Running Blind by Kim Fielding & Venona Keyes blog tour | Spotlight, Guest post and THREE part giveaway! along with Cat's Review @Dreamspinners @kfieldingwrites

Kyle Green is on top of the world. He and Matt have been together for ten years, and—as the voice of Ecos, the wildly popular anime character—Kyle is treated like a rock star in anime circles. But in an instant, a stroke leaves him blind. When photographer Matt gets the opportunity of a lifetime, Kyle reexamines their relationship, discovers it has been a safety net rather than a true romance, and sets Matt free to pursue his dream. Kyle’s life and career as he knew them are gone, and he must now find the courage and creativity to draft a new plan.

After being away for fifteen years, Seth Caplan comes home to Chicago to care for his mother and to partner with a small start-up tech company. He and Kyle meet after Kyle’s collision with a child’s sidewalk toy, and they hit it off. Kyle wants to get back into running, and Seth becomes his guide. As they get to know each other, they start seeing each other beyond their three-times-a-week runs. But Seth’s revelation of the dark reason why he left his career in California sends the relationship into a tailspin and leaves both men running blind.

Buy links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon 

Our book, Running Blind,  takes place in Chicago, where Kim was born and Venona lives. One of the characters, Kyle, lived many places as a kid because he was an Army brat, and he settled in at an Southern Illinois University Carbondale, one of the twelve state universities in Illinois. Seth, on the other hand, grew up in Chicago but went to California for college, law school, and a career, and has only recently returned.

So one topic we had to think about while writing was universities in California. 

Luckily, Kim didn’t have to do much research on this subject because she’s been a professor in California for over two decades. Plus her older daughter is a high school senior currently applying to college, so Kim’s been brushing up on the topic.

California has two public university systems: University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU). This confuses people. But there are differences between them. There are fewer UC campuses (10 versus 23) with fewer total students (283K versus 460K), and UC campuses tend to focus more on research, whereas CSUs focus more on teaching. Professors at CSUs make less money and teach more classes per semester (says Kim bitterly; guess which she works for!). And while both offer bachelors and masters degrees, it’s primarily the UCs that grant doctorates and professional degrees.

But things get more complicated than that, because California also has 113 community colleges, which grant 2-year degrees. And it has a lot of private schools too. Lots of them. Kim’s daughter is applying to a varied mix of these schools, plus a few in neighboring Oregon.

It may be hard to get a sense of the scale of California universities, so maybe this will help. There are currently far more people enrolled in the CSU than there are citizens of Iceland. And one thing Kim really loves about teaching in this system is the diversity of her students, who come from a huge range of backgrounds. About half her students are immigrants or the children of immigrants, which means the potluck she holds in one of her classes every spring brings a huge variety of delicious foods, from samosas and salsas to spring rolls and baklava.

So here’s a question for you. If you were to apply to a university right now, like Kim’s daughter is, what would be your top choice and why?

Cat gives this one 4 Meows with a 1 Purr heat index...

Kyle Green is a voice over actor for a popular anime show called Ecos. He also does several more anime series and some romance books.He has made a good living, has a partner of several years Matt and is content with his routine life. Then he has a stroke that leaves him blind and with a condition where he can see some in movement. He misses running and decides to give it a try following the route he walks to the center he attends. He nearly trips over a toy but is caught by another runner Seth.

This was a very good story. I couldn't put it down once I started. It's sad when Kyle has his stroke and watching him fight to get a normal life back I really liked Seth and his strength and also how the authors made him human. He had bad days and good ones. Seth too has his issues. He has something from his past that makes him not want to date, and he is taking care of his mother with Alzheimers.


I loved learning about Kyles condition and how the vision impaired can live a life alone. It didn't feel all medical. I also liked learning about Voice over acting as well. I liked the fact that he and Matt, His ex stayed friends and the story wasn't all angsty even with the subject matter.

There isn't a lot of sex and what there is comes towards the end of the book. But that doesn't bother me. I love good characters and storylines and this book is chocked full of that. If you like broken men, Disabilities, sweet romance with little heat and off-page sex, this is for you. I highly recommend this one.

Kim Fielding is very pleased every "me someone calls her eclectic. Her books have won Rainbow Awards and span a variety of genres. She has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and currently lives in California, where she long ago ran out of bookshelf space. She’s a university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full "me. She also dreams of having two perfectly behaved children, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a house that cleans itself. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others

You can reach Kim at:

Facebook—http://facebook.com/kfieldingwrites

Twitter—@kfieldingwrites

Website—http://kfieldingwrites.com/

Venona Keyes is a modern woman who believes in doing it all; if doing it all is only in her head. She amazes people that she can be wholly unorganized yet pack a perfect carry on suitcase for a ten day trip to Paris. Ms. Keyes is a believer in the just in time theory, and can be seen sprinting in airports to the gate before the plane door closes.

Venona has experienced love and loss at the deepest level, and is thankful for writing and daydreaming, for it kept, and still keeps her sane. Writing also introduced her to some of the most supportive and wonderful people, to which she will always be grateful.

Venona is a voracious reader, loves her feline boys, volunteers at an animal shelter, attempts to cook everything in her CSA boxes, is an accomplished speaker, is a seasoned triathlete, and enjoys swimming, biking, hiking, skipping, dancing, and her beloved overgrown garden.

You can reach Venona at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/venona.keyes

Website: http://www.venonakeyes.com/

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Audio Books, E-Book, and DSP Gift Certificate

3 Audio Books (Treasure, The Downs, and Guarded)

E-book Coming of Age

$20 DSP Gift Certificate

Giveaway #1: Worldwide
$20 giftcard

Giveaway #2 - US Only

Manga (Graphic Novels), Audio, and E-Books

Manga:

Traditional Japanese Manga (translated into English): Borders Manga Volumes 1-5 by Kazuma Kodaka

American Manga: Longitudes and Latitudes, Volumes 1 - 3 by True Teargem & Tprinces

American Doshinji:  Kindly Assistance (A Sherlock Holmes & John Watson Romance) by Halloween Panda

Audio Books & E-books

3 Audio Books (Treasure, The Downs, and Guarded)

E-book Coming of Age

Giveaway #3 – US Only

Bento Ensemble, Audio, and E-Books

Bento Ensemble

Bento Box

Lacquered wooden chopsticks

Handmade drawstring cloth bag with decorative stitching

Audio Books & E-books

3 Audio Books (Treasure, The Downs, and Guarded)

E-book Coming of Age

Giveaway #3: USA only

Tour Stops!

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Oct 31 – MM Good Book Reviews – I Fought the Law

Nov 1 –  The Novel Approach – Kyle at Yaoi Con Short

Nov 2 – Rhys Ford – VOA Interview with Greg Tremblay and Joel Leslie

Nov 3 – Mary Calmes – Exclusive Excerpt from Running Blind

Nov 4 – DSP Blog – Siblings

Nov 7 – Divine Magazine – Release Day Exclusive Excerpt

Nov 8 – Gay Book Reviews – The Lord and the Amnesiac Rogue 

Nov 9 – Kimmer’s Erotic Book Banter – Kyle and Ecos Short

Nov 10 – Love Bytes – Losing Sense

Nov 10 – Tammy’s Two Cents – Universities

Nov 11 – Sinfully Gay – Running