Bren Christopher Writes Romance

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve done any updates. I’ve been busy getting my Loose Id titles up on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. I’m sorry Loose Id went out of business – I’ll always be grateful to those good folks for giving me a chance and teaching me so much.

Friday Night Jamie and Big Cypress Crossroads both have new covers. I hope you like them!

Friday Night Jamie on Amazon

Big Cypress Crossroads on Amazon

And I have two additional titles now on Kindle Unlimited:

Second Chance Sam on Amazon

The Professor’s Assistant on Amazon

The only books I have left that are not yet posted on Amazon are the Patchouli for Christmas novellas. I’ve been debating whether I should publish them separately, the way they were originally, or make a Collected Patchouli Stories compilation. It would be pretty long, but ultimately cheaper than buying all three. On the other hand, what if you don’t like the first one? If they were separate, you would not end up spending so much. Hmmm. Thoughts?

Coming Dec. 8 from Loose Id – Partners in Patchouli. It’s been a while since I’ve had a new release, so I’m really excited about this holiday novella featuring Jude and Michael, our lovebirds from New York.

New York City event planner Michael Cove is a man who thrives on challenge. He built a prosperous business from nothing. He won the heart and hand of a moody, patchouli-scented artist, the opposite of himself in almost every way. He charmed the man’s shrewd, wealthy grandmother. Only one challenge remains to be conquered, and it’s a trial far more terrifying than his wedding day: a visit from his mother.
Neo-hippie artist and social activist Jude Kendrick awaits his Christmas Eve wedding to Michael with eager anticipation. Not even Michael’s supercilious mother or her conniving politician husband can ruin his happiness. Only one secret plan threatens to darken a day that should be bright with joy: a hope for Michael’s future and his own that will shape the rest of their lives.
Unexpected demands from estranged family throw a spotlight on differences long ignored by the couple. But marriage changes things and now Michael must decide if he will embrace all Jude stands for or return to his solitary life of work hard and play harder, with obligations to no one but himself. Because marrying Jude means marrying into a world of privilege he’d never wanted and social responsibility he’d always spurned.

Partners in Patchouli is available now for pre-order from Loose Id and includes a ten percent discount. It will be on Amazon and other sites on Tuesday.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season!

The Passionate Plume contest is conducted the Passionate Ink, the Erotic Romance chapter of the Romance Writer’s of America. Second Chance Sam is a finalist in the Contemporary category.   The winners will be announced at the RWA conference in July.  My first book, Friday Night Jamie, finaled in this contest three years ago and it’s just as exciting now as it was then.
To see the complete list of finalists, go to http://www.passionateink.org/contests/
If you like your romance on the racey side, you can’t go wrong with these hot reads!

Although most of my books are published through Loose Id, I have self published a couple, like The Professor’s Assistant. For the first three months, I kept it on Amazon so I could take advantage of some of their promotional opportunities. That’s done now, so I’ve put it on Smashwords and the book has been distributed to Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc. Also to Scribd, the ebook subscription service.
As a Smashwords author, I get a free subscription to Scribd for a year. I have discovered, much to my pleasure and dismay, that Dreamspinner publishes on Scribd. Pleasure because I’m in reading heaven. Dismay because I’m not getting my own stuff written!

I’ve been pretty lazy about posting lately – wait, no, not lazy! Busy. Yeah, that’s it. Haven’t been doing too well with writing, either, but now I’m getting back into it, because I really want to get this last Patchouli for Christmas story finished. 

As I’ve been working on it, I’ve been reminded of one my favorite m/m Christmas stories and also one of my favorite places to promo.
Kay Berrisford is best known for her sexy and imaginative Greenwood series, but I particularly like her contemporary Holiday fantasy, Simon, Sex and the Solstice Stone.
Kay has graciously hosted me on her blog for my last couple of releases, and I hope we’ll do the same again with the new Patchouli story, so be on the lookout for that. She’s a terrific host and frequently interviews guest authors. It’s always a lot of fun with, of course, lots of giveaways. Its a great way to get a shot at winning hot new m/m releases, so check out her blog.

When I first had the idea for Second Chance Sam, it began with Tristan and Cory meeting as children and becoming best friends.
If you have already read Second Chance Sam, you may enjoy this sweet short story consisting of scenes from Tristan and Cory’s childhood. The story shows many of the background events which are sprinkled in throughout Second Chance Sam.
If you have not read Second Chance Sam, be aware there are spoilers here.
Note that this story has not been professionally edited. I just put it together for fun, which is why you will find it free on my web page only as an entertaining extra. Tristan and Cory: First Kiss

The free Amazon promotion for The Professor’s Assistant is now complete, with well over a thousand downloads. I hope everyone enjoys it!
Now time to get back to my WIP – I’m working on one more Patchouli for Christmas book. I hope to get it done in time for Christmas this year.

