April Best Sellers and Updates

What's Hot?
April 2010
Best Sellers!

1. Duncan's World
- T. A. Chase
(Gay / Contemporary)

2. Pinky Swear
- Lynn Lorenz
(Gay / Contemporary)

3. Only For Him
- Shawn Lane
(Gay / Contemporary)

4. A Hard Habit To Break
- KC Kendricks
(Gay / Contemporary)

5. Still The One
- Shawn Lane
(Gay / Contemporary)

6. The Delaneys And Me
- Anne Brooke
(Gay / Contemporary)

7. When The Jazzman Sings
- Karma Eastwick
(Gay / Contemporary)

8. (Boys Of The Zodiac)
Taurus: All That You Do
- Jamie Craig
(Gay / Contemporary)

9. Independence Day 2
- Christiane France
(Gay / Contemporary)

10. Beyond The Shadows
- Deirdre O'Dare
(Gay / Paranormal)





There I am at # 3 and #5 for the month of April for Amber Quill. Not too shabby. I’m particularly happy with Only For Him getting #3 considering it came out only the last two weeks of April.

Didn’t do a whole lot over the weekend. Wrote a maybe three paragraphs on The Beach House, even less on Twice in a Lifetime (one paragraph), and worked a bit on a medieval fantasy novel.

What is Next for Shawn

So having finished the Only Forever story, what is next for me, writing-wise?

Well, I am going to be working on The Beach House, which is my Hot Summer Daze story for Amber Quill. This is the barebones premise of it:

"Just out of his second try at Rehab, beautiful and famous male model, Mason Phillips, spends the summer at a rented beach house. Just the sort of thing his agent thinks will be good for the out of control beauty. Mason thinks the isolation sucks until he spots the guy next door, John Harding, and sets out to seduce him for a summer fling. Mason is sure John won't be able to resist him. Who can?"

There will be a little more to it then that, but you get the idea. This story isn't due until July 01, but I doubt I'll wait that long to have it finished. You never know about me though.

Also, as I have been continuously promising, I will be working on Jude's story. I'm hoping to have it completed within the next couple of months since very soon it will be coming up on a year that Sweet Reunion was out. I may be doing a third story set in the fictional world of Sutter's Bay, too. Twice in a Lifetime is one of the angst-ridden stories, so those are always a bit more complicated to write.

But up next, before either of those stories, I'll be working on chapter one (my chapter) of The Price Paid (that's the working title) of my co-authored book with Ava March. This is a first for the two of us and we're not really sure how others go about it or if it will work for us, exactly, but we're giving it a shot. The plan right now is for me to write one character, Aaron, and Ava to write the other, Conrad. The opening chapter is in Aaron's point of view. It's funny because even though we are critique partners we have a differing style. Ava tends to write much longer chapters than I do and she writes slower, too, probably because her chapters are more detailed. Should be interesting!

So, that's it for now.

Edited to add:
I hesitate to mention this, because I am breaking my OWN rule, but last night while I struggled to fall asleep (what else is new), I came up with a nagging idea in my surely delirious mind.

Though Lance and Maurice made only a brief appearance in Still the One, I got an idea for THEM as a couple. Lance is a red-haired English transplant sous-chef and Maurice is a tall, thin, BALDING man from Chicago who works as a waiter at Dustin's restaurant.

This would be a first for me, having a balding hero, but something about this pairing intrigues me.Sigh.

MAKE IT STOP. LOL.

Happy One Year To My BFF.

New Release: Still the One

Looks like Still the One is available at Amber Quill now.

Bargain price of only $2.60! LOL

And early too.

Click on the boys to the left to be taken straight to the purchase page!

Still the One Winner

First things first.

The winner of Still the One is:

Maggie! Here is the list.

There were 15 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
1. Maggie
2. Andi
3. Leni
4. Devon
5. Chris
6. Sophie
7. Nick
8. Ivan
9. Zach
10. Shayne
11. Eyre
12. Jase
13. TT
14. Lily
15. Dorothy

Maggie, email me at authorshawnlane@gmail.com so I can send you your book when it comes out.

And So...

Today is the last day to enter to win a copy of Still the One. Check back here Saturday to learn if you are the winner.

Still the One is short. I think it comes in at 11,000 words and I'll be honest and tell you it's just a sweet little story. No that doesn't mean no sex (if you read the official excerpt you'll know that isn't the case). But I think you will find the story can be read fast, it doesn't have much angst, and I hope will leave you with at least a half smile on your face when finished.

