lucky we get them to study now and again, and a couple even go to school. Most of them are under psychiatrists and headed straight for prison. Occasionally, we see one of them turn around, but mostly we’re marking time until they can be unleashed on society and start committing their crimes.” 

“That’s a very bleak view.” The social worker had a hint of censure in her voice, which made Penny defensive. Damn those idealistic idiots with their rose-coloured views.  

She snapped back, “This is a very bleak place.” 

“No bleaker than his last.” The comeback was soft and sincere and made Penny feel vaguely guilty. She sighed and closed the folder that lay open on the desk in front of her. She ran her finger over the name on the cover and sighed again.

“It’s one prison for another,  Donna. Is that really what he needs?” 

“A prison he can handle, Penny. It’s freedom that’s too much for him.” 

Meet The Author

Cheryl was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.

Cheryl has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.

Later in life, Cheryl became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.

It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.

In present times, Cheryl lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son and menagerie of three cats, a dog and a dragon. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close.

Immersed, as always, in the world of fantasy, she maintains a burning desire to share the stories and these days it’s in the form of books which all contain her spark and unique view on life, the universe and everything.

Where to Find The Author

Facebook

Twitter: @SevenPointStar

Goodreads

 Website

Blog

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/9RVTtEPOAyk

PRE-ORDER LINKS

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/shades-champion-by-cheryl-headford/

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shade039schampion-1940720-145.html

	Giveaway

 

I have two copies of the ebook to give away to randomly selected commenters on the Shade’s Champion cover reveal or blog post on my website http://cherylheadford.com/

Virtual Book Tour: A Cook's Tale

Please welcome fellow author and friend Mann Ramblings, who is here to tell us about his new release, A Cook's Tale!

The Questions

1)         You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?

WWE Wrestler John Cena and a bottle of whiskey. The big son of a bitch will give in eventually. A lack of options will eventually wear him down and the liquor can’t hurt to reduce my timeline. (Don’t tell my hubby…)

2)         Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?

I grew up with the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Given the chance, I’d be Frank N. Furter. Sometimes you just have to let it out: sing, seduce your guests, and be larger than life… and be more than a little bit wrong while you’re at it.

3)         Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scene using them:  hammer, saucer, traffic lights

With all the slurs the Baptist pastor hurled in my face, you’d think he believed his faith granted him some kind of perfect armor. It failed to protect his teacup and saucer as I wielded my own righteous hammer and dragged him into a busy intersection while I marveled at the pretty traffic lights.

How’s that?

4)         You’ve just been let loose in the world of fiction, with permission to do anyone you want. Who do you fuck first and why?

Considering the main cast of my book The Luxorian Fugitive covers a large portion of my preferences in men, I’d probably run rampant through the crew. Some of them one at a time, some all at once… I’d run through every inappropriate fantasy in my head and never have to worry about being rejected, because they’d share them all.

5)         What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?

We’re very boring together actually! My favorite nights all surround the fireplace ambience with a drink in hand, snuggled up watching whatever program has struck our fancy this month on Netflix. Outside of that, a nice shower together can lead to great fun!

6)         When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

Plot almost always comes first for me. From there, I build the cast based off of what I need, throwing in an unusual characteristic or type to complicate the plot. I prefer my characters to be real and flawed. How else can they be dynamic?

7)         If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?

I think it’s more of would rather than should. I’d like to believe Vin Diesel would play a hyper-cool machismo driven rendition of my life, but in reality it would be more of Michael Cena. And not the coked-up, sex freak version from the movie, The End. No, it would be the neurotic, annoying type no matter how much I try to reinvent myself. LOL

8)         Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?

Dracula. And I mean the real bloody, predatory, sadomasochistic character, not the misunderstood Interview With A Vampire rendition we’ve been fed under the current genre. (I actually happen to love Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, by the way, but Drac doesn’t fall into that category.) As a villain he’s been muddied down into something very different from the type I grew up with, which saddens me a bit.

9)         Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?

Historical crush? You’re assuming I stayed awake through those classes. All right fine. The dude who sculpted all the hot naked dudes. He had to have to have shagged all the best models. LMAO I really don’t know how to answer this. Next question…

10)       Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?

Last year for Gay Authors.org I wrote a Christmas story that is currently beginning featured in a group of favorite Christmas tales, titled Rudolph’s Tijuana Christmas. Most of my 17 reviews for the story are some form of “OMG! What The Fuck did I just read?” I’m capable of just about anything. The only thing keeping me from writing stories is a lack of time.

