Wishing on a Blue Star

A Special Project by Dreamspinner Press & ManLoveRomance Press. Edited by Kris Jacen. How much impact can someone have on your life if you've never met them face to face? In this electronic age of E-mails, electronic publishing, and social networks, quite a lot. Through his emails, stories and blog, author Patric Michael has touched numerous hearts, minds and lives from the start of his career and further as he now takes us along on his journey to battle cancer. Along the way, Patric shows us a side of life that not many truly see-- how we are all a part of something larger than just ourselves, and how we are each touched by others for the betterment of all. Now, those that have been touched by Patric and his words have joined together to give something back, to him and to us all through something he values highly - words. In this compilation, gay short stories, poems, and anecdotes combined with excerpts from Patric's blog and a few entertaining, educational group posts reveal, and celebrate, the man who has touched so many hearts and minds. This collection, sometimes erotic, sometimes irreverent, and always poignant, is a gift from all our hearts to celebrate Patric and give strength (and a little levity) to others. The price reflects this; no one is receiving royalties or payment from the sales. Use it to celebrate life, celebrate words, and possibly inspire someone who needs it.

Jan Irving has worked in all kinds of creative fields, from painting silk to making porcelain ceramics to interior design, but her award-winning writing is always her touchstone.

She feels you can't fully understand characters until you follow their journey through a story world. Many kinds of worlds interest her--fantasy, historical, science fiction, and suspense--but all have one thing in common: people finding a way to live together and accept themselves--in the most emotional and satisfying fashion possible, of course!

Visit Jan at her website at janirvingwrites.com.

Clare London took her pen name from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fueled family home, she juggles her writing with her other day job as an accountant.

She's written in many genres and across many settings, with award-winning novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she's just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she's happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic, and sexy characters.

Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter-three stage and plenty of other projects in mind... she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fueled family home.

Clare loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her here:

Website: www.clarelondon.com

Email: clarelondon11@yahoo.co.uk

Blog: www.clarelondon.com/blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clarelondonauthor

Twitter: @clare_london

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/clarelondon

Chrissy Munder writes contemporary M/M romance filled with everyday men and extraordinary passion to transport readers into their personal world of love, laughter, and desire. She is an avid reader, a wanderer of Michigan's wilderness, and, not in any particular order, a lover of lists, zombies, and bad sci-fi. She's also perpetually behind on everything--except for feeding the cat.

There are those who might tell you she started writing LGBTQ romance as a way to justify her office supply addiction, but shhhhh! don't listen to them.

After too many jobs in too many states, she's eagerly awaiting a far-too-distant retirement and the chance to become a full-time Lake Michigan beachcomber. Until then, she's excited to share her love of romance, laughter, and happy-ever-afters.

Chrissy loves to chat with her readers, so don't be shy! Find, friend, or follow her at a variety of social media sites including:

Website: chrissymunder.com

Twitter @ChrissyMunder

Blog: chrissymunder.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chrissymunderauthor/

Award winning author Amy Lane lives in a crumbling crapmansion with a couple of teenagers, a passel of furbabies, and a bemused spouse. She has too damned much yarn, a penchant for action-adventure movies, and a need to know that somewhere in all the pain is a story of Wuv, Twu Wuv, which she continues to believe in to this day! She writes contemporary romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and romantic suspense, teaches the occasional writing class, and likes to pretend her very simple life is as exciting as the lives of the people who live in her head. She'll also tell you that sacrifices, large and small, are worth the urge to write.

Website: www.greenshill.com

Blog: www.writerslane.blogspot.com

Email: amylane@greenshill.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/amy.lane.167

Twitter: @amymaclane

Mary Calmes believes in romance, happily ever afters, and the faith it takes for her characters to get there. She bleeds coffee, thinks chocolate should be its own food group, and currently lives in Kentucky with a five-pound furry ninja that protects her from baby birds, spiders, and the neighbor's dogs. To stay up to date on her ponderings and pandemonium (as well as the adventures of the ninja), follow her on Twitter @MaryCalmes, connect with her on Facebook, and subscribe to her Mary's Mob newsletter.

Brian Holliday once tried to live a normal life, but he was unable to figure out what it was. Now, when not writing down the stories characters insist on whispering in his ears, he photographs the beautiful Oregon coast as well as his friends and family when they will hold still for it. Brian reads almost anything, loves listening to jazz and pop, and sings along when he remembers the words. The rest of his time is spent trying to keep his multiple personalities happy--or at least not fighting one another. Brian believes that his writing would still exist only in a dusty pile of spiral-bound notebooks if it weren't for the dedication and encouragement of some great online friends and his writing group, the WordCrafters.

Website: groups.google.com/group/brian_holliday

Lost. Broken. Found... loved. Romance for all.

Jaime Samms is a plaid-hearted Canadian who spends the too-long winters writing stories about love between men and the too-short summers digging in the garden. There are dust bunnies in the corners of her house--which she blames on a husky named Kai. There are dishes on the counter--which is clearly because teenagers! There is hot coffee in the pot and the occasional meal to keep her from starving--because her husband is remarkable and patient.

A multipublished author whose work has been translated into French, Italian, and German, Jaime delights in the intricate dance of words that leads her through tales of the lost and brokenhearted men she writes about to the love stories that find and mend them.

And when the muse is being stubborn, she also makes pretty things with yarn and fabric scraps because in her world, no heart is too broken to love, and nothing is too worn or tired it can't be upcycled into something beautiful. All it takes is determination and the ability to see life a little bit left of center.

Website: jaime-samms.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000982219151&ref=tn_tnmn

Deviantart: dontkickmycane.deviantart.com

Twitter: @JaimeSamms

Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/jaimesamms

C. Zampa's earliest stories were not written words, but drawings. Adventures, romances--all drawn in comic book style, complete with dialogue bubbles. Countless hours were spent in her room with her Mead Academie sketch pad and pencils. While the stereo headphones piped the classics into her ears, she feverishly sketched the wonderful characters who lived in her head, creating little vignettes for them.

Even her early drawings reflected romance as she felt it--erotic, sensual, natural, uninhibited.

In her pseudo-hippie days of high school, she began to write. Her teachers encouraged her to take her writing seriously, but to her it was strictly for pleasure. Once entering the working world, she left writing behind; but, a few years ago, overwhelmed by a need to create, she opened a blank document and began to write again and has not stopped since.

Blog: www.authorczampa.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carol.zampa.3

Website: www.czampa.com

Email: czampa1953@gmail.com