Tag: author

Fantasy Time: What does your dream home and dream neighbor look like?

Fantasy Time: What does your dream home and dream neighbor look like?

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Let’s play a game. Let your imagination run wild when thinking about this question.

What’s your dream home and who’s your dream neighbor?

In this scenario you’re free to live anywhere and have any kind of home your heart desires. And when you move into your ideal neighborhood, who would you be super happy to see living across the street?

(I wanna make some joke about the eye candy adding curb appeal but I don’t have it.)

Are you picturing a log cabin in the mountains with a sexy lumberjack? Or a palatial estate with an infinity pool, acres upon acres of land, and a classically handsome hottie with a square jaw grinning at you from his sports car?

Admittedly my head started somewhere around the latter but then I realized I’m a whimsical romantic sort. Cute, cozy, and a little quirky is much more my speed. So I started searching for fairytale-esque cottages.

The house is in Carmel-by-the-Sea California. Awesome name, and you don’t even have to ask if it’s near the sea because it’s right there in the title. The town apparently attracts artists and oddballs that want the area to retain its eccentric charm, so I’m guessing there’s no Chipotle nearby but otherwise looks like a nice place to live.

And since this is a fantasy I don’t have to ask myself who would water those plants and why I thought I could handle the responsibility of keeping them alive.

My ideal neighbor was a bit of a challenge because I wanted someone super good looking who also might be able to walk into a small cottage without bumping his head.

I went with Freddie Stroma from Bridgerton, though I recently watched him on Unreal where sometimes he looks nice and conventionally attractive and other times he grows a beard or gets this steely look in eye and goes from cute to dirty hot in a very appealing way.

The inspiration for today’s hypothetical question came to me based on my newest novel.

The book is a paranormal romance, so I suppose the scenario actually goes like this: What if your new home came with everything you desired, including a sexy new neighbor? What if your new neighbor was also a werewolf?

The Werewolf’s Heart is my new book that launches on May 9th. There’s a lot more to share with you soon, including the cover and special release day bonuses.

(No idea if this needs to be said, but in case you’re wondering, the book is of course M/M.)

Titles are hard. Even when they’re easy.

Titles are hard. Even when they’re easy.

by fnmanning ♥ 1 Comment

When it comes to novel ideas, I’m fantastic. I can dream up ideas all day long, there’s ideas coming out the wazoo… you get the gist. The follow through, however, is where I start running into problems. And slapping a title on a finished creation that miraculously made its way from idea to publishable-novel? Ugh.

Damn, people still like titles? Yeah. It’s not easy.

I like short clean titles that are a word or two because this is easy and classy. And also I’m lazy. But often short titles can’t sum up the whole work on its own and also doesn’t really intrigue people as much as something more compelling and thought out.

But for my latest novel about best friends falling in love, magical hexes, and bisexuality, I thought I had the perfect title all set and ready to go.

Okay, here’s the premise:

Our hero John is an overlooked 16-year-old in Buffalo, New York. His quest to come out as bi and confess his love for his best friend becomes infinitely more complicated when he starts disappearing from view.

So what’s it called? Invisi-bi-lity.

Yes, still one word, but the way it breaks up provides two of the most important points: there’s invisibility and bisexuality involved. Truthfully, I wanted to call the book ‘invisible.’ I ran into my first snag when realizing how invisible was actually spelled.

‘Bi’ is not in ‘invisible.’ Now I know. Changing it to invisibility solved that.

My next hiccup came when putting the book upon Kindle Vella. I typed in Invisi(bi)lity and thought all was well. But not so! On the page where I input the info, it shows up correctly. But when I looked at the page others see it showed up as invisi(bi) lity.

Now maybe I shouldn’t care about the extra space in there. Maybe I should just let it go. But I’m not known for my ability to just let things go and move on. I’m not sure what I am known for but it definitely isn’t that.

I just don’t like the way invisi(bi) lity looked.

Maybe I should use invisi (bi) lity instead but I don’t love that either.