A COOK'S TALE

Book Two: Ship Logs of the Santa Claus

by Mann Ramblings

M/M Sci-fi Romance by Wayward Ink Publishing

Giveaway for Book One – The Luxorian Fugitive below!

Buy Links:

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/a-cooks-tale-by-mann-ramblings/

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-acook039stale-1925761-153.html

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Tale-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B017I26RXG/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooks-Tale-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B017I26RXG/

Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/Cooks-Tale-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B017I26RXG/

Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/Cooks-Tale-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B017I26RXG/

Blurb:

The trials and tribulations of the crew and passengers of interplanetary transport vessel, The Santa Claus continues in A Cook’s Tale.

After a horrific breakup, Erron Murfin is bitter, homeless, and friendless. When the cook’s position on the Santa Claus presents itself, Erron decides to escape his current circumstances and join the crew. On board he reconnects with family friend Gamin Wells, whose own secrets and issues begin to surface upon Erron's arrival. The least of which is the reason the pair haven't laid eyes on one another in over twelve years.

As Erron settles into his new duties, the men on board take an interest in their newest crew member. Among those intrigued by Erron are polyamorous couple, Barrus and James. Despite Erron's cautious nature, he’s drawn into a triad relationship with the pair.

But there’s something about Gamin…

Is Erron too damaged to confront his own feelings?

Will his past prevent him from finding what he needs?

Excerpt:

Beta Deck was situated like a large dormitory. All the rooms ran in a loop with a central facility containing a gymnasium, lockers, lavatories, and shower room. On a non-hetero vessel, the layout was dubious to say the least.

Since the majority of the crew was off-ship, Erron felt bold enough to enter the locker room. In his quarters, he'd stalled for a bit, deciding how to proceed. What was considered normal on the Santa Claus? Did the men walk around half-dressed? Less than half? There were a lot of factors in fitting into an established community. Towel over his shoulder, he stepped through the doorway into the locker room. The gymnasium could be seen down one end and the shower room was visible down the other. He wondered what it would be like with a dozen men all stripping down and showering together in one room together. The likelihood for something tawdry to happen seemed high.

Gamin's clothes lay over the bench and the sound of water running told Erron the chef beat him here. Not surprising really, Gamin had been on the ship for years, this was his home, and Erron hoped he'd soon feel the same.

Stripping off, Erron dropped his garments in the same fashion as Gamin. Peeling off his briefs, he felt a sudden surge of awkwardness. He was about to get in the shower with Gamin. The nervous giggle tried to rip out of his mouth, so he choked it down. He was being childish.

“Took you long enough.” Gamin said. The chef hadn't looked in Erron's direction as he held his head under the spray.

“I had to find my towel.”

Erron hung his towel on the hook near the doorway, and selected a shower with a buffer of one nozzle between them. The control panel beeped as Erron touched it, but nothing happened. Over and over, he touched the pad only to be mocked by the same tone.

“It's voice activated,” Gamin said, barely looking over his shoulder. “Just tell it the temperature you want.” Erron's face heated up; he couldn't bring himself to admit he couldn't muster the nerve to use the shower last night after they turned in. The ship was too quiet, and too new.

Ducking his head slightly, Erron leaned forward and spoke to the black panel. “Forty- two degrees Celsius.” A torrent of heated water rushed over Erron, the delicious heat the first step in washing away what felt like months of grime and sad reminders of his derailed life. The cheap inns he'd been forced to rent after being evicted had lousy facilities. This... this was a small piece of chocolate decadence.

“Like your showers pretty hot?” Gamin continued to face the wall as he soaked himself.

Erron angled his hips, keeping his privates out of view. “I'd forgotten how nice it feels.”

For the first time he could remember, Erron felt self-conscious. The fitness membership expired shortly after the breakup, but Erron hadn't lost too much tone. He'd never be large and imposing, his frame didn't allow it. A lean body and smooth skin could still turn heads. The treatment responsible for his hair growing in green made all the rest on his body the same color. Jade colored hair on his arms and legs was too odd and a green pubic zone made him feel like a perverted clown, so it had to go. There was nothing wrong with him, but why he felt the need to hide himself, he couldn't say. He certainly never acted this shy in front of the troops during the war. It was more than a bit hypocritical when he peered over his shoulder at his showering partner.

Tall and thick, with coarse hair on his arms and legs, Gamin's size and sturdiness were a stark contrast to Erron's smaller stature. Wisps of fur reached around the sides of the chef's rounded belly that matched the meaty globes of his behind. Everything about Gamin was solid and manly. The peppering of gray on his head and beard fit him as well.

