Today I am so pleased to welcome Julie Lynn Hayes & M.A. Church to Joyfully Jay. They have come to talk to us about their latest release, Be My Human. They have also brought along an excerpt and a copy to give away.  Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Be My Human

Would You Like a Little Scifi with Your M/M?

Is there anything better than m/m and scifi? In my opinion, no! Give me some hawt guy-on-guy sex with a scifi twist, and I’ll buy that all day long, lol. Luckily for me, there’s plenty of books out there that cater to such.

But what drew me to writing it? Good Lord, there’s no easy answer to that one. I’ve read science fiction as far back as I can remember. I grew up on Star Trek. Spock was my favorite. OMG those pointy ears. *shivers* Then the SyFy channel arrived, and I was in heaven.

But it’s the idea of taking a character and making it into something that attracts me. An alien can have any color skin, eyes, hair, extra body parts… just whatever my imagination can come up with, no matter how wild. I love doing that lol. I mean seriously, creating something from scratch is a thrill I can’t explain. The downside—if you want to call it that—is you have to explain how your new and wonderfully odd alien works, even if there is standard mythology that can be applied. Do they travel though space? Better get ready to explain that. What are their weapons like? What’s their social structure? If you’re going to create a race, then there’s this little thing called worldbuilding that goes hand and hand with it. And, while fun, it can also turn into quite the project.

In my scifi books, I’ve created aliens who have tentacles. *snicker* That was fun, mainly because I wanted them to be a little scary, but sexy too. So how to make tentacles sexy? Well, trust me, it can be done! I’ve created aliens who had snake-like qualities too, and even had beings who could breathe underwater who were not mermen. (That’s on the list, though lol.) Then there’s my all-time favorite: feline aliens. I love cats, so my aliens and my shifters tend to have feline characteristics.

The alien in Be My Alien and Be My Human is Fabrintazo, but we call him Taz. He possesses a wiry, muscular build. His long, luxurious hair is a mixture of reds, oranges, and browns, like a calico cat. His eyes are human and a lovely green. And just like a feline, he’s very acrobatic, and loves heights. Think of an adolescent kitten and there you go. Overall, he looks human. But it’s when he’s aroused you see the alien part… the stripes and the tail.

Yes, I said tail lol.

He knows how to use it too! Taz is the brainchild of Julie, my co-author. He’s a cute, sweet guy that has a shining innocence you just have to love. While book 2 focuses more on Reed’s struggles—he’s our human lol—you get to see that while Taz may be sweet, there’s a backbone of pure steel there too. Taz will do what he has to in order to protect his lover.

 

Buy Links:


Excerpt

He shifted Taz to one side and wriggled the phone out of his pocket, eyeing the number. What could his mom want at this hour of the night? He held it up to his ear, hoping he could hear over the sounds around them.

“Hello, Mom? What?” He listened intently. “Slow down, I can’t understand you. When? Oh my God, yeah, yeah. As soon as I can get a flight out. Yeah, promise. Is he okay? Surgery? I’ll call you back when I have a flight. I’ll leave a message just in case your phone is off. Love you too, Mom.” Sliding the phone shut, he patted Taz’s ass. “We gotta go.”

Across the table, Peter waited, a frown on his face. “Reed?”

Taz looked between the two men. “What’s wrong?” he asked, rising obediently.

“We have to go, babe. That was my mom. Dad had a heart attack. He’s at the hospital, and he’s going to need surgery. We have to get home and pack. I gotta book a flight to Florida right away.”

 

Chapter Three

“Oh God,” Peter whispered in shock as Reed paid the bill. “A heart attack? Did you know he was having problems, or did this just come out of left field? Jesus, Reed, is he okay?”

“I had no idea. He’s awake, and he knows what happened. They’ve got him medicated, of course, and they’re running tests.” Reed left a large tip on the credit card slip for the waitress, too distracted to do the actual math. “The heart attack wasn’t that bad. Well, you know what I mean. He survived it. But Mom’s freaked out, to say the least.”

