Showing posts with label Susan Mac Nicol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Susan Mac Nicol. Show all posts

Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway - Jack L. Pyke


We're delighted to have Jack L. Pyke with us as we get closer to closing off our anniversary shenanigans! Jack brought fellow author Susan Mac Nicol along to chat about what today's visit is all about. Both authors are part of the Being Me Campaign and shared stories for the charity anthology, Being Me (more info below). It's a very important cause and there are different links below to see where you can help or check out!

 Plus, Jack's hosting an awesome giveaway: US $5/ UK £5 Amazon gift card AND winner's choice from Jack L. Pyke's back list!
Being… You
First off, I just want to wish BMBR a happy 4th anniversary, and say a huge thanks for having us over today!! You guys do a wicked job!
So, what’s this post all about, then? Well, in all honesty, it’s mostly about… you.
It’s about the mother who’s walked into a job and seen a younger man get paid more, even though they do the same job. It’s about the man who kisses another man and is threatened with a beating over being given a chance to wear matching wedding rings. It’s about the bi kid in school who’s bullied for being overweight as well. About you, and how you’ve probably at sometime maybe missed that meal at dinner, then tea, then probably thought “I can’t” at breakfast too, all because of the sneers you got in the office over wearing a bigger size shirt.
We’ve all faced prejudice, discrimination, and bullying at some stage, but there’s one thing we have in common: the voice… an ability to tell our story.
And my story? I have a sixteen-year-old transgender son who is also autistic. I’m a parent who’s seen her kid come home bruised and in tears. I’ve sat through meetings discussing my son’s gender with strangers who have seen transgender as just a mental disorder tied into autism.
So when the call went out for the Being Me Charity Anthology that looked at giving our struggle a voice, all in the hope of raising money for other families who are still struggling to be heard, I fell in love with the idea.
Author Susan Mac Nicol is deeply involved with the being Me Campaign, and it was her idea to bring together a collection of stories for the Being Me Charity Anthology that looked at celebrating diversity in all its colour, hurt, and strife. So I’ve hijacked her for a while to explain why.

      Thanks for being here, Susan. The absolute beauty with the Being Me Campaign is that it tackles multiple levels of diversity, across all age demographics, whether that’s bullying, discrimination or prejudice. Can you give us a little on the background of the charity itself? How did it all get started?
​The Being Me Campaign was founded in October 2015 by Kieran Stanbridge and Tracy Shayler who felt that enough wasn’t being done to educate, empower and inspire young people and adults to be proud of their differences and who they are as individuals. Kieran was bullied at school for being gay and overweight, and as the mother of a gay couple, Tracy encountered a lot of homophobia plus discrimination for her own health issues.
This charity is about owning and celebrating any differences a person has, and unlike other charities, we are not restricted to a specific difference. There are enough charities out there tackling certain niches of discrimination, and this charity wanted to give a voice to anyone who felt different, whether it be for their sexuality, health, mental or physical appearance or for any other reason the person thought made them different. There may well be some we aren’t even aware of!
Many young people and adults are subject to bullying, discrimination or prejudice for simply being who they are, even if they conform to society’s perception of ‘normal’. This is unacceptable, and the charity wants to change this. Through the #IAmBeingMe workshops, social media channels and the website, everyone gets to voice and share their personal story to inspire others to be proud of who they are.​
   And how did you become Involved with Being Me?
​This is a great story. Tracy started out being a fan of my books, and we connected such that one day we had lunch together in London. Then we had another lunch date. Before long, we kept in touch. We also connected via Divine as well, when we featured Luke and Trent. Tracy also runs a group on Facebook called Trent and Luke Misfits Unite, dedicated to bringing LGBT people together to make friends, talk and support each other. I’m a member of this group and attended a couple of the Misfit meetings as well. When I saw the Being Me Campaign was looking for ​trustees, I wanted to be part of it. It fitted so well with my own core beliefs about live and let live and my intense dislike of persecution and discrimination of any kind. I sent along my CV and my submission as to how I believed I could be an asset, and the rest was history.


