Visual Inspiration Friday

Because Roman and Derrick are doing it tonight...

Friends with Benefits Ground Rules... a Six Degrees of Lust Giveaway

Six Degrees of Lust 

Le Blurb

New York City FBI team leader Samuel Shaughnessy lives for his immediate family and his job. After a marriage gone wrong he has stuck to a firm rule when it comes to relationships: he doesn't have them. Sexually active and emotionally unavailable keeps him satisfied, especially now that he is in hot pursuit of a serial killer targeting gay men.

Former firefighter Machlan O'Bannon now manages a successful sports bar in Houston and after years of waiting he's ready to stand up and be the man he always wanted to be: out, proud and drama-free. His politically-aligned family wants to keep him locked in the closet, but Mac just wants to meet the man of his dreams.

A chance meeting brings the two men together, and one night of passion ignites a fire neither can fight.

One man is as high strung as the other is laid back. Their lives are not only miles apart, but as different as day and night. They don't want to get involved...but will they be able to stay apart?

Interesting?

Music Monday

80s Style!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Visual Inspiration Friday

Now I have to start working on the next installment :-)

I Got a Release Date!

Hey everybody!


So, my baby is finally coming out. Six Degrees of Lust will be available on December 30th. Best Christmas present ever!


I know you guys are very familiar with the cover but I just have to display it again because, well, I love it and this one is BIG :-)


I'll be doing some cool promotion throughout the week until release day and there will be some giveaways, so make sure to check back tomorrow for more details!

What an honor!

I was notified yesterday that Heatstroke has been nominated for the MMR 2011 Member's Choice Awards in the following categories:

                                                          1. Best Debut Book

                                                          2. Best Couple/MCs for Richard and Manny

                                                          3. Best Story that Should/Must Have a Sequel 

                                                          4. Best Free Story

Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to read the story and also nominate it. It means the world to me. And just so you know, I am working on that sequel. If everything goes according to plan, the summer of 2012 will bring more Richard and Manny  :-) 

Now go, you have until December 30th to vote and you don't need to be a member in order to do so!

 

Music Monday

Southern Winterland is now available

Southern Winterland, my Christmas short featuring Christian Murphy and Remy Benoit from the By Degrees Universe was released today, and to celebrate I'm giving away a free copy over at Chicks & Dicks. 


Stop by, read the excerpt and share your holiday memories with me for an opportunity to enter. The winner will be chosen randomly by the end of the week, so make sure to check back on Friday at 10:00 PM EST to see if you're it.


And thanks to the fabulous L.C. Chase I even have a short book trailer to share with you guys. Enjoy!

Visual Inspiration Friday

Lord have mercy...

Visual Inspiration Friday

Music Monday

Southern Winterland

Hey guys! Have a new story coming out on December 6th. Southern Winterland is a Christmas short and the prequel to my upcoming series with MLR Press, so make sure to check it out!

From the By Degrees Universe meet Christian and Remy, close friends who may be destined to be something else…

Christian Murphy is out, proud and very often loud.

Remy Benoit is an equal opportunity flirt, but he swears guys are not his thing.

Different lifestyles had never interfered with their close friendship, but after too much alcohol and almost kissing under the mistletoe a year ago they’ve started to drift apart.

A special holiday event brings the men together, and this time around they might have to acknowledge that mutual admiration and respect are not the only things making them

seek each other out.

Excerpt

“… and I just got off the phone with the designer. She assures me we have the space to build Mrs. Claus’ kitchen in addition to Santa’s workshop. Which is marvelous, don’t you think?”

Remy Benoit glanced from the grocery shopping list he was writing to the phone on his desk, an amused smile on his lips at the tone of his friend’s voice. Chris’s enthusiasm was impossible

to resist on a regular day and downright contagious when he was excited about something, even if that something happened to be his plans for Christmas decorations. Chris was so hyped up by the whole thing Remy was ready to go buy some ice skates. 

