We did it, y'all. We got BLAZE out into the world. I say we because all of the kind tweets and comments you all left me while I was struggling really helped me to stay focused and publish Danny and Jordan's story. And I'm so happy I did! I wrote a sexy superhero romance! Can I make that my brand? Because I kind of want to make that my brand. =)

Anyhoo, BLAZE is now available on AMAZON. $4.99 to purchase and free to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. Tell all your superhero loving friends so they can get some of that smexy superhero goodness too. If you need a little convincing, you can check out the first four chapters of BLAZE below. Happy Reading and Happy Friday!

Danny tapped a nervous beat onto the steering wheel with his thumbs as he turned into a small parking lot. The yellow glow of street lamps lit the night, moths drawn by the light flitting beneath them. This lot was unattended and several blocks down from where he planned to go. But cars weren’t allowed to park on the old cobblestone streets in this section of downtown St. Louis, and the lots closer to the club where he was headed were outrageously expensive.

Since his used Altima wasn’t worth stealing, and he didn’t mind the walk, he should be okay parking this far away. Danny pulled into a spot near the front, and stepped out onto the cracked asphalt. After locking the car, he tucked the keys into his shimmery, iridescent blue fanny pack, zipped it up, and set off.
Butterflies swooped and fluttered in Danny’s stomach as he walked. Tonight would hopefully be the start of a new and long-desired chapter in his life. He was about to check out one of the local BDSM clubs for the first time. After a year of researching and role-playing as a submissive online, he was ready to see the lifestyle up close and personal.

He hoped he looked okay. He’d gone for what he’d jokingly labeled a soft BDSM look when choosing his outfit earlier that evening. A sheer white tank top with gold ribbons sewn on in a pattern that mimicked a chest harness, tight black booty shorts, and glittery-blue, ankle-low combat boots. His artists’ soul enjoyed color too much to go with the all black style he often saw in fetish pictures online. There was a cute little choker he’d wanted to add to his outfit, but worried that it might give off the impression he was already in a relationship, he’d chosen a short gold chain with a handcuff pendant instead.

As Danny passed low brick buildings with their windows dark and doors locked for the night, he reassured himself that he would be fine. The D/s community was welcoming. No one would laugh at him for being a newbie. He hoped. It might have been helpful to bring a friend along but this was something he preferred to do on his own. He wanted to walk into The Stocks without worrying about making sure his friend was comfortable. Or worse, being judged by them. That would be too much stress for his first public foray into kink life.

His head down, Danny focused on his footsteps, one foot in front of the other, determinedly taking him to the place where he’d finally connect with others who had the same interests as him. The streetlights reflected off the shine of his boots, the twinkling glitter making him smile despite his nerves. When the glitter abruptly dulled in sudden darkness, Danny looked up in surprise. The street light above him was out, and so were the next several, all the way until just before the club.

Hi. First, I’d like to apologize for disappearing and not releasing BLAZE on the (many) release dates I had set. I thought long and hard over whether or not to write this blog post, explaining what happened and why. On the one hand, I know there are lots of readers who just want to get books and other content from authors, without getting too much of their personal lives – which is completely valid. On the other hand, I genuinely wanted to let you guys know what’s up. But on the other other hand (stick with me, apparently I’ve got three hands in this scenario) I didn’t want it to come across like one of those dramatic tales that always pop up in the book community either.

Ultimately the desire to be honest and upfront about the situation won out. For those of you uninterested in reading the tale – just know that I had several physical & mental health issues, got overwhelmed and needed to step back. BLAZE is now slated for release on September 6th. For those of you who would like to know what happened, read on past the cut.

Hello! For this week's Fiction Friday, I have the first three chapters of BLAZE! If you missed my previous announcement, BLAZE was pushed back to due to personal illness. My apologies! But I'm back on track now and excited to share a little of Danny and Jordan's story with you. You can read it here on my blog or on BLAZE's page.

