Please help me in welcoming new client Amy Lane to the Corvisiero Literary Agency.
Amy's best known for her male/male romance novels but what many don't know is that she's got an incredible story to share about how being a teacher and an erotic romance author can mean having to take the long route to a happily ever after. So many erotic romance authors have found themselves in the unbearable situation of being ousted from a job they love (and are very good at) simply because their books feature erotic elements. It's even harder to be an author of gay romance when anything with homosexuality is stigmatized as pornography. Amy's struggle to beat the system and remain true to herself is the topic of her memoir tentatively titled The Rubber Room.
I've been a huge fan of her work and have been hoping she'd someday write her memoir and my wish has come true. We will be representing her nonfiction titles and helping her share her incredible story with the world.
Amy Lane was born in Northern California in 1967, and has lived there for her entire life. She worked her way through college and married her beloved Mate along the way. Together they have four children, two in college and two in grade school, and a crumbling house, because Amy doesn’t believe in housework, and Mate doesn’t believe in home improvement.
Amy received her B.A. in English in 1991 and her secondary school teaching certificate from C.S.U.Sacramento in 1992 and she was on her way to earning a Masters degree in Creative Writing when the Twin Towers fell, and she decided to spend time with her children instead. She worked in a suburban school with an inner-city population from 1995-2010, and has been a published author since 2005. In the fall of 2010, she was pulled out of her classroom for "disseminating pornography," and has been writing full time ever since.
Welcome Amy! Looking forward to a great and prosperous relationship!
I'm very excited to introduce and welcome new client Tara Lain to the Corvisiero Literary Agency.
Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly male/male and MMF ménage, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her unique heroes. In fact, her readers say her tagline, Read the Beautiful Boys of Romance, about sums it up. Her first romance novel was published in January of 2011. She’s now on book 18. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series of 2011, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards.
Some people call Tara “the Balls girl” in honor of her best-selling MM contemporary romance series, Balls to the Wall. In fact, readers send her suggested titles for her next Balls book! Three of the Balls books, Volley Balls, Fire Balls and Snow Balls, were on the Amazon list of the top selling 100 gay romances in 2012.Tara also has a popular paranormal series called the Aloysius Tales and an award-winning ménage series called Genetic Attraction.
In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm, and she carries her promotional instincts into her writing career as well. She lives with her soul-mate husband in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
It's not every day you get to sign a literary rock star! But that's what we do at the Corvisiero Literary Agency. Today, we welcome Damon Suede!
I have to admit I squeed, danced the jig and looked a lot like Laura Linney in the movie Love Actually when Damon accepted representation for his upcoming titles.
His debut title, the male/male romance HOT HEAD has won several awards including 3rd place in the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards where it was the only LGBT romance nominated and the only non-New York Times Bestseller. The contemporary romance novel has been in the Amazon LGBT Top 100 since its release in June, 2011, spending most of that time in the top 10!
He has big plans for 2013 and I'm completely STOKED to get to work with him! Talk about starting off the year with a big bang!
Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has lived all over: Houston, New York, London, Prague, with a few long stretches in New Orleans and Vienna. Along the way, he’s earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a director... but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for over a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet.
Damon is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America and serves as the 2013 president of the Rainbow Romance Writers. Though new to gay romance fiction, Damon has been writing for print, stage, and screen for over two decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He's won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.
Damon would love to hear from you.... Get in touch with him at DamonSuede.com.
If I could go back in time and leave myself a note about becoming a literary agent, what would I tell myself? What have I really learned about being an ePub Agent, the first in the industry and one of the first to approach digitally-pubbed authors with an opportunity to have a partner in their career?
I suppose the best way to do so is to do a Top Ten list. So here are the top ten things I learned about being an ePub Agent in 2012.
1. Go with your instincts and don't let your authors deviate you from them. Your gut's never steered you wrong.
2. Authors need guidance as well as a partner in business. Be ready to not just talk them down but to lift them up as well.
3. Business and friendship don't always mesh. Be ready to part ways with one if your friend is also your client.
4. Digital publishers have authors who are sometimes blindly loyal to them. Warn your clients about this but understand that sometimes it's better to just let them learn the hard way.
5. It's ok to not represent every book your client writes and be ok expressing that to them. Let them decide what they want to do with it and be encouraging of their choice either way.
6. Take breaks from the business every quarter and recharge your batteries. It can be a weekend or a week but make it a time you spend doing things you enjoy like spending time with your friends and family, reading a guilty pleasure book or just getting away from it all by unplugging.
7. Don't compare one client to another. While some may have similar writing styles and genres they are individuals and their needs and goals are very different. Be ready to work with each client's needs individually.
