How to Deal Blog Tour Post

     The O'Raven Chronicles is pleased to present this tour stop post for T. M. Smith's  How to Deal Blog Tour

How to Deal 

An All Cocks Story 

Book 3

Jon Brennan comes from a long line of men in uniform; all born and bred to both bleed and wear blue. His family and the majority of his co-workers support him every step of the way, so he doesn’t need to hide the fact that he prefers men over women. Between the job and his larger than life, loud and rowdy half Irish, half Italian family, there isn’t much time for dating, much less finding a guy that can deal with the stress and demands placed on the shoulders of an NYPD Detective.

Kory White is cocky and abrasive with most people, but it is all a mirage, a facade he hides behind to keep his heart safe. As a child, Kory lost his mother to an act of violence. Soon after, he and his baby sister Kassandra were separated by the system. Kassandra was immediately adopted, but Kory spent the next ten years cycling through foster homes before moving to the Big Apple. In an effort to keep everyone at a distance, Kory has meticulously built himself an alter ego: Hayden Cox, All Cocks’ cockiest model.

These two strong willed men definitely prove opposites do attract. Both are stubborn and hard headed to a fault, Kory more so than Jon. But Jon is used to being in control, the one calling the shots, and Kory fights him at every turn. Just when it seems they have found a way to navigate the uncharted territory that is love, tragedy knocks on Kory’s door yet again. Volatile and strong, even in the face of adversity, both men refuse to give up on each other - or their love.

Link to playlist on youtube: 

 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkehmrHrmCeMi_12N0fyc5tpx_iSrwqz2

Spotify link:

 https://open.spotify.com/user/1299811243/playlist/1vh6gFRONDG9PP7La4GHDt

T. M. Smith speaks; 

Hello everyone, and thank you to my muse for hosting me today on the How to Deal blog tour. I'm sharing the playlist for the book and how, specifically, certain songs relate to the story. I'm very much an inspirational person when it comes to writing, and music is a huge influence for me when I'm writing. Music is a powerful thing, it can make you laugh, make you cry, make you happy and at times, it can make you very angry. Every book I write has it's own playlist of songs that relate to people, places and things in the story. For instance, in Gay for Pay, Chris is a fan of Jazz music so that playlist has a lot of Jazz on it. I'm guessing that a lot of people are expecting dark, angry, metal music for Kory, but you will be sorely disappointed if so. Kory isn't the cocky, confident, jackass that he presents himself as. 

Here is the playlist for How to Deal, I'll explain how these songs relate to the story... 

Omen | Disclosure featuring Sam Smith

Where Are You Now | Skrillex w/Diplo featuring Justin Bieber

Whatya Want From Me | Adam Lambert

Where I Belong | Hometown

Handsome Man | Matt Abler

Just Breathe | Pearl Jam

Like I'm Gonna Lose You| Meghan Trainor & John Legend

Psycho | Puddle of Mudd

Lost Stars | Adam Levine

Another Lonely Night | Adam Lambert

Omen - One of the lines in this song is "I needed you to show me, without you I'm lonely." Well, if that doesn't describe Kory, what does?

Where Are You Now - There is a push and pull with Jon and Kory that is almost a constant, it is what makes them so strong in the end. But there is a time where the power shifts, Kory finds himself needing Jon more than he initially wants to admit and it scares him. 

Whatya Want From Me - I adore Adam Lambert and he is almost always going to be on all my playlists. This song, in fact, is on several of them. Everything about this song is so Kory. Come here, I want you, wait, I'm afraid, what do you want? Don't give up on me even if I'm mental!

Where I belong - Love is a deep and mysterious road. Well, aint that the damn truth!

Handsome Man - This song is almost like a letter from one lover to another. They aren't always together, the one partner is asking the other about his day, a partner that isn't always the best at expressing himself with words. So he's telling him with the lyrics of the song. I just thought that was right for Jon and Kory, they don't always have the best communication skills, but they try to always be there for each other. 

