About Me

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D. H. Starr is a clean-cut guy with a wickedly naughty mind. He grew up in Boston and loves the city for its history and beauty. Also, having lived in NYC, he enjoys the fast pace and the availability of anything and everything. He first became interested in reading from his mother who always had a stack of books piled next to her bed. Family is important to D. H. and his stories center around the intricate and complex dynamics of relationships and working through problems while maintaining respect and love. His favorite books tend to fall in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, and coming of age. To learn more about D. H. Starr and his books, please visit his website at www.dhstarr.com if you are 18+. To view his young adult work and resources, visit www.dhstarrYAbooks.com.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Wrestling With Desire released

Hey everyone,



Wrestling With Desire, my YA coming of age m/m romance has released. This is so exciting. And I'm happy with the timing given the rash of teen suicide. This book portrays gay youth in a positive and nurturing light as well as being a story close to my heart.

It's available through Featherweight Press: http://featherweightpublishing.com/ShowBook.php?YA=DS_WRDESIRE

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Vivian Arend & Moira Rogers's Fakll frenzy contest

This has got to be one of the most awesome contests I've ever seen. Check it out and you might win tons of books and gifts.


Win a copy of A Wolf Signs by Vivian Arend!
Wolf Signs
Robyn Maxwell doesn’t care that her brother has to cancel out on their backcountry ski trip. She can do it alone. The fact she’s deaf doesn’t make her survival skills any weaker. The chance to get away from it all and relax in the Yukon wilderness is just what she’s been craving.
Meeting wilderness guide Keil at the cabin starts cravings of another kind. Keil’s one hot hunk of ripped, tasty male. Now she has to deal with raging hormones as well as strange questions about wolves and mates and challenges to the death.
Keil was trying for a nice reflective retreat before challenging for the Alpha position of his Alaskan pack. He wasn’t planning on meeting the woman destined to be his mate, or finding out she’s not aware she has the genes of a wolf.
Between dealing with his accident-prone younger brother, a deaf mate with an attitude and an impending duel to the death, his week—and his bed—is suddenly full.
Far from the relaxing getaway any of them had in mind...
Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Wolf Signs!
This contest is a part of Moira Rogers' & Vivian Arend's Fall Frenzy Event. For your chance to win books, gift certificates, ereaders and more, visit http://www.moirarogers.com/contests/

Monday, October 11, 2010

Ernie or Bert: Who would you rather sleep with?




Ernie
Bert

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Friday Night Random Thought 10-8

There are times I find it hard to fall alseep at night. On those nights I usually read, or write, or watch TV. Then it throws my whole sleep schedule off and I make up for it by crashing on Saturday and end up even more tired.

I wonder why that is...that sometimes when you get too much sleep you end up even more tired.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Interview With Sedonia Giullone

An Interview with Sedonia Guillone: Author and Publisher by DH Starr


Writers know the joys and pains of crafting and polishing their stories, submitting them for publication, waiting, suffering the ego blows of rejections letters and, through persistence, the joy of a contracted work. Then there are the revisions, edits, proofing, formatting, each step requiring more waiting. But then release day comes and you can sit back and relax, proud of a job well done…the end of a journey…wrong! Then comes promotion, getting your work out there so others know your book is available for them to read.

Now imagine going through all of that over and over—50 times. Author Sedonia Guillone has done this and is now putting her extensive experience to practice as a new publisher, starting up two sister publishing companies: Ai Press: erotic romance (http://www.ai-press.net) and Kokoro Press: mainstream fiction and literary works (http://kokoropress.wordpress.com/).

Below is an interview where Sedonia answers questions about her writing as well as her experience as she begins her new publishing companies.


DH Starr: What prompted you to begin writing?
Sedonia: Nothing really prompted me. I’ve had the impulse to write at a very early age. I remember in first grade we had to write a book report every Friday on a book we’d read that week. One week I wrote my report on Harold and the Purple Crayon. Well, I had so much to say about it that I was cramming lines in on the book report form in tiny writing so I could fit it all in. The irony is that Harold and the Purple Crayon is all pictures and no words! That’s when I had an inkling that I love to write.


DH Starr: You have over 50 books to your credit. How on earth did you manage that?
Sedonia: Truthfully, I managed to write that much because of the man in my life. Being with him has given me the confidence and emotional support that I needed to pursue writing because I’d always been busy pursuing other careers believing I needed to do those things to get my family’s approval when in my heart I wanted to be writing romance. Once I got going, the stories began pouring out of me. I had so many ideas they were all lined up in my head, each story pretty much complete from beginning to end, just needing my hands to type them out onto paper.


