Obviously we're excited to announce the release of our second promotional short, The Tendire Gate by Ashavan Doyon. Like the first, this one will remain at the low price of 99 cents to give new readers to the press a chance to try out our books.

There's a lot of exciting things happening with this story. It's our first story that didn't fit neatly into the contemporary mold. Offering something sci-fi that fit the apocalyptic mold of so much current young adult fiction was something that appealed me, in part because I'm a fan of those books, but I do not see myself reflected in them. That was a lot of my drive to write gay romances—the dearth of stories that I could see a reflection in.

The Tendire Gate is a story of a young man caught between duty and love... and while the setting definitely plays into that conflict, it's still one that fuels all sorts of romances. I'm a fan of love stories that go beyond finding love to keeping it in your life when circumstances make that hard. For Elijah, the duty is grim, and has kept him very lonely.

Read it and don't forget to let us know what you think! You can always find Ashavan at his website ashavandoyon.com or just drop us a line here at Purple Horn Press. Sequels or Prequels aren't out of the question if the story is popular!

I know. It's awful. The Tendire Gate, while quite romantic, doesn't have a whole lot of sexy times, so we're not quite sure what's going on, but the symptoms are consistent with what readers and authors refer to as the "adult dungeon." We're looking into it.

In the meantime, The Tendire Gate is available at the Purple Horn Press store.

And if you're really determined and in the US, you can buy it at this direct Amazon link.

​We'll get it broken out of the dungeon soon... don't worry!

Violet the rhino bug has invaded the store and is changing prices! We're sure to get this fixed soon, but until we do, all College Rose Romances are 33% off!
Enjoy Violet's little bit of April Fools mischief and save on some lovely romances!

Before Aidan found his love, in that nebulous period before the College Rose Romances start, Aidan had a broken heart. Broken by Michael. His response was to search out meaningless encounters—pleasure. He used two boys from his lit classes for that purpose. Both closeted. I assumed, initially, that the two characters were a lot alike.

Oh, how wrong I was!

I couldn't write Andrew at first. Lawrence (Rory) insisted on pushing his way in. Then, when I was deeply stuck in writing Becoming Rory, Andrew's Prayer came, all in a rush. Drew is the sort of character I really like. We see a bit of him in the first two books, enough to get a picture of who he is and what he is. And I love showing everything that's underneath those impressions. 

Because readers of the first two stories probably don't like Drew very much. Unlike Lawrence, who was very much in the background, Drew is up front. He's taking money to talk to reporters and give up the goods on Aidan. He's pushing Steven to join him in the tunnels and drown his sorrows in Drew's body in just the way that Aidan had. He's not a character that you wanted to like.

Yet, inexplicably, you find out very fast that there is a whole lot of unexpected in Andrew Tuttleman. And, of all my characters, a whole lot of distance to travel. Because Drew doesn't even believe love exists. Not romantic love. Not what Aidan and Steven were desperately searching for. 

Finding that place where he could believe in love wasn't easy for Drew. And indeed, that's the joy of Andrew's Prayer, discovering that capacity and desire for love that he didn't even realize he had. To give you some hope for Drew, I'd like to share a little extra I wrote for the story, that pairs up Drew with one of my favorite side characters, the ever delightful Melinda Marie.

When Loving Aidan was first released, one of the pieces that didn't fit into the story was the actual scene where Aidan met Sammy. The scene is referenced in the story. As readers we know what happened—that when Aidan moves in Sammy protects him somehow. But as readers we never experience it.

I wrote the scene where they meet as an author extra to share with readers, and while the blog where it was originally shared is, I believe, long since gone, I am happy to share it here again.

One of authors' struggles in the modern writing climate is the difficulty in being discovered. This is hampered in an environment where often an author, for the best of reasons, publishes with multiple publishers, or self-publishes some of their own work. This limits the places an author can promote the totality of their work. Their website. Author Central. Goodreads. But often blog tours arranged by publishers don't want you mentioning the book you have coming out next month if it's coming from a different publisher. It's like a whole chunk of the author's life is shuttered behind a door. To me that feels too much like a closet door. I don't like it.

As a publisher, I believe in supporting the whole author. Sometimes that means supporting a book that we didn't publish here. Sometimes that means supporting an author who is just starting out and may not have made the leap to a publishing house yet. Sometimes that's as simple as doing more than saying 'no' in a rejection letter—because most of the ones we get as authors are pretty useless and don't say much to help us place that discarded story, or lift us up from the despair that accompanies the letter. 

Right now, it means supporting Purple Horn Press author Cindy Sutherland. She's in the middle of editing Love Aggression, and I know she can't dedicate as much time as she'd like to promoting some of her older titles. This one, Luck of the Irish, published by Dreamspinner Press, is a favorite. 

Why? I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for an accent done well, and I can hear Cian in my head; it's so very sexy. It gets my motor running, and the romance is sweet, that almost sickeningly sweet kind. But it winds you toward something you expect to be bittersweet, even as the two characters are so clearly falling for each other. 

I love it. I hope you will too. And until March 17, it's on sale at the Dreamspinner Press store. So, while Cindy's book from us isn't ready yet, you can still take some time to read a great story from a great author... for cheap! Seriously, it's worth checking out. Quinn is adorable, and Cian is sexy and you'll all hate David immediately. Buy Luck of the Irish for 30% off today.