Just Breathe - Well, this is where the kleenex warning for the book comes into play. This song is all about love and loss and trying to survive in the face of tragedy. I will tell you it's not about Jon and Kory directly, though it could apply to their role in the tragedy. Someone else is going to loose something very important to them in this book and though it's fucking heart breaking, it's life. Life is about loving and losing and surviving, how we deal with that loss and move on. The title of the book isn't just about how Jon and Kory learn to deal with their vastly different life styles. There are more people in their worlds that experience things as well. 

Love you, Like I'm gonna lose you - Kory is so afraid to love anyone for fear of losing them. What he should be doing is loving them LIKE he is going to lose them!

Psycho - Kory is pretty mental. There is a chapter toward the end of the book, oh my, can you say drama queen melt down?! 

Lost Stars -  My interpretation of this song is a man that is lost, he has lost his way in life and doesn't feel like he matters, he doesn't feel like anyone sees HIM. Jon sees past the pain and the persona, he sees Kory, and he loves every torn up, scarred emotionally distant aspect of him. He also brings out the genuine, loving, fiercely loyal, devoted partner in Kory. 

Another Lonely Night - Jon and Kory have both been spending a lot of lonely nights at home and alone until they stumble into each other's lives. Will that change? 

My Review of How to Deal;

This is going to be the shortest review I have ever done because I was not scheduled to do a review and was not asked to. I just had to share my thoughts about My Dear Friend T. M. Smith’s latest work. I am so amazed at how her skills are getting better and better. Her characters seem to be coming to life in new ways for me. In this story the characters go on an emotional roller-coaster journey and take you with them, and at the end you are happy they did; or at least I was lol. Despite the obviously troubling level of blasphemy against The Lord God, the story is very well rendered. I fell in love with the two main characters, and with the Irish family in this story with all their beautiful chaos and shenanigans. I have already fallen in love hard with “The All Cocks Family”. The bringing together of these two rowdy clans into one story is almost too much and too funny to take. The story had an interesting plot that drew me in, and kept my interest. The sexual scenes were art to me, and several of them had me stopping to have some um, “Gentleman’s time” lol. It was the love between Jon and Kory that I felt most keenly though. They love to drive each other nuts, to fight and push each other’s buttons. They love to fuck, to make up, and to make love. It was their love for each other however that made me love them. It was not only their love, but also the subtle feeling of the pursuit...the game of chase, that made me want to keep reading their story until I got to their happily ever after, or at least to the end of the book lol. I hope you will pick up their story and read it, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

If I had to sum up Jon and Kory's story in one phrase it would be, “Love can be a massive challenge but it is worth everything to attain it”!

I give this book (which to others is a full length novel, but what is to me a Novella length book) six out of seven quills. 

Link to post on how I rate Book Lengths and an explanation of my rating system:

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-rating-system-for-story-lengths.html

I rate full length novels with a ten quill system

I rate novellas with a seven quill system

And I rate short stories with a five quill system

Gay for Pay Buy links: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | ARe | SW

Fame and Fortune buy links: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | ARe | SW

About the Author (Author Bio.);  

T. M. Smith : 

A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. She now calls Texas home from her small town on the outskirts of the DFW Metroplex. Most days you can find her curled up with her kindle and a good book alongside a glass of something aged and red or a steaming cup of coffee!  
At 44 years young, she's decided to enter the next phase of her life by adding the title of "author" to her list of accomplishments. Smith is a single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Besides her writing, Smith is passionate about Autism advocacy and LGBT rights.

