Playlist: July 2023

Playlist: July 2023

Playlist: July 2023

The Hot Vampire Wants to Devour You

This month’s playlist is inspired by the vampires I’ve been writing lately.

 

The first is Kilgarrah Abaddon, a scarified vampire necromancer, who finds himself in London, paying off a debt to Heaven’s Fury when dozens of corpses rise from the Thames. He wasn’t expecting to find himself a boy.

Victorian Vampire Daddy is rolling out in my subscription (Night Library tier) and features a hefty dose of spice.

The second is Ransom, a Protean vampire, who can take the shape of whatever he likes. I’m still working him out, but he’ll feature in the Pirates of Siorai series. I’m currently writing book two.

The third is Taryn Macleod (below), the modern day vampire prince in my Ream exclusive serial, Earth Render (Cascade at Fever tier). This is a polyamorous romance suspense with four men and one woman (not reverse harem). I’m only a few episodes into this, but there has already been some sexy times between Taryn and his faithful vaewolf.

You can find my Ream subscription here.

sexy vampire in a neon nightclub

So Damn Into You – Vlad Holiday

Belgium To Bordeaux – Canteen

Kiss Me Harder – Jordan Fiction

Want You So Bad – The Vaccines

Hit Me Right – Johnny Goth

Heroin Song – Jadu Heart

Tonight You Are Mine – The Technicolors

The Antidote – St. Vincent

But You – Alexandra Savior

Serpents – Sharon Van Etten

Liquid Reign – Dark Stares

beetlejuice chill – Life After Youth

Dracula Teeth – The Last Shadow Puppets

Fire of Love – Jesse Jo Stark

I’m Having Sex Tonight – GRLwood

Bad Things – Summer Kennedy

You Know Me Too Well – Nothing But Thieves

Plug in Baby – Muse

Take Me To Church – Hozier

Holy Ghost – BØRNS

Lady in the Wall – Danny Knutelsky

skins – The Haunting

Maniac – Phoebe Green

Ecstasy – HIMALAYAS

Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums – A Perfect Circle

Playlist: June 2023

Playlist: June 2023

Playlist: June 2023

For Love. For Pride.

This month’s playlist is inspired by Pride.

 

Telling myself not to get maudlin over Pride has become an annual event.

When I was fifteen, a gay man was beaten to death in the park opposite my school, and the thing I remember about that the most is that people talked about it like it was inevitable. Inevitable that someone should feel so incensed by the existence of gay men that they felt justified in killing them.

We can tell ourselves we’ve come a long way, and I guess we have in a lot of ways, but there are still people all over the world who believe queer people don’t deserve to live. In 2023, there are still people who show themselves up as the worst of humanity. It makes me sad, and it makes me sick.

There is nothing as brave and beautiful as queer people celebrating their existence in the face of the hatred still being slung at them. If you’re reading, I’m so fucking proud of you.

I’m not getting into the people I lost during the AIDS crisis because it was one of the worst times of my life and I’m not ready to put it out there. After thirty years, I’m still not ready.

This is the reason I waited until July to post this here. The playlist has been live on Spotify since June 1st, but I knew this post would get dark, and I didn’t want to spoil the vibe of the music.

It is truly a celebration of the lives we all should have been allowed to have, and a hope that the world will become a safer place for the generations of queer kids to come because they deserve better.

Make sure they get it, eh?

Happy listening!

Pride flags and silhouettes at sunset
New York Pride 1974. Parents holding placards. Man in foreground holding a sign that reads "I'm PROUD of my Gay Son."

