THE LOVERS & LIARS GAY ROMANCE TOUR

It's an honor to welcome author and editor Paul Alan Fahey on my blog today. Welcome, Paul!

Hi, Iyana, and a warm hello to your readers and writers at Iyana’s Rainbow. I’m Paul Fahey and I write the historical gay romance series, LOVER’S & LIARS WARTIME SERIES. I also dabble in gay nonfiction so thought I might start off by telling you about THE OTHER MAN: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On.

Please don’t forget if you comment on my post, you’ll stand a good chance of winning an e-book of THE OTHER MAN and also put your hat in the ring for a copy of BOMBER’S MOON, the first novella in my series. (BTW I don’t write novel length books. All of my books in the series are novellas.

Since it’s November, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so I just might make a novel happen. We’ll just have to see how far I get. Stay tuned.

I really enjoy getting email, so if you’d like to visit my website, http://www.paulalanfahey.com, I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s a short synopsis of THE OTHER MAN. Not to brag, but our anthology is a “2013 Rainbow Award Finalist” in the UK, so I’ve got fingers crossed for the 21 writers who contributed to the book, myself included. Oh, all of my books are published by JMS Books, a wonderful LGBT publisher. Do take a look at the wonderful writers, Iyana included who are published through JMS Books.

http://www.jms-books.com

THE OTHER MAN anthology is a collection of personal essays by and about gay men and their relationships. If you’ve ever been the other man, had him invade your life, or if you’re just plain curious about this beguiling, sexy and unpredictable creature, then this anthology of personal essays is for you. Twenty–one of our most acclaimed authors--many Lambda Award Winners and Finalists, such as Rob Byrnes, Jeff Mann, Tom Mendicino, Erik Orrantia, Felice Picano, and David Pratt, write candidly about either being the other man, suffering the other man or having their relationships tested by infidelity. What we learn from these gifted authors is we must take heart, that it does get better and one day our luck is bound to change. We’ll survive the bumps and detours in our relationships and weather the storms, or we resolve to move on. Hopefully, along the way, we’ll meet someone new and simpatico, maybe even our long awaited soul mate, and life is indeed good again. Or is it? 

Want More? Here’s a short excerpt from “Husbands” by Austin Bunn:

This is how I find Daniel in my memory: naked, in my closet, on the phone with his wife.

“Are you in a tunnel?” I heard her ask. “You sound strange.”

“I’m driving with the windows up,” Daniel said. “Love you.” He flung the phone onto the pile of his clothing and slid next to me on the bed, his eyes closed, an over-eager smile warming his face.

Daniel’s photograph, the one he emailed yesterday, showed him wearing a bad tie and seated in an office chair, the ghostly slap of a computer spreadsheet paling his face. He claimed to be a photographer, for God’s sake. Yet the total inhibition of his picture, the complete lack of self-awareness, was somehow the attraction. Or challenge. Or maybe this was charity. I still don’t know. Here was a man who couldn’t see himself. At least he laughed easily. When he did, he barked upwards, revealing a top row of teeth that came to a point, like the prow of a boat.

Initially, Daniel proposed I visit him at his office building during his lunch hour. This was to be my first encounter in a new city, and the thought of sex on industrial carpeting depressed the hell out of me. Driving to him, anyway, was out of the question. So I invited him over after work. An amuse bouche, I called him. An appetizer. He didn’t get the joke.

He was slim and shorter than me, with tremendously bushy eyebrows. A pelt of black hair covered his body, which I saw as some certification of masculinity, however imaginary. On his Manhunt profile, he said he had “suckable” balls—a straight man’s idea of a gay man’s idea of sexy. I felt like I was providing material to Daniel, fuel for his fantasy life, which I couldn’t help but think, judging by his greediness, occupied increasing real estate in his actual life.

