A visit from Sage Marlowe

A visit from Sage Marlowe

Sage Marlowe’s First Anniversary Blog Tour & Giveaway

Harlequin

Hello and welcome to the latest stop of my 1st Anniversary Blog Tour & Giveaway. Thanks for hosting me, Raven!

One year has passed since my successful debut novel, Sub-Mission, was released on May 14, 2012. A lot has happened during those twelve months. I’m taking the chance to look back and tell you a bit about the background of the books I’ve published, but also about things that happened in my life or that are on my mind. There’s one stop for every book, and of course, there are prizes waiting for you, because as always, good things for me mean good things for you, my dear friends and readers. Please read the “Giveaway” section below for details.

Today, I’d like to talk to you about families. Traditionally, a family consists of a mother, a father and any number of children, right? Right, but well, times are changing. If possible, I stay away from discussing political issues and I don’t want to look at political, let alone religious aspects of marriage equality and LGBT rights. Instead, I want to look at a family.

Meet Harley, a hunky pilot who is confident with his sexuality and likes his life as he does his (male) sex partners—easy. Harley is in no particular hurry to find Mr Right and starting a family has never even crossed his mind. Along comes Quinn, an outwardly conservative lawyer who, although he is attracted to men, rarely allows himself to give in to this desire and instead keeps up the façade of a happily married, successful career man.

Despite their opposing attitudes, the sex between them is hot and they even engage in a ménage with Quinn’s wife, Miranda. So far, so good. But when Miranda gets pregnant and dies, the two men find themselves in a prickly situation – they have each fathered a twin boy and while they agree that the kids should grow up together, neither of them is willing to give up his son.

Add to that the fact that Quinn is about as deeply in the closet as he and Harley are in love with each other, and you have the premise for Harlequin. But wait, why am I telling you this? Because I’m trying to promote my book, you probably think, and yeah, I’m not gonna lie, I’d love you to go and buy it but there’s more to this story, so bear with me.

Harlequin is probably the most controversial book I’ve written so far. The MF and ménage elements it contains are awkward rather than titillating because Harley is essentially gay and curious about sex with women at best. There’s the issue with the twins and their different dads, both Harley and Quinn have (off-page) sex with secondary characters and oh, of course, there’s a lot of angst due to Quinn’s being closeted which results in him not being the most loyal of partners to Harley. Harlequin was rejected by two publishers for those very reasons and because it required too much suspension of disbelief in the acquisition editors’ eyes. Especially the twins being fathered by two men was stretching it too far. (Hey, the chance for that to happen is a lot higher than that for winning the lottery…)

And I agree, Harlequin is not your typical romance novel. It is a book that mainly deals with the reality of a same-sex couple that is trying to make their relationship work and raise children in a society that struggles to accept them for who they are. Without this external conflict, their lives would be a lot easier—in fact, their lives would be a lot more like the typical romance novel most people are looking for and that is where this story would require suspension of disbelief, because really, how many gay people do you know that have never faced discrimination?

There was a lot on the news just a few weeks ago about marriage equality. I think society is still far away from accepting alternate lifestyles as equal, but it’s an important first step in the right direction. If all of us take that step and keep walking, chances are that one day it will indeed be normal to have families that consist of any number of children and a mum and a dad or two mums, two dads, three dads, a mum and two dads, three mums…any combination, really, because all that should matter is that the family members are happy with each other, their lives and themselves. And when that time has come, it will no longer require suspension of disbelief for people like Quinn to accept themselves for who they are and live their very own romance.

If you’re interested in Harley and Quinn’s story, here it is:

Harlequin

How can you become a family when you can’t admit to being a couple in the first place?

They're an unlikely couple—Harley Sinclair, pilot and openly gay, likes fast cars, easy boys, and late nights. Quinn Lancaster, lawyer and deep in the closet, likes his life quiet with just that little bit of extra spice that engaging in a ménage with his wife, Miranda, and Harley adds. Neither of them can admit that there might be more to this affair than just indecently hot sex.

A lie soon breaks them apart, but when Miranda dies in an accident, Harley and Quinn are reunited by an even more unlikely couple—twin sons with different fathers. While Harley is willing to commit to the responsibility of having a family, Quinn's fear that accepting Harley at his side will destroy everything he has worked for keeps them apart. But when Harley makes the ultimate sacrifice, Quinn realizes that sometimes, what appears to be the worst case isn’t quite so bad after all…

Buy links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00913OYW2

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00913OYW2

Amazon Ca: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00913OYW2

BookStrand: www.bookstrand.com/harlequin-sage-marlowe

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harlequin-sage-marlowe/1112678005?ean=9781622417650

Giveaway—Here’s what you can win:

#1 - Sage’s Goodie Package:

Contains a signed copy of Sub-Culture, a set of signed book cover photographs and some surprise goodies to spoil you

#2 - Create a character

Here’s your chance to create your very own fictional character that will be featured in one of my next books. The winner gets to pick the name and distinct features like hair / eye colour, height and a few personality quirks of a hero (male characters only, and please keep it doable…). Depending on the specification, I will either include him in a current WIP or use him as inspiration for a brand new story. The winner will also receive a free e-copy of this story once it’s published.

How to enter:

Leave a comment in the comment section asking to be entered in the giveaway. The winner will be picked at random and announced on my blog on May 20th. Multiple entries are allowed and will increase your chances to win. For additional terms and conditions, please go to http://www.sage-marlowe.com/p/contests.html

You can find the full tour schedule here: http://www.sage-marlowe.com/p/blog-tour-may-2013.html

About Sage Marlowe

Sage is a multi-published author of MM erotic romance novels and novellas and loves exploring the flavours of gay erotic fiction.

A willing slave to all the fascinating guys who keep queuing up and want their stories told, Sage can almost always be found cooking up the next hot story or daydreaming about new ways of rubbing sexy male bodies together to make the sparks fly.

Contact and buy links

Sage’s website & blog: www.sage-marlowe.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sage.marlowe0

e-mail: marlowe.sage@yahoo.co.uk

Twitter: @SageMarlowe

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/SageMarlowe

Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/sagemarlowe

For all books published with Total-E-Bound, go to: http://www.total-e-bound.com/authordetail.asp?A_ID=224

For all books published with Siren-BookStrand, go to: www.bookstrand.com/sage-marlowe