Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Riptide Publishing Anniversary Celebration


Guess who's having a birthday???  It was one year ago that a new and exciting publisher of LGBTQ fiction, romance, and erotica took the reading world by storm!  Riptide Publishing was created by some of the best M/M authors out there and they bring readers the most imaginative stories, pristine editing, and gorgeous book covers along with introducing us to exciting new authors.  Today, and throughout the rest of the month, there's a celebration going on!  Visit a slew of blogs learning about Riptide's new book releases along with commenting to earn the chance at winning a Kindle loaded with every one of their 2013 releases.  A list of tour dates can be found here.  So let's get this party started and learn more about Heidi Belleau, author of Cruces de Caminos and the new release The Flesh Cartel #1: Capture (co-written with Rachel Haimowitz).....


What draws you to romance? M/M romance?
I just love passionate heart-stopping stories of people falling in love and getting their happily-ever-after. As for M/M (and other LGBT romance I haven’t quite gotten to writing yet!) I’m queer myself so I like to see everybody get that happy ending, and see all sorts of relationships represented, not just the heteronormative narratives I grew up with, which made me feel so very alone sometimes.

Have you ever written outside the romance genre? If not, do you ever plan to?
Yes. I took Creative Writing in college and did a lot of short literary biofiction pieces. I’ve also written some urban fantasy both with and without a romantic subplot.

Do you write het stories too?
I have in the past, but nothing I’ve published. I’m really happy with M/M so far since I’ve still got a fair few stories to tell in this genre, but I hope to eventually branch out.

What do you think is sexy?
Slow burn sexual tension that has you squirming in your seat, absolutely PANTING for that scene of consummation. The longer I wait, the hotter I get.

How do you make your characters so sexy?
Are they sexy? Um! I just write guys that I would be attracted to in one form or another. I don’t write any single “type”, but every type I do write, I have the hots for in some distinct way. I figure if I’m attracted to my heroes, somebody else must be, too.

What’s your own sexiest feature?
If you asked any of my ex boyfriends they’d say my boobs. They are pretty great.

What’s your hidden talent?
I’m not sure I have one! I’m very good at annoying the hell out of my husband, does that count?

We know you’re a romance writer. What’s your day job?
Well, technically I’m a high school Social Studies teacher by trade, but I’ve basically quit to stay home with my daughter and write.

What would you do if you weren’t an author?
Before I decided to dedicate myself to writing, I was a pretty serviceable artist. Maybe I’d have pursued some form of graphic design?

Do you write under a pen name? Why or why not? Will you tell us your real name?
Yes, I do, because of the high school teacher thing. Just in case. Heidi was actually my mother’s second-choice name for me, after my real name, which is why I picked it.

What was the very first romance novel you read?
It’s actually a novel you can buy from Samhain’s retro romance line! I bought it for ten cents off of a charity bookshelf and um . . . I suppose I haven’t looked back, have I? Although my tastes have certainly changed from those days. LOL

What did you think?
Honestly I barely remember it! I don’t think it was quite titillating enough for my teenage tastes. Now, ask me about when I got my 14-year-old hands on Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. . .

Do you believe in Happily Ever After?
Yes and no! Do I believe people can have fulfilling life long relationships? Yes! But “Happily Ever After” to me implies once you’ve found ‘the one’ your journey is over, you’re together, finito. I guess if Happily Ever After is defined as a lifelong commitment to work at it and face challenges together and just constantly be putting effort into your relationship, then yes!

Speaking of online hangouts, where are yours? Where can your readers find you?
Number one spot would be twitter, where I’m @HeidiBelleau and chatting constantly. Secondly, Goodreads, where I have an author account and like to write status updates and reviews of the books I’m reading, and love to read other peoples’ reviews, too. I also blog at http://HeidiBelleau.com or you can add me on tumblr: http://teacupnosaucer.tumblr.com, or check out my taste in (mostly) gay porn: http://fleshquake.tumblr.com. Other than that, I have a somewhat neglected facebook account.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in the rugged oil-patch frontier of Northern BC with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write. She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centred on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with unironic papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!) When not writing, you might catch her trying to explain British television to her newborn daughter or standing in line at the local coffee shop, waiting on her caramel macchiato.
You can find her tweeting as @HeidiBelleau, email her atheidi.below.zero@gmail.com, or visit her blog: http://heidi-below-zero.blogspot.com.