It is, of course, The Wedding… and all that involves, including seeing relatives you haven’t seen in years and would be perfectly happy never to see again– as well as new responsibilities and maybe, just maybe, a little growing up.
I’m debating titles, but I’m leaning toward, “A Patchouli-Scented Wedding”.  Seems kind of long though. Maybe something better will occur to me later.

Steampunk adventure and m/m romance! Parallel worlds, time travel and a chase across 1885 London and Paris.
Since I put The Professor’s Assistant into the Kindle Select program for 3 months only, I though I might as well take advantage of the promotional opportunities that come with the program. I can have the book available free for five days, so it should start this Friday, April 11,  and go through Tuesday. I hope this will garner a few more reviews.  It has one excellent review, but it would be nice to see a few more reviews, good or not. I hope you will all take advantage of the opportunity!
Here is the full blurb:
Lured by rumors of a momentous invention, Agent Julian Blake steps into the New York Gate and emerges outside London.
It is the same year, 1885, but an earth parallel to his. The two timelines are almost identical, but the slight variation is enough to threaten his mission as it includes an attitude toward same-sex attraction that is less than accepting.
He never expected that difference to pose a problem. Julian has an important mission to complete–a mission with far-reaching consequences not only across the alternate earths, but into their pasts. For the momentous invention is a working time machine.
And the inventor’s assistant is a beautiful, auburn-haired young man named Daniel who causes Julian to disregard the Department rules he has lived by for so long.
But there are others interested in the professor’s new invention, and when tragedy strikes, the professor’s assistant might just be the only person left with the knowledge to recreate the device.
Now Daniel is a target, and Julian is in a race to protect him and retrieve  the knowledge of the time machine from those who would misuse it.

The Professor’s Assistant is now available on Amazon. Steampunk adventure and m/m romance! Parallel words, time travel and a chase across 1885 London and Paris. And of course, a time agent and a lovely professor’s assistant who knows too much.
It was originally published by Liquid Silver books a couple of years ago, so when it went out of contract, I received the rights back. I got a spiffy new cover and did some re-editing. Somehow or other, I ended up adding 3500 words. On top of that, I lowered the price, so I hope folks will take advantage of that. Oh, and if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow it for free from the Kindle Lending library.
Here is the full blurb:
Lured by rumors of a momentous invention, Agent Julian Blake steps into the New York Gate and emerges outside London.
It is the same year, 1885, but an earth parallel to his. The two timelines are almost identical, but the slight variation is enough to threaten his mission as it includes an attitude toward same-sex attraction that is less than accepting.
He never expected that difference to pose a problem. Julian has an important mission to complete–a mission with far-reaching consequences not only across the alternate earths, but into their pasts. For the momentous invention is a working time machine.
And the inventor’s assistant is a beautiful, auburn-haired young man named Daniel who causes Julian to disregard the Department rules he has lived by for so long.
But there are others interested in the professor’s new invention, and when tragedy strikes, the professor’s assistant might just be the only person left with the knowledge to recreate the device.
Now Daniel is a target, and Julian is in a race to protect him and retrieve  the knowledge of the time machine from those who would misuse it.

Time to settle down from the busy holiday season and decide what to work on next. I have three items on my list that I’d like to get done within the next few months:
Work in Progress: An m/m sci-fi novel that I hope will become a series.  I have an outline and the first couple of scenes done. As I get further along, I’ll start posting some snippets.
Re-release: My novella, The Professor’s Assistant, is now out of contract with the publisher. I plan to do some re-editing and get a new cover and then I’ll self-publish it. So it may be unavailable for a few weeks starting in February or so until I can get it posted again.
Patchouli story: What can I say? I love Michael and Jude. They’re just so much fun to write about. I’d like to do another Christmas novella with them. I have some ideas, but not even an outline yet, so I’m not sure I’ll get it done in time this year. We’ll see.
What about you all? Any big goals for this year?

We had a great time at The New Year’s Kiss Party  on Kay Berrisford’s blog. The Kisses (brief excerpts) are still posted if anyone is looking for some hot snippets to read. We had thousands of views and hundreds of entries. I gave away a copy of Second Chance Sam and contributed to the gift card giveaway. The party grows every year. Happy New Year to all!

The New Year’s Kiss Party is starting!  Have fun reading these very hot excerpts from a variety of romances, then answer a quick question. You will be entered to win a ton of fun prizes. The more quizzes you participate in, the better your chances of winning gift cards or bundles of romance books, including a copy of Second Chance Sam. The party goes on until Jan. 2nd, so go for it and have fun. Happy New Year!