I wrote it to be short and sweet. I had volunteered to be part of the Amber Quill Pax about best friends known as From This Moment On. At the time I volunteered I had intended to use another work in progress, Never the One (notice the similarity in titles though they have NOTHING in common, lol). As the deadline approached, though, I realized Never the One was going to be longer and more complicated than I could devote the time to as I was in full swing on the Only Forever series.

I had vague ideas of maybe one day writing a sequel for Dusty and Malcolm from The Best Gift but never gave it a huge amount of thought until I realized my planned story wouldn't fly for the Pax. Thus, inbetween writing Only For Him and Only His Heart, I squeezed in Still the One.

So, it's not a complicated story (Neither was The Best Gift), but I think you will enjoy reading it.

If you don't win though, I think Amber Quill has started something new and the first week of release their books are like 35% discount. I think this makes Still the One under three bucks for its first week.

Tomorrow’s excerpt is going to be rather unusual in that it’s the beginning of a story I’m not sure I’ll write. I guess if I get a decent reaction I will consider it. If not…well, I won’t. LOL

Updates on a Thursday

I've just got the chapter I'm working on and an epilogue and His One and Only will be finished. That will rap up the Only Forever series. I think I should have it completed within the week.

Okay so I now have entered to win Still the One are the following;

Lily
Andi
TT
Jase
Ivan
Leni
Devon
Chris
Eyre
Nick
Maggie
Dorothy
Shayne
Zach
Sophie

There's still time. As long as you enter by Friday night.

Monday Updates

Okay, let's see.

Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Still the One, releasing sometime this coming weekend. It is part of the best friends pax, From This Moment On, which includes five stories, but can also be purchased individually. The contest runs through Friday, April 9th.

Talked to the BFF Sunday for a couple hours or so and he's doing better but is still fighting his illness. Getting a little better every day though.

Got my galley for Still the One and I'm looking forward to its release. I think you will find it to be a cute, sweet story (no worries there is sex).

Made a bit of progress on His One and Only on Friday but not much over the weekend. Still I suspect I only have two-three chapters to go before I have that one finished.

Have a good week everyone.

Excerpt of Still the One by Shawn Lane

“Dust? You there?” Malcolm called from the living room.

“In here.”

Malcolm appeared seconds later, smiling. “Hey, honey. I got your text. What happened to you? One minute you were there and then gone. Too tired?”

“Sorry about that. I just felt a little left out, I guess.”

“No problem. I’m sure all that acting talk can get boring for you. I just wanted them to meet my man.” Malcolm wrinkled his nose. “My smelly man.”

Dusty laughed. “Sorry, I was just going to go take a shower.”

“Well, I’ve already had one, but I don’t see why I’m not up for another.” Malcolm reached for his hand and led him down the hall toward their bedroom. He went straight into the bathroom, opened the glass shower doors, and turned on the knobs. “I was only going to stay until midnight but we got to talking. I’m sorry. You aren’t too tired?”

“Not too tired for some shower sex,” Dustin assured him.

“Ah, I see.” Malcolm grinned and peeled Dustin’s sweaty workout shirt from his body, then threw it toward the clothes hamper. He added his own navy T-shirt. “Drop the sweatpants and get into the shower.”

Dustin kicked off his shoes, yanked off his sweats, and got under the shower spray.

Malcolm entered the shower after him. He threw his arms around Dusty’s neck and placed his lips over Dusty’s. “Mmm. I missed you all day.”

“I missed you, too.” He pulled his lover against him, his hand slipping between their bodies to close around Malcolm’s erection. “What’s your schedule tomorrow?”

Malcolm closed his eyes and leaned into Dusty. “Um, I’m having breakfast with some of the others from the play, but not until ten. And then, I’m coming home to write for the rest of the day. The play’s dark tomorrow night. How about you?”

“Day off tomorrow. Have the whole day and night to veg.”

“Oh, that’s fucking fabulous.” He turned around to present his ass to Dusty, who squeezed the perfect globes.

Though they no longer had the need for condoms. They had a few of those soap dispensers in the shower and one they had filled with lube. Dusty squirted some into his palm and liberally spread it over his hard cock. Lifting Malcolm’s silky sable hair, he sucked on the back of his lover’s pale neck.

Malcolm leaned his head back, exposing more of his throat to Dusty’s lips. There were some really cool things about being together for several years. Knowing just what turned on your partner was definitely one of them.