It was true, he probably shouldn't be looking, but Erron had never seen Gamin this way in all these years. Not even shirtless at the park when he was growing up. From what he could see, the view wasn't half bad; Gamin had nothing to be ashamed of. What he did notice was how deliberate Gamin was being at not looking at him.

“You're a lot bigger than I remembered.” Erron couldn't help watching Gamin soap his body while continuing to face the wall. It had been a long time since he'd had any opportunity to be with a man. While it wasn't his plan to be with Gamin, as long as he didn't turn around, Erron could enjoy the show. He prayed Gamin wouldn't turn around. That would be mortifying.

“Yeah well, I've had time to eat a few good meals.”

“It looks good on you.”

Gamin chuckled as lines of lazy suds followed the contours of his back and between the crevice of his haunches. “Thanks. You've changed a lot over the years too.”

“I'm not a kid anymore.”

“No. No, you're not,” Gamin said, drenching his head under the spray.

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

Like many gay men, when MANN RAMBLINGS grew up, there weren't any heroes he could relate to. The world held him back while he tried futilely to hide the real person inside. So much has changed since those hollow days. He finally found his voice, the voice that says it’s all right to revel in the so-called inappropriate joys, laughs, and loves that storm inside a man's head. It took a long time to find that courage and now that it's here, he plans to use it well.

While spending years more focused on visual arts, he never let go of his innate passion for storytelling—he wanted to write and draw comic books when he grew up. Once he discovered M/M fiction, a whole new world opened with new possibilities. Why couldn't you have fantastic and dynamic tales with an M/M cast? He started reading the online tales of authors like Night Tempest, Rob Colton, and Alicia Nordwell, which only fueled within him the need to create. Eventually he found GayAuthors.org, and with a little coercive nudge from Night Tempest, started sharing his tales with an unexpected level of positive response. That experience and support gave him the courage to cross his fingers and aim for the world of M/M publishing.

Born and raised in Michigan, Mann Ramblings continues to type away, wishing it was practical to use a noisy, old fashioned keyboard that clacks with each strike, if only to annoy his loving partner and spoiled miniature dachshund.

MANN RAMBLINGS can be found at:

      Blog: http://mannramblingsblog.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mannramblings

Twitter: @mannramblings

Guest Blogger: Sarah Hayes

Please welcome a new young author, who is not only very talented but just happens to be my daughter (can you tell I'm proud of her?). She was first published in an anthology by Wayward Ink, and now her story is available as a standalone. I'm sure we will be hearing much more from her. Plus she has bravely answered my infamous Rick Reed questions!

The Questions

   1)  You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?

   I'll be that nerd and say John Locke from Lost, sometime in season three, and one of those food creating machines from the later generations of Star Trek. I mean, we are on the island from Lost, right? Cool! Then we'd have power anyway! Plus, Locke is a mean survivalist. He hunts boar for fun!

   2)    Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?

"Les Miserables", in which everyone is gloriously miserable and singing for their lives, and

young people are fighting for justice and the love of pretty girls seen from a distance. As for what Les Mis character I am? I'm torn between the hapless Eponine and the equally hapless (but in a different way) Enjolras. In the most recent film, Eponine is Samantha Barks and Enjolras is Aaron Tveit, so either way I win out!

3)    Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scene using them:  saint, shoelace, smile

Elijah drew a knife from his bag. "Come now, Fahma. Show me what you've got."

Fahma twisted from the swing of Elijah's blade. His foot hit a root and he stumbled across the forest path. "Stop playing!"

"Playing? I haven't been playing since the start. Now come at me!"

"I won't!" He ran, the sound of Elijah's laughter following, his smile burned into his mind.

Moments ago, they'd been walking home. A shadow had crossed their path What djinn had taken his friend?

His shoelace unraveled and Fahma fell. Elijah's stormy face hid the sky.

"Goodbye."

Then Fahma fought back.

4)    You’ve just been let loose in the world of fiction, with permission to do anyone you want. Who do you fuck first and why?

    MOMMMMM. I plead the fifth, for obvious reasons. I'll never tell! Except yes, and it's Lee Scoresby from His Dark Materials, hee.

  5)  What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?

  I don't have a significant other. But if I did: a night out on the town - maybe a live show, a jaunt through downtown, hitting up some food trucks - followed by lots of Netflix and ice cream and booze at home. Significant others who don't enjoy rocky road and Lost marathons need not apply.