Maybe, definitely, I should have taken a screenshot of what I’m talking about. As this whole post proves, I make mistakes and things don’t always go my way. So this didn’t occur to me until now. Oops!

What did happen next was that I tried to fix the issue. I started over and typed the whole thing in again as I wanted it to appear. I copied and pasted the title in how I wanted it. I typed the whole word in then added the () later. Nothing worked!

At some point I gave up. And eventually settled on Invisi-bi-lity.

Or so I thought. Only later did I realize what I actually wrote was Invis-bi-lity and spell checker couldn’t help me because it doesn’t like any of these combinations where I break up the word, so I expected to see the red squiggly lines of wrongness. If you’re having trouble seeing my mistake (or if I’m imagining someone else might make the same error so I can feel better about myself?) then I’ll let you know there needs to be another ‘i’ after the ‘s’.

If you somehow saw and caught the spelling error that was definitely on the Vella page for I’m not sure how long, good job! You caught it before me. But look at us laughing at our mistakes now! Or okay, my mistakes.

And thus ends my comedy of errors where creating a simple title turned out to be anything but. Simple. Anything but simple. TL;DR I’m bad at spelling, titles are hard, and you should check out Invisi-bi-lity.

What’s the plural of vampire? …Besides vampires.

What’s the plural of vampire? …Besides vampires.

by fnmanning ♥ 2 Comments

What kind of book am I working on right now?

Well, let me answer that question with… a statement, but not the answer. Because I like making things complicated.

I just looked up what is a group of vampires called.

Yes, I’m working on a historical drama. Just kidding, it’s a paranormal romance. And also gay, in case the blog title didn’t clue you in that everything here is hella gay.

Fortunately, when I looked up vampire group names, the internet didn’t treat me like I was a weirdo and instead provided lots of helpful information. Apparently there isn’t one correct answer. Vampire families can be called a clutch, clan, brood, coven, or pack.

Werewolves already claimed pack, so good thing there’s other options. I kind of like brood because you’ve got some (almost) rhyming and alliteration going on with vampires drinking blood in their brood.

However my initial instinct, and what I’ve already used at least once in the novel I’m writing, is clan. I guess I can’t officially decide all groups of vampires are forever hereby referred to as a clan (because I unfortunately don’t rule the universe) but I’m going to use clan from now on.

If you disagree with vampire clans, well, keep it to yourself maybe? Those guys are dangerous.

Though to be fair, this guy is pretty broody.

About the Author: Two Truths and a Lie

About the Author: Two Truths and a Lie

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Oh, you’d like to know more about me? Well, whether the answer is year or no, I’m trying to make this blog more… you know, bloggy, with like, posts about stuff. Blogs have posts. If you somehow didn’t know that, now you do, so there I go providing knowledge already.

index
Not the kind of icebreaker I’m talking about, but I wanted to add an image.

If I were being vain, I’d say something along the lines of why not talk about my favorite subject: myself. But I’m probably not my favorite topic. That list definitely goes: nephews, pets, TV, queer culture, chocolate, and then myself somewhere down the line. Hey, maybe I should talk about all that other stuff instead… eh, might as well do this since I already decided.

Have you ever played the icebreaker two truths and a lie? Well, it doesn’t really matter whether you have or not because the name of the game kind of explains it all, but I’m going to explain it anyway. I tell you three things and then you guess which one the lie is and then a good time is had by all and we become BFFs forever. Yep, that’s totally how it works. No take backs, you’re already playing.

Two Truths and One (1) Lie
But which is which? Can’t say, that’s literally the game.

  • I’ve gone streaking and skinny dipping more than once because I’m a total badass. (that’s right, alluding to nudity and ~illicit activities~, I’m hip and you want to follow my blog now)
  • I don’t know how to ride a bike because I’m a total badass who is also lame. (And now I’m also admitting to my deep, dark secret shame! What trilling content I write!)
  • Once upon a time, I could roller-skate, but the last time I tried I almost broke my leg.

dont-break-the-ice-450x317
Also not what I’m talking about, but this game is rad.

So, which one is fake? You can’t see me right now, but I’m making an inscrutable poker fake. I threw in a bonus lie just for you! I don’t have a poker face; my trick is I just make ridiculous faces the entire time instead of trying to be cool and nonchalant because those are two things I’m not great at, but I do love winning stuff and am fairly competent at distracting people with inane chatter and ridiculous faces.

Anyway. *drum roll*

The lie is….

~Dramatic tension~

Number three!

I was in California sight seeing at a beach and we decided to rent skates and bikes. As one of my truths explains, I never learned how to ride a bike, so I went with the skates. I had skated before, a lot actually, though only indoors at skating parties in middle school. I rented the skates, tried to move, and immediately fell down hard on the pavement, injuring my arm and not my leg.

So there you go… two truths and a lie. I am terrible at knowing how to end things. Hit that like and subscribe button? Isn’t that what youtubers say? Is that applicable here? Anyway, bye…

Bye!

 

One Little Lie

One Little Lie

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I am in the zone today. What should I write about to introduce this post? I said to myself. Was there anything interesting that happened today? Did I hear about anything worth sharing? I thought about it, or I tried, but there were no thoughts in my head.

All I did today is write. All that was in my head was related to writing. So good for me, being productive, but that doesn’t give me much to go off of.

Enough about me, what about you? Did you get a lot accomplished today? Then it’s time for a break. If you didn’t, then it’s time for a break anyway. I have found that it is always time for a break, which is why I’ve had problems being productive in the past. Anyway, go check out One Little Lie.

newollieMergedLuke Chambers isn’t gay.

His boyfriend might disagree. His girlfriend would definitely disagree. Wait, let’s back up.

Bisexual. He’s supposed to be bisexual. Except there’s a few problems with that:
He never liked a guy before Ryan.
He doesn’t like that drag race show every gay person he knows watches.
He has zero fashion sense.

Okay maybe that last one doesn’t matter. And he only knows, like, four gay people. Five if you count him. Do you count him? Luke has no idea.

Here’s what he does know:

He likes Ryan Miller.
His parents are suspicious of how much time he spends with Ryan.
He agreed to help Lydia and now he has a boyfriend and a fake girlfriend.

What could possibly go wrong?

A lot, probably.

Luke wants to figure things out. He wants to know what to tell his parents. And he wants to help his friend Lydia. Most of all, he wants to keep dating Ryan. He wants to do all these things at the same time but doesn’t know if he can.

There’s a shelf life to this closeted thing. He just doesn’t know if he can come out. Can he can be himself on his own terms and still have Ryan?

~~~

One Little Lie is a humorous coming of age tale that includes snark, shenanigans, and a developing relationship between a jock and a nerd. This YA novel featuring an MM romance is the second in a series but can be read on its own.

FREE: The Beginning of One Little Lie

FREE: The Beginning of One Little Lie

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I actually have no idea if I’ve already talked about this, but I don’t think I have… I mean, I could go and check, but who has time for that? I’ve had a crazy couple weeks (a hurricane might have been involved) but hopefully I’ll get around to talking about that later.

Right now, I wanted to mention that the first four (I think its four, I could check but again, I’m not going to) or fourish chapters of my upcoming release, One Little Lie, are available for FREE right now on Amazon.

Here’s a snippet from the book:

It was really easy to get lost in kissing Ryan. Moments like this were my favorite. Not just because I was making out with someone, though that was fun too, but when I didn’t have to worry about defining myself. I had no idea what the hell I was. I didn’t care. Right now, it didn’t matter. I didn’t have to worry about having a boyfriend and could just enjoy touching him, being with him.

It never lasted long enough.

A loud series of knocks came from the other side of the door. “You have five minutes to open that door,” his dad called out, “Or I’m opening it for you.”

Ryan looked as exasperated as I felt when we pulled apart but he smiled anyway. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty we can do in five minutes,” he joked.

“I heard that!” his dad yelled. “You have two minutes.”

“I don’t think you’re keeping time accurately!” Ryan yelled at him. We lay next to each other on Ryan’s bed, our foreheads touching. It started as us catching our breath, but then our mouths drifted toward each other like magnets and we were kissing again.

Ryan sighed. “We should probably stop doing this,” he said.

I nodded and then we both looked down to my hands that were still pulling Ryan’s shirt off. I withdrew them. “Right, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He pecked me on the lips and his eyes sparkled with fondness.

Maybe that was part of why this felt so different. I never had anyone look at me like that before. Sure, people liked me, I was popular, but it wasn’t like that. From someone who could call me out on my bullshit one minute and then be all sappy the next.

We grinned at each other. Our lips brushed. “As much as I like your dad,” I said when my mouth was free, “You should probably open the door so he doesn’t come back.”

“I don’t wanna get up.” Ryan groaned and buried his face in my chest. “Carry me.”

“Yeah, like that would work.” Ryan was taller than me, though it was hard to tell when we were lying on the bed and he was clinging onto me like an octopus. I poked him in the side with a finger and he squirmed, so I did it again. He clung onto me tighter in retaliation, but I didn’t mind him being pressed up close to me in the first place, so I let him.

“Are you calling me fat?” he asked in a mock scandalized tone but didn’t pull away.

“I’m calling you a giant.” I wrapped my arms around him instead of pushing him away like I was supposed to. This wasn’t cuddling or something girly like that. It was just… a lying down hug. Okay, that didn’t sound any better.

He pulled his head back enough to glare. “You’re ruining the mood.”

“Think your dad did that,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, he’s good at that,” Ryan sighed before pulling away and getting up and opening the door.

“Too bad,” I continued. “I’m sure you were looking forward to doing that yourself.” Ryan was a smartass and could be kinda awkward, so he wasn’t the smoothest guy I’d ever dated. Well, no, he was, because he was the only guy I ever dated. Somehow, he made being weird seem attractive.

He came back and sat on the bed, hitting me in the stomach with a hand. “How dare you,” he protested. “I am romantic and sexy and errrrrotic.” He dragged the ‘r’ sound out while waggling his eyebrows at me.

Okay, sometimes he made being weird attractive and sometimes he was just weird. But still, it was cute coming from him. Even if I didn’t tell him that. “See that right there?” I asked smugly. “Ruining the mood.”

~~~

Free Chapters
Pre-Order Here

My Next Book

My Next Book

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Were you wondering what projects I’m working on? For the purposes of this post, I’m going to pretend you are. “Hi, Finn, good to see you!” I imagine you said. “You’re looking great today!” Stop, you’re too kind. “I’ve been dying to know about the new book you’re writing,” you fake said.

onelwYour enthusiasm is touching, so I’d be happy to share with you. I’m working on the sequel for One Little Word right now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share a few excerpts soon. The first one involves a fake relationship between the two main characters. The sequel, One Little Lie, also deals with a fake relationship.

It also continues to explore Ryan and Luke’s relationship. In the first one, there’s fake dating, a little kissing, huge amounts of hand holding, and the boys heading towards actual dating. The second one greatly improves upon the amount of real dating and kissing.

Oh gosh, I guess I was being self-centered before. You were so kind asking about me and I didn’t even find out how you were. Can you ever forgive me? Of course you can, because I’m imagining that you’re very accommodating and agreeable. How are you? How’s your life? I can come up with some fake answers or you can let me know in the comments. Either way, tell me about yourself.

Freebies

Freebies

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The weather is grey and gloomy today, perfect for curling up with a good book. However, I’m still on the clock right now. I didn’t let the dreary atmosphere stop me though, I’ve been busy. I put two books up on Instafreebie, which means, as the site’s title implies, the books are free. So if it’s cold and dark where you live too, here are two reading options while you keep warm inside.