   Being Me is all about the voice, or giving diversity a voice and sharing individual stories to help anyone else who might be going through the same problems. What kind of other events do they arrange to help get these voices out there?
​The Being Me Campaign loves stories, people stories. So they started out inviting anyone who wanted to contribute to share their story and come along to a YouTube filming day. You can see some of these stories on the website. The charity held a huge launch at the YouTube studios ​on November 15th 2016, which was a great success. You can read about it here https://www.divinemagazine.biz/being-me-campaign-launch-anniversary-event/ . We had a wonderful lunch event with eight wonderful UK authors and one lucky winner and his partner in London that was part of an initiative to raise funds. Our trustees get out and about doing sponsored events, like London walks and simply carrying a bucket and doing street-fund raising. Part of what we offer is diversity training for corporate companies, so delegates from the campaign visit places like Sony to pass on experience and some wise words to their own staff members. More events are planned for 2018, so watch the social networks for more news.


    Can you tell us more about the charity anthology: Being Me. What diversity does it cover?
​The anthology covers myriad diversities, from being a stranger from another planet, to people with a facial disfigurement, an amputee, young people facing who they are, people with disabilities, people with scars and people discriminated against for their ethnicity. So there is a mixed bag of everyday problems people face, and which are tackled in the anthology with compassion, humour and great storytelling.
   And lastly, where can we find out more about the Being Me Campaign?
​At the moment, the campaign is taking a little time off, gearing itself up for 2018. You can find out more about us on the website www.beingmecampaign.com, and on the social networks below.
Facebook: /BeingMeCampaign
Instagram: @BeingMeCampaign
Thank you so much for being here with me today, Susan! And a huge thank to BMBR again too. If you’d like to support this charity and are interested in purchasing a copy of the anthology, please follow the links below.
Let the authors know what you think about charity below!
Our thanks for Jack L. Pyke and Susan Mac Nicol from dropping by the clubhouse and sharing this important charity and upcoming anthology!

PayHip: Cooldudes Website (all Formats) Link will be released on Publication Date 1 November 2017
Amazon Kindle Only: http://amzn.to/2ypa3XO
Smashwords (All Formats) https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/753560
CoolDudes Publishing http://www.cooldudespublishing.com/being-me-the-bei…mpaign-anthology/


Blurb for Being Me:
16 stories by 15 talented writers to wet your reading appetite this Christmas.  Stories about people who feel they are different for any reason. They are bullied, gay, transgender, straight, have weight issues, handicapped, rejected. In all these stories something sets them apart from the usual ‘societal norms’ of acceptance which leads to conflict and angst.
These stories are about people who’ve embraced their differences and own it. ALL story content is suitable for a YA audience. Stories by Louisa Mae, Maggie Chatterton, Melissa Costa, Jack L. Pyke, Jo Tannah, Lynn Michaels, Susan Mac Nicol, Lane Swift, Louis J Harris, Alex Jane, Dilo Keith, Duncan Swallow, Jane Stemp, Viva Gold and Fiona Glass.




