The Dragon Eater plus giveaway by J. Scott Coatsworth is now on release!

I’m delighted to hand over to J. Scott Coatsworth for his wonderful new release The Dragon Eater, complete with an extra freebie on purchase. Who could resist? Certainly not me!

Author Name: J. Scott Coatsworth

Release Date: Thursday, March 16 2023

Tour Type: 7 Day Blog Tour

Blog Tour Dates: Thursday, March 16 – Wednesday March 22 2023

Publishing Company: Other Worlds Ink

Cover Artist: Kelley York, Sleepy Fox Studios

Review Formats Available: eBook

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Sci-Fantasy, YA Crossover

Story Type: Novel (>50k)

Word Count: 92500

Pairings (if a romance): MM (romance subplot)

LGBTQ+ Identities (if applicable): Gay, Bi

Keywords/Categories: science fiction, sci-fi, science fantasy, sci-fantasy, new release, announcement, gay, bi, bisexual, dragons, giveaway, friends to lovers, alien invasion, ya, young adult, crossover

Tropes: friends to lovers, alien invasion

Is This Part of a Series?: Yes

Position (Number) in Series: 1

Series Title: The Tharassas Cycle

Was This Book Published in An Earlier Edition?: No

Book Blurb:

Raven’s a thief who just swallowed a dragon. A small one, sure, but now his arms are growing scales, the local wildlife is acting up, and his snarky AI familiar is no help whatsoever.

Raven’s best friend Aik is a guardsman carrying a torch for the thief. A pickpocket and a guard? Never going to happen. And Aik’s ex-fiancé Silya, an initiate priestess in the midst of a magical crisis, hates Raven with the heat of a thousand suns.

This unlikely team must work together to face strange beasts, alien artifacts, and a world-altering threat. If they don’t figure out what to do soon, it might just be the end of everything.

Things are about to get messy.

Series Blurb:

The Tharassas Cycle is a four book sci-fantasy series set on the recently colonized world of Tharassas. When humans first arrived on planet, they thought they were alone until the hencha mind made itself known. But now a new threat has arisen to challenge both humankind and their new allies on this alien world.

Giveaway With Purchase:

I’m giving away the prequel, Tales From Tharassas, with all preorders – it contains The Last Run, The Emp Test, and a brand new short story the Fallen Angel. Just order the book and email me a proof of purchase at scott@jscottcoatsworth.com, and I’ll send you the book on release day (March 16th).

Non-Exclusive Excerpt:

Spin’s voice echoed in his ear. “This is a bad idea, boss.”

“Shush,” Raven whispered to his familiar.

He needed to concentrate. Cheek and jowl against the smooth cobblestones, he held his breath and prayed to the gods that no one had seen him duck under the sea master’s ornate carriage. The setting sun cast long shadows from a pair of boots so close to his face that the dust and leather made him want to sneeze. Their owner was deep in conversation with the sea master, the hem of her fine mur silk trousers barely visible. The two women’s voices were hushed, and he could only make out the occasional word.

Raven rubbed the old burn scar on his cheek absently, wishing they would go away.

“Seriously, boss. I’m not from this world, and even I know it’s a bad idea to steal from the sea master.”

Though only he could hear Spin’s voice, Raven wished the little silver ay-eye would just shut up.

The hencha cloth-wrapped package in the carriage above was calling to him. He’d wanted it since he’d first seen it through the open door. No, needed it. Like he needed air, even though he had no idea what was inside. He scratched the back of his hand hard to distract himself from its disturbing pull.

An inthym popped its head out of the sewer grate in front of him, sniffing the air. Raven glared at the little white rodent, willing it to go away. Instead, the cursed thing nibbled at his nose.

Raven sneezed, then covered his mouth. He held his breath, staring at the boots. Don’t let them hear me.

A shiny silver feeler poked out of his shirt pocket, emitting a golden glow that illuminated the cobblestones underneath him. “Boss, you all right?” Spin’s whisper had that sarcastic edge he often used when he was annoyed. “Your heart rate is elevated.”

“Be. Quiet.” Raven gritted his teeth. Spin had the worst sense of timing.

The woman — one of the guard, maybe? — and the sea master stepped away, their voices fading into the distance.

Raven said a quick prayer of thanks to Jor’Oss, the goddess of wild luck, and flicked the inthym back into the sewer. “Shoo!”

He popped his head out from under the carriage to take a quick look around. There was no one between him and the squat gray Sea Guild headquarters. It was time. Grab it and go.

He reached into the luxurious carriage — a host of mur beetles must have spent years spinning all the red silk that lined the interior — and snagged the package. He hoped it was the treasury payment for the week. If so, it should hold enough coin to feed an orphanage for a month, and he knew just the one. “Got it.”

“Good. Now get us out of here.”

A strange tingling surged through his hand. Raven frowned.

Must have pinched a nerve or something.

Ignoring it, he stuck the package under his arm, slipped around the carriage, and set off down Gullton’s main thoroughfare. He walked as casually as he could, hoping no one would notice the missing package until he was long gone.

“We clear?”

Spin’s feeler blinked red. “No. Run! They’ve seen you.”

Raven ran.

Universal Buy Link:

The Dragon Eater

Giveaway:

Scott is giving away a $20 book gift card with this reveal – your choice of Amazon, B&N, Kobo or Smashwords. Enter for a chance to win:

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47276/?

Author Bio:

Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.

He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Author Website: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth/

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworthauthor

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/jscoatsworth

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jscottcoatsworth/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8392709.J_Scott_Coatsworth

Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.otherworldsink.com/@jscottcoatsworth

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/

Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Scott-Coatsworth/e/B011AFO4OQ

The Long Game: Free download today!

For today only, The Long Game, my 18th-century novella set amongst the artistic salons and gambling hells of London, is a free download at JMS Books as part of their Advent Calendar event. Since the start of this month, I’ve been indulging in all these wonderful free books.

During the JMS Books’ Advent Calendar, it’s great to discover authors new to me as well enjoying stories from familiar writers. So it’s well worth checking every day for a different seasonal freebie!

During the autumn of 1765 in London, Joshua Jones, a young working man of colour and aspiring artist, is grafting hard at his studies while earning his keep as a waiter in an exclusive St. James’ gambling club managed by his uncle.

The only cloud on Joshua’s horizon is the progress of his love affair with Frank Bartlett, an older man and unofficial diplomat who met and seduced Joshua the year before.

After an idyllic summer in Italy together, reality bites when they return to London, and Frank plunges into dealing with the disastrous political fallout from the proposed Stamp Act. Joshua understands his lover’s preoccupation but worries he is being pushed aside as Frank becomes so involved in diplomatic wrangling that he risks injuring his health.

During tough times, Joshua is determined to stick with Frank. But will Frank take notice? And how can Joshua convince his true love that he is there for the long haul?

Excerpt:

As he left the table, his conversation concluded, Frank caught Joshua’s eye and gave him a nod as if to ask him to follow. With a glance around the room, checking that no guest needed his immediate attention, Joshua followed Frank into the service corridor.

Despite Frank’s pleasant expression, Joshua thought he resembled a death’s head in the murky lamplight.

“I don’t want to delay you,” he said, a worrying rasp in his voice. “But I wanted to tell you that I have to liaise with a select party of influential merchants this evening, then I must report to Burke after that, so God knows what time I’ll be free. So you needn’t bother coming to my rooms tonight.”

“Why not?” Joshua asked, reasonably enough. “I can simply go to bed and sleep.”

Frank looked uneasy at being contradicted.

“Well,” he said with an attempted smile that did not reach his tired grey eyes. “I’ll be out all night, and you’ll probably sleep more soundly in your own bed. It seems pointless to inconvenience you further, as there can be no sport in this for you.”

“Sport?” Joshua echoed. But in his haste to finish the discussion and move on to an urgent conference, Frank did not heed the warning edge in Joshua’s voice.

“It can’t be very entertaining for you to wait around for me endlessly,” Frank clarified.

Joshua looked steadily at Frank, his doubts and anxieties crystallising in a surge of anger.

“Sport? Entertainment? Do you assume they are my sole reasons for choosing to be with you?”

Frank’s diplomatic poise deserted him, and he looked taken aback. “Well, no, of course not,” he said, adopting a more conciliatory tone. “But it’s unfair of me to expect so much from you this past while, when I can give so little in return.”

Although these arguments had crossed Joshua’s mind as this dreary month had dragged on, it was like a slap in the face to hear Frank voice such reservations.

He raised his chin, his eyes meeting Frank’s in a blaze of indignation. “How timely to learn that after eighteen months or more, you regard me as so superficial,” he said coldly.

Frank was speechless, as if the brief discourse he had planned had unexpectedly veered into disastrous territory. Under normal circumstances, with Frank looking so worn and ill, Joshua might have compromised. But abruptly, he felt that the limit of his patience, stretched thin over the past weeks, had finally snapped.

