Four years ago the landscape of publishing changed with Riptide Publishing rushing to the rescue of readers longing for unique stories from authors willing to take risks. The m/m genre finally took center stage and hasn't returned to the shadows since. I'm excited to have been there from the very beginning and to be a part of the celebration today! Keep reading to get to know the talented Lisa Henry and how she became an author for Riptide with her Warriors of Rome series. In honor of Riptide Publishing's 4th Anniversary leave a comment stating what your favorite read from Riptide is and then fill out the form below for the chance to win a year of free books from this amazing publisher!
Thank you for joining Riptide on our 4th Anniversary blog tour! We are excited to bring you new guest posts from our authors and a behind the scenes insights from Riptide. The full tour schedule can be found at http://riptidepublishing.com/ events/tours/riptides-4th- anniversary-celebration. Don't miss the limited time discounts and Free Books for a Year giveaway at the end of this post!
Please welcome Lisa Henry to the tour......
How I Became a Riptide Author....
Way back through the mists of time, all the way in 2012, Riptide put out a call for their Warriors of Rome series. At the time I wasn’t a Riptide author but, holy hell, I wanted to be. And the Warriors of Rome call had my name all over it! M/M, check. Ancient Rome, check. I mean, what else did I really need to know?
Oh, except that the submission date was in a week and a half. That was ten days. Eleven, with the International Date Line working in my favour. Could I really write a novel in eleven days? No, probably not. But could I write a novella in eleven days? A person with a better grasp of how many hours are actually in a day—and someone who could then subtract those hours needed for sleeping, eating, and attending the day job—would have thought twice about it. Fortunately, I am terrible with maths.
Look, there is no way I would have even attempted it if it had been a historical period I had absolutely no idea about. But I have been in love with Ancient Roman history since I was a kid. I have way too many books on the subject. When I was thirteen I tried to teach myself Latin. Okay, so it was a disaster, but while other kids were learning the lyrics to the latest smash hit from the latest boy band, I was trying to translate Ovid. And I refuse to apologize for that. Or even try and explain it, if I’m honest. I mean, what was I thinking?
Anyway, a novella in eleven days. I aimed to write between 2500 and 3000 words per day. That would still leave a few days for editing and researching anything I needed to clarify. I could do this, right?
I picked the one period of Roman history I felt I knew the best—the reign of Nero—and ran with it. It would allow me to explore a theme that has always really fascinated me—that thing about all it taking for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Or, in the case of my hero in He is Worthy, to knowingly do the wrong thing in order to keep others safe. Can a good man still be considered good when he follows the orders of a monster like Nero?
I wrote the hell out of this thing. Caffeine became my only friend. I scribbled furtive notes at my day job, and wrote on my lunch breaks. Sleep became a thing that other people did. And somehow, I finished it and sent it away. Look, I’m not entirely sure what that submission even looked like. I’ve pretty much been too scared to read that first draft it since I wrote it. All I know is I’d hit the word count, dammit, and now I was going to sleep for several days.
But somehow Riptide saw some potential beyond the sleep-deprived ramblings that had spilled out of my fevered brain and onto the page, and actually offered me a contract.
And that’s how I became a Riptide author.
Shh! Don’t tell them. I want them to think I’m professional and organized. It’s getting harder, now they actually know me, but I’m hoping to fake it until I make it. Or, you know, just keep faking it.
About Warriors of Rome
In this collection, we've gathered together two novels and two novellas that explore the breadth of the Roman Empire. From slave gladiators to senators, Roman sexuality to Roman politics, these stories reveal the lives and trials of those fighting for the Empire in one way or another—on the sands or in the villas, or even on the senate floor.
-In The Left Hand of Calvus, a gladiator sent undercover to another ludus must decide which master to betray.
-In He Is Worthy, a Bructeri slave and a Roman patrician make strange—and literal—bedfellows in the plot to assassinate Nero.
-In The City War, Senator Marcus Brutus must decide what he's willing to do for his lover—and for Rome. A stable boy with a secret and a leader-cum-tyrant push Brutus onto a path from which he can never return.
-In Mark of the Gladiator, a disfavored gladiator is bought to train a group of female warrior slaves for the arena. Thrust into the middle of a murder conspiracy, Anazâr must find a way to protect his charges—and his heart—from his new master and a patrician family feud.
***The Warriors of Rome collection is being sold in a special discounted bundle by Riptide this week only. Check out the sale on this series and other bundles at http://www.riptidepublishing. com/anniversary-sale***
AUTHOR INFO:
Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.
Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.
She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.
She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.
TWITTER: @lisahenryonline
GOODREADS AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.goodreads.com/ LisaHenry
**********GIVEAWAY**********
To celebrate our anniversary, Riptide Publishing is giving away free books for a year! Your first comment at each blog stop on the Anniversary Tour will count as an entry and give you a chance to win this great prize. Giveaway ends at midnight, October 31, 2015, and is not restricted to US entries.
-Leave a comment letting us know your favorite book from Riptide Publishing, ALONG WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDY, to be entered into this awesome giveaway! Visit the other sites hosting this tour to increase your chances of winning.
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Glitterland was a big favourite of mine, with the Playing The Fool and Trowchester series both being firm favourites too.
ReplyDeleteLittlesuze at hotmail.com
Collared by Kari Gregg or Shadows and Dreams by Alexis Hall, two very different books but it's hard to choose between them.
ReplyDeleteacm05atjuno.com
I loved the Playing the Fool Series. Illumination by Rowen Speedwell. Anything by Alexis Hall :D
ReplyDeleteheloise_67 at hotmail.com
I'd go with STRAIGHT SHOOTER by Heidi Belleau, though Anne Tenino's POSTER BOY was also great...
ReplyDelete--Trix, vitajex(at)Aol(Dot)com
Favourite book from Riptide that's very hard "Never A Hero" by Marie Sexton love all the Tucker Spring stories.
ReplyDeleteShirleyAnn(at)speakman40(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk
Anne Tenino, she's one of my favourite authors. I hope she has more releases next year.
ReplyDeleteserena91291@gmail.com
Too many favorites! Thanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite right now has been Juggernaut. But i have only few weeks knowing riptide so i know i soon will have so much more favorites. I've read some Lisa Henry's book before and she is just amazing. I bet he is worthy is as good as the others i've read.
ReplyDeleteTicuv@yahoo.com
My favorite book for fairly light reading is Frat Boy and Toppy by Anne Tenino and a more serious one is Illumination by Rowan Speedwell.
ReplyDeleteree.dee.2014 (at) gmail (dot) com
Happy Anniversary! My favorite book by Riptide recently was Hostile Ground by LA Witt & Aleksandr Voinov.
ReplyDeleterockybatt@gmail.com
This bundle sounds so good!
ReplyDeleteMidniteWolf07@gmail.com
I have to pick just one? I am not sure.
ReplyDeleteCoreydclancy@gmail dot com
Love your work, looking forward to reading this set. Thanks to your, your co-authors & Riptide.
ReplyDeleteI love Abigail Roux's Crash and Burn! It was a perfect end to the series.
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