Rainbow Awards

Okay-- so, I WAS going to talk about how Squish dropped a fake plastic spider on me--and as practical jokes go, it was a good one--but the Rainbow Awards happened, and, so, you know.

Change of Subject.

Anyway-- Beneath the Stain won first place in Gay Romance (the William Neale Award for Gay Romantic Fiction), and it tied for first (with K.J. Charles The Casebook of Simon Feximal) for best Gay Book of the year.

Deep of the Sound was 5th runner up in Gay Romance.

The Bells of Times Square was fourth in Historical Gay Romance.

Candy Man/Bitter Taffy (Which was how it was released in paperback) took second in Romantic Comedy.

Immortal's cover was 8th Runner Up (which is more Anne Cain and Elizabeth North's doing than mine, but I love that cover so Imma mention it anyways ;-)

And Immortal and Black John both earned Honorable Mention. (Which meant that at least one person liked each book enough to mention it, which was kind ;-)

Seriously-- this endeavor is tremendous. Elisa Rolle, who runs the awards, is amazing-- she used this as a fundraiser and helped to raise over $17,000 for LGBTQ causes this year, and that's just... very very very good. She puts a lot of time and effort into arranging judges and making sure every book gets a fair shake and an unbiased view-- her work ethic is astounding, and it is a testament to her perseverance and dedication to this genre that these awards happen --and have happened--for the last seven years.

So I'm very proud of my books--I am. I'm so grateful that people liked (or loved :-) them enough to honor them this way. But I am very, very conscious and grateful for Elisa--and the other judges, for that matter--who have made this such an outstanding event.

And yeah-- I have to admit, I got a little Mackey swagger in my hips when I saw my boyz get their due.

Thanks everyone. You all make me proud :-)