1

Danny tapped a nervous beat onto the steering wheel with his thumbs as he turned into a small parking lot. The yellow glow of street lamps lit the night, moths drawn by the light fluttering beneath them. This lot was unattended and several blocks down from where he planned to go, but cars weren't allowed to park on the old cobblestone streets in this section of downtown St. Louis, and the lots closer to the club where he was headed were outrageously expensive. Since his used Altima wasn't worth stealing, and he didn't mind the walk, he should be okay parking this far away. Danny pulled into a spot near the front, and stepped out onto the cracked asphalt. After locking the car, he tucked the keys into his shimmery, iridescent blue fanny pack, zipped it up, and set off.

Butterflies swooped and fluttered in Danny's stomach as he walked. Tonight would hopefully be the start of a new and long-desired chapter in his life. He was about to check out one of the local BDSM clubs for the first time. After a year of researching and role-playing as a submissive online, he was ready to see the lifestyle up close and personal.

He hoped he looked okay. He'd gone for what he'd jokingly labeled a soft BDSM look when choosing his outfit earlier that evening. A sheer white tank top with gold ribbons sewn on in a pattern that mimicked a chest harness, tight black booty shorts, and glittery-blue ankle-low combat boots. His artists' soul enjoyed color too much to go with the all black style he often saw in fetish pictures online. There was a cute little choker he'd wanted to add to his outfit, but worried that it might give off the sign he was already in a relationship, he'd chosen a short gold chain with a handcuff pendant instead.

As Danny passed low brick buildings with their windows dark and doors locked for the night, he reassured himself that he would be okay. The D/s community was welcoming. No one would laugh at him for being a newbie. He hoped. It might have been helpful to bring a friend along but this was something he preferred to do on his own. He wanted to walk into The Stocks without having to worry about making sure his friend was comfortable. Or worse, being judged by them. That would be too much stress for his first public foray into kink life.

His head down, Danny focused on his footsteps, one foot in front of the other, determinedly taking him to the place where he'd finally connect with others who had the same interests as him. The streetlights reflected off the shine of his boots, the twinkling glitter making him smile despite his nerves. When the glitter abruptly dulled in sudden darkness, Danny looked up in surprise. The street light above him was out, and so were the next several, all the way until just before the club.

It's cover reveal day! This is always such a great day because it's the step that takes the book from something that's just in my head and makes it real. Sharing the visual representation of BLAZE with all of you makes it a BOOK not just a story. So I hope you're ready, because it's time to bring BLAZE into the real world.

Hello and Happy Friday! As I work on my BDSM superhero series, I keep thinking back to The Sergeant - my first self-published BDSM romance. That book is hella long (and I love every page!), but I still had scenes that didn't make it into the final draft. Wild right? Anyhoo, thought I'd share one of my favorite deleted bits. Since it never made it into the final book it's unedited and has not been updated to reflect my progress as a writer. Also, it's NSFW, so don't leave it open on your office computer. ;-) Enjoy!

****

Two nights later, Clay followed Logan into his bedroom. He’d come home with him after their shift. He watched as Logan yawned and stretched, groaning as his back popped. Clay couldn’t resist taunting him.
 
“Man, Logan, you must really be tired. You actually had to get in some foot action today instead of just bossing us around.” The suspect they’d been serving a warrant on hopped out a window and took off running. Logan had been one of the closest to him and chased him down. The guy hit the ground hard when Logan caught him and slammed him down.
 
“You’re probably going to want to take some time to rest and recover,” he continued in a mockingly sympathetic voice.
 
Logan turned around and gave Clay a look. Clay inhaled sharply. He had a feeling he’d just seen the look Tiffany was talking about. Logan crooked his finger at him and Clay obeyed the command, walking over to Logan even though he was a little leery about what he was going to do. He was confused when Logan didn’t acknowledge his comment but reached into his nightstand and pulled out something that flashed silver.

