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Reentry Burn
The Soundtrack of his Life
March 5, 2019
The soundtrack to Superpowered Love 5: Re-Entry Burn is far and away the most personal one I've ever done. It has four of my top five (currently extant) bands at the forefront, because Malory is the first character I ever wrote who had my own taste in music. Most of it, anyhow. (The rest, I gave to Bren in The Takedown, but more on that when we get to book 8 :D) It's kinda funny, considering his cousin Brady is the wannabe rock star--and honestly the Riot Boy soundtrack has some important stuff to me in its seminal punkness, too. But this one, damn dude.
So here it is, in all its nerdy rock-emo glory. Turn it up, y'all:
Re-Entry Burn, the mixtape:
“US Government” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Take Them On, On Your Own)
“Re-Wired” by Kasabian (Velociraptor!)
“Fire It Up” by Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank)
“Outsiders” by Franz Ferdinand (You Could Have It So Much Better)
“Thick as Thieves” by Kasabian (West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum)
“Virginia State Epileptic Colony” by Manic Street Preachers (Journal for Plague Lovers)
“Bad Blood” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Beat the Devil’s Tattoo)
“Help!” by The Beatles (Help!)
“Man of Simple Pleasures” by Kasabian (Velociraptor!)
“How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths (Meat Is Murder)
“Motorcycle Emptiness” by Manic Street Preachers (Generation Terrorists)
“Weight of the World” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Howl)
“This Fire” by Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand)
“Babydoll” by The Fratellis (Here We Stand)
“Pretty Girls Make Graves” by The Smiths (The Smiths)
“Nobody Loved You” by Manic Street Preachers (This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours)
“L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)” by Kasabian (Kasabian)
“Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones (Let It Bleed)
“Parting of the Sensory” by Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank)
“This Joke Sport Severed” by Manic Street Preachers (Journal for Plague Lovers)
“The End” by The Beatles (Abbey Road)
My favorite band in the world, like Malory, is the Manic Street Preachers. How the fuck a girl from West Virginia who grew up while grunge was in ended up obsessed with these dudes, I mean, I don't even fucking know. Mysteries of the universe, right? They never come to the US (their music will explain that...), but I did manage to see them once at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC and it a life highlight, lemme tell you. Guess I need a trip to Wales next.
I was walking down Army Navy drive when I lived in Arlington, Va, right behind the pentagon, and I had the Manics album Journal for Plague Lovers going in my headphones. Riot Boy had just come out, and my editor Raven had said, "Now you have to write Malory's story." And that's how Re-Entry Burn happened.
As a side note, the rest of my list is:
2. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
3. Interpol ("Sir Not Appearing in this Film")
4. Kasabian
5. Franz Ferdinand
Let's not think too much about what all that says about me. Let's instead think about what it says about Malory Claremont and his fucked up life. Bless his heart.
Malory Claremont was born and raised to be the villain in someone else's story, complete with fire-based superpowers. Then his cousin and former partner-in-crime, Brady, led him into a trap, and he's been in superpowered lockdown ever since.
When he gets out on parole, he meets Theo McCracken, a cold-superpowered ex-offender. Theo has a modern Hamlet-style past, dangerously pretty eyes, and a hunger for affection that even Mal can't deny for long.
They've paid their debts to society, but society doesn't care—from blackmailing coworkers to suspicious neighbors, it's hard to catch a fair chance. Pile that on top of their dark family pasts, and it feels like just a matter of time before they'll be shoved right back into prison.
Now available at Less Than Three and these vendors!
Prison and Re-Entry
February 20, 2019
Malory Claremont's story (or part of it, anyhow!) is up for grabs now--Re-Entry Burn lives!
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| Cover by Natasha Snow |
For excerpts, check out its page here at the blog. To dive right in, you can get it from LT3 or any of these fine vendors!
This book took me a relatively long time to write, y'all. Of the first four Superpowered Love books, only Losing Better required some research on my part. Luckily I had a buddy who helped me out with that FBI stuff. She also helped me with the prison stuff, for Malory, but to get inside his head and what he'd been through on the inside, I read. And read. And read.
And what I discovered was awful. Fyodor Dostoevsky famously wrote, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." Let me tell you, friends, the United States has some serious work to do.
If you're interested in learning more, there have been some recent documentaries that shine a light on specific occurrences--much easier than reading a bunch of books by ex-offenders that will make you lose your faith in humanity forever. Try these two on Netflix:
-The Survivor's Guide to Prison: A documentary framed like practical advice to anyone about to enter the justice system. Some famous people with experience, like the ever-awesome Danny Trejo, hammer away with stories, tips and tricks. It ends up focusing on the story of two wrongly convicted men, but the fact that they were innocent and subjected to this system is just the icing on the cake. No one should be.
-Time: The Kalief Browder Story: Want to rage-cry for an hour or two? Watch this one. Kalief Browder was (wrongly) indicted for stealing a backpack, and spent 3 years in Riker's Island AWAITING TRIAL. Yeah, he wasn't even convicted of anything. And it didn't get better. Jay-Z won a Peabody for this six-episode miniseries.
Trigger warnings abound for all of these: violence, law enforcement, suicide, rape, just the ones I'm coming up with off the top of my head.
Obviously I don't claim to have represented this stuff well or thoroughly in Re-entry Burn. It's a romance novel about two ex-offenders, not an exploration of the prison system. But if the story piques your interest, there's a lot to discover and learn about the criminal justice system. Which, honestly, I do believe in--but it's far from perfect and we can do better.
Okay off my soapbox, I just wanted to say that.
Re-Entry Burn + GRL
September 30, 2014
Good news to take us into GRL month: Re-Entry Burn has gone into print!
Cover by PL Nunn
You can get it at the usual suspects, Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or anywhere that stocks a lot of LGBTQ erotic romance, I reckon. If you know such a place. (Email me if you do. I want to go there.) And I'll of course have copies on hand at GRL if you want to pick one up at the bookseller there and get me to graffiti it up.
Speaking of, I'm over at Love Bytes today being woefully frank and open about authoring with anxiety. And why, in particular, GRL erases a lot of that for me. I had so much fun last year, seriously, I can't wait to go and have a reading of my own this time.
There also HAPPENS to be a rafflecopter drawing for a free print copy of Re-Entry Burn at the end of the post so. You know. Check that out if you have time ♥
Re-Entry Reviewed~
February 6, 2014
So today I had a really nice surprise when I cruised over to MM Good Reviews and spotted Re-Entry Burn's cover! I gotta say, in the middle of a craptastic winter and on the tail end of a taxing year, I was starting to get into my Winter Writer's Funk. Thanks to Thommie at MM Good for pulling me out of it with this incredibly thoughtful review.
Trust me when I say this, you will adore Mal’s voice. You will freaking love him and his point of view. I just couldn’t stop reading once I started and was taken so much by surprise I found myself finishing this book in the early morning hours, exhausted, yet screaming in my head because it ended.
... Okay I just c&p'd and erased that like five times because I feel ridiculous posting it to my own website, but hey, I am in need of a pick-me-up, as I say. It's nice to feel like y'all get it. Even when it comes in a package as, uh, difficult as Malory. (Mal sez: I been called way worse by much nicer people.)
So totally check out the review, if you like, or if you want more info about the book, hit up the Re-Entry Burn page here for excerpts, character stats, pretty drawings, etc.
♥
More info about In Distress coming up soon. Mid-Late March release--sooner than it seems when I'm buried in all this snow, still! Yay!
Sale!
November 23, 2013
Quick note of great import! Well, okay, of great import if you're looking for a deal. Loose Id is having a sale this weekend with editor's pick books at major discounts.
The sale just so happens to include the latest installation of Superpowered Love, Re-entry Burn, which is hefty enough to normally have a $7.99 price tag attached. They've got it on sale for just $4.99 for the weekend! Total steal. So if you've been waiting to scoop it up, now may be the time.
... and I'm about to go raid the sale myself and pick up a bunch of things I've wanted for some time now. Naturally.
Return from GRL + Reviews
October 22, 2013
Phewwww what a weekend! Hello to everyone I got to meet at GRL in Atlanta this weekend--and man, there are so many people I MISSED there and that makes me sad. Next time I will be better connected, I swear!
Still, it was epic fun. How many conventions can say they're that friendly, open, and full of strippers?
Wait.
For anyone who wasn't able to come this year, I highly recommend this Authors at GayRomLit share their favorite con moments story. Esp Anne Tenino's $40 Story. Which had me almost in tears in the Rathskellar bar later that night. But it was a glorious long weekend celebrating what we love best--with a side order of unabashed nerdery that makes everything just perfect for me.
Also I managed to wear heels for three nights in a row and not hurt myself. Go me!
Now service shall return to normal. Once I get over my con crud and/or whatever weird allergy issues I was having last week piling on. In the meantime, here are some really fabulous reviews for Re-Entry Burn I've posted to random social media, but not the blog. The horror!
Malory is the main personality here and we get to know him intimately. He evolves from a whiney, hard done by, but hard to love character into one who is thoughtful, hopeful and has a sharp self awareness, without losing the edginess that makes him interesting.
I really appreciate her thoughts on making the transition from Riot Boy, with Brady as a hero, to Re-Entry Burn, with Malory, the former villain, as a hero. Very cool stuff, so check it out, and thanks, Raine.
How I love these people and their stories. I find them downright irresistible in voice and personality.
This review just about made me cry, seriously. Melanie chose some passages to illustrate her insightful points, both about Mal and Theo and the themes in the book in general--which I'll talk about here soon individually, but range from rehabilitation to isolation and all manner of things in between.
That's it for me from now, back to work! Possibly tomorrow I will have some interesting news in Superpowered Love things, too... :D
Giveaway at Joyfully Jay
September 9, 2013
Just a run-by posting to remind y'all that there's still a day left to get in on the giveaway over at Joyfully Jay! I've got a little guest post about redeeming a villain and in the end if you drop a comment, you can be entered to win a copy of Re-Entry Burn and Riot Boy (or, if you have Riot Boy, something else of mine). Woohoo!
I'll have another giveaway later too, promise! Life has just been a bit wild for the last few. :D
First Review!
September 4, 2013
Re-entry Burn got its first review over at Joyfully Jay this morning--along with the freebie short, "Willougby Spit". Jay gives the book 4.75 stars (omg yay!) and says it's highly recommended. As usual over there, the review is in-depth, thoughtful, and really sinks its teeth into some of the stuff I wanted to play with in the book--
So. All the squee.
Check out her review here, and watch out for a giveaway coming up there in a few days, too! Thank you, Jay ♥
Don't forget, you can get Brady's short that comes between Reentry Burn and Riot Boy, "Willoughby Spit", from several different places via the Free Reads page.
Re-Entry Burn Exists!
August 27, 2013
It is a real book that is now available on the Loose Id site, yay!
More resellers will come and I'll keep both the Re-Entry Burn page and side bar updated. Go forth and seek out Malory, the crankiest woobie bad guy in the superpowered world!
Or, at least... in Arlington, VA.
♥
ETA: Oooh that was fast! Amazon has it now too.
More resellers will come and I'll keep both the Re-Entry Burn page and side bar updated. Go forth and seek out Malory, the crankiest woobie bad guy in the superpowered world!
Or, at least... in Arlington, VA.
♥
ETA: Oooh that was fast! Amazon has it now too.
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