6)    When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

Depends, really. With my story Did You Leave Any For Me, I had the vague plot idea of a hotel room lock that didn't work and it ballooned into what it is now: two ex-lovers trapped in said hotel room, figuring things out in a hilarious fashion. Usually, that's how it goes, plot first. On the rare occasion that a story begins with a character, it's because that character is so compelling, they demand a story be centered around them.

7)    If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?

I would love Mara Wilson to play me. I know most people know her as the child actor from

Matilda, but she's a really great writer, humorist, and voice actor, and her Faceless Old Woman on the Welcome To Night Vale podcast is tops. She'd be a good fit for me, as weird as that sounds.

8)    Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?

I don't really do horror, so this is a hard one. Perhaps, if I had to pick one, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, who is scary just because he shows that we are all capable of becoming monsters in the right circumstances. He isn't so much classical horror as existential, human horror. He is the representation of the secret self that we keep concealed from society because it's the right thing to do. That's such an English major thing to say, isn't it?

9)    Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?

   I have to say Benjamin Franklin, don't I? Well bugger that. Right now, my historical crush is split between two Idas: Ida B. Wells, journalist and suffragette who never took a break from fighting for justice and the rights of blacks in America, and Ida Tarbell, writer and professional muckracker who blew apart Standard Oil and its corrupt ways. They are both amazing women and the world could use more Idas like them right now.

  10)  Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?

I don't believe in the notion that I should wait until the world is "ready" for any story. I'm not concerned with the delicate sensibilities of a society who can't handle diverse and amazing narratives from a broad spectrum of voices. I'm going to pounce on the world with my stories when I want, how I want, and I'd like to see someone try and stop me. On the other hand, leave me be and buy my book. Of course, the only story the world isn't really ready to receive are the ones that I haven't finished writing yet!

Blurb:
Did You Leave Any For Me: Two ex-lovers, one hotel room, and a random act of technology. Will they fall out, or will they fall back in love? Ollie and Shay are on-again, off-again boyfriends who have performed the "one last fling" dance so many times, it's become routine. This time, however, their last fling might just become the start of something new.

A malfunction with the door lock of their hotel room leaves both Shay and Ollie trapped inside, at the mercy of the hotel staff, as well as each other's prickly personalities. A lack of alternatives leads to the hashing out of old fights, the introduction of new fights, and a glimmer of hope that this years-old relationship can still be salvaged. Only time and a bottle of booze will tell whether their series of hotel mishaps is a blessing in disguise.

Excerpt:

Sheridan looked up from buttoning his shirt. “What do you mean, it’s locked?”

“I mean it’s locked—as in, it’s locked. Can’t be opened. See?” The other man jiggled the handle of the hotel door as a demonstration. “Locked.”

“How did that happen?”

He threw up his hands. It only highlighted the fact that he wasn’t wearing pants. “I’m sorry, Shay when did I become a locksmith in the past hour?”

“Call me Shay again, Oliver, I dare you.”

“Or what?” Oliver sighed. “Never mind, don’t answer that. I’ll call room service, Sha—Sheridan.”

“You do that.” Sheridan had finished dressing, and was now examining his face in a mirror that had been sitting on the bedside table. He grimaced and began to tame a lock of gray hair that threatened to turn full cowlick. “And tell them we need more champagne.”

“I’m not paying for that!” Oliver covered the receiver of the phone with one hand. He balanced himself against the wall with the other. “Once the door’s open, it’s over. We’re never seeing each other again.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“Which was three months ago. This time, it’ll be forever.”

“Another thing you said last time.”

Author Bio:
Sarah Hayes was born in Florissant, Missouri, where she currently resides with her mother and the family cat in her childhood home. She is the youngest daughter in a family of geeks and bookworms, her mother being a published romance author. Hayes has been making up stories and writing them down ever since she figured out how to put pencil to paper. She graduated Florissant Valley Community College with an Associate Degree in creative writing with honors and Phi Theta Kappa credentials. Sarah Hayes served as the head editor of the college’s student-run newspaper for a year, during which she won several awards from the local chapters of the journalism associations MCMA and SPJ.

She is currently pursuing her BA in English at the University of Missouri-St. Louis while writing for the college newspaper, the Current. While she has honed her skills with writing and sharing her fanfiction, she has been writing original fiction just as long. This is her first published piece of fiction.

Where To Buy:
Wayward Ink | All Romance eBooks | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU