Mancandy Thrursday

It's been a hectic few days. I had a deadline at my day job which finally ended yesterday and I home we've been trying to help my son with a last minute science fair project. That kid has an invisible luck dragon attached to him. It was due last week and he'd forgotten all about it, but because of the snow days he has until Friday to turn it in. We discovered this oversight on Monday when we were out celebrating his report card. Little twerp, only my boy could get in trouble like that mid-celebration.

However it's Thursday, and what better way to celebrate than a man in a kilt? Enjoy.

Story Picture Monday - Make Me Whole - Meet Amy & Rory

Amy

Nick is a lonely man with more than one abandonment issue. So it's not surprising that he'd have some pets. The cockatiels fit
in with his sometimes busy schedule. The geek in him, and his mancrush on Rory Williams is what prompted him to give the birds their names, Amy and Rory. These two like to listen to the radio that Nick will turn on for them. They'll bob their heads to the music. They also like to have the windows open in the morning. Here's a little bit of them interacting with Nick. 

Rory

Rory glided into the kitchen and landed on his shoulder.  His talons dug through the thin t-shirt as he shifted and found his balance.  Amy called out to him from the living room and Rory answered with a series of whistles and ended his talk with a gentle nibble on Galen’s ear.

“Oh you have time for me now is that it?” Nick said.

When I was younger, I used to do household chores for a lady down the street. I think I made $.50 an hour. She was a sweetheart and she had two cockatiels too, though both of hers were gray. They’d glide through her apartment too and loved to hang out on her big mirror in the bedroom. They really are beautiful birds.

Six Sentence - Make Me Whole

This week’s Six Sentence Sunday is also from Make Me Whole. Galen has some issues with driving and Nick is trying to help him with it in a driving lesson. Enjoy.

Galen found himself putting the car in drive and it crept forward a few feet. His heart started hammering. He gripped the wheel tighter. “Hey.” Nick touched his wrist and Galen heard the concern in his voice. “It’ll be okay. Trust me.”

“It’s not you I don’t trust.”

Salad Soup

I think I’m one of those rare people who actually enjoys the cold and the snow. (Not to mention I’m a morning person.) I need to have all four seasons. And this winter has been entirely too warm. Until this week I haven’t needed my gloves or my hat and as a consequence, I have no fricken clue where they are. It finally feels like winter. I love the crunch of snow, the squeaky sound it gets when it’s really cold, though that doesn’t happen often in Southern Maryland.

Friday Excerpt - "Snowbound, Lovebound?"

Until my husband and I get this new joint project we’re poking at off and running I think I’ll post excerpts from my backlist starting with the very first story Fae and I put out there. “Snowbound, Lovebound?” is from Dreamspinner Press’s Mr. Right Now Anthology. Bryan Tam and Jimmy Murphy are co-workers stuck in a car together in a snowstorm. Each knows how to get under the other’s skin and as the tempers flare, so do the sparks. We love these two. Enjoy.

Mancandy Thursday - NSFW

Okay all I can say is hot frickin' damn. When I first saw this story he made me think of Dexios. The warrior who was turned into a statue 2,000 years ago. Gorgeous isn't he? 

Wednesday News

There isn’t too much to report this week. Now that work has eased up I feel like I’m finally making progress on “Make Me Whole.” I’ve edited two of the chapters and wrote a new scene. Please cross your fingers. I’m really looking to finish the 2^nd draft within a week. Every time I start, I seem to get interrupted.

 In other news, “Ghosts in the Wind” came in at 22 on the pre-editors and editors poll. Which I think is pretty freaking cool that it was even nominated.

 I beta read an awesome story last week, a wonderful m/m fantasy that filled me with glee. She’s going to be subbing it this week, so as soon as I have more information I’ll pass it on.

Loyal Dogs and Encouraging Letters

I love reading stories that make me smile and I found two this week. The first one has to do with pets. I have been blessed with some pretty amazing pets over the years. This story reminded me of Shaq, our Shepard/Irish Setter/Chow mix. He was a beautiful, sweet, intelligent dog and he adored my dad. If there was ever a dog in our family who would've been this loyal, it was our Shaq. I miss him.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/loyal-dog-attends-mass-church-funeral-153655088.html

The second link made me cry in a good way. I love hearing about people reaching out to others who are hurting. We need more stories like this, I think it speaks for itself.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/anonymous-encouraging-message-posted-university-restroom-172524530.html

Story Picture Monday - Make Me Whole - Renovated Museum

Today I wanted to introduce Galen’s pride and joy, the museum that he’s sunk his entire inheritance in. Before I knew the city they were in I knew that I wanted Galen to renovate something interesting, something with history. Originally, it was a warehouse, but I discarded that quickly. Then my husband suggested that I use a cab depot, which I toyed with at first, but I had a hard time envisioning it.