 
About Susan Mac Nicol:
Sue writes steamy, sexy and fun contemporary gay romance stories, some suspenseful, some gritty and dark, and others just plain ahhhh… sweet.
Lover of angst and conflict, she enjoys putting her characters through the emotional wringer and bringing them out the other side with an HEA or at the very least, a HFN.
Sue is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America and also of the Romantic Novelists Association in the UK. She’s also Editor in Chief at Divine Magazine, an online LGBTQ e-zine, and she’s a Charity Board trustee at The Being Me Campaign in London.
She’s passionate about research for her books and has stayed in a circus, taken lessons from a blind person on how it feels to be non-sighted, and travelled to a lighthouse with maintenance crew to see first-hand what it’s like inside. She’s also written a screen play with Hollywood actor and heart-throb Nicholas Downs, with a view to taking her latest release, Sight Unseen, to the big screen.
She’s a member of Queer Romance Ink, All Author and the Paranormal Romance Guild.  Scroll down to find the links.
If you’d like any e-book signed by Sue, please click here to be directed to the Authorgraph site. Alternatively email her at author at susanmacnicol dot com or contact her via Facebook.
About Jack L. Pyke:
Jack’s an author who specialises in BDSM M/M Psychological Thrillers. With a wicked love for portraying D/s relationships in particular, all added to a psychological thriller edge, kink and mind games always go hand in hand.
Jack’s also a contract editor working with Dreamspinner Press, Dreamspinner Press Publications, and indie authors, alike. With a Hons degree in linguistics, she also falls madly in love with the kinks and quirks to language.




Enter to win US $5/ UK £5 Amazon gift card AND winner's choice from Jack L. Pyke's backlist!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (EST) on 12/6/17. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner!

Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!

Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/17!
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Review: Sight and Sinners by Susan Mac Nicol

THE MEN OF LONDON
From Charing Cross to Waterloo, there’s no escaping love.
SEEING THROUGH…
28-year-old Draven Samuels has a tragic past, but as an investigator with a high-profile London company he now gets what he wants. Tough, sarcastic, and sceptical, he has no patience for lies and even less for people who waste his time. Even if they’re as beautiful as the wild and dark-haired Taylor Abelard. Especially when they’re talking over the body of a murder victim.

 THE DARKNESS
Psychic Taylor Abelard is used to people calling him a freak. He can see past events and feel the ghostly vibrations of people close to him who've passed on. It’s why he doesn't get too close to the living. But this time, against his better judgment, despite Draven’s mocking rejoinders, Taylor will get closer than ever before. The mystery surrounding a dead friend will lead the two men down a dark and seedy trail of blackmail and lies. Add in the heartbreak of a family tragedy, and events lead them straight into each other’s arms. By the end of this night, all their demons will have risen—and been banished with the dawn.


Sight and Sinners is sweet, fluffy and light for the most part. It does have a bittersweet ending that nudged another half star out of me, cold-hearted wench that I am. I was hoping for a bit more of an edge to this enemies to lovers story. I thought perhaps they would wend up working together on a case, but that didn't go far nor did the Jude connection. So, there are no unforeseen plot twists that are disagreeable; the plot's fairly transparent.

We were introduced to Taylor in book one, and his psychic abilities. Taylor wasn't in book one extensively, but I had a different sense of him and his personality than what appeared on the page here. He's much more of a hot head than I envisioned and he sure does pass out a lot. He meets Draven and they're instantly attracted to one another but have a history that puts them at odds. I dearly hoped this was going to lead to some angry sex. Sadly, there was only a tease of angry sex. 




They aren't even that rough with each other! I wanted their springing cocks and aching balls put to good use, but the steam was only in the mediocre range for me. There are several mentions of Draven "dominating" Taylor and "playing" that felt awkward and tacked on. I'm quite certain my perspective is somewhat skewed. For reasons. So, by all means, judge for yourselves. Mostly their relationship consists of arguing, temper tantrums then make-up sex, so I think I missed where the "love" took place or maybe that is their definition? 

Sight and Sinners was an easy read with some dramatics that weren't too heavy handed. I'm desperate at this point for Leslie's story. Leslie's story will be chock-a-block with dramatics and cross-dressing. I'm so ready you could stick a fork in me. 

I do hope this got a final edit prior to releasing because it certainly needed it. Everyone needs a little sweetness in their lives periodically and this will be satisfying for most in that regard.

 Recommend for beach reading.
An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

 Find out more on Goodreads.
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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Sight and Sinners by Susan Mac Nicol


Susan Mac Nicol stopped by to promote Sight and Sinners, the second in her Men of London series!





We unicorns wanted to know why London? So we asked.