Pssst! Guess what? I’m writing a superhero romance series! What made me write a series about superheroes? Actually, a better question is what took me so long. I’ve been a fan of superheroes since I was a kid watching X-Men and then on to Batman the Animated Series as a tween. The interest faded away for a bit, but then the Marvel Cinematic Universe yanked me back in with Iron Man. And that was it. I’ve been immersed ever since. Recently I got the DC Universe subscription and I’ve binged so much Justice League content. I even came to like Superman, who I’d pretty much ignored for years. So yeah, I think it was pretty inevitable that eventually I’d be writing my own superheroes – except mine are the grown and sexy version. But wait, there’s more!

My superheroes aren’t just grown and sexy. They’re also into bondage. Catwoman runs around with a whip, sexily snapping it at Bats but bondage might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to the brightly colored spandex wearing heroes like the Flash. How’d the idea come about then?

Two things kind of merged in my mind last year. One, I hadn’t written anything of substantial length involving bondage in a long time. And I freaking missed it! So it was no surprise that nearly every story idea I had involved bondage in some way. Then someone posted something online that caught my eye. It’s been at least a year since I saw it so I don’t remember who or where but it basically boiled down to I’d like to see something with BDSM that’s also fun and bright colors. And my brain went ding! That’s it. D/s superheroes. That’s what I want to write. And now, here we are.

Researching the subject to help with my world building and storytelling was no hardship. I just plopped down on the couch and binged cartoons and read comics – something I do every weekend anyway. There’s a million ways heroes can come into their powers so pretty much anything I came up with would work. My favorite superhero overall is Batman (Cap is #2) so it’s no surprise Book One features a quiet loner hero who fights crime in the dead of night. But instead of batarangs and grappling hooks, Blaze uses electricity-based powers to take on the street-toughs of St. Louis.

I actually had a funny moment on one of my research days. Blaze is bi-racial - Black and Caucasian. And I didn’t realize that it’s a running joke in the comic world that Black superheroes often have electric/lightning based powers. I only knew of Black Lightning, Storm and Static, but apparently, it’s more widespread than that. There’s Black Vulcan, Juice, Soul Power, Volt... Adding another Black hero with electric powers to the list wasn’t intentional but I’m happy to have Blaze join that roster.

I set the series in my hometown of St. Louis rather than a fictional city, because I remember years ago watching X-Men, and there’s the scene where Wolverine is fighting Sabretooth on top of the Statue of Liberty. He swings around her crown with his claws, slicing off the tip. I thought that was really cool. But I also thought, Hey! St. Louis has cool monuments. Why isn’t anything ever set there? No one gave me what I wanted, so I had to go Thanos mode - “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

Okay! You want dates and details, yeah? I got you. I’ve planned for a six-book series. Book One is titled BLAZE and features Blaze and Danny – a popular superhero fan artist. I’ll have the cover, blurb, and Goodreads link for you next Tuesday. The release day is set for May 31st.

I am ridiculously excited for this. It’s nice to be able to put years of nerd-dom to good use. I’m having fun telling the type of stories I’ve enjoyed seeing on screen and in comics – except with the smutty bits added in that you’d usually only get to see in fanfiction. Speaking of which, over the next few weeks I’ll have recs for other m/m superhero romance stories - both fic & pub’d - because they are out there and if you haven’t enjoyed any yet you should definitely give them a try.

Thank you for reading! 

Christa
Sign up for the Christa Tomlinson Newstetter HERE.
Check out my other titles on Amazon.

Hello and Happy Friday! I have two very special dates coming up this weekend. One, my birthday is Sunday! I've finally reached the Big 40. And... It's The Sergeant's Five Year Anniversary! Wow. I can't believe it's been five years since I first started this self publishing journey and set Logan and Clay loose on the world.

