Toronto Pride Pics, Just Like Mom Used to Take

Yesterday I posted "the boys of Pride" for all you wonderful people who like hot guys. I also promised I would post general Toronto Pride Parade pics today, so...here they are. One thing to note: remember when I posted pics from the Luminato k.d. lang concert and mentioned that my photography sucks monkey balls? Well, yeah, I haven't magically improved since then, so they're not great pics. But they're pics. Don't worry, I'm planning on sticking to my day job. I'm a writer, btw...in case my mad skills haven't come shining through this little blurb.

(Shut up, Giselle. Just post the damn pictures.)

Okay. Here they are:

I Hear Some Folks Like Pictures of Hot Guys

People like to look at hot guys? Is this accurate information? If so, you might be interested in some of these snapshots I took at the Toronto Pride Parade yesterday, July 3, 2011. I'll be back tomorrow with general photos, but today I'm focused on the boys of Pride. Voila!

Six Sentence Sunday - Tangled Roots, Coming Together: Neat edition

Yesterday I redeemed my first Kiva gift card in support of a group of female farmers in Mali, so I figured this would be a good Sunday to showcase Six Sentences from the book that earned me that gift card, Tangled Roots, Coming Together: Neat edition.

If you're not familiar with Coming Together: Neat, here's how it works: we authors basically donate a manuscript, you buy a copy of that book, and at the end of the quarter instead of being paid money, we receive Kiva gift cards. We redeem the cards by loaning those funds to entrepreneurs in third world countries, primarily, many of whom are women who would not otherwise be able to secure even small bank loans for their businesses.

So, pardon the blatant plug, but please to consider purchasing a copy of Tangled Roots, Coming Together: Neat edition. It's an erotic romance between hard-nosed business-woman Simone and her artist neighbour Moses. The focus of this book is on Canadian aboriginal cultural identity and healing. Hope you enjoy my six:

“Look, just because my parents didn’t instil in me the pride of the Cree people doesn’t mean they weren’t wonderful human beings. They were. They just didn’t want my brothers and I to go through any of the racist shit my father’s people had to endure. They didn’t want us to end up like…”

“Like me?” Moses asked with pointed clarity.

Simone’s stomach lurched.

Happy Canada Day and Trans Pride March Tonight!

Just a quickie post because I've got a lot of running around to do, but I want to give everyone a big hug for Canada Day and also mention Toronto Pride's (annual? is it annual now?) Trans March takes place tonight (July 1st, 2011)! The first of these marches took place in 2009 (seems like just yesterday), so it's still in its infancy and would appreciate your attendance, I'm sure.

Here's the info from Toronto Pride's website:

Friday, July 1 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Norman Jewison Parkette

Gloucester and Yonge St

________________________________

Created By
Pride Toronto Trans Pride 2011

________________________________

Pride Toronto is very honoured to be supporting the Toronto Trans March 2011, and grateful to last year's organizers and participants. For 2011, Pride Toronto will carry the torch and tradition of the 2009 first ever Trans March down Church Street!

Rally starts at 7pm at Norman Jewison Parkette!
***We encourage trans women of colour and people with different abilities to lead the march and set the pace for everyone else***

...We'll have the likes of Kate Borenstein, S. Bear Bergman, Morgan Iyawo Odofemi Page, Syrus Marcus Ware, Nik Redman, and other fantastic folks speaking to you.

At 8:30pm We'll be marching down Church Street and into South Stage for the gende(R)evolution program featuring the Cliks, Colour me Dragg and other amazing acts . You DO NOT have to show I.D. at this stage unless you want to drink alcohol.

The Trans Pride After Party is at the Barn, with DJ Cosmic Cat and DJ Nik Red spinning for you til 4am. With Colour Me Dragg and Ill Na Na performing! Get there early before the line up!

Then you get to go home, (sleep) and do something else equally awesome the next day!
Please check back here for more details.

If you want to get involved, please email transmarch@pridetoronto.com

Promo Op for Authors and Publishers @ Dawn's Reading Nook

This one came across my desk, so I thought I'd pass it along. We all love free promo, right? (Thanks Dawn!)

Permission to forward granted

Authors-I am taking dates from July-December for guest author days at my blog, Dawn's Reading Nook. Want a date (or two) then email me at dawn_roberto@ yahoo(dot) com with "Guest Author Day" in subject line. I would love to have you there and all genres are welcome.

Publishers: Want to let readers know on new releases-email me at the above for information on how to have a guest blog day per week or per month to showcase all your new releases.

Dawn Roberto
Love Romances & More Reviews
LR Cafe Yahoo Loop

UPDATE: Revised Call for Newbie Writers

Hello Monday (and people participating in Monday--I know it's always tempting to bail on this particular day of the week),

Remember how I posted a call for submissions from Sommer Marsden, in search of Newbie Writers? I think it was last week or so, but the days, they bleed together. Anyhoo, she's revised her call. Here's the updated version:

What I've decided regarding the newbie call...(and please pass this on if you passed on the original call for subs, thank you! :D )

I think I'm going to open this call to writers who have never been published or have had their first sale (paid or otherwise) within the last year. I've heard from several folks that intended to submit to me and since staring a story they have made their first sale (Mazel, by the way!). So, I sat and considered the length of time I considered myself a 'newbie'. And I can honestly say that I considered myself green for the first year. I was constantly asking questions, fucking up or having some kind person guide me in the right direction or help me fix an error or hone a skill. So, I'll pay that forward and be as fair as I can while still focusing on new writers.

New call will be for newbie writers either unpublished or freshly published within the last year (so let's say June 2010 is the cut-off. If you were published before that, then please wait for my next call). Beyond that, the call remains the same. Which is:

REVISED Call for Submissions

I want newbies, youngbloods, fresh meat, green around the gills

I am looking to put together another mini anthology. But this time, I want the writers that no one has had a taste of yet. Virgin blood. So you may submit to this anthology only IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED OR FRESHLY PUBLISHED WITHIN THE LAST YEAR (please see note at the beginning of this post).

So what next?

Dirty stories from 2,500 and up (nothing over say 5K please) are eligible. Topics are open except the standard no-no's. Which I will spell out since you are new.

~~~~>No sex with the underaged (under 18), animals (shifters don't count), dead things or people (barring undead supernatural creatures). No scat. No snuff.

FORMAT: Word .doc or .rtf format if you must, double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point, set at .5 indentation for first line of the paragraph only. PLEASE DO NOT USE HARD TABS.
*If you do not format correctly, I will skip reading your entry no matter how good it is. Why? Because I'm super busy and if you sub to a publication, you need to follow the rules. Capiche?

Here's the most important part: PLEASE POLISH YOUR WORK. Read it, put it away. Read it again and put it away. Then read it out loud to yourself. Seriously. Your ear will hear your errors. Do I expect it to be perfect? No, said the woman who once put "He stroked her cheese" instead of "He stroked her cheek." I do not. But I do expect you to make it as close to perfect as you can.

DEADLINE: August 31, 2011. Release date is up in the air. If that bothers you, don't sub. This (as of right now) will be an ebook put out by my little press December Ink.

THE FINE PRINT:

I'll be using 10 stories max. December Ink takes 25% of the cut, the remaining 75% is split evenly among the ten contributors and each will receive an ebook copy (print too if it ever goes to that). You could make a bunch of money. You could make hardly a thing. I ask for 3 months exclusivity and then you are free to go ahead and sell your work elsewhere.

Your work stays in the book as long as it's for sale, and that means you receive royalties as long as it's for sale.

Submissions should be sent to decemberink@gmail.com marked SUBMISSION: [YOUR TITLE] BY [YOUR AUTHOR NAME]
In your email please put:
Your name
Your pen name
Your mailing address
your contact email
A short bio

Good luck! Any questions can be sent to the same email addy. :)

And now I really and truly am going to bed. I was under the weather, then climbed back on top of it, and now it's winning again. Damn weather.

XOXO
Sommer

Call for Submissions: "Getting Better" Banner Art

Any artists in the house? One of my publishers put this call out. GREAT cause:

Each year, Torquere Press authors donate stories for a Charity Sip Blitz that is published in September. 100% of author royalties are donated to a designated charity, and a matching donation is made by the publishers. This year, the Torquere authors are looking for an artist to donate a banner for the official Charity Sip Blitz page, and a companion graphic for participating authors to post on their blogs and journals.

The beneficiary of the 2011 Charity Sip Blitz is the It Gets Better Project. Artwork should have the year, 2011, the phrase "Getting Better," and the phrase "Charity Sip Blitz" clearly legible. Banner size should be 456 by 60, in .jpg format. We encourage designs that fit the general themes of the Torquere Press web site and catalog . The author participation graphic should be derived from the banner design and submitted in a 200 by 200 size, also in .jpg format. Please keep in mind that authors may choose to use the participation graphic as an icon, and thus may resize the graphic to 100 by 100. Clarity is important.

The artist whose work is selected will be asked to sign a one-year agreement donating exclusive use of the design, and certifying that the artist either owns the rights to all images used in the design, or that the images are copyright-free. The artist is encouraged to sign the banner as part of the design, and in addition, Torquere Press will place a link to the artist's web site on the page where the banner is displayed.

Deadline for submission is July 15, 2011. Please submit your artwork in .jpg format, along with your biography and web contact info, to writingofjrocci@gmail.com with "Charity Sip Art" in the subject line.

Last year, 28 authors from around the world participated in the Charity Sip Blitz, and we're aiming even higher this year. This is a great opportunity to bring your work to the attention of a global GLBT romance audience!

#LHIFTB Tailor Made/Coming Together: As One

I couldn't be happier to plug this story by DC Juris. It appears in an awesome altruistic anthology you should definitely check out--my MFFF menage story "Cunning Little Vixens" is actually published in this antho, too!

Title: "Tailor Made" featured in the "Coming Together: As One" anthology
Author: DC Juris
Blurb: Daniel is thrown for a loop when he learns that his boyfriend Trevor isn't gay - he's actually bisexual and married to boot! Convinced of the love he shares with Trevor and that Trevor's wife, Kate, is on board, Daniel moves in with them. But what happens when Daniel starts to yearn for Kate too?

All proceeds from the sale of this volume will benefit ONE, the campaign to end global poverty!

Buy Link: http://www.eroticanthology.com/asone.htm

Excerpt:

Daniel rounded the corner of Fitch Street, enjoying the crisp morning autumn air, and looking forward to a wonderful day ahead of him. Lunch with his boyfriend, Trevor, a movie after, and then a lazy night in by himself. Too bad Trevor couldn't join him, but…

Daniel stopped in his tracks, his lips curling up into a happy smile. Speaking of Mr. Perfect! Trevor was inside Tarts, one of their favorite restaurants, seated in a booth with a young woman. Must be his sister; Trevor had said she would be in town. Daniel took a step forward, intending to go inside and give Trevor a playful piece of his mind for not introducing him sooner.

But then Trevor did something Daniel didn't expect. Would never have expected. Trevor leaned across the table and kissed the woman. French kissed. Definitely not his sister.

#LHIFTB Six Sentence Sunday: Friends of Dorothy

For the second Six Sentence Sunday during Donuts & Desires' "Let's Hear it for the Bis" celebration of bisexual fiction, I've selected 6 from my e-book Friends of Dorothy. This story also appears in my anthology My Mistress' Thighs.

Friends of Dorothy is a MMF threesome story. I'm not sure how many books out there involve cross-dressing cowboys, but...this one does:

“Sheryl said you were prancing around in ladies’ underpants,” Ricky said, shattering Leslie’s focus. “She said you didn’t show her a very good time because you were…you know…” He paused to rephrase, tracing his fingernail across the bar’s natural wood grain. Gazing down at the patina, he leaned in so close Leslie felt the heat of Ricky’s cheek against his own. He spoke very softly. “She said you liked dick.”

k.d. lang pics from Toronto Luminato Concert

Sweet and I had a great time at k.d. lang's free Luminato concert here in Toronto last night (Friday June 17th, 2011) and we took some pics to share with you. 'Luminato,' by the way, is one of Toronto's arts festivals. I think we were all overjoyed to have k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang performing an open air concert free of charge. It was a great night.

So, my photography skills are pretty craptacular. Most of my shots were not worth sharing, but I got a couple rehearsal photos in hours before the concert:

The rest of these pics were taken by Sweet. She was clever enough to take photos of the large screens on either side of the stage instead of trying to capture the stage itself. Seriously...my shots of the stage were like...blur, light source, moving blur...guitar?

Anyway, enjoy!