Author links: Amazon | Website | Twitter | Facebook Author | Facebook All Cocks Series

 Goodreads | Youtube | Pinterest

How to Deal Buy Links : 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1kUYAp6
 
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Deal-Cocks-Story-Stories-ebook/dp/B017YB4ILE
 
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/How-Deal-Cocks-Story-Stories-ebook/dp/B017YB4ILE
 
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/How-Deal-Cocks-Stories-English-ebook/dp/B017YB4ILE
 
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-howtodeal-1928167-351.html
 
SW: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/596202

Past post links regarding the works of Author T. M. Smith;

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2015/09/fame-and-fortune-blog-tour.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-fame-and-fortune-cover-reveal-blog.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2015/07/gay-for-pay-blog-tour.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-cover-reveal-post-for-gay-for-pay.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-cellar-release-blog-tour.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-opposites-series-promo-event-blog_18.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-opposites-series-promo-event-blog_17.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-opposites-series-promo-event-blog.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-appearances-release-blog-tour.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-appearances-pre-release-blog-hop.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-opposites-blog-tour-post-hosted-by.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-appearances-cover-reveal-for-author.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-library-christmas-blog-tour.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-release-of-library-opposites.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/08/cover-reveal-for-library-opposites.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-about-raven.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-opposites-blog-tour.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/06/opposites-book-by-tm-smithit-has.html

http://revloush.blogspot.com/2013/01/early-book-spot-light-cover-reveal-for.html

 

Follow the tour:

November 27^th
–

BayouBook Junkie  {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

FangirlMoments and My two Cents {Spotlight Only}

JessieG {Spotlight Only}

DivineMagazine {Spotlight Only}

CDANews {Review w/spotlight}

November 28^th
–

FoxylutlyBooks  {Review w/spotlight & Blog post}

3Chicks After Dark  {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

LoveBytes Reviews {Spotlight & Excerpt}

AOBibliophile {Spotlight Only}

MultitaskingMomma {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

BloggingWith M.Brennan {Review w/spotlight & Blog post}

November 29^th
–

CathyBrockman Romance {Review w/spotlight & Blog post}

VicktorAlexander  {Spotlight Only}

TwinsieTalk {Spotlight Only}

MakingIt Happen {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

Jeffand Will {podcast}

TheBlogger Girls  {Review w/spotlight}

November 30^th
–

PurpleRose Tea House {Spotlight Only}

HappilyEver Chapter {Review w/spotlight}

Eyeson Books {Spotlight Only}

SinfulReviews  {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

The O’Raven Chronicles {Spotlight, Playlist, & a Special Unscheduled Mini-Review}

December 1^st
–

GayMedia Reviews {Review w/Spotlight & Dream Cast}

IyannaJenna {Spotlight Only}

Tracy’sBook Blog  {FB & Twitter only}

MMGBR  {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

GGRReview  {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

December 2^nd
–

MorticiaKnight {Spotlight & Guest Post}

IRead Selfies {Spotlight Only}

InkedRainbow Reads  {Review w/spotlight & Blog post}

SikReviews {Review w/spotlight}

LEFranks {Spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

Books Laid Bare {Review w/spotlight & Blog post}

December 3^rd
–

KathyMac Reviews  {Review w/Spotlight & Deleted scene}

CBLee Books and More  {Review w/spotlight}

BecauseTwo Men are Better {Spotlight Only}

TwoBook Pushers  {Review w/spotlight & Excerpt/Teaser}

Abbey’s1-Click Book Blog  {Review w/spotlight}

A Rafflecopter Giveaway; 

a Rafflecopter giveaway



 

We stand with France our Friend and Ally

Recently France was attacked by islamic cowardly pig dog scum. When they did the same to us France stood by us in support, and despite what stupidity is going on with all of the governments of the world, I think we the people of America have showed that we understand, and empathize with the people of France, and that we will stand in support of them the way they did for us. This attack has just made our nations fondness for each other increase and our alliance that much stronger.

The juvenile evil people among us on this planet can and will continue to attack us all in an effort to make us affraid...in an effort to make us submit, or give up and die, but we never will! We will not back down, we will not give up, we will stand and we will fight, we will not submit or give into fear! We will live free and when the time comes die free, and make sure all the future generations of earth are free to truly live!