“I bet she is. What are you going to do?” Peter ran his hand through his dark hair, messing it up, as the three men walked out into the cool March air. “Man, I’m really sorry.”

Reed flagged a taxi. “I’m going to have to fly home. Damn, Peter, I hate dumping all this on you, but I need you to run the shop while I’m gone. I’m sorry, man. I had planned on giving you some time off. Instead, looks like I’m going to be upping your hours.”

Peter held his hand up and flagged a second taxi for himself. “Hey, it’s not a problem. I know that store as well as you do, and you know I can handle it. You just go and do whatever. I’ll hold down the fort here for a long as you need me to. When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning, I hope. All depends on when I can get a flight out. But I’m shooting for tomorrow. If you have any problems while I’m gone, you call me. I mean it.”

“I will, but things should be good.” Peter hugged Reed before he got in the cab. “Let me know something as soon as you can. I’ll open tomorrow just like usual. And before you say anything, if I need to I’ll call in someone to help me, don’t worry. I got this end under control, Reed.”

“Thanks, man.”

Once Peter left, Taz turned to Reed. “Are you okay? You seem so calm, but according to my translator, a heart attack can be deadly.”

Reed glanced around them, concern edging his voice. “Careful what you say in public, okay, babe? Let’s just get home and we’ll talk then.” Reed ran a distracted hand through his hair. “I’m okay. Maybe just a little bit in shock, but I’m okay.”

Taz laid a hand on Reed’s arm, before he could enter the taxi. “I’m here when you need me.”

Reed kissed Taz quickly. “I know that, and I will need you… later. I refuse to fall apart on the street in front of everyone and their brother. That can come once I have a flight booked and I’m packed.” And probably will….


Blurb

Be My HumanReed and Taz are still adjusting to their new lives together when a medical emergency sends them flying down to Florida on short notice. Not quite the way Reed pictured introducing Taz to his family. Reed’s sister, Rene, welcomes the outgoing Taz with open arms, and the kittenish alien charms Reed’s parents.

But someone isn’t quite so enamored of Reed’s boyfriend—his homophobic older brother Jacob seems determined to be as unpleasant as possible, and he’s making their visit very uncomfortable. The sudden appearance of Reed’s controlling ex releases a flood of insecurity and bad memories.

Reed begins to doubt himself, and his ability to love and be loved in return. When strange items begin appearing as if out of nowhere, he wonders if he’s being stalked, or is he just paranoid? What can Taz do to prove to Reed that he’s more than enough man for this alien?


Meet the Authors

Julie Lynn Hayes was reading at the age of two and writing by the age of nine and always wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Two marriages, five children, and more than forty years later, that is still her dream. She blames her younger daughters for introducing her to yaoi and the world of M/M love, a world which has captured her imagination and her heart and fueled her writing in ways she’d never dreamed of before. She especially loves stories of two men finding true love and happiness in one another’s arms and is a great believer in the happily ever after. She lives in St. Louis with her daughter Sarah and her cat Ramesses, loves books and movies, and hopes to be a world traveler some day. She enjoys crafts, such as crocheting and cross stitch, knitting and needlepoint, and loves to cook. While working a temporary day job, she continues to write her books and stories and reviews, which she posts in various places on the internet. Her family thinks she is a bit off, but she doesn’t mind. Marching to the beat of one’s own drummer is a good thing, after all.  Her published works can be found at Dreamspinner Press, Wayward Ink Publishing Amber Quill Press, MuseitUp Publishing, Torquere Press, and eXtasy Books. She has also begun to self-publish and is an editor at Wayward Ink and MuseitUp.

You can find her on her blog at http://julielynnhayes.blogspot.com, and you can contact her at tothemax.wolf@gmail.com.

 

M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!

When not writing, she’s exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market, watching her beloved Steelers, or sitting glued to HGTV. That’s if she’s not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two children.

She was a finalist in the Rainbow awards for 2013.


Giveaway

M.A. and Julie Lynn have brought a copy of Be My Human to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Friday, October 24th at 11:59 pm EST.

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.