OK, so they got the title backwards & slightly wrong… but I don’t care! A reviewer at MANIC READERS romance reviews loved Magic University! It’s the first review I’ve gotten on this book/series so I’m quite excited! (As you can probably tell…)
Choice quotes:
“Magical University Book One: The Sword and the Siren is just as Ms. Tan described, a Harry Potter for adults.”
“The best fantasy combines the mystical we’re aware of with the fruits of the author’s imagination. It’s all fascinating, fun and pure escapism. Ms. Tan has done a wonderful job in Magical University Book One: The Sword and the Siren, writing my favorite kind of fantasy.”
“Joining Kyle as he experienced many rites of passage, both ordinary and magical, was a delight. It was such a treat to escape to Veritas. The world of “magic users” is enticing and I look forward to spending more time at Veritas… Count me in for the whole series, it’s just that good.”
You can read the whole review here: https://www.manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=bookDetail&bookid=5942
Vote for me & Daron
More than half the voting time has gone by for the Rose & Bay awards for crowdfunded creativity!
A project of mine, Daron’s Guitar Chronicles, has been nominated, and is even in second place in the voting right now! Woo!
You can go vote here: https://community.livejournal.com/crowdfunding/164346.html
Voting closes on Feb 28th.
Many of the other projects listed there are not only worth a vote, but worth reading. I’m fond of Alexandra Erin’s Tales of MU myself (which I nominated and is one of the crowdfunded online novels I have donated to myself, even though I’m only a fraction of the way into reading it… SOMEDAY I shall really have time to read again, no really… which is my roundabout way of saying if you DO read it on my rec, NO SPOILERS please…!)
Anyway, many are worthy of a vote, but I humbly hope for yours. Thank you! And tell your friends to check out the awards, too!
The Prince's Boy, 29
Title: The Prince’s Boy, pt. 29
Author: yours truly
Rating: NC-17
Genre: high fantasy, original fic
Summary: Prince Kenet has lived a sheltered life in his father’s castle–while outside invaders from foreign shores, pestilence, and crop failure plague the land–with his constant companion Jorin, his whipping boy. Jorin and Kenet have been discovering the pleasures of the flesh with each other in secret, but will the ambitions of the king and the schemes of his top advisor, the Lord High Mage Seroi, come between the prince and his boy? And what of Sergetten, the prince’s missing tutor?
Warnings: Male/male sex, dubious consent, corporal punishment, situations of sexual jeopardy.
Part 29: Kenet
We passed a check point of some kind around dawn, the guards bantering with Jort before letting us pass, and the wagon rolled on and on. I wondered why I didn’t feel hungry at all, but my stomach was in such knots from fear and worry I couldn’t have eaten anything now even if my hands had been free and a banquet were in front of me.
I had plenty of time to try to free myself from the chains if it could be done. It could not. If they were truly delivering me to General Roichal, I might find myself headed straight back to Seroi and my father if he were to recognize me. I tried to remember when the last time he had banqueted at the royal table had been. Ten years ago? When he had been made commander of the whole army. I was fairly sure he had not returned since, and even then, I don’t know that he ever got much of a look at me. I remembered him as a broad-shouldered man, with his hair in need of cutting and a perpetual frown creasing his brow.
We changed horses again at midday and no one opened the back of the wagon to find me there. A few miles later, Jort made me drink some water but I really could not eat. I finally slept fitfully through the heat of the afternoon, and then woke as the wagon went through another check point. The sun was setting as we came into a camp, a circle of tents visible all around in the fading light. I could hear many voices.
And then suddenly the back of the wagon was flung open and Jort was standing there grinning, gesturing at me. “Here you are.”
The man standing next to him was in some sort of uniform, but not like a soldier’s. He had an apron on as well. A cook? He wore a disdainful expression. “This? This is what our king sends to boost morale? Whiskey instead of grain? And what the hell are we supposed to do with a whoreslave?”
(Read more)
Magic University Photo Tour
A Tour of Veritas, the Magic University
So, my erotic fantasy romance series, Magic University, is being published by Ravenous Romance. The second of two books in a planned four book series was just published at the beginning of February, and I thought this might be a great time to share some photos of the “real” Veritas, the Harvard campus.
In the books, many scenes take place in real Harvard buildings, while others are in magical buildings that cameras and mundane eyes cannot see. As such, of course, these are photos of just the Harvard buildings, but many of the Veritas buildings resemble these very closely.
The full assortment of photos can be seen here: in my Picasa album, but I will put a few here with descriptions, under the cut…
Continue reading →
Another stop on the blog tour!
Today I’m guest blogging at Wicked Thorn & Roses!
You could win a copy of the Magic University 1 or 2 ebook by commenting on my guest entry there today.
The essay is on making characters suffer: https://bit.ly/doMhKh
On "Virtual" Tour!
So, to promote the ebooks I’ve had come out in the past 5-6 weeks, I’m “on tour” virtually. This means I’ll be doing a bunch of online chats, some of them live, some of them in slo-mo via Yahoo loops and Livejournal communities, and guest blogging about eight different places. Writing a lot of guest blogs has meant teasing apart my writing process a lot, and it’s been fun. I’ll also be making some posts here with book excerpts, slide shows, etc… all that good stuff.
