Welcome back to the Year of the Lads, in which we focus on one Glasgow Lads book each month through next July. September’s book is Book 1, Playing for Keeps (Fergus and John novel).
Fun fact: Though it was the second Glasgow Lads book to be released (after the prequel novella, Play On), Playing for Keeps was the first book I wrote, starting April 2014. I wrote a few books ahead of time so they could be released soon after each other starting May 2015.
I’ve expanded the interactive Lads’ Guide to Glasgow (and beyond!) to include Playing For Keeps locations, including Fergus’s and John’s homes, the restaurant of their first date, and the scenic country house outside Pitlochry where Fergus grew up.
Click on each location in the list* for more information, and in most cases, photos. For most locations, you can then click “View in Google Maps” for a satellite view, more photos, etc.
*For some reason, the embedded map doesn’t show the list of places, so follow this link for the full experience.
I’ll add to the map with each book as it comes round on the calendar. I can’t wait to see it expand, especially with next month’s entry, Playing to Win, which spans the Atlantic and the Mediterranean! ✈️ 🛥️
To be entered into this week’s giveaway and the monthly giveaway, leave a comment on this post. When you read a book, how much setting do you imagine? Do you create an image closely based on the author’s description, or do you substitute a place you know well? As a writer, I like to find a specific place to model my settings after—like the homes on the map—but my reading brain is like a low-budget TV show that uses the same locations again and again. 😆
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
- Comments from all weekly posts will be automatically entered to win the monthly prize.
- THIS WEEK’S PRIZE: autographed bookplate plus your choice of one other swag item (collection coming pronto). Open through Sunday, 21 September. (August weekly winners will be drawn once I get the swag together to choose from in the next week or so. Finishing Playing By Ear took longer than I thought! 😬)
- THIS MONTH’S PRIZE: An autographed copy of the Playing For Keeps paperback. Open through Tuesday, 30 September.
- Pool of entrants will consist of comments on this post and on the blog version.
- One entry per person per weekly drawing.
- International entries welcome.
Rule One: No Drama!
Fergus Taylor is damaged goods. Reeling from a brutal breakup, he’s determined to captain his LGBT soccer team out of scandal and into a winning season. For that, he needs strict rules and careful plans. He does NOT need a brash, muscle-bound lad messing with his head and setting his body afire.
John Burns has a rule of his own: Don’t get attached. Boyfriends are for guys with nothing to hide. Nobody—not his university mates, not the men he beds—knows his family’s shame. Now his double life is starting to unravel, thanks to a certain Highlander whose storm-riddled eyes turn John inside out, who wears a kilt like he was born in it.
Fergus is the first man John wants to share his secret with—but he’s the last man who could handle it. John knows the truth would shatter Fergus’s still-fragile heart. But how can he live a lie when he’s falling in love?
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Playing for Keeps can be read as a stand-alone and has happily ever after with no cliffhanger.