Release Blitz: Touch the Sky by Christina Lee & Nyrae Dawn
Touch the Sky
(Free Fall #1)
by Christina Lee & Nyrae Dawn
Release Date: March 28, 2016
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
Photography: Giovanni Dall'Orto
New Adult M/M Romance
About Touch the Sky
Lucas Barnett and Gabriel Stewart didn’t have it easy as kids. They were only trying to deal with bad situations at home when they became lifelines for each other. Their pipe dream was to someday meet in LA, where Lucas would design skyscrapers, and Gabriel would learn to fly. But then Gabriel disappeared without so much as a goodbye, and Lucas got himself in trouble with the law.
Five years later, both men are at a loss when they run into each other at a Hollywood bar. Lucas is still angry, but it’s not as if Gabriel could control how his mind and body had betrayed him. Being found on the ledge of that bridge had changed everything.
The attraction is immediate, but it’s more than their inability to keep their hands off each other. Neither man expects the fierce connection pulling them together. Unfortunately, ignoring their problems doesn’t make them disappear. Gabriel’s internal struggles are serious…dangerous. And no matter how much Lucas wants it to be true, saving Gabriel won’t make up for not being able to save his mom. If they don’t find the strength to face their own demons before the darkness takes hold, they risk more than just losing each other forever.
Read my five-plus-starred review of Touch the Sky.
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An Excerpt from Touch the Sky
I grab a piece of pizza and we finish the whole box, while drinking soda and watching a horror flick on TV. With each minute that passes, Gabe gets closer to me. It’s not one of those lame-ass things you see in movies, where the distance keeps shrinking while they get the balls to make a move. I just think Gabe craves contact—skin and flesh and warmth. And even though I’m not typically like that, I suddenly want to give it to him. Or maybe I’m just a selfish bastard and I’m fooling myself because I really just crave him.
So I do it, blatantly just move closer. Our legs touch, jeans against jeans. Our arms though? That’s skin against skin and I think maybe I really do crave skin and flesh and warmth the same way he does. At least when it’s him, I do.
The movie ends, and out of the corner of my eye, I see his head turn. Feel his gaze on me.
I want to taste him.
Me taste him. I’ve felt his lips twice and both times were both Gabe’s doing. This time it’ll be mine. I turn to him, touch his cheek with my left hand, let his hair slide through my fingers and then grab on.
Then I’m leaning forward, my tongue at the seam of his lips. Gabe opens up for me and I thrust my tongue inside. The feel of him, the taste of him goes straight to my head—both my dick and the one on my shoulders.
He moans into my mouth as I push closer to him. Reading my body language, Gabe turns, lies down so that he’s on his back and I’m between his legs, leaning over him.
My dick aches. I feel his, hard and thick against my stomach as I kiss him deeper.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I say as my lips slide down his neck. I can’t believe I just said that either.
Gabe’s hand tightens in my hair and his hips move, as he rubs his erection against me.
“I can’t believe it either.” He’s breathless, his voice hoarse with lust. It rocks through me and I suddenly want nothing more than to see what he looks like when he comes.
About Christina Lee and Nyrae Dawn
Once upon a time, Christina lived in New York City and was a wardrobe stylist. She spent her days shopping for photo shoots, getting into cabs, eating amazing food, and drinking coffee at her favorite hangouts.
Now she lives in the Midwest with her husband and son—her two favorite guys. She's been a clinical social worker and a special education teacher. But it wasn't until she wrote a weekly column for the local newspaper that she realized she could turn the fairytales inside her head into the reality of writing fiction.
She writes Adult, New Adult, and M/M Contemporary Romance. She's addicted to lip gloss and salted caramel everything. She believes in true love and kissing, so writing romance novels has become a dream job.
Connect with Christina
* * *
Nyrae Dawn can almost always be found with a book in her hand or an open document on her laptop. She couldn’t live without books—reading or writing them. Oh, and chocolate. She’s slightly addicted.