Dusty reached back and squirted more lube into his hand, this time inserting his index finger between Malcolm’s rounded butt cheeks. He swirled around the hole for a moment, teasing him.

“Mmm,” Malcolm moaned as the finger slipped inside.

Still the One Contest Begins - Excerpt Saturday

Saturday's Excerpt will be from Still the One. It is a sequel to The Best Gift, but probably can be read as a stand-alone.




Here is the blurb:

Best friends, Malcolm and Dusty, have been together as a happy couple for five years. But now Malcolm’s budding career as a stage actor has taken an exciting turn sending him across the country to Broadway just as Dustin’s dream of being named Head Chef at the restaurant where he works is coming true.

As the distance tests their relationship, can their love and friendship survive? Can Malcolm find a way to prove to Dusty he’s still the one?


The contest officially begins. If you want to win a copy of April 11, 2010 release of Still the One, please leave a comment. Contest lasts one week.

The Latest

Rather than post an excerpt on Saturday this week I am going to post Kevin's free story. Which, of course, means I need to have it done by then.

Next week's excerpt (April 3) will be from my next release, Still the One (and then of course there will be a giveaway after that).



Last call to send me any questions you have for Ashtyn as I intend to emal them to him before the end of the month. Email me at authorshawnlane@gmail.com with anything you want me to ask.

Now, I have a question. It relates to direct sequels rather than related books like the Only series.

If you as a reader like a certain couple who had a happy ever after, would you continue to want to see more of them in sequels? Or would that be enough? And if you wanted sequels would the length bother you? If the only sequel to your beloved couple would be short, say even less than 10,000 words, would you still want to read it or would that be unsatisifying? Am I rambling? Probably.

I guess what prompted this was a recent comment I saw on a sequel where the person mentioned they had been looking forward to it but it was too short and that left them unsatisfied, so I'm wondering if the sequel should have never been written if it didn't add anything to the couple's story.

So answer if you want or if I am even making sense. It's quite possible I am not.

Anyway, look for the free story (speaking of beloved couples) on Saturday.

And as February Draws to a Welcome Close

Well Friday has arrived again. And not a moment too soon for my sanity. Also the end of February, too. I've decided it's one of my least favorite months.

Don't forget to send me questions for Ashtyn Long. Don't be shy. He's not.

Hopefully you've had a chance to notice my cover there for Still the One on the side. I like it, it's pretty, but I have to confess the guy with the long hair really does not look like Malcolm in the story as he is more muscular than our Malcolm is. Oh, well. It's a nice cover anyway and I like the way New York was worked in since that is a big part of the story. All in all, I think it's a good cover.

Tomorrow is excerpt day and I think I am going to focus on Trust. I know quite a few of you have read Trust, but there are probably some still on the fence because Brad starts out the story cheating on Justin. Believe me I am aware how easy it is not to sympathize with a cheater. To me it is a difficult if not impossible thing to forgive, thus why I really wanted to write a story where the reader couldn't help but not only forgive the cheater (Brad) but even like him better and root for his happiness. I think, at least from what I've heard from most readers, I accomplished that with Trust.

Anyway, that's my plan at this point, subject to changes of course. Sunday I'll have another lovely eye candy picture and I'll bet you can guess who it will be.

A New Beginning

Well, as you all know, I finished Still the One over the weekend. I had intended to give myself a day or two to goof off (not weeks on end), but as it is I did not. I've already started, His One and Only , the final book in the Only series, with Drew and Mark.

Along with that I plan to work on Twice in a Lifetime, Jude's story. So those two stories are where my energies will lie for the most part over the next few weeks.

Hope everyone has a decent week.

And Another One Done

I finished Still the One and so Ash agreed to celebrate with me. Wasn't that lovely of him?

Happy Friday

Continuing on these very cool pictures. I love the expression for this one too.

Ava, what do you think? Couldn't he be Raphael in From Afar?




Everything's okay. Still on track to finish Still the One this weekend and I already know it will be released April 11, 2010.

Hope everyone has a good weekend ahead of them and look for an excerpt of Ava March's From Afar. It's one she has chosen just for my excerpt day so you won't see it anywhere else

February 18, 2010 (Can't think of a clever title)

Thanks everyone again for your thoughts and well wishes yesterday. It's very appreciated. I'll be alone for the next two weeks so the good part of that is I should get plenty of writing time in as well as bff time.

On a much lighter note, progress is being made on Still the One and it will be done this weekend.

And now for a picture. There is just something about the decadence of this particular picture that really calls to me. Enjoy!

The Nothing New Day

This is one of those days when I really have nothing to say. Sad, isn't it? I'd decided I was going to try to post something pretty much every day but what happens to days like this when there is nothing to report?

Hmm. I am anxious to finish Still the One. I love Dusty and Malcolm but others are calling to me. The good news is I am working toward their satisfying conclusion and I don't anticipate having any trouble finishing this weekend.

I'm waiting on two covers at present. I submitted my cover form for Still the One so I am waiting for that and of course the cover for Calvin and Matt's story, Only His Heart.

Once this one is out of the way, I intend to continue writing Jude's story and also to start the final "only" book, His One and Only starring Drew and Mark. Yes, I named Drew after our Drew. I have a tendency to name characters after some people I know and many of the characteristics of people I know, as well as myself, end up in the book.

On Saturday, the excerpt posted will be from Ava March's upcoming release, From Afar. I suggest you don't miss this book if you are an Ava fan because it will be a long time before her next one comes out. Isn't that right, Ava? lol.

Not So Bad

This is a Monday better than most because I don't have to work. It was lovely Sunday night realizing I did not have to get up at 5:30AM.

My cold is much better. Not 100% but better. The worst part is the lingering cough. It's making my chest and stomach muscles hurt.

I got a couple of chapter done over the weekend on Still the One. My current goal is to have it done by next Sunday, February 21, 2010. That will be well in advance of the March 01, 2010 deadline.

Then I will give myself a breather day or two and then move on to the next story.

Happy Friday

I know there are those of you who cannot stand one more picture of Ash, but you are in the minority and he makes me feel better.



I wanted to break the 3,000 mark last night but I didn't quite make it because this cold is really kicking my ass. This is the sickest I've been in quite some time. I was 100 words short of that goal when I just couldn't write one more word.

The worse thing is I cannot stop coughing. Maybe if I had been able to stay home all week I would be better by now. Or maybe not. With all the coughing I haven't been able to sleep for days. I know I am whining a bit.

The good news, if there is any, is that this is a three day weekend as we have President's Day off on Monday. Maybe I can finally rest and get some significant work done on Still the One.

I want to thank everyone for their well wishes. Happy Friday!

The Heat Is On...

I'm posting this to show you the pressure I am experiencing, lol. Amber Quill listed in the coming soon section of Amber Pax's the best friend's Pax I am taking part in. Yes, the one that isn't finished.




From This Moment On...
A Collection of "Best Friend" Gay Erotic Romance
Beyond The Shadows - Deirdre O'Dare
A Hard Habit To Break - KC Kendricks
Independence Day II - Christiane France
Pinky Swear - Lynn Lorenz
Still The One - Shawn Lane
AVAILABLE APRIL 2010!

For those who might not know what an Amber Pax is, it's basically an anthology where you can buy all five stories at a discounted price. The way it differs though is that if you choose to buy only one or two stories, you can.

At least this is the last Pax collection I have volunteered for this year. I really have too many other stories going on and had to limit my participation. Too bad because some of my best stories came out of Paxes (At Long Last, Jake's Regret, and The Other Side).

If There is a Worse Day Than Monday...It's Tuesday

I am not fond of Tuesdays. It's too far from the weekend on both ends. And since I feel like crap and had to work anyway, this Tuesday is particularly cruel. Therefore, I had to have Ash.



Well after what I thought was a slow start on Still the One, I actually managed to get about 1,200 words done yesterday. Considering my sick state of mind (I know how is that different from usual) I'm not sure it makes a ton of sense, but it's progress.

To make the Pax it has to be at least an Extended Amber Kiss which is 11,000-17,000 words. The Best Gift was actually only an Amber Kiss at 10,000 words so this story has to be longer than the original. I'm thinking this story will be on the lower end of the Extended Amber Kiss word count but we will see.

I am behind my fellow authors of the pax too. As far as I know only one other of the five of us hasn't turned in their story already. And the other author has 8,000 words done to my 1,200.

I'm not terribly worried. As most of you know I'm a pretty fast writer. See backlist of 4 day books, Pulling Away and Stone of Wrath. I'm pretty sure without even looking I wrote Only His Heart in less than a month. The Only books have been admittedly easy because none of them have complicated plots. They are just relationship stories. No outside forces are trying to rip the guys apart or any of that. Still the One is likewise a relationship story.

The nice thing about Malcolm and Dusty having been together for 5 years is I was able to have their first sex scene of this book in the first chapter. I thought I'd get it in right away and believe me the boys did not mind.