8. You're not always going to be the bearer of good news and at times, you may even be painted as the enemy to your client by those in their circle for one reason or another. Grow a pair, develop that thick skin and be ready to remind your client about their goals and career path and prepare to walk away from that client if necessary.
9. Don't bad mouth anyone in this industry. People may talk shit about you or your industry but they shoot themselves in the foot when they do that. If you can't do business with people without disparaging comments about them why do business with them in the first place?
10. This is the most exciting and scary business to be in and an experience I wouldn't trade for the world. Have fun! The day you don't find it fun and rewarding, walk away and do what brings you joy. Life is too short not to!
Hello, fair readers! And thanks, Sary, for having me on the blog today.
For those of you who don’t know—I write books. Romance books about gay men. As such, I watch a lot of gay movies, and gay-themed television shows.
So: Welcome to my Gay Movie Review blog tour! The tour calendar is at the end of the post, so you can follow along to other stops. As with most blog tours, there’s a prize involved. A randomly selected commenter will win a DVD of my favorite gay movie I’ve watched this year, Weekend, and a free book from my backlist.
On with the blog…
In the wide world of gay cinema, I’ve watched more from other countries than I have from the U.S. I’m not sure why, but U.S. gay movies often feel self-consciously artsy to me. However, there are a few U.S. gay films that I’ve sincerely loved. Here they are…
First off, I have to admit, Kiss Me Guido is old. It’s so old that I rented it from the small, indie video store walking distance from my apartment when I was in my twenties.
Released all the way back in 1997, Kiss Me Guido was the first gay film I ever saw, and stayed my favorite for ages.
Truth be told, Kiss Me Guido is less a film about gay men and more a film about New Yorkers, but that’s fine. It’s hilarious. Maybe you need to be from New York to truly enjoy it, but I don’t think so. I think everyone can appreciate the beauty that is Kiss Me Guido.
Here’s the set up:
Frankie is a young Italian-American man living in the Bronx with his family. He dreams of being an actor, and when his asshole older brother (played by Anthony DeSando) hooks up with Frankie’s girlfriend, Frankie decides to move to The City (aka Manhattan.)
He answers a want ad in the paper (remember those?!) for a roommate in an apartment in Little Italy. Of course, Frankie isn’t realizing that Little Italy butts up against the very gay West Greenwich Village.
Through a series of events, Frankie ends up living with a gay actor named Warren and starring in a play directed by Warren’s ex-boyfriend, Dakota.
Frankie pretends to be gay, and to be Warren’s boyfriend. Warren has to learn to live with a “guido”.
Cultures collide as the macho culture of Italian-American Bronx clashes with gay village life.
It. Is. Awesome.
In a way, Kiss Me Guido is a lot like the other 90’s movie, Chasing Amy. That was also about the clash between suburb and city, straight and gay.
Personally, I love intercultural comedies and romances. In fact, my latest work in progress is an intercultural romance between a gay, anglo college kid and a Latino firefighter. It’ll be a while before I have a release date for you lovies, but I promise, you’ll enjoy it!
Great performances in Kiss Me Guido included the absolutely perfect casting of Anthony DeSando as Frankie’s brother Pino, and Craig Chester as Warren’s best friend Terry. (Craig Chester is probably best known for his role in Adam and Steve.) But everyone in the film was great. I laugh every time I watch it.
Latter Days was made only five years after Kiss Me Guido, but it doesn’t have that same “old movie” feel. Maybe its production value was higher, or maybe moviemaking techniques leapt forward between those years, but Latter Days doesn’t have that grainy, old-skool-video feel to it, and it certainly doesn’t suffer from the sound quality issues of Kiss Me Guido.
(Kiss Me Guido was filmed outside in parts. In New York City. It sounds like someone just hung the microphone over the actors’ heads and you can barely hear them talking over the background noise.)
Regardless, Latter Days is one of those movies everyone seems to love. It was written and directed by C. Jay Cox, the same screenwriter who wrote Sweet Home Alabama, and it shares some of the same elements: fish out of water, big city versus small town…
The plot is simple: young, promiscuous gay man falls in love with a Mormon missionary. Honestly, it could be the set up for a M/M romance. It’s a reformed-rake story, a coming-out story, and a love story.
Now, here’s the thing. Yes, I enjoyed the movie. BUT, there were a couple problems that nagged me. First off, Christian (played by Wes Ramsey) was supposed to be a self-absorbed gym rat, but I didn’t really see that, maybe because we didn’t see him go to the gym. I’m pretty sure this is because they only had the money for a few sets. Still, it felt like telling instead of showing. I wanted to see him working out and being more obsessed with his appearance.
My second issue was that Elder Aaron Davis, the missionary (played by Steve Sandvoss) went home to Utah for a big section of the movie.
Now, I’m not sure how they could have avoided this, but in romance novels I hate it when the main characters spend too much time apart. It especially feels like a cop-out when the main characters separate and do nothing but soul searching from the black moment to the plot resolution.
That’s what happened here. Too much time apart.
Still, the premise was great, there were some great lines, and more than anything, there was amazing chemistry between the two main characters. Christian and Aaron sizzled off the screen. They were totally believable as a couple.
Christian and Aaron were both adorable and sexy, and for that reason alone, you should watch Latter Days. It won a few awards, including one at L.A. Outfest.
Check out the trailer here, and see what you
think!
This ends today’s installment of the Daisy Harris Gay Movie Review Blog Tour. Come by my blog next Tuesday, where I’ll be discussing the Eating Out Franchise, part 2: The Rise of Chris Salvatore!
Birkenstock-wearing glamour girl and mother of two by immaculate conception, Daisy Harris still isn't sure if she writes erotica. Her romances start out innocently enough. However, her characters behave like complete sluts. Much to Miss Harris's dismay the sex tends to get completely out of hand.
She writes about fantastical creatures and about young men getting their freak on, and she's never missed an episode of The Walking Dead.
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Ever read a manuscript that doesn't just make you want to re-read it immediately, it makes you want to go and learn everything you can about the author so you can fangirl them for all eternity? Yeah… that's exactly what Jennie Jarvis' BOOK OF MELANIE did for me. I don't know if it's the epic fantasy journey we take with Melanie, the rich world-building that immerses you right from the start or the fact that I could see this book give GAME OF THRONES and THE HUNGER GAMES a run for their money but I totally fell in love with both the author and the manuscript.
She was being courted by several agents and I was ecstatic when she emailed me this morning to say she'd picked me. She likes me! She really, really likes me! :)
Join me in welcoming Jennie Jarvis to the Corvisiero Literary Agency
Jenny Jarvis has worked in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and New York City before returning to her home state of Florida. Since moving back to Florida, Jennie has successfully built and coordinated screenwriting competitions as well as served as a judge for film and theater competitions. While working in Beverly Hills, she served as a script analyst, producing coverage for producers, investors, actors and writers. She has operated as a freelance script consultant (“script doctor”) for over ten years working with clients around the world. Through her independent production company, Astorax Productions, she has written and directed a number of short narrative and documentary films.
As a literary writer, Ms. Jarvis has regularly contributed to the blog 5writers.com since its inception and has won multiple awards for her writing over the years. While a lot of her most well known writing is academic writing, she has won awards for essays, poetry and short fiction. She has recently completed her first novel, The Book of Melanie, for which she and her agent are diligently seeking publication. She is represented by Saritza Hernandez of the Corvisiero Agency.
Well, it's that time again. The holidays are coming upon us and end-of-year planning is happening all around yet it sometimes feels like I have to remind folks agents are people too. I was reading Andrew Zach's Annual Reminder that Agents are People, too and while I was nodding along with the post, I received several emails from folks who queried me a few months ago asking for status on their queries. They were well within the allotted timeframe to send a status request so I wasn't bothered by the emails but it suddenly hit me how much I have to get done at the end of this year and how much that's delayed my response time.
So, I wanted to give you a glimpse into my regular "workday". I put the word in quotes because so much of my day is a workday that it's generally a full 18-21-hour day.
My day starts at 5:30 AM where I get the kids up, start breakfast and get the medicine regimen started. Two of my three teens are on daily prescriptions so breakfast is a requirement at my house or I can never be sure they've taken their meds on time. Once their buses take off (one of them has a bus stop in front of the house while the other two have to walk out to the front of the neighborhood), I finish eating my breakfast while reading my Twitter/Facebook feeds.
I'll hop in the shower around 7:30 AM or after 8:30 AM if hubby hasn't beaten me to it then start my day-job. I get a full 7.5 hours at the day-job and will take advantage at lunch and breaks to either review a manuscript from a client or reply to emails from clients and colleagues. The Keurig gets a great workout during my heavy conference call days (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) as I tend to drink 4-6 cups in this 7.5-hour period.
Around 4 PM, I'll start "transitioning" from my day-job to the agency work if I don't have to pick up the teens from extra-curricular activities at school (one is in Band, another in ROTC). Transition from one job to the other requires switching laptops and going through email. I start from the bottom up so I can reply to emails sitting in my inbox the longest. The past few weeks though, I've had to really weave both jobs together as we prepare to move into our new place this week.