Hell.

He could almost taste the eggnog and smell the mistletoe.

In the middle of a disgustingly hot August day.

The memory of the two of them standing under the mistletoe at a mutual friend’s New Year’s Eve party eight months ago made Remy clear his throat. They’d been chatting up a storm, because that’s what they did whenever Chris was in town, and somehow ended up by the door, even though he couldn’t remember moving around the room.

He’d been very close to kissing Chris that night.

“So we’re going to have the ice skating rink, a two car train that will take people from the entrance to the little North Pole village in the back of the parking lot. We’re going to have fake

snow, and ice sculptures, and Santa’s workshop. And lots of elves, because they…”

Remy blinked, thinking how Chris looked a little like one of those elves from the Lord of the Rings movies, what with being tall and lean and all elegant and shit.

Had it not been for their friend Braxton choosing that moment to wish them well on the New Year, Remy would’ve messed up their friendship by giving into what he liked to refer

to as alcohol induced curiosity.

There was no other explanation for it.

Chris was an extremely good looking man, and damn if he didn’t have the most charming personality Remy had seen this side of the Mississippi. The masses were drawn to him like

moths to a flame and he had to admit he was affected the same way. But no matter how curious he got, he shouldn’t mess with Chris’s head like that.

Because they were good friends.

Because Christian Murphy was the poster boy for flamboyantly gay.

And Remy was not.

Flamboyant. Or gay.

Deep down in his gut he knew Chris would’ve welcomed the kiss. There were occasions in which Remy could’ve sworn there was more than friendship and camaraderie in the way Chris gazed at him with those sparkly turquoise eyes of his. Like that one time when Remy showed up at his place for moral support when Chris decided it was time to get rid of his grandma’s personal possessions, or the time when Remy slipped and fell.

Chris had re-arranged an entire week of work appointments and meetings in NYC just so that he could travel to Houston and nurse Remy’s twisted ankle. The injury wasn’t that big of a

deal and Remy had plenty of people willing to help him had he needed them. But the guy showed up anyway. They both knew Chris’s presence wasn’t necessary, but they ignored that fact.

Just like Remy chose to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him Chris would like to be more than friends.

“… that you have no problems wearing the elf suit.”

Wait.

“What’s that about an elf suit again?”

“Have you not been paying attention?” Chris’s sigh was over

the top. It matched everything else about him. “I’d like for the

staff to dress like elves. You did hear me when I said I need your

help, right?”

“I’m not wearing a green suit with candy cane tights.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Chris tried to sooth him. “The tights

will be green too.”

“Not happening.”

“But—”

“No.”

“Bet you’d look scrumptious,” Chris whispered.

“Bet you’re right,” Remy answered without missing a beat or

worrying about the fact that his voice had dropped at least two

octaves. “But you say that to all the boys, so it ain’t gonna change

my mind.”

“What kind of a slut do you take me for?” Chris giggled.

Being thirty, he should’ve sounded like an idiot. He should have.

“I only say it to the really gorgeous ones.”

“Not dressing as an elf.”

“Will you at least please wear the hat?”

“Only ‘cause you’re so pretty when you beg.”

He knew that he was playing with fire whenever they engaged in this sort of exchange, but he liked Chris too much to stop talking to him.

Flirting with him.

Remy looked forward to spending as much time as he could with Chris whenever Chris left his home in New York City to visit the house and art gallery he owned in Houston. They always

had fun.

Hell.

Remy knew he had talked Chris into coming to Houston way too many times.

But surely that didn’t mean anything, right? Because he wasn’t the only cool guy Remy knew and liked to spend time with, and Chris was very much aware of that fact.

There was Mac, Remy’s best friend, and Braxton, who also happened to be his boss and Chris’s childhood friend. One was straight, the other gay. They were extremely good looking men. Remy was thirty-two years old and even though he’d never been attracted to a man he didn’t have a problem acknowledging his friends were hot.

