Feeling somewhat disheartened by the whole marketing aspect, I stepped back and asked myself, 1) How inauthentic do you want to be? and 2) What's your goal here? The answers: 1) Like most folks, I want to be as authentic as possible, and 2) My goal is simply to write. The more I listened, the more convoluted and-to be honest-contrived it all sounded. Their reasoning ran the gamut from maintaining a certain level of mystique, to being cognizant of how people's perceptions of me (JLT) could potentially affect book sales. Well-meaning “real life” friends freely gave advice on what parts and pieces I should share, and which I should keep to myself. Indeed, if the goal as a writer is to sell books, then how one presents one's self needs to be considered. In addition, there's the “author branding/appeal” aspect to consider. there are topics we just don't share or talk about with anyone lest we be labeled a freak, or a pervert, or worse. Society demands we keep certain things to ourselves i.e. Meaning, how much of myself-the real Joe-would be incorporated into the online/fictional JLT.

It was then, very early on, that I had to decide who Joseph Lance Tonlet would be. You know, for places like Facebook, Twitter, etc. When I began this journey of writing, well over a year ago, I also created a social media pen name profile. Today is my 49th birthday, but this guest post isn't really about my birthday, or even birthdays in general. :) When he sent me this blog post, it made me damn happy that I'd get to share it with all of you. My guest today is Joseph Lance Tonlet, author of Grif's Toy and the Amazon-banned Brothers LaFon, two fantastic books that you should really check out if you haven't already.

Signed paperback copy of Quillon’s Covert from Joseph Lance Tonlet.

ebook copy of Bad Things by Varian Krylov.

ebook copy of Drago Star and Slash Op by J.

One CID Audiobook or ebook by Nicholas Bella.

2 winners will win blacklist books by Brina Brady.

ebook copy of Of Gods and Monsters books 1 and 2 (Menoetius and Hades) by Wulf Francu Godgluck.

Signed paperback copy of Better the Devil You Know by me.

Don’t Series (4 books: Don’t, Antidote, Breakdown, & Backlash) by Jack L Pyke.

and myself! Seriously a fun spotlight post of Dark Erotica: each author had the choice of providing an excerpt, telling you about one of their books using one of their characters, or telling you why they chose to go dark.

Over at Diverse Reader there's a big giveaway happening featuring such authors as Nicholas Bella, R Phoenix As Raissa, Joseph Lance Tonlet, Louis Stevens, Jenna Johanis, Varian Krylov, Brina Brady, Jack L Pyke, Wulf Francú Godgluck.

Quillon's Covert by Joseph Lance Tonlet