Tag Archives: romance

13Jun/25

Mo Fanning

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June 13, 2025

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 21: Mo Fanning!

Mo Fanning returns to share his new novel: Rainbows and Lollipops. We discuss setting a story close to home – Birmingham in this case, healing from loss, and friends growing into found family!

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Mo Fanning is a Birmingham-based novelist whose character-driven fiction explores the complexities of love, identity, and human connection through the lens of LGBTQ+ experiences. With his signature blend of humour, heartbreak, and hope, Fanning creates deeply relatable characters whose journeys reflect the universal search for belonging in an often-challenging world. Drawing inspiration from his Midlands roots, Fanning infuses his writing with authentic voices and settings that resonate with readers seeking stories that celebrate the beauty of imperfection and the transformative power of resilience. His innovative narrative approaches and genuine emotional depth have earned him a dedicated following among readers who appreciate contemporary fiction that balances entertainment with meaningful exploration of human relationships.

When not writing, Mo lives with his husband Mark and their beloved Labrador Ernie, continuing to find inspiration in the streets, stories, and people of his beloved Birmingham.

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August 30, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 34 Interview – Mo Fanning!

Mo Fanning joins us to share his latest novel Husbands! We discuss the dark side of Hollywood, telling stories while protecting identities, and finding happiness in the end.

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Mo Fanning is a part-time novelist, part-time stand-up comic and full-time ageing homosexual. He currently lives in the Black Country backwater town of Stourbridge but aspires to something more rural without neighbours.
With a unique talent for blending romance and comedy in intriguing settings, Mo is an emerging voice in the contemporary fiction scene and aims to be the best-known writer of LGBTQ romance.

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18Apr/25

Jim Provenzano

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April 18, 2025

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 13: Jim Provenzano!

Jim Provenzano shares the audio revival of his novel: Now I’m Here. We discuss writing love story arcs and perspectives, and the art of producing an audiobook.

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Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels Finding Tulsa, Now I’m Here, PINS, Monkey Suits, Cyclizen, the 2012 Lambda Literary Award winner Every Time I Think of You, its sequel Message of Love (a Lammy finalist), the stage adaptation of PINS, and a short fiction collection, Forty Wild Crushes. He edited and published his late uncle John Rigney Jr.’s 1950s novel, The Lost of New York, in 2022. His latest work is the YA novella, Lessons in Teenage Biology, out June 1, 2024.

Degrees include a BFA in dance from Ohio State University and an MA in English from San Francisco State University. Born in New York City and raised in Ohio, he lives in San Francisco.

A journalist in LGBT media for three decades, and the guest curator of Sporting Life, the world’s first gay athletics exhibit, he also wrote the award-winning syndicated Sports Complex column for ten years. He is the Arts Editor with the Bay Area Reporter.

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03Jan/25

J.M. Frey

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January 3, 2025

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 1: J.M. Frey!

J.M. Frey helps us ring in the New Year by sharing her recent novel: Time & Tide. We discuss time travel and time slip stories, the Regency/Georgian era, and lesbian/bi romances, all while keeping an eye on causality of changing the first lesbian kiss in literature.

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J.M. is an author, screenwriter, and lapsed academic. With an MA in Communications and Culture, she’s appeared in podcasts, documentaries, and on radio and television to discuss all things geeky through the lens of academia. She also has an addiction to scarves, Doctor Who, and tea, which may or may not all be related. Her life’s ambition is to have stepped foot on every continent (only 3 left!)

J.M.’s also a professionally trained actor who takes absolute delight in weird stories, over the top performances, and quirky characters. She’s played everything from Marmee to the Red Queen, Jane Eyre to Annie, and dozens of strange creatures and earnest heroines as a voice actor.

Her debut novel Triptych was nominated for two Lambda Literary Awards, won the San Francisco Book Festival award for SF/F, was nominated for a 2011 CBC Bookie, was named one of The Advocate’s Best Overlooked Books of 2011, and garnered both a starred review and a place among the Best Books of 2011 from Publishers Weekly.