But he had never wanted to kiss either one.

Or any man, for that matter.

Not until Chris.

Which confused the shit out of him...

Available December 6th, 2011 from MLR Press

Visual Inspiration Friday

Looked at this and ended up writing 3,000 words of pure Richard and Manny today...

Quote of the Day

"I chose to live as a man over explaining - for the rest of my life - why people should please, please PLEASE "allow" me to be a man, if you please, if it's not too much of an imposition, if that's OK with you, sorry to disturb your ideas of male and female a little, there. There, there, let me be invisible instead so nobody gets their assumptions challenged.

Fuck that.

I'm a proud man, I've fought and worked extremely hard for what I have achieved. I'm not used to asking anybody for their leave to be what I am. I try to act as an ethical person, supporting my male, female, trans* and queer friends, writers or not. My mother taught me to live my life in a way that I can look at myself in the mirror in the morning, every morning. Whether I look in that mirror while shaving should be irrelevant."

Aleksandr Voinov
author, publisher, hero.

For the entire entry, please stop by Aleks' blog.

Music Monday

This one is dedicated to all my friends who are gay, transgender and out of the box straight... to all of you who might feel like you don't belong...

Going back to Basics

This has been quite the week in M/M Romanceland, what with lies, deceit, excuses, apologies, outrage and even well known authors choosing to quit the genre. I've managed to steer clear from the controversy, but that doesn't mean it hasn't touched me nor that I haven't been affected by it. I am sad, embarrassed, mortified by what's being said, by the actions and the reactions, but more than anything I am pissed off because I haven't been able to write. Quite difficult to follow the plot bunnies when there is so much commotion along the way.

I need to concentrate on what's important, and that is writing a heck of a book that, hopefully, many readers will get to enjoy soon enough. I am done with the drama. I just want to do what I love, and that's telling stories about men falling in love with other men.

Which is why I have decided to go dark and remain deep inside the writing cave. I won't come out until I've finished writing my current WIP. Disasterology 101 is more important than anything happening in the M/M Romance community right now. I won't be distracted by it. That's a promise to myself I intend to keep.   

Enough said

Quote of the Day

"Closeted gay men are reading gay romance to feel better about themselves?   'A person who is just like him and has been where he is and come out the other side'?  I can tell you from first hand experience that I'm NOT looking to fiction to help guide me 'to the other side'!!  I'm reading gay romance for an escape from daily life, not something that comments on society.  jeesh..........."

 

From a very smart, very gay friend.

Music Monday

Theme song for my WIP. Once you guys have met Cedric you'll understand how appropriate it is :)

                                                   

Jingle This

Starting November 20th, MLR Press will be releasing a Christmas story every day. My contribution to the Jingle This anthology is a short titled Southern Winterland, featuring Christian Murphy and Remy Benoit, two beloved characters from my upcoming series, By Degrees.

The official release date for Southern Winterland is December 6th. I will be posting a blurb and excerpt soon, but for now I leave you with the release schedule from MLR Press for the entire event.

  

Visual Inspiration Friday

Because you make the perfect Cedric...

My New Favorite Quote

Makes me smile every time I read it.

 

Don't hate me because I'm so beautiful!!!

I had no power, Internet, I lost my fave butt plug...

It was a bad week.

Did you know there is the same amount of vitamin c in an orange as there is in 1tsp. of cum???

Mmmm cum,

Crazy shit

Thomas ...

Online Friendships

Many times I've said that I love my computer because plenty of my friends live in it and even joked about liking online people way better than I do RL people... although many times that's true. But even though I'm very close with a few and absolutely love some others, there's always that little annoying voice in the back of my head telling me I should be careful cause I really don't know who's behind the monitor.

I fight that voice all the time.

When it comes to online relationships I like to think of myself as a blind person. I don't need to see someone in order to get to know them. With time and enough interaction come familiarity. You learn the other person's voice. You learn their mannerisms, their behavior... you learn them. And you get attached and you identify and you can relate and you love them.