Once dinner is done and the kids are doing their homework, I'll sit back down at my laptop to read manuscripts from clients. This takes me longer than usual because I'm being interrupted every few minutes with a question from a teenager about their homework or one of the little ones staying with us will decide to have a conversation with me at this time. We have my sister-in-law with her 3-year-old and 8-year-old girls staying with us so you can imagine how quiet my house is at any given time. Did I mention how glad I am to be moving this week?
If the teens don't have more than a few classes' worth of homework, while they're taking their showers at 9 PM, I'm moving to my room to do some "real" work. Headphones in, I tackle manuscript revisions, email replies, royalty summaries (I still handle the monthly royalty payments for former clients with L. Perkins). Two days out of the week, I sit down and focus only on pitch-writing. It takes me two days to do this because I read manuscripts on my iPad while sitting in the car waiting for the kids, during breaks, any chance I get. I then transfer those notes to a Word document for my pitch and, as you know, your first draft is never the best one so it generally takes me 3-4 revisions before I'm happy with a pitch package.
Weekends are my favorite agency workdays because I can spend all day working... if the hubby and kids have not made plans for us. Did I mention my house is a pigsty? Ok, so it's not THAT bad but yeah, there's little to no time to clean and I'm always jealous of those families who can afford to hire a cleaning service. My teens do the bare minimum until I start to bark at them to do some REAL cleaning. My car has not been washed or detailed in months. My oven looks horrific and though I pin great DIY ideas to get it clean, I just can't find the time to actually do it. Want to get me something for Christmas? Send me a cleaning service, a lawn service or mobile car wash-detailing service.
My family doesn't really get to see me even though they see me every day. I'm just not "here" when I'm working and... I'm working all of the time. So when I say it takes me 8-10 weeks to reply to your query, please understand I'm not being facetious. My clients come first and many of them have been waiting a while to hear back from me on their manuscripts which we both need to get out there to make us money.
So when you see us close to submissions, please know we're not doing it on a whim. We're really looking out for our clients and our families as we attempt to maintain our sanity. ;)
I'm super excited to announce the signing of J. Leigh Bailey (Jenni) whose LGBT YA Romance novel, GUYLINER had me up all night reading and contacting her at 3 o'clock in the morning via email to offer representation. She had another agent courting her and I was sweating it out hoping she'd pick me for a few days before she finally said "yes".
J. Leigh Bailey is an office drone by day and the author of Young Adult LGBT Romance by night. She can usually be found with her nose in a book or pressed up against her computer monitor. A book-a-day reading habit sometimes gets in the way of... well, everything...but some habits aren't worth breaking. She's been reading romance novels since she was ten years old. The last twenty years or so have not changed her voracious appetite for stories of romance, relationships and achieving that vitally important Happy Ever After. She's a firm believer that everyone, no matter their gender, age, sexual orientation or paranormal affiliation deserves a happy ending. She wrote her first story at seven, which was, unbeknownst to her at the time, a charming piece of fan-fiction in which Superman battled (and defeated, of course) the nefarious X Luther. She was quite put out to be told, years later, that the character's name was actually Lex. Her second masterpiece should have been a best-seller, but the action-packed tale of rescuing her little brother from an alligator attack in the marshes of Florida collected dust for years under the bed instead of gaining critical acclaim. Now she writes Young Adult LGBT Romance novels about boys traversing the crazy world of love, relationships and acceptance.
Welcome Jenni! Looking forward to a long and prosperous career together!
In order to get caught up on queries and a rather large "to be read" pile of great manuscripts, I'm glad to announce our agency will be closing to submissions starting November 22, 2012 through January 2, 2013.
If you have submitted a query prior to November 22, it will be considered and you'll receive a response from me before we re-open the submission queue. Be sure to check my submission guidelines for details on how to submit your work and what I'm currently shopping for.
Jennifer Kacey is a wife, mother and business owner in Texas with very long black hair and a penchant for high heels and pretty outrageous toe nail polish. She started reading romance books back in college and liked it so-so then found erotica and "it felt like coming home". Finding a genre that catered to the dark, naughty side was an amazing revelation and she's had character hounding her to tell their stories ever since!
A morning person who doesn't drink caffeine, Jennifer is a glass half-full kind of girl. She's bad at all sports ending in "ball" and enjoys the hot weather months where she can drink in the sun. She refuses to use a flat sheet to sleep, loves perfume but only one particular type and plans to own flip-flops in every color of the rainbow before she dies.
"On a daily basis I am overwhelmed by the good fortune that is my life, and vowed years ago never to take it for granted." — Jennifer Kacey
Jennifer's debut novel, Together in Cyn is a delicious BDSM erotic romance featuring a menage-a-trois that is sure to keep readers breathless and slightly… warm!
