Worth Keeping : Blog Tour

February 5, 2014 by Pip

LYLBTB are delighted to welcome Sue Mac Nicol back! Thanks for stopping by to share your new release “Worth Keeping” with us – we were lucky enough to read this book earlier in the year – and really enjoyed it A LOT! Check out Whit’s review HERE. And now over to Susan …..

Emotional Equality for All

Let me be honest. I’m not gay, transgender, gender fluid, lesbian, homosexual or any other label society chooses to put upon people who are classed as ‘different’ from the norm (according to ‘set society’ stands at least). For who the hell we are we to define ‘normal’? And don’t tell me the Bible says so because I might punch you with it. Apologies to any religious friends I have out there, but I’m entitled to express my opinion the same way the Spanish Inquisitors did. Only I won’t torture and massacre people who don’t believe the same things I do.

I am a straight woman – another bloody label – who has been married to the same man for twenty-nine years. But that doesn’t stop me getting on my soapbox and revelling in the fact that DOMA is dead, in the UK we have a law now that gives same-sex couples the right to marry and that at last society is starting to come around to the idea that if two people love each other, who gives a flying f*** what gender they are?

And, I also know that these victories are hard won, that there has been a lot of heartache and angst in the process and that there is still oh so much work to do. Lives have been destroyed, people have destroyed themselves after being tainted with the stigma of being ‘different’ for loving someone of the same sex as them and nothing can change that. But there is wonderful and untiring work being done by so many people around the world to get their voice out there and tell people that they are simply human beings, and that’s all that is required to be in love or get married and share a life together.

I am not a fan of any sort of persecution. I wrote an anthology of poetry about this in my younger days. Colour, religion, beliefs, sexuality – these are all simply facets of life that contribute to our growth as human beings. Which colour, which religion, which beliefs and which sexuality –these are all irrelevant. Instead we have a person who chooses to live their life in harmony with another person. Isn’t that what life is all about? A phrase I think that has been so overworked that it seems to have lost its meaning unless used in cliché ridden conversations and writings is Live and Let Live.

From research I’ve done, it appears that this proverb is Dutch in origin and is first recorded in Ancient Law Merchant by G. De Malynes, published in 1622. It was later included in a book of English proverbs collected by John Ray in 1678. This is what it is defined as being:

Run your own life the way you want to, and let others do the same; be tolerant of differences.

Remember the Christmas Truce of 1914? Both sides of the opposing armies laid down their arms and formed a truce to come together as a group of people just trying to beat the cold, the hunger, the death, the grief and the need to be with other human beings in peace and in harmony.  Their differences were forgotten. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could nurture this in every second of every day? If children didn’t have be taught that being ‘gay’ or loving someone of the same sex and wanting to have sex with them was not a sin, that them being different to others isn’t something that can be surgically removed or psychologically changed or meant they don’t have the same rights as other couples do.

So, for me being a member of this GLBT community in the way that I am – someone simply believing in the thought that all individuals should have the same rights as others despite their differences – means I care. I support the fight, the drive to take away the imperfections so that life can be the same for all, no matter what their sexual persuasion.

I hope this qualifies me to join this amazingly feisty and passionate band of people and rejoice in their victories, and that my passion for emotional equality comes across in the M/M Romances I write.

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About the book

Title: Worth Keeping

Author: Susan Mac Nicol

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group

Bookseller: Boroughs Publishing Group

Excerpt:  Worth Keeping Excerpt

Nick Mathers pulls Owen Butler from the freezing waters off the Norfolk coast, but Owen’s love can carry Nick back from the edge of oblivion. 

Abused horrifically as a boy, Nick Mathers has come to terms with his existence as a man. Mostly. Other days life seems a little much. Especially when Nick knows he’ll always be alone.

On those days his thoughts turn black. He walks the Norfolk coast and considers the frigid embrace of the waves. And then, one stormy night, he finds someone who’s tasted just that. The beautiful stranger on the beach is near death, and Nick rushes him home to slowly nurse back to health. As he does, he finds a love unlike any other. Owen Butler’s body is as warm as the sea was cold, his heart as big as an ocean. And Owen is a man who swears to repay the favor. Nick can yet be saved from himself, and he will see that he is indeed a man…

WORTH KEEPING

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What people are saying about Worth Keeping . . .

”We have to re-iterate that this Author will always be an automatic one-click for us. Her writing is flawless and her flawed characters are completely lovable. There’s always something quirky and fun in her stories as well as drama, angst and heaps of passion! We can highly recommend!!” – Gitte & Jenny – Totally Booked Blog

“The cast of supporting characters adds depth and color, and the subplot of impending danger is artfully woven into the fabric of two men learning to overcome their own limitations, to open to the possibility of love and to redefine who they are. … this is a novel… Worth Keeping.” – Beach Bum Books

“Susan has written what I found to be a truly wonderful story about two damaged men that fit together in a way that gives them a relationship that can be everything they never dared to dream of.” – T. Kurtz, Book Addict

“…it is a beautiful story of survival. It is a story of two men who fought for their lives and there are times they can trip and fall, but somehow they do manage to pick themselves up and face life. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Love it.“ – Johanna Alba Bilbao

“Susan has been hailed as a genius writer of male/male literature. Her Saving Alexander has been nominated for several awards and has been reviewed widely. Congrats on all your success, Susan. You have earned it.” – Gay Lit Authors

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Book Trailer

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About the Susan Mac Nicol

Susan Mac Nicol was born in Leeds, UK, and left for South Africa when she was eight. She returned to the UK thirty years later and now lives in Essex. Her debut novel Cassandra by Starlight, the first in a trilogy, was published last year by Boroughs Publishing Group in the US. Sue’s latest story, Worth Keeping is her third m/m romance.

Sue has written since she was very young, and never thought she would see herself being a Romance writer, being a horror/psychological thriller reader all her life. But the Romance genre is now something very close to her heart and she intends continuing the trend.

Sue is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Romantic Novelists Association here in the UK.

To learn more, visit Susan on her website and blog on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest.

Susan Mac Nicol is also author of The Magick of Christmas, Confounding Cupid, Cassandra by Starlight , Together in Starlight, Stripped Bare and Saving Alexander.

Susan and her publisher, Boroughs Publishing Group, will be awarding a copy of Stripped Bare and a copy of Saving Alexander to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour – to be in the draw, just click on the Refflecopter link below.

Good Luck!! and don’t forget to follow the entire Blog Tour  – next stop is over at the Purple Rose Tea House, with Charlie Cochet.

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