Her sophomore novel, an epic-length feminist meta-fantasy titled The Untold Tale, (book one of the Accidental Turn Series), debuted December 2015, and was followed up by The Forgotten Tale in 2016 and The Silenced Tale in December 2017. The Skylark’s Song, book one of The Skylark’s Saga, a steampunk action novel about a girl vigilante and her mysterious rocketpack, soared into bookstores in 2018, and was followed up by The Skylark’s Sacrifice in September 2019. The Skylark’s Saga was signed to a shopping agreement for an animation series in 2018. All six of these novels were reprinted under Frey’s personal backlist imprint Here There Be in late 2023.

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15Dec/23

AE Lister

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December 15, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 52 Interview – A.E. Lister

A.E. Lister shares their latest novel A Port Essington Christmas. We discuss where the inspiration for the series originated, as well as previewing Alison’s next project.

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Alison Lister is a Canadian non-binary author. They write graphic erotic romance (contemporary/historical/paranormal) as AE Lister, and sweet Young Adult LGBTQ+ romance as Alison Lister.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQAKz3si6gI[/embedyt]

13Oct/23

JC Calciano

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October 13, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 43 Interview – JC Calciano

JC Calciano shares his Steam Room brand with us – youtube shorts, novels, podcast, and motion picture. He shares how it all began, how it pivoted when we were all at home, and where it’s headed!

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Over his 35-year career, JC has worked in nearly all corners of the entertainment business: from major studio blockbusters, independent features, and reality television to documentaries, music videos, webisodes, and theater.

In 2010, JC founded Cinema175, an entertainment production company under which he produces, writes and directs projects that predominantly focus on comedy and romance genres.

His first feature film as writer/director was the groundbreaking gay romantic comedy Is It Just Me? An official selection of over 50 international film festivals, it won several awards and honors, including audience choice and best picture. This was followed by eCupid—an instant best seller in the LGBTQ genre, screening at over 60 film festivals and winning four best picture and audience choice awards.

JC’s third feature film, The 10 Year Plan, played at over 51 international film festivals, winning 10 awards for writing and filmmaking before being adapted into a male/male romance novel.

He is also the creator, director and producer of the world’s most popular and longest running YouTube LGBTQ web series, Steam Room Stories. The Steam Room Stories brand has inspired several spin-off projects, including an award-winning motion picture, a series of novels, and the Steamy Stories podcast.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A41BaxxWo8[/embedyt]

15Sep/23

C Spencer

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September 15, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 39 Interview – C. Spencer

C. Spencer joins us to discuss her latest novel, So It Went Like This. We talk about contained settings and getting away to find one’s self!

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C. Spencer grew up in Southern California during the 70s and 80s—watching Disneyland fireworks off her balcony and ditching school to hit Tower Records and thrift shops on Melrose Avenue. She spent two years as an art major in college only to switch mid-way to English Literature, which led to her unnatural obsession with Hester Prynne, Lady Brett Ashley, and Henry David Thoreau’s lifestyle of resistance.

After graduating, she packed her car and moved to Burlington, Vermont sight unseen, living in the land of maple syrup and snowboarding for the next ten years. She currently resides in Western Massachusetts. She’s worked as a copywriter and editor since 2001. In 2013, she began writing fiction on the side.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFcpFjBM0MY[/embedyt]

04Aug/23

Hamour Baika

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August 4, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 33: Hamour Baika

Hamour Baika shares his novel Stolen Moments of Joy! We talk about being kind to refugees because you have no way of knowing their circumstances, overcoming domestic violence, and finding happiness.

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Hamour Baika was born in Iran and lived in Ahwaz during his teen years. He wrote his first novella, a fan fiction piece about the alien creature E.T. at age 12. Baika has a master’s degree in human rights. He’s a painter and classical pianist, and he now lives in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMc2MG4Fbv4[/embedyt]

28Jul/23

Mike Albo

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July 28, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 32: Mike Albo

Mike Albo shares his speculative romance, Another Dimension of Us! We talk science fiction & scifi, astral projection, time travel, and saving romance.

