Book Promo: Indigent (Charity Book 1)

Title: Indigent

ISBN: ISBN (13) 978-1512317404

Genre: Fiction – LGBT Anthology

Audience: Young Adult and Teen (age group 16+)

Edition: Quality Paperback, Pages – 464, $5.99 Ebook, $3.99

Authors: Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr, Mari Evans, Leona Windwalker, Shaye Evans, M. LeAnne Phoenix

Publisher: CoolDudes Publishing (PTY) LTD

Publication Date: 15 June, 2015

Distributor: Online distribution. Createspace. Amazon. Gumroad.

Marketing: Multilayered online campaign, including giveaways (Epub, Mobi and Kindle) and advertising. Social media campaign including Facebook and Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. ARC distribution.

Book Description (Blurb)

Five authors have joined together to produce stories evoking both loss and hope. Reaching deep within their fiery imaginations, these stories take flight and showcase dreams for a better today and future for LGBT everywhere. Embodying a diverse set of talents and stories, this volume sets out to grab the hearts of those who read the m/m genre and to offer hope to LGBT across the globe.

Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr’s “Indigent”, after which the anthology takes it’s name, brings the reader to witness an apocalyptic war between the good and evil that rages in one man’s mind. Soon he will know that his problems are insignificant compared to those of others.

Mari Evan’s “Stumbling into Forever”, involves a handsome young vampire who will learn that just a sip of blood is the difference between love and freezing to death.

Leona Windwalker’s   “If Only the World”, takes rejection to another level. A heartbreaking story that is turned on it’s head by the kindness of strangers.

Shaye Evans’ “Rescued”, is a contemporary social statement about the aftermath of a young man’s life after his drink has been spiked at a bar.

M. LeAnne Phoenix’s “Higher Love”, takes us on an almost spiritual journey through the minds of two people who have never met, but have spoken on a telepathic level. When they do come together, that bond is already cemented but there is a price to pay.

Author Information

Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr

F.E. Feeley Jr was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and lived there for  twenty  years  before  joining  the  military.  He  is  a  veteran  of  the  US Armed Services; having done a tour in support of Operation Iraq Freedom in 2002-2003, he turned college student, pursuing a degree in political science. He now lives in Southeast Texas where he is married to the love of his life, John, and where they raise their 1½-year-old German shepherd, Kaiser.

     As a young man, reading took center stage in his life, especially those novels about ghosts, witches, goblins, and all the other things that went bump in the night. His favorite authors include such writers as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice, whose work allowed him to travel to far off places and meet fascinating and scary characters. As a gay man, he wishes to be able to write good fictional literature for those who love the genre and to write characters that readers can relate to. All in all, he is a cigarette smokin’, whiskey drinkin’, rock and roll lovin’, tattoo wearin’ dreamer of a man with a wonderful partner who puts up with his crap and lets him write his stories.

Mari Evans

Mari is a wife and the proud mother of a very active daughter, two

dogs and two cats. She’s a very social kind of girl, who loves to talk. It’s both her best and worst quality.

From the moment she could read, she devoured books. Anything goes, as long as it has a happy ending.

There were always stories swirling around in her head and as a child she liked to lay in bed and let the characters have their story and happy ending. It wasn’t until 2013 that she actually tried to put one of the whole stories down and submit it to a publisher. To her own surprise and excitement it was accepted. This gave her the drive to keep going.

The decision to write m/m was made when a friend told a story about a young gay man that struck a chord, even as her husband had already encouraged her to try it earlier.

Now she found her passion, having already found the love in her family and friends, her life is completely chaotic, crazy but wonderful.

Shaye Evans

Shaye is a proud Australian and best selling author of the M/M Romance genre.

At age nineteen, Shaye found her love in the m/m genre when she read her first M/M and was instantly hooked, but it took her an entire year to begin writing her own. She has had five of nine short stories accepted to be published in 2014 alone. Something she is very proud to admit—and who wouldn’t be

When not writing or plotting her next piece, Shaye keeps busy by either reading one of over four-hundred books in her collection, designing her next book cover, or shopping. She one day dreams of being a paramedic and her books making it to the movies!

Leona Windwalker

Leona is a long time staunch supporter of human rights and environmental causes. Her favorite genre is m/m fiction and she particularly enjoys the sci fi, fantasy and action suspense sub-genres, especially if they have a nice seasoning of romance. She has far too many books on her Kindle, has overloaded her phone with even more, and when not reading, writing, being driven to distraction by her children, or being overlorded by her three cats, spends time trying to locate the portal that the sock monster uses to steal socks from her dryer.

M. LeAnne Phoenix

Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas in the mid-1970's, Ms. Phoenix was young and wild (and even free!) during the crazy wondrous decade known as the 1980's and the even crazier but now grungy decade of the 1990's. Music is second only to the muses that live and breathe to fill her mind with beautiful men, and music always helps them to tell their stories. She is never without her iPod or her computer no matter where she goes, although, she does like to hike and take pictures of the sky and the moon, and even the occasional shot of the sun through the branches of a tree.

An avid cat lover, Ms. Phoenix has been owned by many throughout her life, though her current owner is one Lily-Rose, who really would like for her to step away from the keyboard and pay her some attention! After all, hasn't she earned it?

Editor Biographies

Louis J Harris

Louis lives in Germiston, South Africa.  He has published three novels, “Stars Fall”, “Revival”, and “Swimmer”, his short stories have appeared across the globe.  He is the owner of CoolDudes Publishing and has been an affiliate member of the South African Professional Editors Group.