He looked at Frank as he gathered himself to smooth over the sudden gaping impasse. “You know that’s far from true,” Frank began. “It occurred to me that our current situation was unsatisfactory and that you deserve far more consideration than I can lend you presently. I’m only trying to let you off lightly.”

“I wait for you in your rooms night after night by choice. I don’t need your damned consideration, thank you kindly. As for letting me off lightly? I’m not some giddy fly-by-night whore who will flit to the next man if you can’t spare me your attention. How dare you!” With a final furious glare, Joshua turned on his heel and stalked down the corridor towards the public rooms.

“Joshua!” Frank called after him, but Joshua paid no heed, even when Frank attempted to call his name again, and his voice cracked, prompting that awful tearing cough.

Rainbow Snippets: The Long Game

For this week’s Rainbow Snippets, I thought I’d choose another few lines from The Long Game, my newly released 18^th-century novella. This story is available at all outlets, including Amazon, but as part of the JMS Books Advent Calendar event, it will be a free download for one day only on Friday, December 16^th. It’s worth checking out the JMS Books website throughout the month until December 24^th as there will be a recently published story available for free each day. I’ve been loading up with wonderful books for my TBR!

Authors who take part in Rainbow Snippets each weekend are encouraged to post a few lines from one of their stories on their blog and then link back to the group post on Facebook. I always enjoy joining in with Rainbow Snippets, especially to read and comment on everyone else’s choice of snippet.

This snippet is taken from the middle of The Long Game, set in London, about the love affair between Joshua Jones, an aspiring artist and young man of colour and Frank Bartlett, an older man and seasoned diplomat, at home amongst the highest political circles.

After ignoring his health and causing a bout of serious illness, Frank has been persuaded to recover at his country house in Berkshire. He’s accompanied by Joshua, who quickly realises the place is a source of stress for Frank, in particular his appalling and expensive brother Robert, who is the first speaker in this snippet.  

Above that was the contempt that marred his handsome face as he remarked, “I assume this is another of your catamites, Francis? And a mulatto for the sake of variety.”

Frank snapped in an icy tone, “Mr. Jones is my confidential secretary and will be treated with nothing less than respect in my house.”

“Secretary, eh? Is that what you call ‘em these days?” Robert sneered, but his bravado subsided at Frank’s forbidding glare.

“Did you require any assistance, sir?” Joshua asked with perfect courtesy, rewarded by a gleam of humour on Frank’s face, as though he suspected Joshua was offering to assist his brother’s hasty exit.

Rainbow Snippets: The Long Game

It’s always exciting to share a Rainbow Snippet from a new release. The Long Game, my new 18^th-century story set in the artistic salons, gaming hells and political turmoil of London is out this weekend, so I had to pick a snippet from it!

This story is available at all outlets and is currently in the 20% off new release sale at JMS Books. As part of the JMS Books Advent Calendar event, it will be a free download for one day only on Friday, December 16^th. It’s worth checking out the JMS Books website throughout the month until December 24^th as there will be a recently published story available for free each day. Free books, what’s not to love!

Authors who take part in Rainbow Snippets each weekend are encouraged to post a few lines from one of their stories on their blog and then link back to the group post on Facebook. I always enjoy joining in with Rainbow Snippets, especially to read and comment on everyone else’s choice of snippet.

This snippet is taken from the middle of The Long Game, about the love affair between Joshua Jones, an aspiring artist and young man of colour and Frank Bartlett, an older man and seasoned diplomat, at home amongst the highest political circles.

After trying to carry on with his diplomatic tasks during an illness, Frank collapsed, and his loyal servant, John together with Joshua, nursed him through the fever crisis. Once Frank regains consciousness, Joshua has to think fast in order to deal with the impatient patient…

Joshua walked into the bedroom with the bowl and placed it on the side table. The heartfelt joy of seeing Frank wide awake and fully conscious was tempered by his lover’s obstinate expression.

Frank rasped, “Where is John with the hot water to shave me? And where the hell are my clothes? I have to go out!”

Joshua perched on the edge of the bed. “And good afternoon to you, too, Frank. How pleasant to see that you have finally decided to live. John, being a man of good sense, has taken the precaution of concealing your linen. And if you don’t remain in bed, I’ll personally supervise your clothes to be burned.”

Release Day! The Long Game

Although my new story can be read as a standalone, Joshua and Frank’s love affair began in my 5k word short story, A Roll of the Dice where they first met at the London gaming hell where Joshua works and Frank is a patron. I always felt that their relationship had much more mileage and so The Long Game developed in my mind.

