We’re so pleased to have author Belinda McBride joining us today to help celebrate our 5 Year Blogiversary. She’s taking a look back at where she was five years ago, and also has a giveaway for you, so be sure to check it out.
Welcome, Belinda!
It’s your anniversary! Congratulations, guys!
I decided to take a look back to 2011, the year The Novel Approach started up, so I could see what I was up to at that time. That was a year for m/m romance for me. I published the second Uncommon Whore book: When I Fall. That book was slow going for me, largely because I knew there’d be certain expectations for the sequel to a book as popular as An Uncommon Whore. Initially, I tried to re-capture whatever it was that was so appealing about UW, but I just wasn’t able to catch the easy, self-effacing voice of Helios. So I wrote the book from Griffin’s darker, more somber perspective. The Uncommon series was inspired by ancient Spartan culture, though you may not recognize it in the book itself.
I wrote another m/m book in 2011, a fantasy novella called “Come, Go With Me” for Changeling Press. That book flew under the radar for most of my readers, but to me, it was a comfort book, one I wrote following a trip I took to the Caribbean. It’s the story of an aging surfer who’s reunited with a lost love…who just happens to be a descendent of the demi-god Maui. It was a blast diving into Hawaiian mythology to find Kai’s character, and I seriously have to get out and see Moana soon.
Being a writer is hard, and at times, disappointing. Heartbreaking on occasion, and completely thrilling when things go well. I’ve been coming out of a long period of stasis with my writing. Life got very real for my family and after years of stress, the creative banks were empty. It’s fun and encouraging to take a look back at where I was, and where I am now.
My newest book, The Tenth Muse was written while I was struggling with my mother’s long term illness. I returned to Greece for this book. I was a rabid reader of mythology when I was very young, and remember stumbling on Homer’s Odyssey at the library. I think when my heart was just weary, it was a comfort to return to the love of my childhood. I’ve long waited to put my own spin on the Gods, and I can’t wait to finish up the second book in the series!
Again, congratulations on your anniversary, and I wish you many, many more!
About the Book
Book 1 in The Aphrodite Project series
In a wicked game, the God of Love falls to his own arrow, and a gentle scholar learns how dangerous knowledge can be.
Aphrodite has had it.
It was bad enough that her son Eros walked a fashion show in drag, but did he really have to show the entire world his wings? Desperate to rein in the impulsive young god, she recruits the scholarly muse Rees to lure him back to Olympus until the scandal dies down.
After hundreds of years, Eros has finally located the reincarnation of his former love, Psyche. The only way to her heart is through fame, so the God of Love plans a daring campaign to win her back. Yet the closer he gets to Psyche, the more he’s drawn to a geeky young professor who came crashing into his life.
Eros drags Rees into his wicked world of high fashion and risqué parties, only to expose him to danger from an unexpected source. When Rees’ secrets come out, they threaten to destroy Eros’ love for him. Yet when Rees is kidnapped, Eros is forced to turn to the woman who set this catastrophe in motion—his mother, Aphrodite.
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About the Author
Belinda is an award-winning, top-selling author of erotic romance, speculative fiction and LGBTQ romance. She lives in far Northern California with her family, a pack of Siberian Huskies and a rogue Saluki.
A graduate of CSU Chico, she managed to attend the notorious party school without once getting drunk, arrested or appearing in a ‘Girls Gone Wild’ video. Her main focus of study was classical and archival history, cultural anthropology and theatre arts.
After several years in the workforce. Belinda purchased a laptop computer and from there, knew that her childhood dream of being an author would come to life.
Connect with the Author: Website || Blog || Amazon Page || Facebook || Twitter
The Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Thank you for sharing about how The Tenth Muse came about.