**********GIVEAWAY**********

As a thank you for helping us celebrate, we’re also giving away $10 in Riptide store credit to one lucky commenter at every stop! Simply leave a comment below by 11:59pm on Sunday, October 7th to enter. Be sure to check out our complete tour schedule to find out where else you can enter to win—one Grand Prize winner drawn from commenters at all the stops will also win a Kindle that we’ll load with every book we publish in 2013!

41 comments:

  1. *laughing* Oh, I remember with perfect clarity when I got my hands on a, um, quite explicit romance (Duncan's Bride by Linda Howard) - I reread that book countless times, 'cause it was the only one of its kind I could find. But then came the ebooks and you can still see me devouring them! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I wore out the spine of my original copy of Outlander. There may have been dogeared pages.

      (I'm not sorry)

      I haven't looked back either. I love a bit of sex with my romance, most definitely! And sometimes a little bit of romance with my sex...

      Delete
    2. If I'd gotten Outlander at that age, it would have the same fate... And I would've learned English in no time! XD

      I've found that I enjoy practically everything as long as it's written well.. (I'll tell you a secret - you're one of my few auto-buy authors exactly for that reason.. and others, too ;D )

      Delete
    3. Yes 14 was definitely the PRIME age for me to get into Outlander. I wonder how much of my current tastes are influenced by it...

      (and awww you are so sweet!<3)

      Delete
  2. entertaining interview! Congrats on the new release.
    fangirlmom@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats Riptide Publishing on the one year anniversary. That's quite am accomplishment in this day and age.
    Thanks for the great interview. I love M/M romance. Congrats on the new release. Can't wait to read it.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joanne! It's pretty awesome to see how much Riptide has grown. I like watching good hard working people find success (especially if it contributes to my success, LOL!)

      Delete
  4. Interesting interview...even though I'm about as het as it gets, het romances often depress me and make me feel left out, too--they often feel sexist and cliched to me, and the heroines are nothing like me. The beauty of m/m to me is that it eliminates the usual gender-role cliches and features a wider range of appealing male characters, so I can enjoy the unfolding story without being annoyed by swooning woman/control-freak alpha conventions.

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a very common complaint I hear from women readers of M/M. Sometimes it's just less exhausting and frustrating to read a book with no women, or few women, than read one with portrayals of women that offend or annoy us. I try to include lots of strong interesting female characters that buck those cliches in my M/M, but there is really something refreshing and interesting about writing about two men in a relationship. The power dynamic is completely different, which automatically changes the game, as it were.

      Thanks for commenting! :)

      Delete
  5. Just read episode 1 of Flesh Cartel - got to the end and just sat there wanting more. Yes what happens is horrible but the writing is brilliant and desperately engaging. Need more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahahaha, yes this series is specifically designed to provide maximum torture to readers. Lots of squirmy cliffhangers, but you just gotta find out whether Mat and Dougie make it out alive and (more importantly) with their sanity intact!

      Glad to have you as a reader, thank you!

      Delete
  6. Outlander was one of my early adolescent reads as well and much like yours it's worn ragged. I gave copies to several of my friends that Christmas because I wouldn't shut up about it and they kept having excuses for not reading it. Suffice it to say we all bought our own copies of Dragonfly in Amber. Congrats on your new release and Happy Birthday to Riptide.

    melora.derryth(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To this day I keep a "secondary copy" I got at a used book store just so I can lend it out to people LOL. I am an Outlander evangelist!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. I think the first 'romance' book I read was The Foxes of Harrow by Frank Yerby that I pulled from my mom's bookshelves. And now I have a shelf full of Frank Yerby that I've collected over the years and I will dip into them every now and then.