Like I loved Mores.

Most of you met him recently and probably briefly. I knew him a little longer than that. We talked about relationships. We talked about hope and what's out there nowadays... whether it is worth it to look forward to something or give up. And I will never forget him telling me "don't lose hope. Look at me and where I am right now. It'll happen for you too."

To say I am devastated after learning of his passing would be the understatement of the year. Knowing he will never be around feels like a darn hole in my chest. It's been only hours and I miss his presence like crazy. This is the last thing I expected to hear when I first noticed he was missing from my friends list. And I'm confused. I had an IM conversation with him a few days ago and he was happy! He was feeling good. It hurts that something like this happened when he was finally happy. I can only imagine what his family is going through right now.

Rest in Peace, Mores. I love you and you'll be forever missed.

In Defense of the Fuckfest

An amazing manifesto by author Kari Gregg about the fine art of writing erotic romance. Please stop by, share your opinion and show your support.

 

Music Monday

This song is favorite of a one of my main characters in a WIP, so I've been listening to it quite frequently. The story is dark and heart wrenching some times, but so beautiful it makes me want to cry.

 

 

There's a new kid in town

I think most readers of man love know about Riptide and their awesome and totally vanguardist plans to take gay romance and fiction publishing to a completely different level, and now the time for the First Wave is almost here.

Make sure to stop by Amara's Place to participate in the events and for a chance to win some of the goodies they have.

Visual Inspiration Friday

Because I'm working on edits for Six Degrees of Lust I've been staring at this picture a lot. After all, he inspired SSA Samuel Shaughnessy with the FBI...

Music Monday

This song kept the writing going in the past two days and inspired some amazing scenes.

Does it speak to you the same way it does to me?

Accomplished

Did some serious writing over the weekend. 4,000 words and three pretty solid chapters have been added to Deliver Me, my current WIP. Could have been more, but the research needed for this story is extensive and oftentimes complicated. 

I'm so into it, though. Words are pouring, the flow is good and I can feel the characters. I also have the most awesome friends, always willing to take time from writing their own stories to either read for me or help out with research.

I have a good feeling about this baby... I really do...

Music Monday

Perfection.

Music Monday

Visual Inspiration Friday

The muse for one of my WIPs, he represents a beautiful girl trapped in the body of a pretty boy.

I am so over the moon about this project. You guys can't even begin to imagine how exciting it is to get to write this story knowing there is already a home waiting for it.

Little something from Six Degrees of Lust

For Lutawolf and Nykita.

It is from the first draft, but they asked so nicely I had to share :-)


Chapter Three
May 15, 2009
New York City


The gods must have been smiling on Sam because, after brushing his teeth, dressing in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and writing down a note for his mother in case she got up and went looking for him, it only took him forty minutes to make his way to Mac. At a club. He was picking him up as opposed to meeting him at his hotel room. Fucking unreal.

What had possessed him to make such an offer? This wasn't a damn date. It was... a sexual meeting. Yeah. And he'd speed all the way from Queens to Manhattan in order to make it there as soon as possible not because he was anxious to see this man, but because the sooner he took care of business, the sooner he could go back home.

Yeah... That was it…

He double parked a few feet away from the club's entrance, sent a message to Mac and instinctively scanned the street, something he'd been doing since his days with the police department. People would be surprised if they could see how many normal looking predators were lurking on the streets, and especially around this club. It was the place where some of the victims on the Leviticus case had last been seen.

But then the entrance door opened and all coherent thoughts escaped Sam. “Holy Mother of God...” he whispered once he was able to find his voice again. He rolled down his window and signaled with his truck's high beams until he was sure Tex had seen him. Then he leaned back on his seat and just watched him.

The guy was huge. He was wearing blue jeans that were tight in all the right places and a dark red shirt that brought out the whiter streaks on his golden blond hair and lightly tanned skin. It also showcased bulging, rippling biceps. His sensuous full mouth and straight nose softened the blunt angles of his face, and Sam could’ve sworn he was able to see Mac’s emerald green eyes sparkle under the street lights. He was fucking stunning and Sam was insanely turned on from just watching him walk.

Mac reached the truck and instead on getting in right away he stopped by the driver's side door and smiled. A low moan rumbled its way out of Sam's throat before he even realized it. He loved dimples, and Mac had them in spades.

“Damn,” the Adonis said. “You are hotter than I remembered.”
Sam felt his face heat up a little under Mac's scrutiny and words, and all of a sudden wished he had taken more time in his own appearance. But if his burning, hungry stare was any indication, the Texan wasn't put off by neither Sam’s disheveled state nor the fact that he hadn't even bothered to shave. Thank fuck.
“Get in.” Sam all but growled. He didn't take his eyes off the guy for a second. Once he was inside, he asked: “Where to?”

As soon as Tex gave him the name of a very trendy hotel in Chelsea, Sam rolled up his window and put his hand on the gear stick, and maybe because he was busy looking at the rearview mirror to make sure no other cars where coming, he never noticed Mac move until it was too late.

A gasp jumped from his throat. He snapped his head to the side and zeroed in on his own hand, which was now covered by the blond's slightly bigger one.

“Rough couple of days, huh?” Mac’s voice low; his thumb gently caressing Sam's obviously injured knuckles.
Sam cleared his throat and tried to pull his hand back, but seemed to be frozen in place by Mac's voice and touch. “You could say that.”
“Then let's hope I can make it a little better for you, darlin’.”

Nodding, he took a deep breath when Mac removed his hand and settled on the passenger seat, leaving a tingling sensation behind and Sam feeling completely off balance. He wanted to tell the big guy nobody ever touched him without his explicit permission... then he wanted to tell him to bring that hand back, but wrap it around his cock this time.

He wanted to tell him he had no use for words of endearment, even if his sexy as fuck accent made them sound prettier. He wanted to tell him to get the hell out of his damn truck. But he didn't.

God damn it, what was the matter with him? Why was he overlooking actions that would be deal breakers with any other potential lay? Was it because the guy was going back home the next day and there was no chance of Sam running into him again? Or was it because Sam wanted him so damn much he couldn't see straight anymore? Whatever the reason, it didn't stop him from pulling his SUV out of the parking spot and driving them to Mac's hotel.

They didn't say a thing during the short trip and that was fine. Sam had never been one for small talk and he was not interested in getting to know his sexual partners or have them know anything about him. He had no problems sharing his body – to an extent – but his thoughts and feelings – if he happened to have any – were off limits.

He took a deep breath, feeling a little dizzy when Mac's clean; spicy scent hit his nostrils and filled his lungs. Christ. Whatever that cologne was, it had the same effect on Sam as pheromones would, which was odd and annoying, as he was usually indifferent to such things.

The anticipation permeating the interior of his truck was damn tangible and the not so subtle way in which Mac kept glancing at his mouth, hands and crotch with those intense cat eyes of his had Sam on the brink of combustion. It was madness, and all of a sudden he felt it was imperative that he took care of business fast and got the heck away from the gorgeous blond as soon as he could manage.

After finding a parking spot they strode through the hotel lobby, always keeping a safe distance between them. Once inside the elevator they both leaned against the far wall and allowed for their shoulders to touch. Mac's desire for him was obvious in his labored breathing, his clenched jaw, the tension on his insanely broad shoulders and the wild pulse on his thick neck. Sam could not remember anyone wanting him so badly before… or him reciprocating.

By the time they reached the fifth floor the sexual tension was off the charts. There was no disguising the primal, unadulterated lust that had grabbed them both literally by the balls.

“I'm all the way down the hall.”

