Saturday, October 28, 2017

Two Very Special Films YOU MUST SEE


Sometimes you just have to blink, and maybe blink again, and think to yourself Did I really just see that?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the importance of representation: how crucial it is for people to be able to see themselves in the arts ... to know that they aren’t alone.

While there’s been some truly memorable films lately that have worked hard to be inclusive of sexual identity, orientation, gender preference, cultural identity, ethnicity, and neurodiversity we in the kink community have remained unseen and, even worse, humiliated by mainstream cinema.

Until now -- and not just in one film but in two, and not just in limited run arthouse productions but in a pair of productions that are playing in many major multiplexes.

Let’s begin with a hearty and sincere yell: if you are queer, if you are bi, if you are poly, if you are kinky … or if you simply want to see two really magnificent films you have to go see Professor Marston and the Wonder Women and Tom Of Finland.

Ironically, both of these films also deal with the arts.  In the case of Professor Marston and the Wonder Women it’s a fictionalized depiction of William Moulton Marston’s creation of Wonder Woman -- and for Tom Of Finland it’s the life story of the iconic queer artist.

It’s actually hard to write a totally unbiased review of either of these productions, mostly because both of them were seen through a blur of joyous tears.  “I know this, I’ve felt this, I know this … these are my people, this is my life …” kept going through my mind.  

With both, I didn’t have to shoehorn myself into the narrative--to have the emotional pain of having to leave most of my life on the cutting room floor to fit into the worlds being projected onto the screen.

Both films have their faults---in fact both films have the same one: being biographies there is much that has been streamlined, compressed, or even outright changed to make the drama, especially fitting it into a movie’s run-time.  But this is true of any film of this type: it’s just part of the territory.

Accuracy is not important.  What is important is that both films depict, with skill and sensitivity, the pain and joy of being bi, being queer, being poly, being creative … and, especially, being kinky.  

In both we see a hostile and abusive world, punishing with emotional and physical violence those who simply want to love who they want to love.  

In both we see happiness in personal acceptance, in making a home, creating a family ... finding a tribe.  

For Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, the story is about two psychologists, William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) and Elizabeth Holloway Marston (Rebecca Hall) who at first struggle but then come to beautifully accept their mutual love for one of their students, Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote).  

Eventually, they create a beautiful queer/bi/poly/kinky family--and even raise 5 children together.  When faced with hard times, mainly due to William and Elizabeth losing their teaching positions because of the scandal, William pitches the idea of a brand new kind of superhero to a comic book publisher, the Amazon we all know and love: Wonder Woman.

The performances are perfectly nuanced: never once did I feel “kicked out” of the film because of a clumsy moment.  The direction, by Angela Robinson, is simple and smooth.  Reminiscing about the experience of watching it, I can’t remember it as being dramatically--and annoyingly--cinematic but rather as a series of emotionally powerful moments.  


Tom Of Finland, meanwhile directly addresses the institutionalized homophobia that far too many experienced, especially in Europe after the Second World War.

The film is painful to watch, especially through contemporary eyes--but that is its strength.  It is a reminder that for so many, for so long, even being suspected of being homosexual meant loss of job, imprisonment, or even “corrective” therapy.  

For Touko Laaksonen (played beautifully by Pekka Strang) being queer is a terrifying spy drama: where one wrong action, one wrong word, could mean the end of everything.  But instead of succumbing, denying who he is, he finds a way to reach out.

At first his sketches are illicit, done for his own pleasure, but then he makes the decision to try and find a sympathetic audience--which leads to not just his personal liberation but the creation a true artistic icon.

And, for the most part, the leather community itself.  

One of the most striking things about Tom Of FInland is that, even though it does feature English speaking actors and the latter half does take place in America, it is a Finnish production.  The director, Dome Karukoski, has created a perfect capsule of what life was like for Touko, and how he must deal with his queer identity in his suppressive homeland as well as when he discovers that the impact his artwork has had on gay men like himself.