Kimi D Saunders (Leona Windwalker)

Leona is a long time staunch supporter of human rights and environmental causes. Her favorite genre is m/m fiction and she particularly enjoys the sci fi, fantasy and action suspense sub-genres, especially if they have a nice seasoning of romance. She has far too many books on her Kindle, has overloaded her phone with even more, and when not reading, writing, being driven to distraction by her children, or being overlorded by her three cats, spends time trying to locate the portal that the sock monster uses to steal socks from her dryer.

Links

Louis J Harris

louisjharris@cooldudespublishing.com

Kimi D Saunders (Writes as Leona Windwalker)

https://twitter.com/ShroudedDancer

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leona-Windwalker/890405037684824?fref=ts

Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr

www.authorfefeeleyjr.wordpress.com

Mari Evans

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mari-Evans/1412324675676352

Shaye Evans

https://www.facebook.com/ShayeLEvans?fref=ts

M. LeAnne Phoenix

mleannephoenix.com

FB: mleannephoenix

Twitter: @MLPhoenix

CoolDudes Publishing 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CoolDudes-Publishing/1524105151191706

https://twitter.com/search?q=cooldudes%20publishing&src=typd  Twitter: (@lgbtpublisher)

https://www.pinterest.com/cdgaypub/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/108242351336143580514/videos

Events

To schedule author readings, signings, or other author events (virtual or live), please contact Louis J Harris at CoolDudes Publishing via email louisjharris@cooldudespublishing.com or by calling +27 83 784 9658

June 2015 Book of the Month: And the Band Played On

Book of the Month
Starting June 2015, I'm going to list one book that either had a great impact on me, or I just thoroughly enjoyed.

This month's book, And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts was the first book that took me out of my safe, self-involved, the government is my friend, zone. Each chapter I grew more and more angry and more and more sad as countless lives were ruined due to fear, bigotry and downright hate. It was this book that made me realize that love is love, in all its forms and shouldn't be confiled by what may or may not dangle between the legs. Read this during my college years and knew then I could never trust the government to look out for the well-being of people ... that is, unless you were male, straight, white, and rich. They just didn't care about HIV/AIDS until it effected one of their own, and even then, research and money moved at a snail's pace. And it wasn't just the government; scientists themselves bickered and bitched their way through the virus-hunting process, where, even to this day, French and US scientists cannot come to an agreement about who discovered what and when.

If you've seen the movie, it covers a lot of the book, but you don't get the whole story, and how can you in a two and half hour movie when compared to a 656-page novel. If it's been a while, I suggest reading the book again.

Same-Sex Marriage & Wedding Cakes

Same-Sex Marriage & Wedding Cakes

It's really very simple ...

(I must disclose I'm not a Constitutional scholar nor a lawyer, and this is all gleaned from my own research.)

"The Colorado Civil Rights Division has ruled that a baker who refused to make cakes with anti-gay messages did not discriminate." - Yahoo News, 4/6/15

Some people may be shaking their heads on this. How could one baker be guilty of discrimination for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding, but this one isn't for not putting an anti-gay message on a cake? It's really pretty simple, when you look at it. There are many differences in these cases.

Let's start with what a protected class is (discrimination can only occur to a protected class). Being gay is a protected class (in quite a few states, including Colorado). Being black is a protected class. Bring a woman is a protected class. Being an anti-gay bigot is not. Thus, no discrimination.

Okay, you don't like that simple reasoning. Try this:

There is a commerce clause in the Constitution. It states, in laymen's terms, that when a business opens to the public, they must serve the public. In the case with the baker refusing to provide a wedding cake, the baker refused to serve the public.

There is an implied contract between a customer and a business once the business has opened and the customer walks through the door. This implied contract means that whatever products or services the business provides, they must provide it to the customer.

(For the rest of this blog, I need to define who the parties are; Azucar Bakery is the one who refused to put an anti-gay message on a cake shaped like a bible; Masterpiece Cakeshop is the bakery that refused to make a cake for a gay wedding.)

Masterpiece is in the business of baking cakes, including wedding cakes. Once a customer (regardless of sex, race, religion, orientation, etc.) walks in the door, Masterpiece must provide that cake. They don't have to write anything on it (see next paragraph) but if they are in the business of providing wedding cakes, they have to provide the service. The only way they can get around it is if they form a co-op or private club where only members can take advantage of Masterpiece's products. 

Private members clubs have a right to deny service. They are not serving the public, they are serving their members. (Which is why we still have men-only clubs and white-only clubs - it's true, we do. They are privately-owned and the members have to pay a usually hefty fee to join.)

Azucar is in the business of baking cakes, including bible cakes. But in this instance, she offered to bake the cake, but refused to put the hateful words on it. She is in the business of baking cakes, even bible cakes, but not the business of writing hateful messages on cakes. She did not refuse the product to the customer, thus she fulfilled her duty for being open to the public.

In Azucar's case, think of it this way; you go to a printer to have him/her print off your manuscript on how to be the biggest bigot, Neo-Nazi KKK hater in the world. The printer would print it out, thus providing the service, that is his/her duty for being open to the public. But if you ask the printer to WRITE the manuscript (or even tweak it), they can refuse. That's not their business.

But what about religious freedom you ask? Being a business open to the public trumps religious freedom. Try this on for size:

A Muslim opens a grocery story. A Hasidic Jew comes in, wanting a soda. The Muslim CANNOT force the Jew out onto the street, he has to sell him the soda. The grocery store is open to the public. Religion has to take a back seat.

And it works for everyone. A black person owns the bakery; a KKK member comes in and wants a donut. The KKK member is all tatted up with the most vile depictions of lynchings and name calling of black people. The owner still has to serve the KKK member. (Why a KKK member would go into a black-owned business, I'll never know, but I guess it could happen.)

I hope I've opened your eyes to the issues here. To look at these cases any other way opens up a whole can of worms and will lead to a very slippery slope indeed.