The Long Game is currently in the 20% off new release sale until December 9th at JMS Books. I’m also excited to share that as part of the JMS Books’ Advent Calendar event, The Long Game will be a free download for one day only, Friday, December 16th from the JMS Books website. There is a free recently published book every day from December 1st -24th, so it’s worth checking out JMS Books for the giveaway of the day!

During the autumn of 1765 in London, Joshua Jones, a young working man of colour and aspiring artist, is grafting hard at his studies while earning his keep as a waiter in an exclusive St. James’ gambling club managed by his uncle.

The only cloud on Joshua’s horizon is the progress of his love affair with Frank Bartlett, an older man and unofficial diplomat who met and seduced Joshua the year before.

After an idyllic summer in Italy together, reality bites when they return to London, and Frank plunges into dealing with the disastrous political fallout from the proposed Stamp Act. Joshua understands his lover’s preoccupation but worries he is being pushed aside as Frank becomes so involved in diplomatic wrangling that he risks injuring his health. During tough times, Joshua is determined to stick with Frank. But will Frank take notice? And how can Joshua convince his true love that he is there for the long haul?

Excerpt:

As he left the table, his conversation concluded, Frank caught Joshua’s eye and gave him a nod as if to ask him to follow. With a glance around the room, checking that no guest needed his immediate attention, Joshua followed Frank into the service corridor.

Despite Frank’s pleasant expression, Joshua thought he resembled a death’s head in the murky lamplight. 

“I don’t want to delay you,” he said, a worrying rasp in his voice. “But I wanted to tell you that I have to liaise with a select party of influential merchants this evening, then I must report to Burke after that, so God knows what time I’ll be free. So you needn’t bother coming to my rooms tonight.”

“Why not?” Joshua asked, reasonably enough. “I can simply go to bed and sleep.”

Frank looked uneasy at being contradicted.

“Well,” he said with an attempted smile that did not reach his tired grey eyes. “I’ll be out all night, and you’ll probably sleep more soundly in your own bed. It seems pointless to inconvenience you further, as there can be no sport in this for you.”

“Sport?” Joshua echoed. But in his haste to finish the discussion and move on to an urgent conference, Frank did not heed the warning edge in Joshua’s voice.

“It can’t be very entertaining for you to wait around for me endlessly,” Frank clarified.

Joshua looked steadily at Frank, his doubts and anxieties crystallising in a surge of anger.

“Sport? Entertainment? Do you assume they are my sole reasons for choosing to be with you?”

Frank’s diplomatic poise deserted him, and he looked taken aback. “Well, no, of course not,” he said, adopting a more conciliatory tone. “But it’s unfair of me to expect so much from you this past while, when I can give so little in return.” 

Although these arguments had crossed Joshua’s mind as this dreary month had dragged on, it was like a slap in the face to hear Frank voice such reservations.

He raised his chin, his eyes meeting Frank’s in a blaze of indignation. “How timely to learn that after eighteen months or more, you regard me as so superficial,” he said coldly.

Frank was speechless, as if the brief discourse he had planned had unexpectedly veered into disastrous territory. Under normal circumstances, with Frank looking so worn and ill, Joshua might have compromised. But abruptly, he felt that the limit of his patience, stretched thin over the past weeks, had finally snapped. 

He looked at Frank as he gathered himself to smooth over the sudden gaping impasse. “You know that’s far from true,” Frank began. “It occurred to me that our current situation was unsatisfactory and that you deserve far more consideration than I can lend you presently. I’m only trying to let you off lightly.”

“I wait for you in your rooms night after night by choice. I don’t need your damned consideration, thank you kindly. As for letting me off lightly? I’m not some giddy fly-by-night whore who will flit to the next man if you can’t spare me your attention. How dare you!” With a final furious glare, Joshua turned on his heel and stalked down the corridor towards the public rooms.

“Joshua!” Frank called after him, but Joshua paid no heed, even when Frank attempted to call his name again, and his voice cracked, prompting that awful tearing cough.

Universal Book Link.

Buy now on Kindle

December Giveaways

It’s the season for giving, and although December has only just begun, there are so many giveaways this month that I and many other authors are involved with. I was a bit befuddled until I read a very useful blog post from the lovely Ofelia Grand setting out all the events clearly, and as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I thought I’d do one too!