She gravitates toward character-driven stories. Whether reading or writing, she loves emotional journeys. It’s icing on the cake when she really feels something, but is able to laugh too. She’s a proud romantic, who has a soft spot for flawed characters, who make mistakes, but also have big hearts.
Whether she’s writing young adult, new adult, or adult you can always count on a healthy dose of romance from her books. She likes to tackle tough subjects, and believes everyone needs to see themselves in the stories they read.
Nyrae is living her very own happily ever after in California with her gorgeous husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two incredibly awesome kids.
Connect with Nyrae
A Q&A with Christina Lee and Nyrae Dawn
1. How did your friendship start and how did it become a springboard to team up as a writing duo?
Nyrae: We saw each other around online of course, since we both write romance. We’d met at a couple conferences as well. Then we were part of a Facebook group together for crossover authors who wrote both LGBTQ+ romance and het romance. Our friendship grew from there. I’d written a few collaborations before, and knew Christina wanted to write one. We decided to give it a try together!
Christina: I had read a couple of Nyrae’s New Adult m/f books a couple of years back and really liked her writing. I started talking to her on-line and then like she said, met her at a couple of signings. The really funny part of this story is that I was a huge Riley Hart fan and I had mentioned her books in an on-line interview. When Nyrae emailed me to say, “just FYI, I’m Riley Hart”, I was so stunned that I nearly fell off my chair. LOL! We started beta reading for each other and the rest is history.
Nyrae: LOL. That was funny! And she explained our friendship much better than I did. ☺
2. You both have successful writing careers as solo authors. Does that put more pressure on your team-up to be as successful?
Nyrae: I think any time you write a book with someone else there is pressure. You don’t want to let the other person down. You want to feel like you measure up to them. It’s stressful in that respect but we really had a lot of fun with it too.
Christina: Oh yes, definitely. We have different writing routines. I write a bit slower than Nyrae and my first drafts tend to be messy. So I was thinking, holy crap, she’s going to think I suck. But while writing this book, I kind of adapted to her style and it ended up being sort of magical and a blast.
3. What inspired you to write, not just Touch the Sky, but an entire series?
Nyrae: When we first started the book we didn’t know it would be a series. Like I said, we both wanted to write a book together…but about what? We had a few phone calls. Mental health is something that’s a large part of both our lives. It’s something that we’re both very passionate about both in our personal lives, and in our previous careers. It felt like a natural step to write about it.
Christina: Yep. There were a couple of side characters that we joked about needing their own book. Plus, it became such a special and fun experience to write together, so we thought, why not? Let keep going and see what happens.
4. What kind of writing process do you employ? Does Christina write exclusively for one character and Nyrae the other?
Nyrae: We did both take a character and alternated chapters, but we also both wrote in each other’s POV as well. We would tweak things in each other’s chapters, or change dialogue if it didn’t feel authentic to the character.
Christina: Right, it felt more natural in the beginning to take on one POV and develop their backstories. But then we realized how well our voices melded. We’ve even fooled some of our longtime readers when they guessed who wrote whom incorrectly. 😉
5. Who between Lucas Barnett and Gabriel Stewart would you prefer to spend the day with and why?
Nyrae: I can’t answer that! LOL. I love them both!
Christina: No fair. I need them both—they are joined at the heart and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Nyrae: Awww. Joined at the heart. I love that.
Christina: 😉 Sappy.
6. If you swapped lives for a week, what's the one piece of advice you would give each other?
Nyrae: Yikes! I’m not sure! I think Christina has it under control pretty well. ☺ I’m boring. Those kind of questions are hard for me. LOL.
Christina: I’m laughing that you think I have it under control. I do think we both have awesome and supportive husbands and great kids. I actually think instead of swapping lives we should just all hang out together one night—bet we’d have an awesome time!
Nyrae: OMG! Yes!
Christina: Right?
7. What words of wisdom would you offer aspiring writers who look up to you as inspiration?
Nyrae: Read a lot. Study your craft. Write from the heart. Love what you do. That’s important, love it.