Over the next few days, I though it'd be neat to share a few Cuffs, Collars & Love throwbacks and extras, plus do some giveaways! To start, I have a short for Logan and Clay, written for The Sergeant's One Year Anniversary. Clay decides he wants to try being the Dom for the night and switch-a-roo sexy times ensue. The prompt was provided by Denise over at Two Chicks Obsessed. Please check out their blog. They have amazing recs and reviews. Okay, without further ado I present to you - For One Night Only

Logan lay back in his big bed. His submissive, Clay, lay across his chest. Logan gently brushed his fingers through the silky, dark curls of Clay’s hair as they both caught their breath. They’d been together for nearly seven months now. But their love for one another hadn’t faded and neither had their passion. Logan looked down as Clay propped himself up to look at him. The beautiful flush had faded from his face, but his blue eyes were still soft, his lids still low.

“Do you think we’ll still be this rambunctious in bed when we’re old?”

Logan arched a brow. “We’ve only been together for seven months and you’re talking about us being old? I’m still in my prime.” Clay dug an elbow into his ribs, making him wince. “Ow!”

“Sorry,” Clay said. But the sparkle in his eyes made it clear he wasn’t really. “You know what I mean. Do old people still play? Or will we start having vanilla sex all the time?”

Logan laughed. “Would that bother you?”

Clay’s eyebrows shot up. “Now that you’ve shown me sprinkles, caramel and whipped cream? Hell yeah it would.”

Logan laughed again. “There are plenty of D/s couples who play well into their golden years. I’m sure we’ll be just the same.”

“Good.” He closed his eyes for a second, taking in a deep breath. Then his eyes popped back open. “Don’t go getting any ideas with the ice cream. I’m not really into food-play.”

“Is that right? You didn’t seem to mind the last time I ate ice cream off of you.”

A/N: Hello! Since it’s Wrestlemania week, I thought I’d share an old wrestling slash fanfiction of mine for Fiction Friday. It’s PWP – Porn Without Plot / Plot? What Plot?, so don’t open on your computer at work. ?
 
The first part of this was written around early 2013, when I was actively writing fanfiction. At the time I was a big Dean fangirl and really into the Ambrollins – Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins – ship. Part one was written as a prize for my good friend, Amanda. They gave me a song to set the writing mood – Depeche Mode’s I Feel You. It was a great choice and really helped build the scene in my head.
 
Part two was written as a response to Dean switching up his ring gear and sending his fans into a tizzy as a result. Other than combining into one doc and adding a few commas, this fic has not been changed from its original posting – so you can see a bit of what my earlier writing was like. I hope you enjoy!
 
****
 
Dean walked up the stairs to his third-floor apartment. The black flak jacket he carried in his hand was light, but it felt heavy. Heavy as the anger that pressed against the back of his eyes. He walked across the small apartment into his bedroom, following the sound of running water. The door to the bathroom was open, steam curling out to greet him in a thick mist. Dean yanked the shower curtain back. Seth shook the water from his face and looked over his shoulder at him.
 
“Where did you go?”
 
“Driving.”
 
Seth arched a dark eyebrow. “All night?”
 
“Yes, all fucking night.”
 
Seth turned his back to the water but he kept washing himself. Dean’s eyes followed Seth’s hand as they rubbed the bar of soap across his chest, down his belly, and to his sex. He stayed there, washing slowly, bubbles rising and tangling in the dark thatch of curls. His long fingers dipped lower to cup the heavy sack that hung between his legs, washing that area just as slowly. Dean lifted his eyes back to Seth’s. “You’re clean enough. Get out of the goddamn shower so we can talk about this.”
 
“Fine.”
 
But instead of turning around to face the shower head to rinse off, Seth arched his neck back, way back so that the water splashed into his face and ran down his chest and lower to rinse all the soap away. Dean turned his back on the display. He wasn’t going to let the delicious sight of a wet and naked Seth distract him.

For this week's video, I chat a little about the research I do for writing. Including where I went to get first hand knowledge for The Sergeant and how Star Blazers saved me from a major goof.

Thanks for watching!

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub
Sign up for my Newsletter to receive updates, free reads and more!

It's almost Valentine's Day. You know what that means... a gazillion articles about romance novels that are completely clueless on the genre. I thought I'd clear up a few of those misconceptions with a video. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks for watching!

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub
Sign up for my Newsletter to receive updates, free reads and more!