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Mike Albo is the author of three novels and myriad magazine articles. He has written horoscopes, love advice, and was The Critical Shopper columnist for the New York Times. He also performs comedy shows, both solo and ensemble, has emcee’d for many galas and benefits, and is an interviewer in his own right!

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHCT-2bxE5c[/embedyt]

18Nov/22

RL Merrill

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November 18, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 7, Episode 46: R.L. Merrill + Our Review of The Winchesters!

R.L. Merrill returns to the show to share her recent novel: Sundowners, and explain why a hippie vampire just makes sense in the face of conspiracies that go back to a missing cult. Baz & Vance review The Winchesters and share who won their weeks.

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Whether she’s writing contemporary romance featuring quirky and relatable characters or diving deep into the paranormal and supernatural to give readers a shiver, R.L. Merrill loves creating compelling stories that will stay with readers long after. Award-winning Ro spends every spare moment improving her writing craft and striving to find that perfect balance between real-life and happily ever after. She writes diverse and inclusive romance, contributes paranormal hilarity to Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Universe, and pens horror-inspired music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net. You can find her connecting with readers on social media, advocating for America’s youth, raising two brilliant kids, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area!

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbCMvWKyaMA[/embedyt]

November 6, 2020

It gives us great pleasure to welcome R.L. “Ro” Merrill as the guest on Episode 293 – Weird Stuff Tends to Happen!

R.L. “Ro” Merrill joins us to discuss paranormal romance, have some Halloween fun (the day we recorded the ep), and reveal her two recent releases: Fang Me Three Times and A Peculiar Prom Night.

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R.L. Merrill brings you stories of Hope, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll featuring quirky and relatable characters. Whether she’s writing about contemporary issues that affect us all or diving deep into the paranormal and supernatural to give readers a shiver, she loves creating compelling stories that will stay with readers long after. Winner of the Kathryn Hayes “When Sparks Fly” Best Contemporary award for Hurricane Reese, and a Foreword INDIES finalist for Summer of Hush, Ro spends every spare moment improving her writing craft and striving to find that perfect balance between real-life and happily ever after. She writes diverse and inclusive romance, contributes paranormal hilarity to Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Universe, and works on various other writing and mentoring projects that tickle her fancy or benefit a worthy cause. You can find her connecting with readers on social media, educating America’s youth, raising two brilliant teenagers, writing horror-inspired music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net, trying desperately to get that back piece finished in the tattoo chair, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more Rock ‘n’ Romance.

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25Feb/22

Romeo Preminger

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February 25, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Romeo Preminger back as the guest on Season 7, Episode 08 – All The Drama Is Intentional!

Romeo Preminger returns to share The Arizona Series, a gay southern gothic set in Aacadiana of the 1980s. We discuss writing historical fiction in an era we lived through and some thoughts on queer literature today.

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He goes by Romeo because he likes writing steamy gay stories while working a much less steamy day job. Romeo has been called the “master of the romantic thriller.” He’s the author of over two dozen books and e-novelettes, including the branded thriller series: Guilty Pleasures Editions. His latest project is the Arizona series, a gay Southern Gothic set in 1980s Louisiana. It just hit stores at the start of the year.

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August 7, 2020

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Romeo Preminger as the guest on Episode 280 – Brought Me To My Knees A Couple Times!

Romeo Preminger shares his hot new erotic thriller, The Manny, that hits stores this week! We also dive into his self-publishing adventure and share some laughs along the way.

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He goes by Romeo because he likes the freedom to write gay romantic smut without losing his day job. So he has to be a bit cagey in his bio, but he does love interacting with readers.

Romeo’s been writing stories about gay sex pretty much since he popped his first boner dreaming about the cute boys who tormented him in junior high. Now later in life, he’s sharing that dirty imagination with the world.

However, it’s not all sex. He’s fascinated by the psychology and emotionality of gay relationships, and he thinks the truth is that love and attraction can be a hot mess. When two men get together, it’s triumphant, transcendent, and life-affirming while also scalding, stupefying and even enraging at times. That’s the kind of relationships he writes about because the journey to happily-ever-after isn’t all pretty, and when it comes to love stories, the more drama the better, right?

Romeo’s married to a great guy, and he believes in happily-ever-after.

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