Both of these films are currently in theaters--and you should go out and see both of them as soon as possible: not just because they are both excellently crafted, full of beautiful performances, and directed with consummate skill, but because THEY ARE IMPORTANT.  

We need to be in those seats, to show the people involved in their production that we appreciate their work and thoughtful representation of our own lives.  But we also need to demonstrate to the entertainment industry that films like this can be both be responsibly inclusive of our communities as well as profitable.  

If there’s a single message that both Tom Of Finland and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women embraces it is the one that all of us --queer, bi, poly, kinky, and more--know so well: that all of us should be proud of who and what we are--and that love will always trump hate.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Friday, May 19, 2017

FIVE TO THE FUTURE - Only .99 for a limited time!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

Here's your chance to read the very fun (if I do say so myself) anthology I put together with Ernest Hogan, Emily Devenport, Cynthia Ward, and Arthur Byron Cover - especially as, for a short time, it is now just 99 cents ... and FREE if you have Amazon Unlimited.


TOP 100 IN SF ANTHOLOGIES AMAZON KINDLE -5 THRILLING PEEKS INTO THE FUTURE FROM 5 VISIONARY WRITERS!

What will tomorrow look like? Here are five speculative answers from top science fiction authors.

Another outrageous act of science fiction by self-described “recombocultural Chicano mutant” Ernest Hogan, a soul-touching tale of furry friends and bittersweet affection by Emily Devenport, a neon-highlighted '80s love letter to a classic anime by Cynthia Ward, a multi-dimensionally kaleidoscopic tale of love beyond reality by Arthur Byron Cover, and M.Christian’s standout novelette about the Soviet-era practice of smuggling Western music impressed onto discarded X-rays.

The contributors:

M.Christian‘s published fiction includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, erotica and even non-fiction. His fantasy and science fiction have appeared in Talebones, Space & Time Magazine, Skull Full of Spurs, Graven Images, Horror Garage, Song of Cthulhu, and other science fantasy publications. The best of his short SF/H/F has been published in the collection Love Without Gun Control. Multiple Hugo and Nebula winner Mike Resnick has hailed M.Christian’s sf as "unique and truly fascinating." In addition to writing, he is a prolific and respected anthologist whose credits include The Mammoth Book of Future Cops and The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi), and many more.

Arthur Byron Cover is the author of the Nebula-nominee novel Autumn Angels, part of his Great Mystery trilogy, a saga of godlike men—which also includes An East Wind Coming, a novel pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper. His short stories have been widely anthologized, and often selected for The Year’s Best Horror Stories and other collections. He has also written works set in the Buffyverse and in Asimov’s Foundation Universe.

Emily Devenport is the author of Shade, Larissa, Scorpianne, EggHeads, The Kronos Condition, GodHeads, Broken Time (which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award), Belarus, and Enemies. Her newest novels, The Night Shifters and Spirits of Glory, are in ebook form on Amazon, Smashwords, and more. She is currently working on a novel based on her popular novelette, “The Servant.” Her short stories were published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Full Spectrum, The Mammoth Book of Kaiju, Uncanny, Cicada, Science Fiction World, Clarkesworld, and Aboriginal SF, whose readers voted her a Boomerang Award (which turned out to be an actual boomerang).

Ernest Hogan is a six-foot tall Aztec leprechaun who was born in East LA back in the Atomic Age. Because he is the author of High Aztech, Smoking Mirror Blues, and Cortez on Jupiter, he is considered to be the Father of Chicano Science Fiction. His short fiction has appeared in Amazing Stories, Analog, Science Fiction Age, and many other publications.

Cynthia Ward has published stories in Asimov's Science Fiction, Shattered Prism, Weird Tales, Athena's Daughters (Silence in the Library Publishing), and other anthologies and magazines. Her stories "Norms" and "#rising" made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List for 2011 and 2014. She edited the anthologies Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West Volumes One and Two for WolfSinger Publications. Her short alternate-history novel, The Adventure of the Incognita Countess, is now available from Aqueduct Press.