Dance The Night – Dua Lipa

Rain On Me – Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande

Gimme More – Britney Spears

MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X

Born This Way – Lady Gaga

Raise Your Glass – P!nk

Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert) – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Girls Like Girls – Hayley Kiyoko

Strangers – Halsey, Lauren Jauregui

She Keeps Me Warm – Mary Lambert

The Antidote – St. Vincent

She Likes Girls – Metro Station

Bad Romance – Lady Gaga

Y.M.C.A. – Village People

I’m Every Woman – Chaka Khan

Going Back to My Roots – Odyssey

I’m Coming Out – Diana Ross

Dancing Queen – ABBA

Lady Marmalade – Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, P!nk

Firework – Katy Perry

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift

Starships – Nicki Minaj

Young Love – Eli Lieb

Too Good At Goodbyes – Sam Smith, Galantis

Be Alright – Ariana Grande

I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry

What the Hell – Avril Lavigne

Let There Be Love – Christina Aguilera

Rhythm Is A Dancer – Breathe Carolina, Dropgun, Kaleena Zanders

Ex’s & Oh’s – Elle King

Side To Side – Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj

About Damn Time – Lizzo

Chained To The Rhythm – Katy Perry, Skip Marley

Never Be the Same – Camila Cabello

People Like Us – Kelly Clarkson

Rise – Jonas Blue, Jack & Jack

Levitating – Dua Lipa

My My My! – Troye Sivan

Wings – Little Mix

Good as Hell – Lizzo, Ariana Grande

After the Afterparty – Charli XCX, Lil Yachty

Survivor – Destiny’s Child

Good Ones – Charli XCX

Euphoria – Loreen

Cut To The Feeling – Carly Rae Jepsen

I’m Good (Blue) – David Guetta, Bebe Rexha

Playlist: May 2023

Playlist: May 2023

Playlist: May 2023

Of Blood & Oil

This month’s playlist is inspired by my latest release, Of Blood & Oil, which is book three of my Not the Same River series.

It follows Violet as she goes from gobby orphan to treasured warrior in six books.

A hunted portrait. A twisted duke. An embarrassing crush.

When a hunted portrait arrives at the priory for safekeeping, Violet makes a disturbing discovery or two about her immortal neighbour. And an unwelcome one about herself.

As the resourceful Penhaligons try to figure out what’s so special about the painting, a sinister duke makes a bold move in his bid to claim it. But the painting is not the only thing he’s after.

Can Violet and the Penhaligons outwit the duke and bargain their way to victory? Or will they learn that they’re not the only ones with betrayal in mind?

This book features a vampire who doesn’t know where his trousers are, a stray nephilim, judgemental goats, and an MC who hasn’t quite got a handle on romance.

Happy listening!

Gothic Christmas witch with amber eyes and fiery red hair

Coloring the void – M83

Anachronism – Crywolf

Colder – Edwin Raphael

Angel’s Song – Arlo Parks

Under My Skin – SPC ECO

Speak Loud – Trills

Call Me What You Like – Lovejoy

From Eden – Hozier

Hypnotic – Zella Day

Fade Into You – Mazzy Star

Neptune – Sleeping at Last

Milk & Honey (Alt Version) – Billie Marten

I Found – Amber Run

Breathe – of Verona

Blood//Water – grandson

Litost – X Ambassadors

Illuminate – WILDES

Monster – Half Moon Run

Make It Holy – The Staves

Moon Begins – Florist

Pay – Ramsey

Heavy in Your Arms – Florence + The Machine

Swell – Twin Caverns

You Made Me Human – Richard Wells

Your Name – Lissom, Julien Marchal, Lowswimmer

Of Blood & Oil is Live!

Of Blood & Oil is Live!

Out Now! Of Blood & Oil

 

Book 3 of Not the Same River comes fifteen months after the battle at the priory, when Violet’s day is ruined by her sister’s recklessness and panic on the London Underground.

Vicious. Hairy. Panic.

A hunted portrait. A twisted duke. An embarrassing crush.

When a hunted portrait arrives at the priory for safekeeping, Violet makes a disturbing discovery or two about her immortal neighbour. And an unwelcome one about herself.

As the resourceful Penhaligons try to figure out what’s so special about the painting, a sinister duke makes a bold move in his bid to claim it. But the painting is not the only thing he’s after.

Can Violet and the Penhaligons outwit the duke and bargain their way to victory? Or will they learn that they’re not the only ones with betrayal in mind?

This book features a vampire who doesn’t know where his trousers are, a stray nephilim, and judgemental goats.

Of Blood & Oil is now available from all major online retailers.

Great News for Readers: Kobo Plus Comes to the UK & US

Great News for Readers: Kobo Plus Comes to the UK & US

Great News for Readers

Kobo Plus is now available in the UK & the US

 

It’s been a long time coming, but there’s finally an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited programme for readers in the UK and US. Kobo Plus has been available in its native Canada since 2020, when it was also made available to readers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal. The programme was expanded to Australia and New Zealand the following year, but I’ve been waiting somewhat impatiently for it over here in the UK.

 

So, why do we need an alternative to Kindle Unlimited?

Well, that’s down to personal preference. For me, it’s a number of things, the first being Amazon’s stranglehold on the ebook and audiobook market (through Audible). You can read about Audiblegate here. The reason I sell my books widely in the first place is because I want readers to be able to access my books wherever they shop as well as from libraries.

Kindle Unlimited’s requirement for exclusivity would put my books out of the reach of libraries, international readers that KU/Amazon doesn’t serve, my own subscription platform, my own website, and all other ebook retailers. I’m not prepared to do that. Not when among the perks of going exclusive with the world’s largest ebook retailer are having your books removed from sale because the Amazon bots found them on a pirate site, having your page reads stripped* for unspecified and alleged suspicious reading activity that they don’t have to explain, having your rank stripped**, and having your publishing account shut down without warning, explanation or recourse, while they “withhold” your royalties. Let’s just call that what it is, shall we? It’s theft. Imagine being the sort of company that behaves like this in 2023.

*Page reads are how KU authors get paid. If someone reads your 100-page book, you get about 40p. If Amazon decides the reader didn’t actually read the book, they can, without providing proof, claim there was “fraudulent page read activity” and just… not pay you. Fun, right?

**Rank stripping is where Amazon makes your rank in the store, or in your categories, invisible to readers. This behaviour tends to coincide with author promotions. For example, an author has just paid a huge amount of money to promote their free/99c book with a Bookbub Featured Deal. This is the holy grail of promotions, costing anywhere between $100 and almost $4,000 USD, depending on your genre and how much you’re selling the book for. The advert for the book goes out to Bookbub’s mailing list, who click and buy. The book goes flying up the charts, where more readers can see it and buy it. That’s what promotions do for authors. It’s why we use them. Amazon notices a lot more movement on the book than usual. But instead of assuming an author has a promotion running (something authors do all the time), Amazon thinks something shady must be going on, so they strip the rank, making the book invisible, and crippling the promotion. This lowers the return on investment on the promotion itself and stops it from catching the wave that makes promotions worth it in the long run. In short, this behaviour costs authors money instead of giving them the boost they paid for. For the sake of transparency, Amazon does this to indie authors in general, not specifically KU authors. And I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Amazon wants us to pay for ads on its own ad platform. Nothing at all.

Obviously, Kobo Plus isn’t available everywhere either, but because there is no requirement for exclusivity, this is just another channel through which our books can be made available.

Another perk from my side is that I get paid every time someone reads my books, so if you go through my entire series a second or third time, I’ll get paid for each read through. Kindle Unlimited only pays authors for the first read, so if you spend an entire month going through an author’s back catalogue for a second time, the only one who gets paid is Amazon. With Kobo Plus you can support your favourite authors even more.

 

What’s in it for readers?

Kobo Plus’ ebook subscription is cheaper than KU in both the UK and the US, since Amazon recently raised its UK price. And in fact, readers in the US will get a particularly good deal. For the current price of KU’s ebook subscription, you can get a combined ebook and audiobook subscription at Kobo Plus. That’s $9.99 a month for all the books you can read or listen to.

In the UK, it’s £8.99 for ebook OR audio and £11.99 a month for the combo deal. Is that a bargain, or what?

There are fewer books in Kobo Plus right now than there are in Amazon, but it’s only three years old. There are still over a million books in there, and you can expect it to grow as more authors take their books wide.

With Kobo Plus, you can support authors, knowing that they’re not getting shafted behind the scenes. You can support them over and over again with re-reads. Everybody wins.

There’s also a free 30-day trial, so you have nothing to lose by giving it a go.

Check out Kobo Plus

The first three books* in my Not the Same River series and the first book of Tales from the Noctuary are available to read in Kobo Plus.

*book 3 is in preorder, but will be available in Kobo Plus on its release.