DH Starr: Of your books, which book fits the description and why?
• Your favorite in terms of the story coming together well…Sedonia: I have a bunch of those but I would say Men of Tokyo: Sudden Bliss (Total-E-Bound) simply because it’s the story that just is ingrained so deeply in my heart I adore it.
• The one you had the most fun writing…Sedonia: Two books actually were the most fun: 1. Acts of Passion (Ellora’s Cave) (Because it’ a murder mystery and I got to interview a homicide detective at the Boston Police Department and learn all about procedure from a real live detective.) 2. A Man for Michael (Ellora’s Cave) because it is my fan tribute to Jet Li and I adore Jet Li. This novella poured out of me in less than a week.
• The one that made you want to quit being a writer… Sedonia: I can’t say that any book I’ve written has made me feel this way. I’ve only wanted to quit writing when I felt I was using writing for gains such as praise, money and fame, reasons other than the simple joy of writing and telling a story that means so much to me.
• The one that is closest to your heart… Sedonia: Again, Men of Tokyo: Sudden Bliss. This is going to sound completely narcissistic, but this isn’t only my favorite book I’ve written, it’s one of my favorite books in general.


DH Starr: You write both f/m and m/m romance? What’s your take on why there are so many female writers of m/m erotic fiction?
Sedonia: Funny you should ask because just recently I was thinking about this. I honestly am not certain for all women why writing and reading M/M is so popular aside from the eroticism of imagining two beautiful men together. I can speak for myself in that my writing M/M has an incredibly personal dimension. I grew up with a gay father and surrounded by gay men. Growing into womanhood surrounded by men who are not with women comes with its own set of complexities and I know my stories are a way of working on personal issues; which is why my M/M books have much more emotional impact on readers. Almost every single one I’ve written has gotten recommended reads, some of them multiple recommendations – not to brag – it’s just because of the personal intensity I’ve put into them.


DH Starr: What has developed you most as a writer?
Sedonia: If I had to pick out one particular thing that’s developed me most as a writer, it would be love. I know that’s a broad term but in a way it’s not. Love has given me the courage to pursue my writing seriously. Love has been the muse that’s made my stories pour out of me and fueled my dedication to writing.

Ai Press: http://www.ai-press.net

DH Starr: You just started a new publishing company that publishes in eBook and print for both f/m and m/m fiction.
Sedonia: Yes. :-D


DH Starr: What made you decide to start up Ai Press and what are your goals for the publishing company?
Sedonia: Actually, it was my boyfriend who told me years ago I should open my own publishing company. I didn’t do it right away because I didn’t have the confidence. Years later, with much more experience, it was time and I plunged ahead.


DH Starr: What’s it like starting a new publishing company?
Sedonia: It’s quite the learning experience. The first thing I learned was how much work publishers actually do! It’s a lot of work to write a book and go through edits to prepare it for release. However, the publishers do so much else! They’re the ones who arrange for the cover, who make sure it gets an editor and make sure the author gets all the proper paperwork in. Then once the book has gone through edits, the publisher makes sure it’s typeset and formatted into all the different formats that are now available and gets the book uploaded onto the site and to the resellers. THEN, there’s the promo…It’s a lot of work!

However, it’s also been exhilarating for me. Creating the logo and designing the site and getting a marvelous cover artist (Les Byerley) whose covers are just so gorgeous and professional. I also very much enjoy working more directly with people. Although I love writing, it’s a solitary activity and the only real interaction with others is with the editor. However, it’s a whole different world working with authors and supporting them in their creative career.


DH Starr: Through your publisher’s lens, what advice do you have for both published and unpublished writers?
Sedonia: The most important thing for all authors is to write from the heart. That means writing your emotional world into your characters. You don’t have to be writing in the same world in which you live in order to do this. Of course, if that were the case, no one could ever write historicals, or stories that take place in other countries or worlds. It means that your inner world is manifested in your characters. This will automatically give them life and bring your story to life. Don’t craft your characters from the outside in, trying to fit them into an idea of what you think they should be like. Now that I look at other authors’ work with an eye to publication, I can tell you that this element is key to making a story that’s fresh and interesting even if the theme is something that’s been done before.

Then, once you have your story crafted, if you’re going to try and get it published, don’t send it anywhere until it’s as clean and edited as humanly possible. This will heighten your chances of acceptance and once accepted, make the process go so much more smoothly for everyone involved.
Oh, and also – incredibly important: always be open to the feedback you receive. Be open to learning. Of course, there will be times when an editor is just not getting what you’re trying to say, but make certain that you’ve weighed that person’s comments thoroughly before rejecting them.


DH Starr: Is there anything else you want your adoring fans to know?
Sedonia: Just that I hope they’ll come and visit Ai Press, http://www.ai-press.net/, and check out the growing list of titles there.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Who Would You Rather Sleep With? (Week of 10-4)



If you had to choose between the two, who would you rather sleep with, Taylor Lautner or Zac Efron?

Taylor Lautner
Zac Efron



Why Anti-Gay Bullying is a Theological Issue | Sexuality/Gender | Religion Dispatches

Why Anti-Gay Bullying is a Theological Issue | Sexuality/Gender | Religion Dispatches

Friday, October 1, 2010

Friday Night Random Thought 10-1-10

I recently read a post on a friends blog about how she killed a mosquito by spraying hairspray to slow it down and then swatting it. It got me to thinking about the sound a mosquito makes and how horrendouly evil it is...but I can only think of the word buzzing to describe it, which hardly seems to do the sound justice.