Hi, and welcome to the Burnt Toast B&B blog tour! We’re
Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz, the authors of the book, and we’re so
thankful to have you along for the ride, and thankful to our hosts, Cup o' Porn, for having us here today!
Normally on a blog tour, we like to share all kinds of behind
the scenes goodies to do with the book: inspiration images, glimpses into
research and plotting, deleted scenes, conversations about our process,
character bios, etc. For this tour, though, we’re doing something a little
different, but we hope you’ll still find it worth your while.
When Heidi first pitched The Burnt Toast B&B, it was as an
opposites-attract story centring around the world’s worst B&B . . . and an
M/M romcom where one of the lead guys just happened to be transgender. Writing
solo, she’d done a trans book before, but that was very much a Trans Book, all
about exploring gender identity, defining who you are, and coming out to your
friends and loved ones. This book . . . isn’t that. It’s the story of an
optimistic hipster stuntman and a pessimistic lumberjack who learn to make
espresso, fix up a failing B&B, and generally butt heads in between loads
of laundry.
Ginsberg, our hipster, is much like many of our other favourite
M/M heroes: he’s funny, resilient, romantic, and sexy as hell. He’s also
transgender; secure in his identity, his body, and his sexuality; and working
in a career he loves. But his life isn’t without hardships. Ginsberg made his
own family after his biological one turned out to be too toxic to live with. He
scrimped and saved and borrowed to pay for the medical care he needed to be
happy and healthy. He found a roof over his head as a “considerate
couchsurfer,” living with friends and acquaintances on a temporary basis when
money got tight. In Derrick and his failing B&B, Ginsberg finally finds an
opportunity to have a real home, if only he can convince Derrick to keep the
place open.
Ginsberg’s background of financial hardship and lack of family
support is all too common among many people who, like him, are trans and trying
to live happy, fulfilling lives as their true selves. As such, we the authors,
our publisher Riptide, and our generous blog tour hosts will be using the next
few days to highlight the personal fundraisers of real trans people in need. We
hope that if you’ve got a little extra money this month, you’ll consider
donating, and if money’s tight, maybe you can help by spreading the word, too.
For our part, Rachel,
Heidi, and Riptide will be giving donors a $5 Riptide credit code for every $10
in donations you make (up to $50 in codes per person, up to $5,000 in codes
overall)--just email your donation receipt(s) to info@riptidepublishing.com with the subject line “Burnt Toast Tour
Donation,” and Riptide will send out all $5 codes a week after the tour ends.
(It’s totally cool, by the way, to spread your donations across multiple
fundraisers if you’d like; we’ll add up all your receipts sent in a single
email and base your credit vouchers on the grand total.)
We’re also hosting a
special contest for people who donate: every dollar in donations to any of
these fundraisers will earn you an entry into a drawing for a full paperback
set of Riptide’s current Bluewater Bay lineup, OR two signed paperback copies
of The Burnt Toast B&B. We’ll draw one week after the blog tour ends. Every
dollar helps, and every dollar counts!
Lastly, we’ll randomly
select three commenters from all the tour stops and donate $50 apiece in each
winner’s name to the trans charity or fundraiser of their choice. (Please be
sure to leave a way for us to contact you if you win!)
Today’s featured fundraiser is for Naiymah Ariana Sanchez, and
you can find it at http://www.gofundme.com/ BeautifulTransLatina. And here’s
Naiymah :)
Naiymah is a proud Latina trans woman who works a coordinator
for the only nonprofit “for trans by trans” program in Philly, where she
provides outreach, HIV and STI testing and counseling, runs support groups, and
crisis counsels. Now she’s raising money for her own gender affirming surgery.
You can learn much more about Naiymah, and donate to help her reach her goal,
at her fundraiser page, http://www.gofundme.com/BeautifulTransLatina.
Thank you so much for following our (slightly unconventional)blog tour! Be sure to leave a comment on this or any of our other tour stops
for a chance to have $50 donated in your name to a trans-related
fundraiser/charity of your choice. And if you choose to donate to any of the
fundraisers we’ve highlighted over the course of the tour, don’t forget to
forward proof of your donation to info@riptidepublishing.com with the subject
line “Burnt Toast Tour Donation” to claim your $5 coupon(s) and enter your name
in the extra special drawing!
Lastly, if you or someone you love is transgender and going
through a difficult time, please check out the Trans Lifeline, http://www.translifeline.org/.
This crisis helpline is staffed entirely by trans volunteers and runs at least
twelve hours a day, seven days a week, in the US and Canada. If you’re in
crisis, please call them. If you’d like to support this nonprofit, please visit http://www.gofundme.com/translifeline.
The Burnt Toast B&B
After breaking his arm on set, Wolf’s Landing stuntman Ginsberg Sloan finds himself temporarily
out of work. Luckily, Bluewater Bay’s worst B&B has cheap long-term rates,
and Ginsberg’s not too proud to take advantage of them.
Derrick Richards, a grizzled laid-off logger, inherited the
B&B after his parents’ untimely deaths. Making beds and cooking
sunny-side-up eggs is hardly Derrick’s idea of a man’s way to make a living,
but just as he’s decided to shut the place down, Ginsberg shows up on his
doorstep, pitiful and soaking wet, and Derrick can hardly send him packing.
Not outright, at least.
The plan? Carry on the B&B’s tradition of terrible customer
service and even worse food until the pampered city boy leaves voluntarily.
What Derrick doesn’t count on, though, is that the lousier he gets at hosting,
the more he convinces bored, busybody Ginsberg to try to get the B&B back
on track. And he definitely doesn’t count on the growing attraction between
them, or how much more he learns from Ginsberg than how to put out kitchen
fires.
Read an excerpt or order at http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/burnt-toast-bb
Learn more about Heidi Belleau at http://www.riptidepublishing.com/authors/heidi-belleau
Learn more about Rachel Haimowitz at http://www.riptidepublishing.com/authors/rachel-haimowitz
My MIL was a great fan of well done toast. And what a beautiful thing to do, love the donation idea.
ReplyDelete"well done" is one way of putting it LOL!
Deletethanks very much for your support. here's hoping we raise lots of money :)
Thanks for the post and contest. What you are doing with the fundraising is wonderful. I have read good reviews about The Burnt Toast B&B.
ReplyDeletejen.f {at} mac {dot} com
Thanks for following the tour Jen! Good luck with the draw!
DeleteSuch a great tour idea, and I'm definitely going to be commenting at each stop. I would love to be able to make a bigger donation, but even if not, someone's going to get to, and that's awesome. Thanks!
ReplyDelete(Oops, looks like Jackie's picture was put for Naiymah.)
caroaz [at] ymail [dot] com