Tuesday 28 February 2012

Celebrating Dreamspinner Press

So, we think Dreamspinner Press is pretty awesome. They consistently put out amazing material, they feature huge amounts of incredible authors, and they are one of the best Gay Romance publishers out there.

In honor of recognizing the fact that Dreamspinner Press is, as aforementioned, awesome, Sue Brown is going to be promoting Dreamspinner works on her blog to support them and the authors. We, of course, signed up.

But in lieu of offering a free book to go along with it, we've decided to do something else:

We're pledging a $25 donation to The Point Foundation, in honor of Dreamspinner Press.

The Point Foundation is a national LGBT scholarship fund organization that provides mentoring, financial support and leadership training to students who are marginalized due to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. It has recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary, and it's seen rapid growth due to good financial decisions by its organizers.

We think that organizations like this are critical in a world where LGBT students can still be marginalized. Students - teens and young adults - already have enough stress and craziness in their lives, they shouldn't have to deal with bigotry on top of all of that.

And, well, their website says it more eloquently than I can:

Applicants to Point Foundation and subsequent scholars, turn to Point Foundation because their families are either unable or unwilling to support them and their goals for higher education. Each student has a compelling and inspiring story of overcoming incredible obstacles and hardships. Many have been cruelly rejected by their families, forced to leave home, and cut off from all financial support. Yet Point Scholars are excelling at our nation's most prestigious and demanding universities and colleges, while also leading in a variety of extracurricular and community service activities.

We think that The Point Foundation is doing amazing things, hence our donation.

Sue Brown has pledged to match our $25!

If anybody else wants to do the same, comment here or PM us on Facebook. We're going to list the names of donors here in this blogpost, and we're also going to tell Facebook about how awesome you are for supporting this. But your donation doesn't have to be $25 - it can be $1, it can be $5, it can be however much you want to give. Every single dollar really does help.

Donations of $25 or over mean that you have the option of making your donation in honor of whomever you wish. So let's celebrate Dreamspinner Press. Let's celebrate the fact that we can publish and read quality gay fiction. Let's celebrate the fact that we can reach out and giving a helping hand to people that need it.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Hop Against Homophobia

Since starting this venture into the writing world, Robin and I have found out a couple of different things.  Writing action sequences while giggling over dirty jokes is harder than one might think, wine and coffee can actually sustain you through any writer's block, chocolate might actually be essential for the editing process, and there are a whole lot of people out there who are passionate about the same things we are.

As a gay couple, as writers, hell, as human beings, Robin and I feel it's our responsibility to take any platform we're given and use it to raise awareness and understanding for causes that are closest to our hearts.  Which is why we're so excited about Hop Against Homophobia.

May 17th - 20th, starting on the International Day Against Homophobia, we're going to be participating in a massive, M/M themed blog hop.  There's over 140 m/m authors, publishers, and reviewers signed up so far and I'm sure the list will just keep growing.

There'll be giveaways galore, which we all love, but most importantly there'll be some awesome awareness and discussion about the face of the m/m community.  The best response to hatred, to ignorance, is information and openness.  I sincerely hope that everyone who loves this genre, who feels passionately about this cause, will participate.

Also, free stuff!  Can't go wrong with that.

More details to come.

Friday 24 February 2012

Flasher Fiction Friday!

Who says I can't do new things?  As a fun way to stretch my writing muscles, so to speak, I decided to take part in Flasher Fiction Friday with a group of talented authors.  The goal?  Take one picture and interpret it any way we like.  The catch?  100 words.  No more, no less.

Hopefully my humble first offering will do.

-Alex