These prescient and creative minds join forces to offer you a don't-miss anthology of the year!



Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Beat Me In St. Louis (BMISL) was AMAZING!

(from R.Greco and M.Christian Presents)

To all the folks great behind, and attending, Beat Me In St. Louis (BMISL) we want to give an ernest and heartfelt THANK YOU: everything was a delight and beyond.  If you ever have the chance to attend you really should - hands-down this is our favorite event to teach for or just attend.

In a word:

Bravo!



Monday, March 20, 2017

Pre-Release Book Announcement: Groundbreaking FIVE TO THE FUTURE SciFi Anthology

Digital Parchment Services (distributed by Futures-Past Editions) and M.Christian are pleased to announce the imminent release of a brand new science fiction anthology edited by M.Christian:
Five To The Future
All New Novelettes of Tomorrow and Beyond

Five to the Future_eBook.jpg



Featuring never-before-published work by Ernest Hogan (Locus Award Finalist), Arthur Byron Cover (Nebula Award Finalist), Emily Devenport (Boomerang Award winner), Cynthia Ward (Asimov’s SF Magazine), and M.Christian (Lambda Award Finalist):

Here’s what editor M.Christian says about this new anthology:

And here we are: a Chicano fiesta of multicultural caliente salsa from Ernest Hogan, a soul-touching tale of furry friends and bittersweet affection by Emily Devenport, a neon-highlighted 80s love letter to a classic anime by Cynthia Ward, a multi-dimensionally kaleidoscopic tale of love beyond reality by Arthur Byron Cover, and even my own modest contribution in four stories as one, about the Soviet-era practice of smuggling Western music impressed onto discarded X-rays.

About the contributors to Five To The Future:

Extensively published in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and non-fiction, it is in erotica that M.Christian has become an acknowledged master, with more than 400 sales in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica, and in fact too many anthologies, magazines, and sites to name.

But M.Christian has other tricks up his literary sleeve: in addition to writing, he is a prolific and respected anthologist, having edited twenty-five anthologies to date including The Mammoth Book of Future Cops, The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi); Confessions, Garden of Perverse, Amazons (with Sage Vivant), and many more.

As a novelist, M.Christian has shown his versatility with books such as the queer vamp novels Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys; the erotic romance Brushes; the science fiction erotic novel Painted Doll; and the rather controversial gay horror/thrillers Finger’s Breadth and Me2.

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Arthur Byron Cover is a former bookseller, critic, and big mouth. He published several sf novels in another era. He was raised in Tazewell, Virginia, which is in Tazewell County, which was named after a man who opposed the formation of the county until he learned it was going to be named after him. He is one degree of separation from F. Scott Fitzgerald, former President Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and a whole lot of rich and famous people in liberal Hollywood, many still alive. He currently lives with his wife and six pets in the middle of nowhere called Packwood, Washington, where the elk roam and the volcanoes haven’t erupted for thirty years.

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Nine of Emily Devenport’s novels were published in the US by NAL/Roc, under three pen names. She has also been published in the U.K., Italy, China, and Israel. Her novels are Shade, Larissa, Scorpianne, EggHeads, The Kronos Condition, GodHeads, Broken Time (which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award), Belarus, and Enemies. Her newest novels, The Night Shifters and Spirits of Glory, are in ebook form on Amazon, Smashwords, etc. She is currently working on a novel based on her popular novelette, “The Servant.”

Her short stories were published in Asimov’s SF Magazine, the Full Spectrum anthology, The Mammoth Book of Kaiju, Uncanny, Cicada , Science Fiction World, Clarkesworld, and Aboriginal SF, whose readers voted her a Boomerang Award (which turned out to be an actual boomerang). She blogs at www.emsjoiedeweird.com.

One day Em hopes to become a geologist. She volunteers at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and works in the Heard Museum bookstore (Books & More). She is married to artist/writer Ernest Hogan, and they live in Arizona, the Geology Capital of the World.

And she really loves cake. You should send her cake. (But not pineapple upside-down cake. That’s fake cake.)