Over at JMS Books, there’s an Advent Calendar event, starting today, December 1st through to the 24th, with a free download of a recently published book every day. Talking of Ofelia, she’s kicking off the event with her fabulous story The Setup, which I’ve read and loved. It’s free today at JMS Books. Nip over and grab a bargain!

My upcoming story The Long Game (to be released on December 3rd) will be free in the JMS Books Advent Calendar event on Friday, December 16th. Here’s a quick blurb.

In 1760s London, Joshua Jones, a young working man of colour, is balancing his art studies with his shifts at a gambling hell in exclusive St. James’. Last year at the club, he met and fell in love with Frank Bartlett, an older man and a diplomat. Now Joshua fears their budding relationship is faltering. Can he convince Frank that they have a future together?

There’s also lots going on over at Facebook. Talking RoMMance with a British Accent and MM Euro Book Banter Facebook groups are having Advent Calendar events from December 1st -24th with fun, games and daily giveaways from an array of authors. It’s only the first day and both parties are already rolling! I’ll be featured with a giveaway from my backlist at Talking RoMMance group on December 9th and then party host for the day at MM Euro Book Banter on December 12th.

Also on Facebook, Small but Mighty group has a seasonal #holidaybookdrop on Sunday, December 4th with lots of games and giveaways from a host of authors including me. The same group also has The Twelve Tropes of Christmas event from December 9th – 20th, featuring one trope per day with games and giveaways. I’ll be popping up in Close Proximity trope day on December 9th for a giveaway of my last year’s Christmas story, A Midwinter Night’s Magic.

Matthew Lewis is trapped at a Christmas country house party by snowy weather and forced to take part in a reading of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. To make things worse, his lost love Crispin Marley, to whom he has sworn undying hatred, is amongst the guests. Can some fairy magic from Puck help the estranged couple to make amends for once and all?

Hope to see some of you for the festive fun and games. December is turning out to be a party month with plenty of reading freebies!

Rainbow Snippets: Another Chance for Love

As my post-WW1 novella, Another Chance for Love is one of four titles in the QueeRomanceInk giveaway pack for October I thought it was timely to include a snippet from that story. To access all four books for free, just sign up for the QueeRomanceInk email list.

Authors who take part in Rainbow Snippets each weekend are encouraged to post a few lines from one of their stories on their blog and then link back to the group post on Facebook. I always enjoy joining in with Rainbow Snippets, especially to read and comment on everyone else’s choice of snippet.

At the start of Another Chance for Love, my main character Adam Merryweather may have survived his injuries sustained during the war, but due to miscommunication, he has lost touch with the love of his life, Alf. In this snippet, during a conversation with his cousin and confidante, Cat, Adam is mulling over the mess he has made of that situation, especially the fact that due to the machinations of his upwardly mobile mother, he allowed himself to be entangled in a brief socially acceptable wartime engagement.

He had written four or five letters since Alf’s disastrous visit to him in hospital, not that he had been coherent enough to register his presence. That was the occasion when Alf found out that Adam was engaged to be married, just by some casual reference from a nurse. Cat was already at Adam’s bedside when this happened and had raced after Alf, trying to explain the situation as it was in reality. But Alf had abruptly left the building and Adam’s life.

Once Adam had revived sufficiently and Cat had broken the news about the unfortunate turn of events, he had written to Alf at Christmas and then again at Easter, carefully phrasing his letter in the terms of any army pal, rather than something more intimate, in case the letters got into the wrong hands.

He knew his phrasing was awkward and stilted, asking after Alf’s and his parents’ health. He couldn’t say what was in his heart, “I’m a bloody idiot, I should have told you at the very start. Please forgive me. I love you.”

join – free books

Free story at QueeRomance Ink!

My second-ever published MM Historical Romance, Another Chance for Love is included as one of the four free books in the Queer Romance Ink giveaway pack for the month of October. All you need to do is to sign up for the QRI email list to access these free reads. Yes, it really is that easy!

Former British Army Lieutenant Adam Merryweather has survived the Western Front of WW1 and has slowly recovered from his injuries. But can he heal from a broken heart?

Torn between family duty and personal happiness, he sacrificed his love for Alf and has never ceased to regret that in the two years since.

Adam is slowly putting his empty life back together, working for the family firm in the city centre of Bristol and trying to stop his mother’s meddling to find him the perfect socially acceptable bride. When he happens to meet Alf out of the blue, Adam is determined to try again. But convincing Alf may be too much to hope for.

Can a chance meeting bring them back together? Or has Adam lost his chance of love forever?

join – free books