I'm very excited that several of my books and The Sleepless City series (co-written with Anne Barwell) have been nominated for the Paranormal Romance Guild Awards. Congratulations and good luck to my fellow contestants!

       LGBT/SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR/EPIC FANTASY/DARK FANTASY

Strays 

LGBT/ROMANCE/ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY/

MILITARY/MULTICULTURAL/HISTORICAL/SPORTS

Together Bound

LGBT/ROMANCE/ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY/MILITARY/

MULTICULTURAL/HISTORICAL/SPORTS – SERIES

Sentries

LGBT/ROMANCE/PARANORMAL/VAMPIRES & SHIFTERS/WITCHES & WIZARDS/GHOSTS/PSYCHICS

Electric Candle

​

LGBT/ROMANCE/PARANORMAL/VAMPIRES & SHIFTERS/WITCHES & WIZARDS/GHOSTS/PSYCHICS – SERIES

The Sleepless City

Mia Kerick is (probably) WAY TOO EXCITED.... I'm GRRC's FEBRUARY FEATURED AUTHOR

Hello, GRRC readers!

 

I’m Mia Kerick, and I’m overly excited to be February’s featured author at GRRC. My (devious) plan is to charm and entertain. LOL. 😉

Expect a few blog posts about the wonder of GRRC and some Facebook fun. 

Who knows where else I’ll show up? I’m a newly active member of Instagram. For years, I feared Instagram more than getting a root canal 🦷, but TBH, I’m having a blast with it.  (I also have a Twitter account. Or two.)

 

You can follow me at https://www.instagram.com/miakerick/ (shameless plug)

And/or on Twitter @MiaKerick, but you’ll find mostly politics there. I’m working on shifting more toward books. Give me some time…

Oh... and I'd sell my soul to get some BookBub followers. GO AHEAD, MAKE MY DAY... 🙏

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mia-kerick

 

Moving on to my GAY ROMANCE…

Three (or was it four?) years ago, I wrote Dead Sea. 

Coming of Age Gay Romance—and a topic some consider to be controversial.

Or maybe it was controversial for someone like me to write.

I hired three experienced sensitivity readers and…

Well, two years ago, I rewrote Dead Sea based on their input. 📑

But something about it was off. I set it aside.

And then, one year ago, I re-rewrote Dead Sea.

 

Too bad I was just going through the motions— 

I’d gone through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster with it, and I needed space.

But I didn’t give up. I sent the manuscript to a talented content editor. 

And my awesome editor showed me the way back to my original passion.

Ooops, I did it again…Over the past few months, I re-re-rewrote Dead Sea.

Now my story has future plans—hopefully brighter than its blemished past. 💔

I’ll self-publish Dead Sea and it will release on March 3rd… 

ARCs will be available on February 17^th, so reach out, my friends...

COVER REVEAL with GAY ROMANCE REVIEWS on FEBRUARY 10th

Preorders should be available Dead Sea on Kindle and KU on February 10^th.

 

TRUE CONFESSION: Over the course of Dead Sea’s longish (rather turbulent) unpublished life, I’ve suffered a lack of confidence that I can write about anything in the world I desire. Am I only allowed to write of my own personal experience? 

The self-doubt is mostly resolved, but I took about a year off writing to think. 

 

My story Dead Sea had several inspirations. When my daughter, Demi, attended SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, she introduced me to “Dead Sea”—the song by the Lumineers. (Check it out—it’s amazing.) Upon my request (begging), we played the haunting tune over and over while cruising around White Plains in our old black Volvo wagon. I memorized the lyrics. I crooned the melody in a Mom-voice that surely made Demi cringe. 

FIVE RANDO PICS about Dead Sea... 

Songs usually inspire my writing; in this case, a song provided the story’s spark.

♭♮♯

 

Like the Dead Sea
You told me I was like the Dead Sea
You'll never sink when you are with me
Oh Lord, like the Dead Sea

 

I was also inspired by an event in a young relative’s high school life—he saved a boy from drowning in a riptide during a break in Confirmation class at an oceanfront estate and was subsequently celebrated by the whole town. 💪

Combining these two ideas, I came up with the story’s concept. Through the rewrites, this concept never changed.

 

Whoa, I'm like the Dead Sea
The finest words you ever said to me
Honey can't you see
I was born to be, be your Dead Sea

 

Dead Sea has had COUNTLESS concept editors, sensitivity readers, first ten-page manuscript critiques by agents, beta readers… to the tune of $$$$$$$$$$

 

Get the picture?

But the time has come to make a move—and I made it! 😼

 

Here’s Dead Sea's blurb:

  

Kyle is a swaggering bully; Lenny strives to be invisible.

Kyle has been left alone in the world; Lenny is the world’s biggest loner.

When Kyle saves Lenny from drowning, their lives will never be the same.

