Guest Post: The Arms of Winter by Donya Lynne
Author Donya Lynne joins Hesperia Loves Books, with a guest post, as she celebrates the release of her newest e-novella, The Arms of Winter. This M/M Contemporary Romance released on June 30th and for me, was a quick addition to the TBR – hopefully it will to yours as well!
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Hello, everybody! I’m so happy to be guesting on Hesperia Loves Books today, introducing you to my new book, The Arms of Winter, which was just released on June 30 by Silver Publishing.
The Arms of Winter is not the typical story I tend to write. I usually sway toward paranormal romance and fantasy, with strong undertones of conflict, angst, and adversity, but last year I decided to answer a call for submission by Silver Publishing. Silver was seeking stories about men and women in uniform. Suddenly, Sam Winter was created, an ex-Army sniper who had been medically discharged after his team found out he was gay and beat him to within an inch of his life. This touching novella is the story of how Sam returns home and struggles with his parents, his feelings for his best friend, and an uncertain future in order to find a new path now that the one he thought would be there forever has been taken away so brutally.
I love writing about emotionally powerful topics, and I don’t shy away from controversy. The M/M genre is an absolute firestorm of popularity right now, which I found out after publishing Heart of the Warrior, book two of my AKM series. HOTW is another M/M novel that has sold phenomenally well, blowing away the sales figures of book one of AKM, Rise of the Fallen, which is a M/F novel. Readers want M/M romance novels right now, and I’m ready to give them what they want. I absolutely love the emotional potential M/M fiction holds, being that the subject is still taboo in society. And while The Arms of Winter isn’t filled my usual action sequences I use in my paranormal novels, the emotional component is strong, and the story steadily builds to an explosive conclusion.
I employ several beta readers to help me refine my stories, and one of them told me that of all the work of mine she’s read, The Arms of Winter was her favorite story to date. She said there was just something sweet and touching about it and that it was a pure joy to read. And that was before I ran it through about ten more edits. So, I can only guess how much she’d like it now.
Hopefully, you will enjoy it, too. I never thought I’d branch away from my paranormal roots, but now that I’ve written The Arms of Winter, I think I’ll venture down more normal and “human” roads in my stories more often.
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After spending four months recovering from a brutal beating for being gay, Sam Winter is medically discharged from the Army and sent home. Upon returning to his family horse farm in Kentucky, he faces a father who condemns him, a mother who’s in denial about his homosexuality, and an uncertain future. The one thing he is certain about is his feelings for his best friend, Cooper Brown, who Sam has secretly been attracted to since high school.
For years, Cooper has harbored his own secret attraction toward Sam and is finally ready to tell him. During a camping trip to their childhood stomping grounds, all their secrets are revealed and their bonds of friendship are expanded in ways neither thought possible. Love is finally within reach. Will the two best friends be able to overcome the prejudice and odds stacked against them?
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About The Author, Donya Lynne
Donya resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband and a small zoo of cats and dogs. In fact, her writing buddy, Lucky, serves as her writing assistant most days, staying right by her side and distracting Donya with her adorable-ness when needed. Because, hey, every author needs a distraction once in a while.
As a little girl, Donya always had a book in her hand. As she got older, the books became pens and notebooks, which she filled with stories and poetry. For as long as she remembers, she has been writing and studying the writing craft with the goal of being published one day. She is passionate about providing readers with what she calls an experience. She wants readers to be able to sink into her stories and escape reality for just a little while, and every word is written, and every sentence structured, with that goal in mind.
Donya loves music and often finds inspiration for her stories in the wide range of music she listens to. But occasionally it’s a movie, a book, or just a drive around town that inspires her work. She constantly reads new material, new authors, and different styles of writing as a means to improve her own, and believes the writing process is one an author should always strive to perfect, even though perfecting it is an impossible feat. It’s the thrill of the chase and the challenge that keeps her from getting stagnant in her own work.
She has several projects planned and in progress, including eight more novels and two novellas in the All the King’s Men series, as well as several stand-alone novels, another series, and several short stories and novellas. She would love to share her journey with you in this exciting venture.
Alyssa
The Arms of Winter sounds like a wonderful read! Best of luck to you!
Doesn’t it Sandy! I was definitely intrigued and it landed on my massive TBR pile, lol.