Mac pointed to their right and Sam considered getting back in the elevator and going home. Because the sight of that muscular, tanned and lightly dusted with blond hairs arm almost made Sam drool, he was afraid to find out what kind of reaction he was going to have once he got to see the man naked… or his cock...

Lord, yes!

And just like that he turned and headed in the direction Mac indicated, not waiting for him. He couldn't face the man. Not when he was having such a hard time pretending he wasn't anxious and completely out of his comfort zone.

“We’re here,” Mac said. “515...”

Sam stopped and waited for Mac to scan his card key, but bristled a little when the blond pushed the door and held it open for him. What the fuck? Was he a woman now? “Thanks,” he muttered, walking into the room. He may not appreciate being treated like... well, like that, but his mother had taught him manners and to say thank you no matter what.

* * *

“Don't mention it.” Mac closed the door and leaned against it, discreetly adjusting himself while watching Sexy Super Agent look around his black and white, Asian influenced hotel room.
Other than the very inviting, very comfortable king size bed, there was nothing special enough to justify his rapt interest... which meant the guy was avoiding direct eye contact. He hadn't even taken more than five steps inside the room, which was the reason why Mac wasn't moving away from the door just yet. The guy looked like he might change his mind about getting down and dirty, and Mac didn't want to make it too easy for him to leave. “Can I get you somethin' to drink?”

He was feeling ten different kinds of nervous but he kept his voice low and relaxed, instinctively knowing anything could blow his chance with the sexy Yankee to blueballs hell. He didn't want to spook him any more than he already was. This guy was a stranger and Mac didn't have a damn clue as to what made him tick, but he knew something had gone terribly wrong since their brief encounter at the airport. He looked breathtakingly gorgeous, but a far cry from the confident, seductive, aggressive wolf he'd been then.

Tonight his jet black hair was standing on ends, as if he'd been pulling it for hours, and his bright blue eyes were surrounded by dark circles. He looked tired and worried, and at some point he'd been in the winning end of a physical altercation, judging by his bruised hand and untouched face.

Still, he'd returned his phone call. He'd come to see him and wasn't trying to hide how much he wanted Mac. His mind wasn't entirely on what they were about to do, but his body was one hundred percent engaged. Had Sexy Super Agent been able to remove his dick from the equation, Mac knew he would have taken off and the reason why he seemed to be a little uncomfortable even though he'd suggested this hook up would had forever remain a mystery.

“No, I'm cool.”
“What?” Mac asked, totally confused.
“Don't need anything to drink,” he said, still not moving and still not turning around to face Mac... but still in the room. Waiting for Mac to make the first move maybe?
“Right.” Mac felt like an idiot for losing track of their conversation. He debated with himself for a few seconds, trying to decide what to do next. He hadn't seduced a guy in... Okay; he'd never seduced a guy before, and he was relieved that this blue eyed god didn't need any seducin'... but he could definitely use some relaxin'.

After years of unsuccessfully trying to understand the how's and why's of everything that had had a significant impact in his life, Mac wasn't a big fan of analyzing other people's motives and emotions anymore, so there was no chance in hell he was going to ask the dude what the deal was. But he wanted to make him feel good for a little while; help him enjoy himself. Now that was something Mac had no problems with.

Because he was such a big guy he'd learned early on to counterbalance his intimidating physique with his laidback, everything will be fine attitude. He knew how to break the ice and how to make folks feel at ease around him. Problem was he usually wasn't this fucking horny for any of them. What if his eagerness messed things up? God. He needed to calm down. How was he supposed to get the Yank to loosen up a bit when he was a bundle of nerves himself?

Before he could second guess his actions, Mac took a deep breath and stepped up behind the sexy man, getting close enough to be able to soak in the heat and intensity radiating from him. They were not touching yet, but Mac felt something that could rival an electric shock zap between them. He lowered his head a little and breathed in. There was a hint of soap and minty tooth paste, but no traces of cologne. That intoxicating woody and fresh scent that had assaulted his senses the moment he got in the sex god's SUV was all natural man.