1covlove
One is L-O-V-E, a teen romance featuring a bad boy and his preppy opposite who hate each other but can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. There’s feuding, spelling bees and sexual tension, unresolved and otherwise. The sample on Instafreebie is four chapters from the beginning.

Young fitness model is posing in studio

The other story, Entirely Too Gay, is a fun, silly book about a guy joining the wrestling team to get closer to his crush. The whole book is free as a thank you to people who sign up for my mailing list. The first half of the story is also available without signing up so that you can sample it first and see if you like it.

At the moment, you don’t even have to enter your email to get L-O-V-E, but of course you can if you like it so that you’ll know when the full version is released and you can get a copy for free. I might change it soon so that an email is required, for science, just to see if there’s a difference. This self-publishing thing means that I get to experiment. I heard a fellow author say that’s one of the perks of being an indie author, and he’s probably right.  I’d thought the perks were getting to work in your pajamas and taking breaks to play with your dog, but the freedom to try different things is a pretty good perk too.

One of the things I’m going to be fiddling with is covers for L-O-V-E, and this is the first version. So if you like it, hate it or have any feelings about it at all, let me know.

I dwell in possibility

I dwell in possibility

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Miles left me a watch and an obligation. The watch didn’t even work.

He didn’t die, but he might as well have. His family was moving across the country. Okay, there was the internet and video chat and even freaking letters if we got desperate, but it wouldn’t be the same. I was allowed to be dramatic, I’m 17.

Four of us huddled into Mile’s basement, curled into each other even though everything had been packed up and there was nothing but space. The scotch tasted bitter and burned with every swallow. The smell hung in the air every time my parents opened the bottle, so that’s why I chose it: it was strong.

Miles eye’s were glassy but his voice was steady when he said, “Before I leave, I am going to make out with Greg Morris.” Greg had a mouth that reminded me of pomegranates, a burst of red color, and eyes like whiskey, much more palatable than the scotch we drank, maybe I should have grabbed that instead.

It made sense to want to lock lips with the gorgeous popular boy, but was he even gay? Did he have any idea our little group of friends even existed? Mile’s voice rose in volume and intensity when met with any doubts, voice filled with conviction, until his mom opened the door and told us to keep it down so his parents could pretend they didn’t know what we were doing.

The door closed, and the fight left him like it was never there.  “Fine, maybe I won’t.” All his previous words were forgotten, alcohol probably had that effect, but I didn’t think that’s what this was. His eyes turned serious for a moment, aware and intent, focused on me.

“If I don’t do it, it’s up to you.”

***

Once I had three friends at this school and now I had two.

I looked across the row of lockers, saw the way Greg’s profile looked bathed in light from the sun pouring in through a window, and I wanted.

A text message alert made me tear my eyes away.

Make me proud

Make yourself proud

Greg was so pretty it hurt. And me? I didn’t know how I measured up, but maybe that didn’t matter. I had three friends at this school and was suddenly down to two. I wanted more.

I’m not just gonna walk up and kiss him I texted back.

His response wasn’t surprising. You’ll at least go and say hi, right?

I couldn’t walk over and pull him into a passionate clench. But saying hi? It suddenly seemed easy in comparison. Sometimes it’s not about what you’re given but what you choose to do with it.

I walked over.

title from Emily Dickinson

via Daily Prompt: Inheritance

Baby’s First Blog Post

Baby’s First Blog Post

by fnmanning ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The first of anything seems so daunting and there’s so much pressure to think of something amazing, or at least, I put that pressure on my myself. So, here’s my first blog post. I’ll keep it short, simple and sweet like me. Well, maybe I’m not so sweet. Or simple. I don’t want to insult myself.

I’m Finn Manning.  I write about queer romances, often featuring at least one awkward person cause I guess I have some experience with that. Both being queer and awkward. Right now I’ve published cute stories full of drama and misunderstandings. I have about a million ideas that I’m trying to get out. I look forward to posting more about my stories and blogging in general.