To our friends, brothers, and sisters in France...Peace! May God be with you and with us all. May you stay strong and may you rebuild quickly and find healing, comfort, and joy! Remember we stand with you and pray each day that Love lifts you up, and that the light of your beautiful country dispels the darkness and returns once again, and that life itself not only continues to go on like before; but that it finds you blessed and well in all good abundance and that you thrive and always overcome adversity!

Blessed Be!

All Souls Night

All Souls Night; 

On this night we light candles in remembrance and on behalf of All Souls, those lost and those who have found their way to The Light already. We offer prayers for the well being of our loved ones and the dearly departed who have crossed over, and wish them well. We also offer up prayers on behalf of all the souls who wander stuck in-between worlds, many of whom are not at rest and have not reached peace. We remember them and their plight, and offer up prayers as we would hope others would do for us if we were lost so that we could find our way home. Remember the teaching of Christ to treat others as we would wish to be treated? Well this is one of the multitude of meanings and applications of that teaching. 

With this observance the feast of Samhain ends, though the season of Samhain and The Harvest continues for us today until after the feast of Thanksgiving, after which Christmas-tide shall begin. 

Taken from Youtube, Follow the link below to the original youtube post;
Link to Youtube Video Post...

All Saints Day

 

All Saints Day!!! 


On this day all saints are honored. Candles are lit in remembrance of the lives they led. 

And by saints what I mean is all of the believers who have passed over. I do not believe you have to have performed three miracles and get elected by a committee of so-called holy men to be a saint. A saint in scripture is someone who was a believer who passed on and is now standing in God’s own abode with all of “the faithful”. I call these “The Good Ancestors”. Those people who lived their lives believing in God. I also do not make a huge distinction between spiritual ancestors, blood ancestors, adopted ancestors, ancestors of tradition, and so on. To me an ancestor is an ancestor.

So In Memoriam I leave this picture which is my own internet version lol (and no I did not make the picture lol) of a sacred perpetual flame, in honor of God's Saints!!!

Why all Christians should absolutely celebrate All Hallows Eve

Even if you have no cultural ties to the festival of Samhain now known as Halloween, if you are a christian you should celebrate this day in remembrance and joy!!! 

To all of those so-called christians out there who believe that The Eve of All Hallows, All saints day, & All souls night should not be celebrated; remember that OCT. 31st should always be celebrated by christians!!! 

Here is why... 

On OCT. 31st 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the roman catholic church thus beginning the reformation and rebellion that would lead to the freedom of all christians to worship in the manner of their choice, and under the doctrine of their choice!!! So remember that your christian freedom began on The Eve of All Hallows!!!

To find information on a wonderful film adaptation of this story folly the link below; 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309820/

 Quote taken from the film mentioned above, from character Martin Luther; 

Samhain

 

Samhain or Samhein (pronounced Sow-in);

The festival of The Ancestors, The Great Harvest

The ancient and most holy festival day in the year of the ancient Irish Celts.

On this day the last of the great harvest festivals was celebrated. This day marked the end of one year and the beginning of another, and is rightly considered the Celtic new year. The first half of the year was winter or the dark half of the year. The veil between the worlds is thinnest at this time. Most Celtic festivals are three day feasts. This feast is unusual in that it is not only the day before, of, and after that are celebrated, though it might have been thus in ancient times. Since the advent of the church and Christianity it is The Eve of All Hallows, November 1^st which is All Saints day, and the night of November 2^nd which is All Souls night that are celebrated. The day before was probably when they brought in the last harvest and made preparations for the festival. It should be honored as well.