    Heidi, I love your take on HEAs. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's fantastic, Evaine! There are definitely more than a few authors I cribbed from my mother that I still love today, Diana Gabaldon chief among them! (Although I'm more of a fan of the Lord John series than she is)

      Delete
  8. Enjoyed Heidi's answers. Riptide have some great authors and I would like to wish them Happy Anniversary

    avaliereads(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for celebrating with us Avalie! :)

      Delete
  9. I know quite a few teachers who write m/m and have to use a pen name...your story sounds like a great read. Thanks! sstogner1 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One does what one must to protect one's privacy! LOL

      Thanks Sharon!

      Delete
  10. Thank you for the interesting and entertaining interview. I look forward in reading this.

    Thanks,
    Tracey D
    booklover0226 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats on the new release! I really look forward to reading The Flesh Cartel. So nice that we don't have to wait long for each new installment.

    lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lisa!

      Yes I think a month a part is just enough to build suspense without it getting to be toooooo long.

      Delete
  12. Happy Birthday! Great interview! This sounds good! Thanks for sharing!
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks to all the Riptide fans for showing up today and to Heidi for her great interview and for taking the time to check in throughout the day!

    I look forward to many more celebrations in the future as Riptide Publishing continues to grow and thrive! The books they're producing are amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for having me! :D Being a Riptide author is a definite point of pride.

      Delete
  14. Very nice interview. Nice pen name.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Belleau is from my family tree ;)

      Delete
  15. Wonderful interview Heidi!! I honestly can't remember the first one I picked up but I do remember my response to the first few M/M romance books I picked up..........in that moment I found that the only thing hotter than one man/male/guy/studmuffin was more than one...........

    Kassandra
    sionedkla@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohhh yes, my first M/M was an eye-opener as well. Yowza!

      Delete
  16. Great interview - love the name!! :)

    Anne
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great interview!
    MC
    contact at mchoule dot com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Happy Birthday Riptide!
    Yvette
    yratpatrol@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I like sexual tension in stories too. It gives the coming together of the MCs more impact.

    strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I got a hold of Outlander (a used copy) at a library in DC when I was visiting my mom the first summer. I don't think she ever looked at the giant books were that I was purchasing, and they certainly weren't risque covers, but boy did I make sure my books were put up, lol. Then again, I was reading VC Andrews and some Harlequins before that.

    While I won't be happy if my kiddos were doing such things, I think my interest in erotic fiction has always been well developed. It helps with my own writing (mm and mf, I just like hot couples, lol). I love a good story along with it though, and I have enjoyed other Heidi Belleau works.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congrats on your first year anniversary! There is an amazing amount of talent at Riptide! It's been a very succesful year for you - keep it going!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congrats Riptide Publishing on your One Year Anniversary, wishing you many, many more! Thank you for bringing your Readers the most Incredible Group of LGBTQ Authors & their Amazing Books. I'm definitely a Riptide Fan, keep on keep'en on because your Readers appreciate all of You!!

    Thank you also to Heidi Belleau for taking the time out of your busy day to spend with Jody's Blog Fans with such a Great Interview. I really enjoy getting to know the Authors I read better.

    From your website & Riptide, I read about your recent & upcoming M/M Erotic Thrillers with Rachel Haimowitz; "The Flesh Cartel, Season 1: Damnation", consisting of "The Flesh Cartel #1: Capture" & "The Flesh Cartel #2: Auction" released on Nov. 5th.... WOW these LQQk like AWESOME Reads, I can't wait to pick these Books up, this is my kind of Series...then I know I'll be counting the days down for the 4 Books in Season #2 to start, "The Flesh Cartel, Season 2: Fragmentation". You Ladies definitely have yourselves 6 Fantastics Books for your Readers to salivate about! ;)

    I would very much appreciate the opportunity to be considered in your very generous giveaway.

    Take Care Heidi & Jody...& Stay Naughty,
    PaParanormalFan (Renee’ S.)
    paranormalromancefan at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete