Welcome to the Poster Boy Blog Tour! *confetti*
As you may or may not know, Poster Boy is the fifth in the Theta Alpha Gamma series, and (at least as far as I’m able to be sure about such things) the last TAG book. No, no, don’t be sad, be happy—we’re gonna go out in style!
Let’s discuss the nitty-gritty: the Blog Tour Giveaway. The prize package this time includes: one lovely “Theta Alpha Gamma Beer Terrorist Response Team” sweatshirt (I believe I have sizes M-XXL available, choice of two styles); one paperback copy of Frat Boy and Toppy with the new cover art, signed and inscribed to the winner; a bar of soap I bought in Les Baux (was going to send olives from Sainte-Remy, but we ate them . . . sorry about that) and; of course, one penis crocheted by moi.
How does one win, you ask? By following the tour, collecting all the official “prize” words (posts will have them clearly marked), and using them as directed at the end of this post (it’s complicated).
Happy word hunting, and enjoy the tour (psssssst, this one is heavy on the cut scenes).
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In Poster Boy, Jock comes to Calapooya College—and Theta Alpha Gamma—after being outed and kicked off his college’s hockey team. It’s when word leaks to the news media that things get hairy, and Jock decides a term in France is an excellent vacation from the attention.
In the book, I wrote a scene where Jock is texted early one morning with a link to a news article about his outing. Because Rachel Haimowitz made me (seriously, she got all mean and stuff), I ended up writing the article and, when Poster Boy was formatted, all electronic versions have a live link, that will lead you to my faux-news item.
To be honest, I wasn’t positive Jock’s outing would really be that big a deal, but then, I started looking at other articles about similar situations, and I ran across this. It was a bit of a “hallelujah” moment for me, not because it showed me this was possible, but because it helped my brain (currently in its fifth decade of life, FYI) remember—this is the incident that inspired me to out Jock in the first place!
After that, writing the fake news article was easy. It will live, in perpetuity, on my website, but for this blog tour I’ve pasted it in below. Perhaps I’ll occasionally post updates on how many people find my site by searching for news about outed college athletes. Should be interesting. Stay tuned!
Gay NCAA Hockey Star Outed, Cut From Team
A promising young center from Avalon College’s Knights, Gavin ‘Jock’ Gervaise, was recently cut from the team for serious misconduct related to his social activities, but new allegations have surfaced that the decision to cancel his scholarship and athletic involvement was motivated by the discovery that he’s gay. Gervaise was outed when numerous copies of an image showing him fellating an anonymous man were disseminated in the hockey team locker room.
At the Gayly News we were apprised of the possible wrongful dismissal of Gervaise when our offices received a photograph depicting the young student athlete in a compromising situation, sent to us by snail mail. It’s not known for certain whether this picture is the same image used to out the young athlete.
Gervaise played first-string center as a freshman for the Division I school. Neither the Knight’s Coach Schnigglehoeffer nor Gervaise have responded to repeated attempts to contact them for comment, but the Avalon Athletics Department released a copy of the letter to the press—signed by Schnigglehoeffer—given to the gay athlete when he was booted from the team. The reason for dismissal is stated as “a grave violation of the Code of Conduct policy signed by the team member named herein due to: underage consumption of alcohol.”
Perhaps readers of this site will take a moment to remember their own college days, the number of athletes who imbibed in alcoholic libations, and the consequences those same jocks faced when ample evidence of their misconduct was available. More to the point, readers may search their memories for any athletes dismissed for this kind of misconduct.
Rumors abound of an NHL team scouting the young player, but none of our sources will name names. ‘I can’t tell you, he didn’t want it getting around,’ a friend of Gervaise’s who wished to remain anonymous informed this reporter.
Gervaise has since withdrawn from Avalon College, and is reportedly enrolled in a private institution on the west coast. No word yet on whether this talented young man will appear on the ice again.
Title: Poster Boy by Anne Tenino
Theta Alpha Gamma Series Book Five
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Erotic, M/M, Romance
Length: 360 pages/Word Count: 100,000
Summary:
It’s all fun and games until someone puts his heart out.
After being outed to his hockey team and then changing schools, Jock figures he’s due for something good—like the sex he missed out on in the closet. Toby, the hot grad student he meets at a frat party, seems like a great place to start, and their night together is an awesome introduction to the fine art of hooking up.
Toby’s heart takes a bruising after the near-perfect experience with Jock leads to . . . nothing. He’s been left on the outside as his friends pair up into blissful coupledom, and he’s in danger of never completing (or starting) his thesis. Can’t something go right?
Then Toby’s coerced into chaperoning a Theta Alpha Gamma trip to France. Not that he’s complaining. What better place to finish his thesis and get over that frat boy? Except Jock’s outing is leaked to the press, turning him into an unwilling gay rights martyr, and he decides France would be a great escape, too. It’s a break from reality for both guys, but they soon find their connection is as real as it gets.
Purchase Link: Riptide Publishing
Author Bio
Raised on a steady diet of Monty Python, classical music and the visual arts, Anne Tenino was—famously—the first patient diagnosed with Compulsive Romantic Disorder. Since that day, Anne has taken on conquering the M/M world through therapeutic writing. Finding out who those guys having sex in her head are and what to do with them has been extremely liberating.
Anne’s husband finds it liberating as well, although in a somewhat different way. Her two daughters are mildly confused by Anne’s need to twist Ken dolls into odd positions. However, other than occasionally stealing Ken1’s strap-on, they let Mom do her thing without interference.
Wondering what Anne does in her spare time? Mostly she lies on the couch, eats bonbons and shirks housework.
Check out what Anne’s up to now by visiting her site. http://annetenino.com
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Giveaway
For those of you playing to win the blog tour prize cache, here’s the word: façade.
The word game—the rules are that I provide a bunch of words, and you have to create an ode to testicles. Hey, it’s fair—I gave you an ode to testicles in the book (well, part of one), you should give me one in return, using all the words from the tour. You may add any other words you need to, but it must include every word I gave out on the tour.
Of course, creative cheating might receive a pass from me . . .
At the end of the tour, send your ode to me at anne@annetenino.com and I will choose one lucky winner from all the entries I receive by paying one of my children some exorbitant amount to draw an ode out of a hat (or other handy receptacle). All masterpieces must be to me by May 4th, 2014 at midnight Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -7:00). For a schedule of all tour stops, you can go here.
Oh, and:
*If the winner will be at GRL, GayRomance Northwest or the RT Booklover’s Convention, I’m also offering a lunch with me. And yes, I’ll pay. 😉
Follow the rest of the tour HERE.
Interesting post
I look forward to reading this. Your article seems sadly real. Similar situations happen anywhere. Heavens, in Casablanca the police commissioner is shocked, shocked, to discover that gambling takes place at Tick’s Cafe. Some rules seem to be instituted just to provide cover for occasions such as Jock’s dismissal.
It does seem sadly real, doesn’t it? But I can see signs recently of people just getting the hell over it. 🙂