I’ll give you a little bit of background about why I set my stories in the UK and specifically, why this series is set in London.

When I first moved to the UK in December 2000, it rained when we landed at Heathrow. My friend John looked at me and grinned. “It isn’t always like this, I promise” he said as we loaded his Renault Scenic with our meagre belongings. Thankfully, he was right. I live in the South East in Essex and we have the best weather pattern here…

I was born during one of the worst snow periods of the 1960’s, 1962/63 and as a baby, I didn’t really go out anyway the first three months as the snow was too high and we were stuck indoors.

 It actually snowed on my birthday that first year we were here- on December 28th. I felt like the UK was welcoming me home. It just felt right. Then I started working in central London and I just knew I loved this country and this city. It was vibrant, cosmopolitan, a throbbing mecca of scent, sight and sound, fast, furious, a mix of modern and history, with its own unique secrets. I didn’t know then I’d write a whole series of books around it but the seed was planted and when the Men of London was suggested by my publisher (clever woman that) I ran with it. So the idea wasn’t actually mine…

I spend a lot of time in London. I have a daughter who goes to Kingston University in Surrey, on the outskirts so I travel regularly through and on the boundaries of the city. I attend book signings and events. I go to the theatre and to watch pole dancing at the Burlesque venues. I worked in Piccadilly Circus in the heart of the West End for seven months recently. If the train service hadn’t been so terrible, and incredibly expensive, I might still be there. I loved working right above Jamie Oliver’s Diner…the aromas were wonderful. And having a McDonalds opposite was great too. I have a ‘thing’ – every place I write about in my books- I’ve been there. I’ve visited on a day trip, or stayed over there, and absorbed the atmosphere because I think it adds to the flavour of my stories. (And it gives me an excuse to spend my money in the name of ‘research’. It’s amazing what you can get away with in the name of research *winks*)

So writing about men living in London and falling in love, and bringing them all together one by one in the beautiful and plush setting of Gideon Kent’s Soho restaurant, Galileo’s, was no hardship at all. If you’re ever in London, you can check out the actual restaurant that inspired Galileo’s – it’s called Bob Bob Ricard… absolutely stunning and the food is incredible. Sheer hedonistic indulgence.
http://www.bobbobricard.com/photos.html

THE MEN OF LONDON
From Charing Cross to Waterloo, there’s no escaping love.
SEEING THROUGH…
28-year-old Draven Samuels has a tragic past, but as an investigator with a high-profile London company he now gets what he wants. Tough, sarcastic, and sceptical, he has no patience for lies and even less for people who waste his time. Even if they’re as beautiful as the wild and dark-haired Taylor Abelard. Especially when they’re talking over the body of a murder victim.

 THE DARKNESS
Psychic Taylor Abelard is used to people calling him a freak. He can see past events and feel the ghostly vibrations of people close to him who've passed on. It’s why he doesn't get too close to the living. But this time, against his better judgment, despite Draven’s mocking rejoinders, Taylor will get closer than ever before. The mystery surrounding a dead friend will lead the two men down a dark and seedy trail of blackmail and lies. Add in the heartbreak of a family tragedy, and events lead them straight into each other’s arms. By the end of this night, all their demons will have risen—and been banished with the dawn.

 Find out more on Goodreads.

 Author Bio: 
Susan Mac Nicol is a self confessed bookaholic, an avid watcher of videos of sexy pole dancing men, self confessed geek and nerd and in love with her Smartphone. This little treasure is called ‘the boyfriend’ by her long suffering husband, who says if it vibrated, there’d be no need for him. Susan hasn’t had the heart to tell him there’s an app for that…

She is never happier than when sitting in the confines of her living room/study/on a cold station platform scribbling down words and making two men fall in love. She is a romantic at heart and believes that everything happens (for the most part) for a reason.  She likes to think of herself as a ‘half full’ kinda gal, although sometimes that philosophy is sorely tested.