He let his fingers slide down from the guy's powerful shoulder to his hand and nuzzled his stubbly cheek and jaw; totally fascinated by the goose bumps he seemed to be giving him. Mac brushed his fingertips over both the Yank's hands, the delicate inside of his wrists where his pulse was beating at some crazy staccato and finally scratched his palms a little with his nails.

“You've great hands,” Mac whispered against a perfectly formed earlobe. “Can't wait to feel 'em on my ass...” He nuzzled his neck this time. “And my cock.”

Sexy Super Agent moaned and tried to get away, but Mac stopped him by licking the side of his neck all the way up to his earlobe. The guy froze up. He didn't breath and he didn't move.
Mac didn’t need to be told he’d crossed a line. He could see his potential lover was one of those guys that didn’t go for kissing as a precursor to sex and preferred to keep hands and mouth below the waist. There was something about him that said “keep your goddamn distance”. He’d just probably wanted in and off; the sooner the better.

But Mac wanted more than that. He wanted it so much he was willing to risk a jab to the face for a small chance to outflank at least some of his reservations. So he lifted the sexy guy’s injured hand to his own face and slowly captured the middle finger in his mouth, sucking on it once, twice, without hesitation, before pulling it out and going back to alternately licking and nibbling his neck, earlobe and strong jaw line… smiling when he felt the solid weight of his Yankee's shoulders lean against his chest; ass against his groin. Being almost as tall as Mac, they fit together perfectly.

“You know...”
“What?” The guy swallowed so hard Mac was able to hear him. “What's wrong?”
“Nothin'...” Mac nuzzled his cheek again, getting as close to his mouth as possible without actually kissing him. “Just that I can't keep referrin' to you in my head as “Sexy Super Agent”, even though it describes you so well...”

* * *

Sam's own chuckle startled and surprised the hell out of him, even more so when he found himself silently laughing, his head thrown back against one of Mac's amazing shoulders. This guy was too cute for words. And where the fuck did that come from?

The thought sobered him up, but not as much as the feel of Mac's erection against his denim clad ass did, right where his crack was. How the hell had he let his guard down enough to allow another man to put him in such a vulnerable position? He was supposed to be the one behind Mac. He didn't get held or caressed. He was top fucking dog. So what the hell was he thinking, letting Mac crowd him like that? Next he'd be on his knees, ass up in the air, offering to bottom for the guy. Christ.

“So tell me, darlin'.” Mac's husky whisper snapped him out of his thoughts. “What's your name?” he asked, right before trapping his middle finger again and sucking it off in a way he felt all the way to his cock and made his knees shake.

Sam squeezed his eyes closed and bit the inside of his cheek with brutal force until he was sure no embarrassing needy groans would escape him. Had he ever been so damned turned on? He couldn't remember. More importantly, he couldn't deal with it. He had to get a hold of himself and put things back on familiar ground.

He moved a few steps away, pulling his finger free in the process. He was sure that if he gained some personal space, his heartbeat would slow down and he'd be able to breathe normally again. But it didn’t work. He still was breathing like a race horse and he was so hard it hurt. There was no talking his dick down. Shit.

Sam swallowed one more time and turned around to face the man that was making him feel so out of control, taking in Mac's green eyes, closed to half-mast, his reddened cheekbones, tense shoulders, bobbing Adam's apple and tightly fisted hands. He wasn't trying to hide how much he wanted Sam, but wasn't moving either, as if he understood his need to collect himself. That didn't make him feel any better. Since when was he so easy to read?

Before he could start freaking out over the fact, Mac reached down and fondled the length of his own straining cock through his jeans. Son of a bitch. Sam's mouth fell open at the erotic sight. He wanted it. He wanted to see Mac's cock and he wanted to taste it. He wanted it so much he almost dropped to his knees in front of the guy.

