We’re so pleased to have author Geoffrey Knight dropping in today to celebrate the release of his holiday romance, The Billionaire’s Wish, and to remember his dear friend, Ethan Day. Geoffrey is also offering a giveaway, so be sure to check out those details at the end.
Welcome, Geoff!
Hi everyone, and thanks so much for having me. I’m here to talk a little bit about my new book, The Billionaire’s Wish, which is the third in the My Billionaire series. But you’ll forgive me if I veer off track during this post following the death of my dear friend Ethan Day.
To be honest, I have no idea what I want to say in this post or how to handle, well, anything at the moment.
Ironically, The Billionaire’s Wish is essentially the story of a writer who wishes he didn’t exist. But in the tradition of It’s A Wonderful Life, he is shown what the world would indeed be like if he had never existed. He learns just how much impact he has on those he loves, and how much love and wisdom and joy he brings to those around him – something he never realized before.
That, I sometimes feel, is exactly how Ethan was. Sometimes I wondered if he ever knew just how important he was in the lives of those around him. As a founder of GRL, he was monumentally important to our entire community. One post I read (sorry, I’ve forgotten who wrote it, it’s been such a blur of a week) called Ethan a true leader of our community because of the incredible work he did bringing us together for GRL, as did Carol Lynne and Teresa Emil and Reese Dante among others. His generosity of time, his patience with the million questions being fired at him, his multi-tasking skills to keep all the chaos in some sort of order, and his incredible sense of humor kept him sane and attracted us all to him like pins to a magnet.
But Ethan was not only – or merely – defined by GRL. That was just the side of him that most of us saw. Ethan was also my business partner in our publishing company Wilde City along with Tracy Ward and Adrian Nicholas. Again Ethan took on a leadership role there. We opened that press with one mission in mind: to look after all the people who joined our family. Our authors, editors, artists and readers were our number one priority and Ethan always went above and beyond to make certain we did the right thing by everyone, especially when it came time to close the business.
Then there was the Ethan who was my co-author buddy in two (and a half) books. For anyone who has ever co-authored a book, it takes a real connection to pull it off. It’s more like co-parenting a child, really. Together you create something that requires all the love, energy, passion, determination and inspiration you can give it.
Yet at times – whether it was through humility or humor or some form of self-defense – Ethan seemed so oblivious as to how much he had to give the world.
Of course, I didn’t write The Billionaire’s Wish about Ethan, but the universe works in mysterious ways and the story now rings true of Ethan in so many ways: a writer, completely unaware of how much he is loved and how much he has to give, is taken on a journey of enlightenment to show him just how much he means to those he loves.
I hope somewhere in the universe Ethan realizes it now. I hope he’s looking down – or up or sideways – at us with a sense of pride and joy at all the hard work he did to bring us all together, as well as all his achievements and the legacy he has left in his funny, romantic, happily-ever-after stories.
Gay Romance lives on in Ethan’s books, and in the many people he inspired and who loved him.
This Christmas, hold everyone you love a little tighter because we never know what’s around the corner.
About the Book
Tis the season to be jolly, but romance writer Matt Darcy is feeling anything but festive. With a pile of rejection letters as high as his latest manuscript, Matt is questioning whether his career as an author will ever take off. And while his perfect husband Cal has planned a week-long trip to a mountain chalet for Matt, Mrs. Mulroney, Mr. Banks, Tilly and Angus—so that everyone can be together and enjoy the lead-up to Christmas—Matt can only hope his feelings of worthlessness and self-doubt won’t ruin the trip.
But when a bump on the head knocks Matt out and he wakes up miles from the chalet, the journey he must undertake is not a trek through the snow, but an eye-opening insight into the lives of those he loves most if he, Matt Darcy, had never, ever existed.
Will Matt let his feelings of uselessness and self-doubt lead him forever into the Forest of Darkness… or will this Christmas open his eyes to the magical truth that it is indeed a wonderful life?
Buy The Billionaire’s Wish: Amazon US || Amazon UK
Tour Excerpt
“Hello? Are you alive in there? I can’t find you under all that damn snow. God Almighty, I think this one might really be… no… wait… I see him now. Yep, he’s alive.”
The voice felt distant at first, and was one I definitely didn’t recognize, at least not immediately. All I knew was my head was hurting like hell and when I tried to open my eyes all I could feel was the cold sting of snow, until someone with a gloved hand was wiping the snow away and trying to yank me up.
“Cal? Is that you?” I asked groggily, trying to shake my senses awake as someone pulled me out of the pile of snow I was buried under. But when my bleary eyes finally blinked into action, the person helping me to my feet was—“You?”
“I do have a name, you know.”
“Rashida, right? Rashida Jefferson?”
“You remember!” Rashida exclaimed with a big smile and an even bigger embrace. “It normally takes people a while to remember who I am. You must be good with names and faces. I’m taking you with me to my next dinner party. I am hopeless at remembering who’s who. I try to do the food association thing, you know, come up with nicknames based on who’s eating what at the dinner table, like Charlie Chicken Wings or Clam Chowder Carol, but I end up saying that name out loud and nobody is ever impressed with that.”
She released me, but all I could do was stand there staring at her in absolute, utter confusion. “Clam Chowder Carol? I don’t understand. What’s going on? What the hell are you doing here? I think I may be hallucinating.”
“Just relax, honey. You’re in a little bit of shock. You just got whomped by an avalanche of ice. Cal was right, that awning was totally a disaster waiting to happen.”
I looked around, suddenly concerned that I didn’t see my husband anywhere. “Cal? Where is he? Is he all right?” I called out to him. “Cal! Cal, where are you?”
“He’s not here.”
“Where is he?” I looked around, and suddenly realized I didn’t know where I was either. I was expecting to see the chalet, the awning, our four-wheel-drive parked a short distance away. But there was nothing but snow and trees and stars glittering in the nightsky. “Oh fuck? Where is everyone? Where are we?”
“It’s okay,” Rashida said. “I told you, just relax. Everything’s okay. Deep breaths.”
“I don’t wanna take deep breaths. I wanna know where I am. Did I sleepwalk here? Oh God, I’ve been sleepwalking through the woods. I’m lost, aren’t I?”
“You could say that.”
“But what the fuck are you doing out here?”
“Well, in a nutshell, I’m here to rescue you.”
“But how did you know I was out here? Did you follow us to the chalet? Who are you? Oh my God, none of this is making sense. I need to find my way back to the chalet.”
About the Author
Geoffrey Knight is the author of more than 30 gay fiction novels, novellas and short stories, ranging in genre from gay adventure, gay romance, gay suspense and gay comedies. He is the recipient of two Rainbow Awards including Best Mystery Winner and Best Overall Gay Fiction Runner-up. His work has been featured in several anthologies including Best Gay Erotica 2013, and he appeared as Guest of Honor at the inaugural Rainbow Con in Florida, 2014.
Geoffrey has worked in advertising, politics and journalism, but nothing is as fun as telling stories. He lives with his partner, their baby daughter, two dogs and two cats in a rambling old house in North Queensland, Australia, where the paint is fraying and life is good.
Amazon Author Page || Twitter || Facebook
The Giveaway
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The book(s) sound wonderful (no pun actually intended) and so does Mr. Day. Sadly, I haven’t yet had a chance to read any of his work though I mean to rectify that oversight soon. I am so very sorry for his loss. He truly sounds like a treasure.
Sorry for your loss. My favorite thing about this time of year is the lights that brighten up these dark months and the treats of course!