Guest Post and Giveaway: The Countdown to GRL 2015 with Cody Kennedy

Today, we’re so pleased to welcome author Cody Kennedy on the official Countdown to GayRomLit 2015 blog tour.

Enjoy Cody’s guest post, then be sure to click on the Rafflecopter widget below for a chance to win an e-copy of Slaying Isidore’s Dragons and a signed .jpg image of the book’s title page.

Good luck!

Hi, I’m Cody Kennedy, and I’m getting ready for GayRomLit Retreat! This will be my first time attending GRL, and I am very excited! A very special thanks to Lisa Horan and all the wonderful people at The Novel Approach for supporting GayRomLit, our books, and us!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with my books and me, here is a little about me:

Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Cody doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Cody contemplates such weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Cody can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much-maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary.

ALL.OF.IT.IS.TRUE. One thing the above short bio doesn’t tell you is that I am old! Yes! It’s true! I’ll likely be the eldest author at GRL—is there an award for that?—and I write for the youngest crowd! I write for young adults, yet my stories deal with the very real, adult problems our youth deal with today. Rebel that I am my books also contain violence or the inference of violence, sex or the inference of sex, and music. I score my books. Please do not mock me. It’s a plight. Here is the music playlist for my newest novel, Slaying Isidore’s Dragons.

Raised in Hollywood, I spent way too much time on film sets growing up, but it gave me a unique perspective on storytelling. You’ll find more dialogue and action in my books than narrative. I also like to give readers a thrill. You’ll find twists and turns in my stories, the periodic Boo!, and at least one ‘are you phreakin’ kidding me?’ moment. I mean that in the nicest possible way. I have a wild imagination and look to bring imagination to life and give readers the best possible reading experience. You’ll also find three other things in my books. Romance, hope, and a happily ever after.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision legalizing gay marriage is an historic event, to be sure. But it’s more than that. It ensures that every generation alive today lives in a time of profound change—not only one of change in perspective, but also one of behavior and the law. Now, more than ever before. As authors, we bring awareness to the world. That makes me proud and I hope to bring you works that inspire you, give you strength and, above all, give you hope.

Enter for a chance to win an e-copy and signed .jpg image of Slaying Isidore’s Dragons. I look forward to meeting you at GayRomLit!

Stop by my Blog with questions or comments, or simply share what’s on your mind.

Find me on Facebook, Twitter @CodyKAuthor, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, Ello, Goodreads, Medium, and read my free serial story, Fairy

Here’s a little about my latest novel, Slaying Isidore’s Dragons

Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.

Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed. Read Chapter One of Slaying Isidore’s Dragons

Slaying Isidore’s Dragons is available in ebook and print from:

Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press

Amazon     GooglePlay     Barnes & Noble

OmniLit/ARe     Beam-eBooks in Europe

THE GIVEAWAY