“It's Samuel,” he blurted out. “My name. Sam.”
“Pleasure to-”
“Believe me when I tell you,” Sam interrupted the guy. He was so done talking, “it will be.” A second later he had the Texan pinned against the door, his sinfully full lower lip captured between his teeth.

* * *

Inspirational

This is something author and good friend Poppy Dennison shared with me a few minutes ago.I like it. I think it will help me keep focused and achieve my goals.

Music Monday

This is my theme song for the day/week/month/probably the rest of the year. I have so many things to do and there's just not enough time. I feel like I'm neglecting some things just so that I can accomplish some others, and still is not enough. Someone is bound to be disappointed or unsatisfied...

So here's what I have to say to all of you who keep asking more from me even though I'm doing my best.

I'm in love

Designed by the super talented A.J. Corza, here is the newest addition to the trading cards collection for Six Degrees of Lust. SWOON!

Music Monday

Visual Inspiration Friday

One of my own collector's cards, because I love it :-)

I'm Feeling Emotional

This is part of a message I sent to my crit group today, but want to share it with the rest of you as well...

One year ago (well, a year plus a few days, as it was exactly one month after my Dad passed on July 7th, 2010) I sat down and wrote the first full chapter of Six Degrees of Lust. As many of you know, it was never my dream to be a writer, but I had this idea that, once outlined, looked pretty darn cool and me being me, I had to see it to completion. Plus I figured it'd be therapeutic; something to keep me from losing it at the time, because absolutely nothing was going right in my life. 

I wouldn't say I am good at everything I do, because that would make me kind of delusional, but I am pretty confident in my abilities. I wasn't confident about writing in the slightest, though, so of course I had to succeed at it. That's how I'm built. I'm my worst critic. I compete against myself. I have to finish anything I start, and I have to do it in a way that's satisfactory to my own standards. So I finished Six Degrees of Lust, and even though I never wanted to be a published author, I found that I had to become one, because that's the next natural step. I'm like a mouse some times... Well, most of the time. If you give me cookies, I'm going to want milk. Submitting my manuscript to a press was something I had to do. But first I had to put my work out there.

Some people loved it; some others shredded it to pieces, and some of you here gave some excellent advice. I went from being happy to crying my eyeballs out to feeling frustrated because, you see, I don't fail. That's unacceptable to me. Those 120k words represented time away from my kids and friends and no way was it going to be in vain. Then again, like I said before, I hadn't been taking baby steps towards this moment from the time I could hold a pencil straight, so perhaps I was being a bit delusional after all. But I believed in what I as writing about and I have to say that, four chapters into the thing, I was a convert. I wanted to write for the rest of my life. I think I was a late bloomer, after all.

I was getting ready to do some serious revising when the opportunity to submit SDoL presented itself back in May. I jumped in, feet first. Sent the thing out as it was, and you all know the outcome: contract for the entire series at first try. A part of me couldn't believe it, while the other was like yeah, this is great. I wrote my hiney off, and this is how it's supposed to be.

From the moment SDoL was contracted two months ago I've had several Squee moments. Getting the contract, getting an invite to a loop where I got to talk to authors I've been reading, admiring and looking up to in some cases for years, realizing that, although nowhere near their league, I'm one of them now... the editing process, getting mock ups for my very first cover... everything both cemented my new status as an author and made it feel surreal at the same time. And I struggled with it all. I was afraid it was a fluke; that I'd never be able to write anything better than SDoL.

Then I wrote Heatstroke.

And today not only am I getting ready to attend my very first conference as an author, but I'm being included in a signing and reading event with my pub that I have no business being a part of. At least not for another five years and several successful books under my name. Still, it's coming and I can't wait.

Today I have no doubts whatsoever that I can do this. I have found my voice and am confident in what I can do. And others think I can do it too. My kids, my friends, readers and even publishers. They trust my talent so much I'm writing on proposal for one of them. And I feel blessed.