Guest: Laura Baumbach

It's hump day, JenB! YAY!

And it's day 3 of our verra special

Desert Island Keeper
M/M Romance Author
Festivus Extravagandus!

Surely, one can never get too tired of saying that.

I'm handing the mic over to my friend Laura Baumbach. She and I go WAY back (like months even!) and she is not only a woman with vision and drive, an Eppie Award winning author, and an m/m publisher, she a fun date on a Friday night as well. So: welcome Laura B.

Hello everyone. My name is Laura Baumbach. For the legions of people who don't know me, I write M/M erotic romance. I've won a few writing awards here and there, the most recent being the 2008 EPPIE Award for best GLBT story, The Lost Temple of Karttikeya. In 2007 I finaled in the same category with my scifi novel Details of the Hunt. I'm currently writing the sequel to that one titles Genetic Snare--all beefy alien bounty hunter and wily, light-fingered, confused pirate for heroes. While my writing keeps me pretty busy, I devote a portion of every day to the M/M authors co-op group I formed to venture out into more expensive advertising venues called Manloveromance.com. We run ads in places like gay.com, advocate.com, romance sites, and do public booths and appearances at big ticket events such as Book expo America, Yaoi Con, and GEE to reach our target audiences of straight women and gay men.

Between writing and promoting M/M romance, I own and operate ManLoveRomance Press, LLC, aka MLR Press, a small print press exclusively for M/M erotic romance and fiction. The back bone of my world is my husband, sons and my now part-time career as an emergency trauma nurse. I started writing five years ago in the world of fanfiction. My first books were print published collections of these works published by a small press in CA. Surprisingly, my writing found an audience and wrote 4 books with this publisher. Flush with amazement, I wandered into epublishing world, found more houses looking for my brand of work and I've never looked back. I now have seven novels out in a whole variety of genres from vampires to cops, one single author collection of short stories and short stories in five anthologies. I've written for BUST and MEN magazines, Alyson Press, and at least six different epublishers.

My latest release is the first in a new romantic crime series titled Mexican Heat. I'm co-authoring the Crimes & Cocktails series with award winning master of prose Josh Lanyon, author of the acclaimed Adrien English Mystery series. Mexican Heat releases in a few weeks. This is the first time I've advertised a book in Romance Sells and I'm anxious to see how effective that turns out to be. As an added kick to the promotions I've placed ads in two more print magazine as well. New territory for me to explore!




Books I would read again and again if stranded on a desert island:

Fatal Shadows

A Dangerous Thing

The Hell You Say

Death of a Pirate King

The Thin Man

Drift Ice Station Zebra







Fantasy men I would want with me:

Johnny Depp
Antonio Banderas


But, if I can't have real men I want:

Jake Riordan--from AE
Bram Lord -- from A Bit of Rough
Adam-- from Out There in the Night
Gibbs-- from NCIS
Indiana Jones


Favorite Reading Position Upright at my desk. It's the only chair in the house that doesn't hurt my back. I know, I'm getting old.

Best love song
Your Man by Josh Turner

Favorite Heroine
Who reads anything with women in it?


Author everyone loves but you don’t
Anne Rice. Talk about too much descriptive narrative!

If you could be in one book/series/world which would you pick
Adrein English Mystery series. I want to be the ED nurse that takes care of Adrien when he has his heart problems or who takes care of Jake when he gets hurt in the line of duty. I have several things to say to both of them.

How old is your inside voice
36. I'm mentally stuck there.

Favorite sex song
Squeking bed springs. The lyrics suck but the rthyhm's good.

If you could be a hero who would you be
Antonio Lorenzo in my newest book Mexican Heat. That means I get Gabriel all to myself!

What heroine is most like you
Ah. Well. Hmmm. I'll get back to you on that.

What heroine would you like to be
See above answer.

Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt (I say we add commando)
Knit boxers please.

Favorite book set on a tropical island
er. uh. What she said.

What hero is most like your significant other
Bram Lord in A Bit of Rough.

What hero would you like to be your significant other
I got what I want. No substitute needed. .

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring
Water, Motrin, a man.

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party
Southern Comfort and Tab, coffee ( yes! thank goodness for coffee...mmmm....coffeeee....)

MY FAVORITE HERO?
Jake Riordan and Antonio Lorenzo. Strong guys. Gotta love them.