Lover of walks in the forest, theatre productions, dabbling her toes in the cold North Sea and the vibrant city of London where you can experience all four seasons in a day , she is a hater of pantomime (so please don’t tar and feather her), duplicitous people, bigotry and self righteous idiots. 

In an ideal world, Susan Mac Nicol would be Queen of England and banish all the bad people to the Never Never Lands of Wherever -Who Cares. As that’s never going to happen, she contents herself with writing her HEA stories and pretending, that just for a little while, good things happen to good people.


Where to find the author:
website: www.susanmacnicol.com
blog: susanmacnicol.wordpress.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/susiemax77
twitter: www.twitter.com/SusanMacNicol7
pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/susiemax777/pins/
linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/susanmacnicol/48/a44/602
tumblr: http://www.susanmacnicol.com/my-tumblr-blog/

Publisher: Borough’s Publishing Group

 Cover Artist: Art Department of Borough’s Publishing Group
Rafflecopter Prize: 2 copies of Double Alchemy and Double Alchemy: Climax 


Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Review: Love You Senseless (Men of London #1) by Susan Mac Nicol

One of London’s up-and-coming chefs, Eddie Tripp has just the right recipe to drive tragedy from the mind of Gideon Kent—and leave him senseless with desire. 


THE MEN OF LONDON 

From Soho to Norwich, there’s no escaping love. 


A TASTE OF FOREVER 


An award-winning chef with his own restaurant and an inexhaustible passion, Gideon Kent once had everything. Then came tragedy. It stole more than Gideon’s home. He hasn’t cooked since.Until Eddie Tripp. Fun-loving and vivacious, the Norfolk redhead’s a real up-and-comer in Gideon’s kitchen—and other places. Slim where Gideon’s broad, easy-going where Gideon is growly, he and Gideon seem polar opposites, and yet Eddie conjures flavors that would tempt anyone with a taste for perfection. The sauce of love is already simmering, and this pair is about to dine on the most delicious dish they’ve ever prepared. Because Eddie’s been Gideon’s missing ingredient all along.


Let's just get this out of the way I LOVE LESLIE! There. I said it. Leslie and his Louboutins, pink tees and Papa Smurf slippers can get directly into my pocket. Leslie alone will propel me to continue with this series.

Alrighty. Now that that's out of the way let's talk about the rest.

We have two chefs, Gideon and Eddie, one of which is a ginger the other of which is named Gideon. Don't judge me I have a thing about that name. It's what made me choose this book. Well, that and the chefing. I'm kind of obsessed with chefs, cooking, watching cooking shows and have somewhere in the neighborhood of a bazillion cookbooks. Conservative estimate. The upside of my obsession is I feel like I have a good grasp of all things culinary including chef demeanors. 

Gideon fits the prototypical chef mold-tempermental, arrogant, and passionate. Gideon was an up-and-comer on the London culinary scene until a tragic accident took away his sense of smell and taste, a chef's lifeblood. He tries to cope with the tragedy very unsuccessfully and it boils over from time to time. He probably goes too far a couple of times but Eddie is a chef too and does an admirable job of putting Gideon in his place. Eddie as a character is pretty bland. He blushes a lot and is into Gideon. He's sweet and loyal to his friends. Other than that… *shrugs* There are two women who work with them in the restaurant that are so annoying. I wanted to staple things to them.


I was enjoying the story, their journey, thought there was adequate conflict between them, their sexy times were pretty hot and I liked the quirkiness of Eddie's roommates who will undoubtedly be featured in the rest of the series until the cousin kerfuffle. I don't know what the purpose of that was. I thought Gideon and Eddie had enough to contend with without adding outside drama. From that point on I felt like the story sort of skidded into the finale on cheese skates. 

Final note: it's unacceptable for an author to forget their MC's name. 

Recommend to culinary enthusiasts and those who enjoy hurt/comfort reads.



A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more on Goodreads.
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