Six Sentence Sunday – Make Me Whole

“Nick, I’ve been thinking a lot today actually.  You know maybe I—”

“Wait right there before you say what I think you’re going to say,” Nick interrupted as he rose to his feet.  “I’ve been doing some thinking too and I have both an apology and a confession to make.” 

        Galen stared at Nick caught off guard.  “What could you possibly have to confess?”

Turning Ten

So I now have a 10 year old. I’m not one of those women who struggles with her age. I don’t feel like I’m getting old, birthdays don’t send me into tears. The way I figure it, hovering on the edge of 40 just means that I’m really only getting started. I have a lot more havoc to cause.

However, my babies’ ages get to me. When my youngest sister turned 10 I cried, no more single digits for her.  I’m serious, I literally cried.  And this fall she got married. Time passes so fast.  This is a picture of us at the reception, doesn’t she look beautiful?

Well, my son turned 10 on New Year’s Day.  I didn’t cry, but I’ll admit that in the weeks leading up to it I did have a hard time saying 10. I told him that he would be 9+1.  Every time I said it he’d roll his eyes. He finally asked me when I’d say 10 and I said when he turned 13 I’d say he was 10+3.

I love each age. I miss my son as a baby, but I’m pretty damn proud of the young man that’s he’s becoming.

Excerpt - Ghosts in the Wind

Ghosts in the Wind was nominated in the Pre-editors and Editors Reading Poll, and voting ended a few days ago. I can’t believe it was nominated, I do love that story. So in honor of that occasion I decided to post an excerpt. This is from when Dean first wakes up after he was shot. Enjoy.

ManCandy Thursday - NSFW

Okay this is more sweet than mancandy, but I love the picture. Doesn’t it make you just want to melt?

Wednesday Updates - Review of "All I Want Is You" and "Ghosts in the Wind"

Melanie M. posted a lovely review of All I Want Is You at her blog, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words:  http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords.com/2013/01/10/all-i-want-is-you-mountain-boys-1-5-by-marguerite-labbe/. She writes several reviews each week and also posts fun things like recipes, so check her out.
This is so much more than your typical Christmas story where the holidays themselves are central to the story but rather another step forward in Eli and Ash’s relationship.

Sammy, a guest reviewer at Jessewave, posted a wonderful review of Ghosts in the Wind. Now you all know how close that story is to my heart & I'm very glad that I went with my gut.  Check it out at: http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/2013/01/15/ghosts-in-the-wind/
Here was a smart, thought-provoking paranormal story the likes of which I had not seen in a long time.

Love Letters

I read this story a few weeks ago and it really did make me tear up and smile. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/love-letter_n_2214622.html.  I started dating my next door neighbor my last year in high school.  The whole year before we began dating we were pretty head over heels for each other.  Only neither one of us had the courage to say anything. We drove our friends batty.

Then he left for college, out-of-state. He picked that college because he’d decided that nothing was ever going to happen between us and if he put some distance between us he’d get over me.  Two weeks later we were dating.  Which just goes to show you how crazy love is.  I still have that first love letter he sent me from the University of Pittsburgh. I couldn’t tell you how many months I carried it around in my coat and re-read it. (The coat, by the way, was his old coat, and it smelled like him.)

Now it’s been over twenty years since we started dating. He still sends me little love notes on occasion and they still fill me with the same kind of warmth that I got back then with the first. He’s given me permission to share a snapshoot of that first letter. I hope you enjoy. He’s a big ole sweety isn’t he?  I also shared a picture of us from the first few years. Damn I love that man.

Story Picture Monday – Make Me Whole - Warren Cup

I love going to museums and seeing old things and seeing the things that I've studied and read about. In college I took a lot of Art History courses and Washington, DC is blessed with many free museums. One of these days I would love to travel overseas and visit some of the museums in London and Paris. One of the things I’m dying to see in person is the Warren Cup. A friend of mine went to London last year and took these pictures of it for me.

Six Sentence Sunday – Make Me Whole

I’m back in the editing game after a couple of hectic weeks at work and getting over a post-holiday bad cold. This is going to be the week of busting ass on this 2^nd draft of museum/statue story that I have been working on forever it seems. There have been so many interruptions this year that I’ll be relieved when I can get Galen and Nick off to betas readers. So without further ado, here is this week’s Six Sentence Sunday. Actually it’s nine sentences, but who’s going to quibble?

* * * * *

“After you were cursed, did you get to see him at all?  Did you have any of those moments in your lifetime?”

Lykon looked back toward Dexios, his eyes far away.  “Just once, as I was dying.  She relented and he held me until the end.”  He looked back at Galen, his eyes penetrating.  “I wasn’t alone, do you understand?”

Galen nodded.  Oh yeah, that he understood.