Love Bytes gives a warm welcome to author Shane K. Morton joining us today to talk about new release Dreamers Often Lie book 1 in the multi-authored Twisted Bard Series. Shane is talking to us about the series and brought a wonderful giveaway for our readers!!
Welcome Shane 🙂
Dreamers Often Lie (Twisted Bard) by Shane K Morton
I am so excited to share the Twisted Bard Series with you! All of the greatest Shakespeare plays rethought by eight fabulous MM authors – bringing the bard into the contemporary world! It’s also Gay AF. This was an idea I have been kicking around for the past four years and I am thrilled with the authors joining me on this journey!
Shakespeare has always been a touchstone for me ever since I was forced to read Romeo and Juliet in eighth grade. Funnily enough, that play has been a milestone marker for me, too.
Acting paid my bills for almost fifteen years, and I did a lot of Shakespeare’s plays during that time. In my freshman year of college, one of my first mainstage performances was as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. I followed that up with Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and Midsummer Night’s Dream before graduating. I then worked at some regional theatres doing Shakespeare. Guess what my first professional Shakespeare play was? That’s right, Romeo and Juliet!
I also met my husband doing a contemporary gay version of the play called R & J. (We played the two straight characters!) This was a four-man play that combined the ideas of Romeo and Juliet with those of Dead Poets Society but only used Shakespeare’s words. If you ever see that version of the play in your area – go see it! We started dating a few weeks into rehearsal. This was a professional play, but it was rehearsed upstairs in a gay leather bar in Philadelphia!
So the play has always held a special place in my heart. My husband and I have now been together for 23 years! We were just babies, or so it feels now when we first met. No wonder I wanted to write a version of this story.
Instead of Romeo and Juliet, whose story has been told multiple times in many ways – I decided to tell the story of two characters that I have always been fascinated with. Tybalt and Mercutio who both die in the original text. It’s their deaths that bring about the tragedy that we all know and love. But what if they didn’t die? Don’t those two wonderful characters deserve their own chance at a happy ever after? YES THEY DO!
In my world, the houses of Cappie and Monty are always at odds with each other. Two warring studios who always try to outdo each other in every way. Imagine if Men.com and BelAmi.com had a rivalry that knew no bounds. Their owners were once friends but driven apart by greed and jealousy. Their stable of porn stars includes Roam, Jules, Ben and Ty and Merc.
A new world and a new retelling of a classic that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and did I mention that it is spicy AF! Of course, it is!
I hope you give this series a chance to titillate you! I am sure it will! Authors include Shane K Morton (me), D.K. Sutton, Abigail Kade, Lynn Van Dorn, Drea Roman, Marie Sinclair, Giovanna Reaves, and Elizabeth Silver.
Universal Link: Dreamers Often Lie
Universal Series Link: Twisted Bard Series
Dreamers Often Lie (Blurb)
Two houses both alike in dignity…
The Montagues and the Capulets have been the main escort services in Los Angeles for years. Their rivalry has led to bloodshed and anger from both sides. But two men are bound to shatter the enmity that lies between them. Hint: It’s not Romeo and Julian.
Tybalt has been forced into a life of servitude ever since he came to live with his uncle. His shame makes him quick to anger.
Mercutio chose a life with the Montagues when his own home life became too much of a burden. He has thrown himself into his new role, providing pleasure to his high-end clients with an unrivaled revelry.
They may hate each other – but they can’t help what they feel.
Besides, Romeo and Julian suck all the air out of the room when they’re present. They’re too involved in being influencers and insta-whores between their clients and their own forbidden secret love. They are the worst of friends.
Don’t these two star-crossed lovers deserve their own HEA after all these centuries? It’s a shame they have to die to get it!
A contemporary Gay retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, featuring Tybalt and Mercutio as our heroes!
Twisted Bard is a multi-author series that brings the Bard to the present! It’s also Super Gay and full of drama and heat. Did I mention drama? Shakespeare? I think you mean Shakes-queer!
Dreamers Often Lie (Excerpt of Chpt 1)
“I’m really not in the mood to deal with this shit today.” I groaned, knowing that the shit was about to go down. Everyone thought I was a hothead, but Gregory could never let a sleeping dog lie. I preferred to pick my battles when they mattered, but somehow, I had developed a reputation as a class-A prick.
“Let’s remind them that they may live on the same street, but that street belongs to us,” Greg laughed loudly and slowly raised his middle finger as they approached. He couldn’t stop himself from trying to get under the competition’s skin.
“Is that finger for us?” The tallest one, I think his name was Abe Masters, which was a stupid name for someone who sucked as much dick as he did on camera, stopped and stared at Gregory and Sam.
“Well… It is a finger, and it is pointing up.” Greg smirked.
“I mean, it’s not pointing at you, but yes, it is pointing nonetheless.” Sam chuckled as he shifted his feet gently away from Greg who was as coiled tightly as a cobra.
“Oh, I think it’s totally meant for me. Did my last video outperform yours? It must be hard to know you’re considered one of the laziest fucks on the internet.”
“Now it is definitely pointing towards you.” Greg shifted his finger and pushed it further towards him.
“Looks more erect than your penis. Perhaps you should use that finger instead.” Abe cracked his knuckles.
