First off,
thank you to Diverse Reader for hosting me today!
Like most of
us in the community, when I heard about the Pulse tragedy, it sucked the breath
out of me, made me cry and angry all at the same time. I got even angrier as I
saw news outlets and politicians try to strip the reason for the shooting out
of it—try to take the focus off the LGBT aspect of the tragedy. I wanted to do
something to help the victims and their families. I wanted to find a way to add
my voice to the mix that said “we know exactly
why it happened” and “it’s part of our community”!
I have made no secret of my bisexuality and as part of the LGBT rainbow, I felt
it was my duty to do something. So, when Dreamspinner Press announced to us
that they were doing a charity anthology, I jumped on it.
Well, before
I could even really wonder what I wanted to write, Miguel was poking me. He’s a
young Mexican wolf from Los Angeles, who’s best friend Luis is his destined
mate. Well aware of the vitriol still out there against gay people—even among
the wolf community—they kept it to themselves.
These guys
had a hard journey. It was hard for me to write because I felt their
frustration, the attempts to hold onto hope—even though they wanted to just
give up. But they didn’t, if not for themselves, then for each other.
Now, I have a
tendency to get a little crazy on my
research. (Me? No! Say it isn’t so!) This is a part of the world that I hadn’t
given much thought to in my Forbes Mates world, so I had no idea what packs
were out there or what their attitudes might be like. So, of course, I started
looking a maps, figuring out where things ought to be. I even ended up printing
a bunch out from Google and deciding on the packs that way.
I can get a
little, um, involved in my planning. But it helped a lot and I managed to come
up with several new wolf packs and a route for them to take. Can you tell I had
a bit of fun with it?
And a short
excerpt:
When they pulled into
the Phoenix station, Miguel found himself annoyed that there didn’t seem to be
anything nearby. He’d spent so much time in a city—a real, big city, with
McDonald’s and In-N-Outs on every corner—that to step outside and see nothing
but an airport and desert was disheartening.
He shoved the thought
off and found the text from his mamá
with the Tonto alpha’s phone number. In a few moments, he had directions to a
McDonald’s a little distance away by city bus and where to pick it up. They
stored their bags in a locker and headed out.
But barely two hours
later, he and Luis were once more waiting for a bus, this time with an even
less friendly suggestion to move on. He couldn’t say the alpha was hostile necessarily, but the curled lip
he got when he saw Miguel and Luis holding hands had said enough. The meeting
had been very short, very tense, and ended with the alpha telling them there
was a 2:45 a.m. bus from Phoenix going east and they “had better be on it.”
Miguel was already
tired of that reaction. While the pack in Palm Springs hadn’t been nearly as
mean, he knew quite well it was because they were same-sex mates. Three packs,
so far—their original and two others—hadn’t wanted them.
“Maybe we shouldn’t
tell them, Miguel.”
Miguel sighed and
kissed the top of Luis’s head. “I was just thinking something like that. If we
didn’t, if we maybe made something up about why we left, maybe we could at
least stay for a while.”
Thank you again to Diverse Reader for hosting
me and helping us to promote the One Pulse anthology. Please consider picking
it up today to help the Florida charities and the Pulse victims.
Hope Blurb:
Miguel
Garcia and Luis Rodriguez have been best friends all their lives. For the last
year, they've been hiding the fact that they're also destined
mates. When Luis's family finds out, they kick him out. Miguel's family would
keep them...except their alpha has been known to be downright violent against
gay wolves.
With the help of Miguel's mother, they set out
to find a pack that will accept them. They run into more than a few obstacles
before they end up in Denver, at the national wolf headquarters, meeting the
alpha prime. They're stunned to find, not only offers to join more than one
pack, but that their struggle can shine light on a bigger problem--and make
things better for LGBT wolves across the country.
About Grace:
Grace
Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early
age – many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to
channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction,
which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica.
A
gypsy in her own right, Grace has lived all over the United States. She
has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children – both the
human and furry kind.
As
one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on
the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics.
She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime,
suspense, romance and other erotica or even dabbling in art.
Find Grace here:
Website
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