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Ernest Hogan is a six-foot tall Aztec leprechaun who was born in East LA back in the Atomic Age. His mother’s name was Garcia, and his parents weren’t aware of Ernest Hogan, the Father of Ragtime. He grew up in West Covina, considered to be one of the most boring places in California. Monster movies, comic books, and science fiction saved his life. Because he is the author of High Aztech, Smoking Mirror Blues, and Cortez on Jupiter, he is considered to be the Father of Chicano Science Fiction, though there hasn’t been any kind of DNA test. His short fiction has appeared in Amazing Stories, Analog, Science Fiction Age, and many other publications, His story “The Frankenstein Penis,” has been made into student films. He is also an artist and cartoonist. He has been recently been discovered by academia, which may bring about the end of Western Civilization. His “Chicanonautica Manifesto” appeared in Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies. He is married to the writer Emily Devenport.

They live in Arizona, and enjoy exploring the Wild West. He blogs at mondoernesto.com and labloga.blogspot.com. Currently, he’s trying to finish several novels, but keeps getting distracted by all kinds of weird shit.

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Cynthia Ward has published stories in Asimov's Science Fiction, Shattered Prism, Weird Tales, Athena's Daughters (Silence in the Library Publishing), and other anthologies and magazines. Her stories "Norms" and "#rising" made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List for 2011 and 2014. She edited the anthologies Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West Volumes One and Two for WolfSinger Publications, and has a pair of anthologies forthcoming in collaboration with Charles G. Waugh, the first science fiction professional she ever met. With Nisi Shawl, Cynthia co-created the groundbreaking Writing the Other fiction writers workshop and coauthored the diversity fiction-writing handbook Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (Aqueduct Press).  Her short alternate-history novel, The Adventure of the Incognita Countess, is now available from Aqueduct Press. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is not working on a screenplay.

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Five To The Future will be formally released in April, 2017. Pre-release copies for review are available now by writing M.Christian: mchristianzobop@gmail.com.

ISBN (print): 978-1544125367
PRICE: (print) $14.99/(ebook): $2.99 (free on Amazon Unlimited)
eBook and Trade Paper Editions available April, 2017

Distributed by Futures-Past Editions
https://futurespasteditions.com
Twitter: @futurespasted
Facebook: Futures-Past-Editions

Digital Parchment Services is a complete ebook and print service for literary estates and literary agents. The founders of Digital Parchment Services are pioneers in digital publishing who have collectively published over 2,500 ebooks and PoD paperbacks since 1998.

DPS clients include the estates of multiple Hugo winning author William Rotsler, and science fiction legend Jody Scott; authors such as Locus Award finalist Ernest Hogan, Hugo and Nebula nominee Arthur Byron Cover, prize winning mystery author Jerry Oster, psychologist John Tamiazzo, Ph.D., award winning nutritionist Ann Tyndall; and Best of Collections from Fate Magazine and Amazing Stories.

http://digitalparchmentservices.com
Twitter: @DigiParchment
Facebook: Digital-Parchment-Services

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

We're Going To Beat Me In St. Louis - AGAIN!

(from R.Greco and M.Christian Presents)

This is wonderful and then some!  The kinky act of one R. Greco and one M.Christian are pleased and proud to be coming (and then some) back for another year of wild classes and fun, fun, fun at the one-and-only Beat Me In St. Louis on March 24th to the 26th!

We'll be spreading the love of what we'll be teaching soon!




Wednesday, January 18, 2017

A Special Interview with Bending The Bookshelf


The social media fun continues!  A very special interview I did with Bending the Bookshelf just went live.  Check it out here!

I'm An Awesome Author At Erotica Readers And Writers!


This is such a treat: the great Erotica and Writers site just added me to their Awesome Author's listing - with my bio, some fun links and even my story "Four Views of Mount Fuji."  Check it out here.

