Hi guys! Today I am very excited to welcome back the fabulous Anne Tenino to the blog.  She is here to talk to us more about her new release, Sweet Young Thang, which I reviewed earlier this week and really loved.  She also has a great giveaway going on, so be sure to check that out as well.  Welcome Anne!


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This tour is in celebration of my July 22 release from Riptide, Sweet Young Thang. This book is the third (but not the last) in my Theta Alpha Gamma series. As is usual for the blog tour, I’ll be giving something away, but what’s unusual (for me) is that this year, what I’m giving away is a mystery. To me. In other words, I’m going to offer the winner their choice of a number of items, like signed copies of my print books, or possibly a crocheted to order phallus, or even a different handmade item—I have a few things in mind . . .

So, how do you win? Well, it’s simpler this year. There will be one question and one question only about Sweet Young Thang, but you have to find the question somewhere on this tour. I’ll be announcing just before the tour where each post will be, so make sure you check in if you want to win.

Okay, enough housekeeping, on with the tour!

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Awkward Turtle

I have one teenager and one tweenager (i.e., between eight and thirteen). I mention this not because I want to go on about what utter hell it is (well, I want to, but I won’t) but because I’m going to teach all y’all who don’t have teenagers and/or don’t keep up with the latest fads about a very special thing.

The Awkward Turtle.

Monsieur Awkward Turtle appears in Sweet Young Thang when Collin is introducing Eric to his friends at a party. All his friends. At once. Friends who are very curious to meet this man Collin keeps talking about, and running off to be with.

Well, just imagine how you’d behave in the same situation if you were one of said friends (I’d totally be the gushing, drunken, middle-aged straight woman. I’d glom). If you need help imagining it, here’s a snippet of the official Awkward Turtle scene, from Chapter 36:

Collin found his friends in the kitchen. How did these parties always get segregated into gay guys in the kitchen, straights in the rest of the house? Well, Kyle and Tank were in the kitchen, as was Ashley, but she fit more into the gay guy category than the straight guy one.

He intended to quietly do the rounds, introducing Eric to a couple people at a time, but of course everyone stopped talking and looked at them as soon as they came in.

Shit. “Um, this is Eric.”

Everyone smiled at them. Ashley gave a little wave as a bonus.

Collin smiled back. When he looked at Eric, he was smiling too, but not his normal, natural smile.

Collin added a nod to his smile.

Now everyone was nodding and smiling back.

Only one thing could save them now. Collin stacked one hand on top of the other and started circling his thumbs. “Awww-kward.”

So, of course I sent in the book and Sarah Frantz (in her initial notes to me) said something along the lines of “What the [hell] is that turtle thing?”

Which was when it occurred to me that I might need to have a little tutorial. Fortunately someone on YouTube was kind enough to make one and upload it many years ago.

If for some reason you can’t see the video, refer to the instructions in the above excerpt, but I’ll add this pointer: both hands are palms down.

To make the whole thing even more awkward, the motion isn’t sign language for “turtle” at all, as many practitioners believe. It is, in fact, sign language for “platypus.” I can’t help but think that “awkward platypus” would be a more appropriate saying. No one consulted me before starting the fad, however, which isn’t surprising, since I’m not part of the generation that’s currently dictating cool (their loss, dude).

I’m fairly confident that Sweet Young Thang is the only book of its kind (what the “kind” is, is up to you) to have the awkward turtle in it. So, if you value being on the cutting edge, you probably want this book. Still unconvinced? Here’s the blurb:

Sweet Young ThangWhen Plan A fails, turn to Man A.

Thanks to Collin Montes, Theta Alpha Gamma now welcomes gay and bisexual students. Persuading his Uncle Monty, president of the TAG Alumni Association, that the open approach won’t adversely affect TAG’s reputation is Collin’s own first step toward coming out. As long as there are no repercussions, he’ll escape the closet by graduation.

Enter repercussions, stage left: someone rigs the TAG House water heater to launch through the ceiling, then plants a bomb—thankfully unsuccessful—in the fraternity’s basement. Now Collin has his hands full not only trying to convince his uncle that this might not be the work of homophobes, but also dealing with a fratful of brothers worried about their kegger fridge.

Paramedic Eric Dixon can’t stop thinking about the kid he met during a call at his former college fraternity house. The age gap between them is trumped by sexy eyes, so when Eric sees Collin again at the bomb scene, he pursues him. Soon, Eric is dreaming of being a househusband, fighting to keep Collin safe from whoever’s trying to destroy the fraternity, and helping his sweet young thang realize that repercussions sometimes have silver linings.

http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/sweet-young-thang-theta-alpha-gamma-3

If further encouragement is needed, follow the link, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the “excerpts” tab. The first 10,000 or so words of the book are there for your reading pleasure. And of course, you can also buy the book there, or at any of your favorite online booksellers.


Raised on a steady media diet of Monty Python, classical music and the visual arts, Anne Tenino rocked the mental health world when she was the first patient diagnosed with Compulsive Romantic Disorder. Since that day, Anne has taken on conquering the M/M world through therapeutic writing. Finding out who those guys having sex in her head are and what to do with them has been extremely liberating.

Anne’s husband finds it liberating as well, although in a somewhat different way. Her two daughters are mildly confused by Anne’s need to twist Ken dolls into odd positions. They were raised to be open-minded children, however, and other than occasionally stealing Ken1’s strap-on, they let Mom do her thing without interference.

Wondering what Anne does in her spare time? Mostly she lies on the couch, eats bonbons and shirks housework.

Check out what Anne’s up to now by visiting her site. http://annetenino.com