Families would have gathered together both to fellowship with each other and hold communion with their ancestors and with The Divine in whatever forms they believed in, on the eve of all hallows. Traveling would have been very rare on this night. Sacrifices to show thankfulness to The Divine, and to try and ritually ensure good harvests the following year would have been made. In some places we know that human sacrifices were made but not usually in the horrific manner that many assume. Almost all of the sacrifices would have been people who were willing. The Celts believed in the transformation of the soul and in reincarnation so much that it would not have been as traumatic a process for them as it would be for us in modern times. Most people believed that they were protecting their peoples by allowing themselves to be sacrificed. The sacrifices were also to try and garner favor with the powers that be, so as to make the cold harsh bitter winters as short as possible. Many of the human sacrifices at this time would have been elderly people who felt they had lived a long life and wanted to make sure the younger generations had the chance to do the same. It is also understood that in some places, those willing to be sacrificed would have been seen as heroic and it was believed that their souls would have ascended right into the halls of the gods where they would be seated with the gods having become themselves divine in nature. This would have also led some Celts to ancestral worship.

It was custom at this time and at the time of Beltaine, that all the fires in the land were extinguished for a time and the high-kings fire which was made by his Druids would have been the only fire burning during the ritual. Torches were lit from this fire and runners went out from the kings fire carrying the light to ritual purify all the fires in the land which were re-lit and reborn from the flames of the torches, the runners carried. It was a beautiful tradition that was wiped out by St. Patrickus, who despised and later murdered or forcibly converted the druids and or their followers. Hence the legend of driving the so-called snakes out of Ireland. Snakes in the case being symbolic of the druids.

After the advent of Christianity which brought with it the idea of the angel of death, or St. Death which has various names in Christian and Jewish mythology (traditionally The Arch-Angel Azriel The lead death angel, who is under the command of Gabriel), and who later became myth-ified to another archetypal figure altogether whom we call The Grim-Reaper; Death itself was also honored to a degree in some circles after this era.

Taxes for the kingdom and the high-king were also collected at this time. Groups of Druids with escorts from the Fianna (The High-King’s or Ard-Ri’s personal military police force), went out from the kings hall and traveled through out the whole of Ireland, going door to door as we say. This is what informed the much later tradition we know of as Trick or Treat. The title hearkens back to the idea of various punishments the druids dealt out to people if they refused to pay their taxes when they were able to do so. Much in the same way our own IRS would carry out various punishments on us today even if we couldn’t pay our taxes.  

This was a time of great feasting and celebration. Stories would have been told around hearth fires of legends and also family histories. At this time of the year, ancestors were seen as being very present amongst us. 

May you find yourself blessed with all good abundance this Hallowed Season!!! 

 Blessed Be!

A Memory to Share…

So today I spent a truly lovely day with a dear friend. For the purpose of this post I will call her “Lady D” to somewhat protect her identity, though she knows who she is lol. I have known her only for a brief time in life. For the past three years or so, one of the sweetest spirits I have ever encountered on this earth, with one of the kindest hearts has graced my life and become part of my family and my soul group. She is someone with whom I have had some of the greatest conversations of my life. She just gets me, and that is rare. I think I have a pretty great understanding of her heart of soul, and a healthy respect for her intellect. She is leaving the place where I reside. She is going out into the world to find her a new home and what to do with the next phase of her life. Today was possibly the last time I will see her in person. I hope that is not the case, but it might well be. As I look back on my time with her over the past few years, I can only be truly thankful for her presence. It has truly been my privilege in every sense of the word. I am so thankful to have had the chance to know her and call her friend. I am grateful to Spirit for letting our paths cross, even if only for a brief time. I am also thankful to her for being part of my journey these past years. Wherever she goes and whatever she does, and whoever she becomes from here on out; she goes with my love and my friendship, and best wishes and prayers for her life! Thank you for our time together Lady D, and thank you for such…such, a lovely day. Thanks for the laughter, thanks for tears, thanks for the talks, and thanks years. May God be with you always dear sister, and may your memory of me be as me memory of you; a light in the darkest shadows and times, when all other lights go out! Remember me with kindness of pray of thee please, and when those memories come…I ask, let them be with a smile and followed with laughter. When I think on you I know I shall smile, and hold you in a special place in my heart.

Blessed Be Lady D, Blessed Be 

 

A Portrait of "Lady D" by my Grand-Mother and Artist Billie R. McGehee

Lady D, Always remember you are a Grail Maiden