More info, including a longer synopsis of THE OTHER MAN, a different excerpt and buy links for the e book and print versions can be found here:

http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37&products_id=798

http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=52&products_id=799

On to the LOVER’S & LIARS WARTIME SERIES:

I really enjoy writing this series, mainly because I can explore what it might have been like to be a gay couple during the 1940’s in wartime Britain. I have two couples, one gay, one straight, and they get themselves involved in all sorts of trouble. I suppose you can guess by the title of the series, that the couples are spies for the British government…well one character isn’t a spy, but is in love with one who is and he joins the others when things get rather dicey. The first book, BOMBER’S MOON is set in London during the Blitz.

Here’s a short synopsis:

After losing his lover in a tragic motorcar accident, Leslie Atwater goes about the motions but doesn’t really feel alive. Not without Edward. In a time where “one of us” was a euphemism for being gay, Leslie and Edward managed to live a quiet, private life together, but nothing prepares Leslie for a world without his partner. During the day, Leslie works as a clerk in a modest bookshop in central London. By night, he’s an air raid warden in his district responsible for the safety of his “flock.”

In an effort to feel closer to Edward, Leslie spends evenings in his flat reviewing Edward’s portfolio of sketches. Edward had worked as a freelance artist, and his depiction of Londoners suffering through the Blitz appeared daily in The Globe. Leslie discovers irregularities in the sketches from Edward’s final assignment that he simply can’t explain. He begins to question what he was told about Edward’s death, and his investigation leads him down a tangled trail from the center of London to the coast of Great Britain. Tension mounts and nothing is what it seems.

In a showdown with German spies at a lighthouse overlooking the English Channel, bombs fall, people die, and Leslie gets more than he bargains for in his search for the truth behind his lover’s untimely death.

A Short Excerpt from BOMBER’S MOON:

Leslie climbed the stairway to the flat he once shared with Edward. On the landing, he glanced at his reflection in the large, beveled mirror. A thin, haggard-looking

face stared back with blond hair combed straight back, and bifocals, offsetting his deep blue eyes, making them seem more brilliant, larger than they actually were.

“You’re just my type, Les,” Edward had said the night they met. “Sweet, unassuming and sexy as hell.” Leslie was equally drawn to Edward’s olive complexion, his hazel eyes, and jet-black hair. As a couple, they were indeed a study in contrast and once again proved the time worn adage that opposites did attract.

Leslie had learned over the past weeks—were they months? —to make his way in the dark with the aid of a small pocket torch. Lately, he felt as if he were being guided along through the darkness by some unseen hand. How many times had he and Edward come home tipsy from the pub and found the light burned out in the hallway? They’d had to hold on to each other for fear of banging into a table or knocking over a vase, and waking the other tenants from a deep sleep.

Leslie pointed the torchlight at the door lock, turned the key, and heard the click of the latch. He was home.

Everything in Leslie’s world these days was defined by sounds; he was tuned in,

constantly aware of what was happening around him—another gift from the Blitz. With his hand still on the doorknob, he paused and listened. Was that the rumble of a train in the Underground? An ambulance siren in the distance? Simple, everyday, taken for granted street sounds also became magnified. What kind of world was this where even birdsong could seem menacing?

More info, including a longer synopsis, a different excerpt and a buy link for the e book can be found here:

http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29&products_id=683

I’ve really gone wild with LOVER’S & LIARS and enjoy the characters so much, especially Caroline, my female protagonist. Caroline is witty and sophisticated and great fun to spend time with. I hope you’ll agree.

I have two sequels in the L & L series published through JMS Books: WEEP NOT FOR THE PAST and A MANX TALE. Both are available as e-book novellas. There’s also a short Christmas story, A CHRISTMAS IN KENT, that continues the storyline through December 1941 and is due from JMS next month.

Info, synopsis and excerpt for WEEP NOT FOR THE PAST:

http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=78&products_id=880

Info, synopsis and excerpt for A MANX TALE:

http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=78&products_id=975

Well, more information than you probably needed, but do comment and take a chance on winning e-copies of THE OTHER MAN and BOMBER’S MOON and/or drop me a line on my website.

Thank you, Iyana, for letting me chat today with your readers. And here’s to all the lovers and liars everywhere, and I mean that affectionately.

My best,

Paul