Saturday, January 07, 2017

Announcing The M.Christian Erotic Science Fiction Collection

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)


For the first time, M.Christian’s sexual futurist novels and short story collections are available as both ebooks and special-edition audiobooks!

“Future technology’s ability to alter the very nature of our humanity—and the ways those changes interact with sex—shapes this solid collection of futuristic stories from erotica author M.Christian”
Publisher’s Weekly on Skin Effect

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Since his appearance in the 1994 edition of Best American Erotica, M.Christian has proven himself to be the premier erotic chameleon: being able to seamlessly write for practically any genre and orientation, fetish and interest.  

But it is in the field of erotic science fiction that M.Christian has shown his mastery of both: combining a vivid style, haunting and evocative characters, and carefully crafted structures to not just sexually charge the reader he also examines how human sexuality may evolve in the coming decades—or centuries.

For the first time his premier short story collections and novels are now available as not just as ebooks but—through a special arrangement with Wordwooze Publishing—as audiobooks!

M.Christian’s Erotic Science Fiction Short Story Collections:

Bachelor Machine: Science Fiction Erotica (with an introduction by Cecilia Tan).  
The book that established M.Christian as a voice in the genre.  Received positive reviews from many, including Locus Online.  
Ebook (Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions): http://tinyurl.com/gp8cpkt
Audiobook (Wordwooze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/zw25f7o

Skin Effect: More Science Fiction Erotica (with an introduction by Ernest Hogan).  
The positive-future sequel to Bachelor Machine.  Received positive reviews from the likes of Publisher’s Weekly.  
Ebook (Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions): http://tinyurl.com/j9moky8
Audiobook (Wordwooze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/jzmct5u

M.Christian’s Erotic Science Fiction Novels:

Bionic Lover
A mesmerizing tale of bittersweet desire, lesbian romance, and all-too human frailty
Ebook Print-on-demand (Wordwooze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/jz54uxr
Audiobook (Wordwooze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/jsdbzgu

Painted Doll
"A non-stop ride of precise prose and unexpected imagery. Painted Doll is another M. Christian gem; a seamless blend of the erotic with the darkly fantastic. Unpredictable, engaging, and an often startling read."—Marilyn Jaye Lewis, author of Freak Parade
Ebook (Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions): http://tinyurl.com/hzx3xyx
Audiobook (Wordwooze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/j5bvavs

Finger's Breadth
“Finger’s Breadth may well rank as one of the most psychologically astute erotic novels since Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s Venus in Furs, and it deserves to be just as widely read.”—Circlet Press
Ebook (Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions): http://tinyurl.com/go8m62p
Audiobook (Wordwooze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/zufwvav

All books are available for review.  Interested?  Write M.Christian at mchristianzobop@gmail.com

M.Christian’s Sexual Futurism In Fact As Well As Fiction:

In addition to writing erotic science fiction, M.Christian is a contributor to the well-respected Future Of Sex (“insights into the fascinating topic of the future of human sex and sexuality”): a publication of the Advanced Human Technologies Group!

M.Christian has written on a staggering array of subjects -- from covering state-of-the-art breakthroughs in sexual technology to speculations on the future of human eroticism -- in over 60 popular articles and essays.

Here’s a link to M.Christian’s work for Future Of Sex: http://futureofsex.net/author/m-christian.

About M.Christian:

Calling M.Christian versatile is a tremendous understatement. Extensively published in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and even non-fiction, it is in erotica that M.Christian has become an acknowledged master, with stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica, and in fact too many anthologies, magazines, and sites to name.  In erotica, M.Christian is known and respected not just for his passion on the page but also his staggering imagination and chameleonic ability to successfully and convincingly write for any and all orientations.

But M.Christian has other tricks up his literary sleeve: in addition to writing, he is a prolific and respected anthologist, having edited 25 anthologies to date including the Best S/M Erotica series; Pirate Booty; My Love For All That Is Bizarre: Sherlock Holmes Erotica; The Burning Pen; The Mammoth Book of Future Cops, and The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi); Confessions, Garden of Perverse, and Amazons (with Sage Vivant), and many more.

