A warm welcome to our last featured GRL author Jacqueline Grey!

Welcome Jacqueline 🙂

As the GRL Retreat nears I am feeling both excited and a bit anxious. I am eager to meet fellow authors and to introduce myself to readers who may or may not know me, but this is my first time attending the event, and I feel like I am jumping into the deep end of the pool by going as a supporting author.
I have done my best to prepare. I’ve spoken with a few authors that have been there before and asked questions. I have read recommendation lists posted by authors who have attended in the past. I have prepared swag and made a pack list according to the event schedule, but when it comes down to it you can’t really know what something is going to be like until you get there. Therefore, I have decided to sit back, enjoy the ride, and learn as I go.
Of course it isn’t always easy to have confidence when stepping into unfamiliar surroundings. I tend to be introverted or extroverted depending on the situation. Then again, who isn’t a little more outgoing when they’re with people they are comfortable with and already know? But this is a new experience and I want to try my best to enjoy it. That’s why I’m packing armor.
When I was a freshman in college a friend of mine introduced me to the wonderful world of cosplay (a Japanese term meaning “costume play”), where people dress up as characters from anime and manga. Lately this pastime would probably include mediums like American comic books and live action TV shows and movies. My friend helped me to make my first costume, and I wore it to my first anime convention. I had a blast that weekend. Since then I have made numerous costumes on my own and worn them to various conventions. I have even worn them for friendly get-togethers and impromptu photo shoots.
One thing that I discovered while I was at these conventions is that I loved the attention the costumes would bring. I felt great when people knew who I was dressed up as and when they asked for pictures of me. Most of all, I felt outgoing and confident. I could start a conversation with a stranger and I’d smile at everyone (unless they were creepy). I wasn’t trying to hide who I was, but being in the costume made me braver. Oscar Wilde once said, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” It’s true. The costume was like the mask Wilde mentions, but you can’t wear a costume every day of your life. What you can do, when the occasion allows for it, is wear a wig.
Over the course of my cosplay career I have collected a good amount of wigs. (Some, I will admit, were purchased just because they were pretty and not for a particular costume. Never leave me on a wig website unattended!) With the amount of wigs I have (somewhere around 20) and the limited occasions I have to wear them, I do not want my purchases to go to waste. And so, on occasion, I have worn a wig just for fun.
Even without the costume, when I wear a wig I feel a little bolder, a little wilder. Like the costume, or Oscar Wilde’s mask, it is a sort of armor that allows me to let go of my shyness. As I am stepping into unknown territory at the GRL Retreat, I think I will pack some of this synthetic confidence and take it with me. So if you’re attending GRL and you see an author at the hotel with pink hair or green it’s probably me. Borrow some of my armored boldness and say hi.

Suit of Harte’s Series

Book 1 – “Tricks and Bids”

When Michael Nole propositions Dillon Spade outside of a BDSM club one evening, all he is looking for is a potential client and a little kink, he gets much more than he bargained for. As a prostitute, Michael enjoys sex but keeps an emotional distance between himself and the men he sleeps with. His priority is to keep himself safe, but after a night in Dillon’s bed, he finds the line between enjoyment and occupation becoming blurrier than usual.
Dillon Spade hasn’t taken another man home in six years since his previous lover passed away, but there is something about Michael that calls to his inner Dominant in a way he cannot resist. His instincts want to claim the boy even as he reminds himself that he is only paying Michael for temporary company.
Their relationship may have started as a business transaction, but these two are finding it difficult to remain professional when the man beside them is proving to be an exception to all the rules.
Buy now at Resplendence Publishing, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

Book 2 – “Shoot the Moon”

All Adam Kern was looking for when his best friend dragged him to the club Harte was some good dancing and a little flirting to distract him from his troubles. He never anticipated meeting the club owner, Jesse Harte, and having a whole new world of experiences laid open before him. On an impulse, Adam follows Jesse to the upper, kinkier floors of the club where an informative tour ends in a steamy scene that both men are looking forward to repeating. The attraction between the two is scorching and over the next few weeks their adventures into kinky sex are nothing short of daring.
Adam loves the thrill of sex with Jesse but soon a gnawing fear sows doubt into his mind about the possibility of a relationship with the other man. Though he loves every moment he spends with Jesse, he fears what these sexual explorations may mean for him. Jesse is successful, an entrepreneur and a well-known Dominant in the BDSM community but Adam cannot see himself as a submissive. What sort of future could they have if he is unable to give his lover what he needs?
Buy now at Resplendence Publishing, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

Book 3 – “Limits and Stakes”

Professor Danny Stone doesn’t date students. Though the University does not forbid such relationships he’d rather be safe than sorry. With his sparkling blue eyes and silky blond hair Christopher Owen looks like a fallen angel come to Earth just to tempt him. Danny finds it difficult to resist him, especially after kissing Chris over winter break.
Spring break will be different. Danny’s plan is to spend the week at a BDSM club a few towns over. Playing with a sub or two who have no connection to his University will do him a world of good and he can put Christopher out of his mind. But when the first sub that catches his eye turns out to be Christopher, Danny’s willpower is put to the ultimate test. Christopher is brand new to the scene and feels safest with Danny. Will Danny be able to introduce him to the wonders of BDSM without crossing too many lines or will fate pull them together and show them sometime rules are destined to be broken?
Available now at Resplendence Publishing, All Romance eBooks and Amazon.com.

About Jacqueline Grey

Jacqueline Grey is a character driven author. She loves a good plot but it’s the characters that pull her into a story. She loves romance and believes everyone has a right to be happy, and she enjoys seeing her characters find that happiness for themselves.
Outside of writing, Jacqueline is a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades. She has many different interests and if you asked her what her job was the answer would be a list, even if she gave you the simplified version. She spends her days juggling work with her many hobbies which include dancing, aerial silks, sewing, cosplay, role-playing, drinking tea, and above all, writing. She currently lives on an island on the east coast of the United States. She loves to read and write male/male erotic romance, usually focusing on stories that include BDSM themes to one degree or another.
Find her at her website http://www.jacquelinegrey.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3422913.Jacqueline_Grey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacquelineGreyBooks
Or Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Jacqueline_Grey/

Jacqueline is giving away a copy of any book in her Suit of Harte’s series to one lucky reader.