 

After a brutal encounter with school bullies, Lenny swims out into the ocean, determined to let the current whisk him away. Next thing he knows the meanest kid in town is pulling him from the waves, promising to be his Dead Sea, and to never let him sink.

 

All Kyle wants is to get out of beach cleanup, is that too much to ask? So he goes for a swim, only to come upon the most epic loser in the senior class drowning in a riptide. Lenny’s haunted gaze grips him, and Kyle makes the impulsive decision to save his life or die trying. And through this ordeal, Kyle and Lenny are transformed.

 Kyle’s heroic act sets him on the straight and narrow, and he opens his heart to the young man he dragged from the ocean. Lenny changes too but is still unable to reveal the truth of his pain. While drowning in a sea of secrets, the reformed bully and wary victim fall in love. But staying afloat in the Dead Sea is not as simple as it seems.

 

 

Dead Sea will be Book 2—a standalone—in the STORY BALLADS BY MIA KERICK series. (The first was Torn, based on Natalie Imbruglia’s song—with separate characters, but the same angst and hope and devastating first love. Torn is only 99 cents right now, in honor of the next release in the Story Ballads series.)

Here’s the link...

 

https://www.amazon.com/Torn-Kerick-Story-Ballads-Book-ebook/dp/B07G971HF5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=torn+by+mia+kerick&qid=1611772637&sr=8-1

 

 

STORY BALLADS BY MIA KERICK are Coming of Age Gay Romance that teens and grown-ups both love!

 

 

<3 Mia

 

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY 👀: SNEAK PEEK AT STAGE 3 of COVER REVEAL!

And May 4th... I will release WHATEVER HE NEEDS.

New Adult Contemporary Gay Romance from Mia and Boroughs Publishing.

 

 

An author’s belly-crawl through the treacherous obstacle course that is social media. (SOMETHING NEW FROM MIA KERICK)

Featuring Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb”

 

I can almost see it

That dream I'm dreaming

But, there's a voice inside my head saying

You'll never reach it

 

How do they do it? You know, those genius authors who seem to intrinsically grasp how to do it all—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Book Bub, Goodreads, MeWe, Wattpad… and more. To me, they seem glib, as if they have all the winning cards tucked up their shirtsleeves, and my sweaty palms are clinging to the world’s worst poker hand. This could be my envy talking...

 

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking

But I, I gotta keep trying

Gotta keep my head held high

 

"Mia, you're never gonna be able to grasp the intricacies involved in applying the perfect hashtag." Yeah, the little voice inside my head instructs me sternly to give it up. “You’ll NEVER ‘get’ social media—all you’ll ‘get’ is frustrated.”

 

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

 

Take my old-but-still-new-to-me Instagram account--it’s an impossible dream that I’ll ever conquer it. After all, Instagram is on my phone… and all of my files are on my computer. How on earth do I get my promos and reviews and links from one to the other? My daughters (thank you, Demi, I owe you one, and Sisi, I appreciate your psychic password-guessing abilities) took pity on me and taught me how to post on Instagram. And now, Instagram is more than merely a tool to virtually stalk Sam Heughan (you know, hot Jamie from Outlander). I can use Instagram to promote and make friends… and I have…for several days now. 

 

The struggles I'm facing

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes might knock me down, but

No, I'm not breaking

I may not know it

But these are the moments, that

I'm gonna remember most, yeah

Just gotta keep going

 

My new publisher uses MeWe for their author chat. Talk about another mountain…two hours in and all I managed to do was send my brand spanking new publisher four private messages. “Hi everybody! I’m Mia Kerick, and I’m so happy to join you here!” Yeah—four times. (Wiping the perspiration of embarrassment from my forehead.)

 

And I, I gotta be strong

Just keep pushing on, 'cause

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

Yeah

 

And just when I’m ready to quit (who needs to write romance novels, anyway?) a friendly voice, or more accurately a private message from a concerned author on Facebook, reaches out to ask if I’m doing okay with my new challenges in social media. “No, I’m not!!! I need help…Aaaahhh!!” And she offers the help I need, which I gladly accept. In fact, I grab her worse of encouragement and run. (Thank you, Susan Mac Nicol, You’re my social media hero.)

 

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes you're gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

Yeah, yeah

 

It’s not pretty, but I’m down on my belly in the mud, army-crawling through the obstacles. In other words, I’m “doing” Instagram. I have a recommendation to the perfect master-Goodreads-in-one-hour class. BookBub is next. Pray for me.

 

Keep on moving, keep climbing

Keep the faith, baby

It's all about, it's all about the climb

Keep your faith, keep your faith

Whoa

 

Miley Cyrus is right—I just have to keep the faith. I’m not gonna lie: I’ve shifted into passive-aggressive "they can’t make me do this!” mode…Twice since Tuesday, to be specific, and it’s only Wednesday, as I write this. 

 

I’ll keep on trying. I’ll give it my best shot.

 

Back to the belly-crawl.

 

<3 Mia Kerick