M.Christian's short fiction has been collected into many bestselling books in a wide variety of genres, including the Lambda Award finalist Dirty Words and other queer collections like Filthy Boys, BodyWork, and his best-of-his-best gay erotica book, Stroke the Fire.  He also has collections of non-fiction (Welcome to Weirdsville, Pornotopia, and How To Write And Sell Erotica); science fiction, fantasy and horror (Love Without Gun Control); and erotic science fiction including Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, and the acclaimed Bachelor Machine.

As a novelist, M.Christian has shown his monumental versatility with books such as the queer vamp novels Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys; the erotic romance Brushes; the science fiction erotic novel Painted Doll; and the rather controversial gay horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth and Me2.

M.Christian is also the Associate Publisher for Renaissance eBooks, where he strives to be the publisher he'd want to have as a writer, and to help bring quality books (erotica, noir, science fiction, and more) and authors out into the world.

M.Christian’s Social Media:

Twitter: @mchristianzobop

Sunday, December 04, 2016

Roxy Katt Likes Finger's Breadth!

(from M.Christian's Technortica)

Check out this really touching review of my queer/horror/erotic/SF/thriller Finger's Breadth by the one and only Roxy Katt.

And don't forget that Finger's Breath is available as both an ebook as well as an audiobook!

    


I love noir. I love noir movies. And I was pleasantly surprised by M. Christian’s Finger’s Breadth. Not that I was surprised that it was good, having already read and positively reviewed his Bionic Lover. But I did not think it would be this good. I was surprised to see a complex noir plot so deftly handled. Finger’s Breadth has a great many characters and different story lines in it, and it is difficult to write such a novel without putting the reader off. The risk is that just as one story line gets interesting, another one is picked up and the first line is awkwardly interrupted.

Not so with this book. M. Christian takes us through a gay San Francisco some time in the not too distant future where gay men are being tricked and attacked in an unusual way I will not discuss for fear of spoilers.

The plot is tense, the characters well drawn, and the suspense is strong. The text is certainly erotic, but for me the primary interest was in trying to decipher the mystery: what was going on, and who was doing it, and why. Also, the effects on the gay community add a deeper dimension to the book not usually present in a whodunit. A terrific read.

Sunday, October 09, 2016

I'm Not Dead -

- or even a little sick.  I know I've been neglecting my site of late but it's for more than a few rather good reasons: in addition to writing up a storm for the amazing folks at Future Of Sex, and continuing to be an Publisher with Renaissance E Books, I'm hard at work on three new novel projects and a special anthology.


Stay tuned!


Sunday, July 24, 2016

Sign Up For The WordWooze Newsletter!


I really do like working with WordWooze Publishing - and here's an opportunity for you folks to follow all the cool things they are up to by subscribing to their  newsletter!

Here's the info - in a letter from the man himself, Jim Loftin:
I would like to inform you of Wordwooze Publishing’s response to Amazon’s new review vetting policy. We are supplementing our practice of sending potential reviewers pdf or mobi copies by scheduling days when our books are free on Amazon, which allows reviewers to “purchase” the book and have their reviews display on Amazon as a “verified purchase.” During the first couple of months of this new campaign all of our books will periodically be available in this manner, from then onward at least two books per month.

We will be sending out a MailChimp newsletter to reviewers and bloggers to alert them of the scheduled Amazon promotion periods of each book. You are invited to sign up for our opt-in only mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/b9hVkj To sweeten the deal for reviewers and bloggers, our newsletters will include links to downloadable cover art, blurbs, excerpts, interviews, bios and author photos or avatars.

Whereas we would eventually like this to become the most common means of providing review copies to reviewers, we will also judiciously distribute review copies as we have in the past. Just to be clear, this is only for our ebook editions; Audible doesn’t offer this option. We will continue providing promo codes to interested audiobook reviewers and bloggers.

Regards,
Jim Loftin aka Jim Lyon
Wordwooze Publishing
http://www.wordwooze.com/