Here’s the schedule of where and when I’ll be “appearing.” Lots of these chats and guest blogs give commenters/participants a chance to win a free copy of my book(s), so it can be worth dropping by!
Cecilia’s fabulous “blog tour”
Continue reading →
News tidbits!
Jean Roberta reviewed Royal Treatment! You can read the full text of her review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/86122867
She does go into the plot in detail, so if you like BDSM & science fiction, but not knowing in advance what’s coming, I suggest instead of the review, you just read the sample chapter up on the Torquere website: https://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2421
I’ll be guest blogging next Friday at Sia McKye’s “Thoughts Over Coffee” blog, so drop by https://siamckye.blogspot.com/ on Friday, Feb 5th and we’ll chat! My topic is “juggling” and I don’t mean the physical kind with balls and clubs, but juggling multiple writing projects at once.
And guess what? Magic University, Book Two: The Tower and the Tears is having its roll out! It’s already live at Ravenous Romance’s site (where it’s only $1.79 at the moment, though I think the $1.79 on all books sale ends January 30th!) and on All Romance eBooks. Amazon and Fictionwise are next and I’ll post an official launch and sample chapter, etc. as soon as those go live, too!
Magic U review
Tamela Quijas, the author of paranormal romances Blood of the Beast and My Lord Raven, read Magic University Book One: The Siren and the Sword, and loved it! Her full review is up at her blog here: https://tamelaquijas.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/the-siren-and-the-sword-by-author-cecilia-tan/
but among the things she said that made me squee:
“I enjoyed every word Ms. Tan had penned to the page, the magical touches of her story dropping me into the midst of a delightful fantasy world filled with mystery and intrigue.”
And “The Siren and the Sword tale leaps from the page in erotic, steam filled drama that is guaranteed to singe your fingertips! A wonderful group of friends, magic that flies from page to page, the novel is a delightful sexual romp into a magical world that will not disappoint. Harry [Potter] could only wish he had classes this entertaining.”
Book Two: The Tower and the Tears will be out in a matter of weeks, so if you’ve been meaning to read Book One, now’s a good time. Especially since Ravenous is having a massive “all books only $1.79” sale right now. Sale will end real soon now!
Purchase page is here: https://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/magic-university-book-one-the-siren-and-the-sword.php?keyword=siren
Royal Treatment is out
I know I blogged about my writing process on Royal Treatment, but haven’t yet done the OMG THE BOOK IS OUT! post yet, have I? OMG, THE BOOK IS OUT.
What’s kind of neat is that Torquere Press always has one of their established authors review the book, so I have my first review already, technically. It’s here: https://www.torquerepress.com/fiction/royaltreatment.html#review. Thanks to C.C. Bridges for her review, who said, “In ‘Royal Treatment’ Cecilia Tan has created an intriguing universe where power plays and politics are settled in the playroom. There is much to fascinate here…”
There’s also a sample chapter up for your reading delight, if you just scroll down from the review.
If you’re ready to buy, just click here for the Torquere catalog page.
I’m prepping another excerpt to hand out on a flyer at Arisia and perhaps read from. Yum. My reading will be midnight on Friday night of the con, in the William Dawes room! That tomorrow night!
Goodbye Forest Cafe
It is with a heavy heart I report that the Forest Cafe, my neighborhood bar and watering hole, is closing its doors forever.
There’s an article online from our local newspaper about it: https://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x985678695/Closing-down-the-only-option-for-Cambridges-Forest-Caf?popular=true
The gist of the article: the bad economy is forcing one of the last family-owned bars in Cambridge out of business.
corwin and I were in there tonight, the last night the kitchen would be open. In fact, corwin ordered the last meal ever served (tres marias, cheese). There were still some regulars hanging around when we left, and the bar will be open for drinks for a few more nights, but Brian Gaudet, who was our first, best bartender, called tonight the “last night.”
We didn’t used to go into bars because a) we didn’t drink, b) we didn’t smoke, and c) we didn’t like sports. Then we got into baseball, the smoking ban was enacted, and voila! We started going into bars. And this led to the drinking…
The Forest was where we went to find out all the local gossip and politics. Among the regulars who could be seen knocking back many beers and shots of tequila a night, a former JFK speech writer, an astronomer, a composer of classical music, many Red Sox fans, an editor at Nature magazine, us. You know the cliche about a bar like “Cheers”? That was the Forest. I could always count on hearing how the Sox were doing, or the Patriots, and many times went there to watch sporting events. One night corwin and I went in there to watch a World Series game (I think it was White Sox/Astros?) and the game ran in extra innings so late and so long that Brian eventually turned off all the lights and closed the bar, but the three of us still stayed watching the TV in the dark.
Some of the regulars have put up a website so that we can hang out virtually now that the watering hole is closed: https://forestrefugees.com
John and Stefanie say they’ve checked out two alternate neighborhood spots: the Newtowne Grille and Spirit, both on the other side of Porter Square. The crowd may migrate one of those places, having already rejected the West Side Lounge (too snooty, the bartenders don’t talk to you), Cambridge Common (too loud), Tavern on the Square (way too loud), and Christopher’s (they cut you off after three beers…?!)
But it’ll never be the same. So we raised our glasses one last time at the old watering hole, mine a shot of tequila, corwin a house margarita. We’re really going to miss that place.