Christina: Great advice, Nyrae! I’d add: find your own method and timeline for getting a draft done. Everyone is different. Don’t think you have to match somebody else’s style or technique, because then you’ll only feel defeated or like you can’t measure up. Do what works best for you because at the end of the day, you are the one who has to write the book.
Nyrae: We saw each other around online of course, since we both write romance. We’d met at a couple conferences as well. Then we were part of a Facebook group together for crossover authors who wrote both LGBTQ+ romance and het romance. Our friendship grew from there. I’d written a few collaborations before, and knew Christina wanted to write one. We decided to give it a try together!
Christina: I had read a couple of Nyrae’s New Adult m/f books a couple of years back and really liked her writing. I started talking to her on-line and then like she said, met her at a couple of signings. The really funny part of this story is that I was a huge Riley Hart fan and I had mentioned her books in an on-line interview. When Nyrae emailed me to say, “just FYI, I’m Riley Hart”, I was so stunned that I nearly fell off my chair. LOL! We started beta reading for each other and the rest is history.
Nyrae: LOL. That was funny! And she explained our friendship much better than I did. ☺
2. You both have successful writing careers as solo authors. Does that put more pressure on your team-up to be as successful?
Nyrae: I think any time you write a book with someone else there is pressure. You don’t want to let the other person down. You want to feel like you measure up to them. It’s stressful in that respect but we really had a lot of fun with it too.
Christina: Oh yes, definitely. We have different writing routines. I write a bit slower than Nyrae and my first drafts tend to be messy. So I was thinking, holy crap, she’s going to think I suck. But while writing this book, I kind of adapted to her style and it ended up being sort of magical and a blast.
3. What inspired you to write, not just Touch the Sky, but an entire series?
Nyrae: When we first started the book we didn’t know it would be a series. Like I said, we both wanted to write a book together…but about what? We had a few phone calls. Mental health is something that’s a large part of both our lives. It’s something that we’re both very passionate about both in our personal lives, and in our previous careers. It felt like a natural step to write about it.
Christina: Yep. There were a couple of side characters that we joked about needing their own book. Plus, it became such a special and fun experience to write together, so we thought, why not? Let keep going and see what happens.
4. What kind of writing process do you employ? Does Christina write exclusively for one character and Nyrae the other?
Nyrae: We did both take a character and alternated chapters, but we also both wrote in each other’s POV as well. We would tweak things in each other’s chapters, or change dialogue if it didn’t feel authentic to the character.
Christina: Right, it felt more natural in the beginning to take on one POV and develop their backstories. But then we realized how well our voices melded. We’ve even fooled some of our longtime readers when they guessed who wrote whom incorrectly. 😉
5. Who between Lucas Barnett and Gabriel Stewart would you prefer to spend the day with and why?
Nyrae: I can’t answer that! LOL. I love them both!
Christina: No fair. I need them both—they are joined at the heart and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Nyrae: Awww. Joined at the heart. I love that.
Christina: 😉 Sappy.
6. If you swapped lives for a week, what's the one piece of advice you would give each other?
Nyrae: Yikes! I’m not sure! I think Christina has it under control pretty well. ☺ I’m boring. Those kind of questions are hard for me. LOL.
Christina: I’m laughing that you think I have it under control. I do think we both have awesome and supportive husbands and great kids. I actually think instead of swapping lives we should just all hang out together one night—bet we’d have an awesome time!
Nyrae: OMG! Yes!
Christina: Right?
7. What words of wisdom would you offer aspiring writers who look up to you as inspiration?
Nyrae: Read a lot. Study your craft. Write from the heart. Love what you do. That’s important, love it.
Christina: Great advice, Nyrae! I’d add: find your own method and timeline for getting a draft done. Everyone is different. Don’t think you have to match somebody else’s style or technique, because then you’ll only feel defeated or like you can’t measure up. Do what works best for you because at the end of the day, you are the one who has to write the book.
*****
Note: Thank you to Christina Lee and Nyrae Dawn for taking the time to answer my questions and to Michelle Bigioni-Slagan for facilitating. ♥
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