“It’s a big finger.” Abe’s redheaded friend laughed. I had seen him but couldn’t remember his name. Monty was trying to make him a thing – but so far, he wasn’t very memorable.
“It’s a big dick, and I have no trouble getting hard.” Greg took a step forward and moved his finger a few inches from the redhead’s face.
“That’s not the rumor on LPSG. They say other actors complain when they work with a Cappie boy.” Abe cackled and got in Greg’s face – which was a stupid move. Abe was tall, but Greg was huge.
I needed to put a stop to this or it was going to get ugly. “Is that what they say?” I muttered lowly from behind Greg and Sam and stepped around them so the Monty boys could see me. “I think it’s more likely what you want to believe, but I dare you to say that to my face.”
“Stop it!” Ben, one of Monty’s most popular boys, ran down the street towards his friends. “There are people over there watching, and one of them has a camera.”
“So?” Abe seethed.
“So, this won’t help either one of our houses. It just makes us look like a bunch of rednecks or gang members.”
“Gang bang members.” Greg huffed.
Greg – did I say he was the hotheaded one? Yes, I did. Greg pushed Abe on his chest with his finger, and before I knew what was happening, Abe swung his fist, and it collided with Greg’s jaw. He barely registered the punch. He barely moved as he recovered, but when he did jump into action, it was faster than anyone could have expected. His large, muscular frame tackled Abe, and they fell to the ground – arms and legs flopping onto the hard pavement in front of Tammy Sue’s Beauty Salon.
I cracked my neck and prepared myself for the eventual outcome. Sam and the redhead ran at each other, and I grinned at Ben.
“Hey, pretty boy,” I smirked. “You’re gonna just stand there as your friends do all the dirty work.” The mess was already going down, and I could see the people down the street filming. I wasn’t going to be the only one looking like a fool while my friends did the dirty work.
“Ty. We’re not our bosses. It doesn’t have to be this way. I have nothing against you.” Ben held his hands up.
“I don’t think we have a choice unless you want to look like a coward, Benny Boy.” I stepped towards him, and he held his hands up in front of his face. “As always, cameras are rolling.”
“We should be pulling them apart… Oh, fuck it.” Ben shook his head, and his hands turned to fists. “We’re already in the fucking thick of it. Maybe Monty will give me a bonus.”
Greg and Abe were rolling on the ground, trying to get the best of each other. The sound of fists on flesh punctuated the air. Sam and the redhead were already out of my sight, but I didn’t need to worry about Sam. He was a fucking little scrapper.
“You wish.” I stepped forward, and Ben fucking ran at me. I moved slightly to the left and held my foot out. Ben tripped and tumbled to the ground. Hopefully, he didn’t hurt that pretty face. That would have been a shame, even for one of Monty’s boys. Ben was a total cutie and one of the only ones who gave me a run for my money in this business we called show.
“Fuck!” He picked himself up and came at me, throwing a punch that I artfully dodged. “Fucking cat prince!” He stepped back and wiped the trickle of blood from his forehead.
“Don’t talk about my pussy, little Benny,” I threatened. #CatPrince was the moniker that Cappie gave me because I had a couple of cats that I treated like children. I preferred them to almost everyone. “First blood – is that getting in your eyes? I didn’t even punch you yet.”
“Asshole.”
He threw another punch, and I sidestepped it easily. “You’re making this too easy.”
“Stand still, damn you!” He yelled in rage and ran at me. Instead of easily dodging him, I wrapped my arms around him and held his arms firmly in my grip on his side as I spun him around.
“Should I let go and see how far I can toss a bottom?” I laughed. I was enjoying this more than I should. If I had been of sound mind, I would have helped Ben de-escalate the situation, but a camera was still a camera. The audience expected something of us, and who was I to deny them what they wanted? Our feud was epic and filled the chatrooms of the people who enjoyed beating off to us as they watched our bodies writhe in the throes of fake passion.
“Don’t you dare.”
“That might be a waste of a very pretty face. If our houses didn’t hate each other, I would love to see you wiggle as I impaled you.”
“In your dreams.”
“That wasn’t very smart.”
“Don’t you dare,” he gasped, and I grinned wickedly at him.
“You did ask for it, handsome.” I spun faster and opened my arms. Ben flew into the air – his legs kicking wildly onto the pavement, where he landed without decorum on his ass before skidding across the concrete. I was careful in my release. I could have made it much worse and bruised more than his ego, but that would have been a waste. Out of all Monty’s boys, Ben was probably the nicest and most calm of them all. “I did you a solid. Now stay down.” I pointed at him, and he slowly picked himself up enough to get to his knees. I had raddled him.
The sirens let us know that our foray into madness had to come to an end. We had been warned more than once, but we never really paid for our duels. Cappie and Monty had the mayor in the palm of their hand. He was a fan, as was the police chief. Even when we didn’t get away in time, we never had real repercussions.
“Time to skedaddle assholes. The boys in blue are about to arrive.” Greg laughed as he threw one last punch that landed right in Abe’s stomach. He was gonna feel that one for a long time. Abe doubled over and fell to his knees.
“Fuck. Too late.” Sam scoffed as he ran over to me.
