Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Wednesday briefs - Love Across Time chapter 38


Chapter 38 of my Wednesday briefs story, Love Across Time is now up. You can read it by clicking here.

If you have just come across my blog and would like to read the entire story, you can click here to get to the Wednesday briefs page.

Here is a sneak peek at what you'll find in chapter 38:



“The problem with finding him is that he didn’t take a beacon with him. There’s no way to trace where and when he went or recall him, even though we’re pretty sure where,” Liam said.

“I’m willing to bet that’s why we have the paradox. He’s outside the chronometric shield,” Adrienne piped up.

Duncan paced the control room thinking. Suddenly he came to a halt and snapped his fingers. “Override the security lockouts and get access to the control systems of all the travellators. At this time of night nobody would be using them, so narrow it down to the most recently used. Check the backup logs. Ryan may have erased the system logs, but I’m hoping he forgot about the backup logs. Match the geographic coordinates to those we have in our logs for a match to Ethan’s. I bet we can find him that way.”

“On it Boss!” Liam acknowledged Duncan’s orders enthusiastically. A few furious keystrokes later, Liam shouted triumphantly, “I got it! I have the temporal and geographic coordinates!

Duncan began slowly, “We can’t afford any mistakes. Are you absolutely sure about that?”

“Yep! The geographic coordinates match those from Ryan’s last trip back. We’ve found him.”

“Punch them in. Colin, go!”
 

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Guest post - Razor by Jon Keys




Jim, thanks for having me today. Razor’s my latest story and was released by Decadent Publishing on Feb 6th. It’s my first urban fantasy and I’m excited to share it with everyone else. It’s part of Decadent Publishing’s Beyond Fairytales collection. Razor is a retelling of The Little Folk from Brother’s Grimm. Yeah, I’d never heard of it either. LOL. I hope everyone enjoys Razor as much as I did.
~ Jon ~

blurb
When the world crashes down around your ears, sometimes all you can do is punt and hope for the best. That’s exactly what James and Micah decide to do when one of them is diagnosed with cancer, and the other discovers a serious heart defect. When the doctor tells them to start working on their bucket lists, the two take a trip in an effort to create some good memories, and forget the ugly truths, while they focus on their time in each other’s arms.

Their vacation turns into much more than they anticipated when they find themselves drawn to a club like sailors to a siren. Several sexy waiters, some unforgettable lap dances, and one whip-wielding stud later, they stumble upon the answer to their prayers. Their sex is wild again, and the pair find themselves living for tomorrow. But with every answer comes questions, and Micah’s search for more may destroy them both.

Will they be able to recover from his thirst for the truth? Or will the men always live walking on the edge of a Razor?

eBook Link: 

Excerpt from Razor.

Micah made the landing and stood watching James ascend. A few seconds later, he reached the top and looked around. They found themselves outside a door almost as dark as the night, set into a wall of Cimmerian brick that disappeared into the gloom on either side. The doorman standing beside it was equally striking. He stood taller than James’s six feet, and wore only a black leather kilt and heavy boots that seemed to consume the lower part of his muscular legs. No one would dare challenge the man. His torso rippled in ways James had never seen before. His face was rugged, covered with a few days’ scruff trimmed precisely along his jawline. Before he could think of what they should do, the doorman spoke.

“Welcome to Razor. What’s your pleasure tonight?”

James stood speechless as the deep bass of the man’s voice resonated through the night. “The music. The music is wonderful. We caught it from a few blocks off and wanted to hear more.”

A smile emerged on the man’s face and changed him from executioner to guardian. “Of course, the music. You’ve found the right place. Just in time, too. Tonight is drawing to a close.”

He grasped the bronze door pull that was easily as long and thick as James’s forearm and opened the massive door with little apparent effort. He motioned them into the portal with a wave. “Go. Enjoy yourself.”

The pair moved toward the opening and peered inside. The room was dim, except for an empty stage bathed in warm light. James noticed the musical trio creating the instrumentals that had lured them through the foggy night. They glanced back to the grinning bouncer who encouraged them forward with a nod.

They stepped into the room and paused to take it in. From the elaborately carved dark mahogany bar lined with every imaginable type of liqueur, to the lovingly worn floor that had seen thousands of pairs of feet during its existence, it was all club. The couple moved inside as the door closed behind them with scarcely a whisper.

As they studied the room, two things struck James. First, they were the only customers. Second, everyone else in the room wore very little and were male. Their smiling waiter stepped to their table. James swallowed hard as he looked at the man standing before him. He dressed in the same boots as the bouncer, which were buckled to just below his knees. The remainder of the waiter’s clothing consisted of a black leather jockstrap filled to capacity.

Bio:
Jon Keys’ earliest memories revolve around books; with the first ones he can recall reading himself being “The Warlord of Mars” and anything with Tarzan. (The local library wasn’t particularly up to date.) But as puberty set in he started sneaking his mother’s romance magazines and added the world of romance and erotica to his mix of science fiction, fantasy, and comic books.

A voracious reader for almost half a century, Jon has only recently begun creating his own flights of fiction for the entertainment of others. Born in the Southwest and now living in the Midwest, Jon has worked as a ranch hand, teacher, computer tech, roughneck, designer, retail clerk, welder, artist, and, yes, pool boy; with interests ranging from kayaking and hunting to painting and cooking, he draws from a wide range of life experiences to create written works that draw the reader in and wrap them in a good story.



Monday, February 16, 2015

Guest post - Godsend by Sloan Johnson

Title: Godsend
Author: Sloan Johnson
Genre: Adult, Gay Romance
Release Date: February 4, 2015
You can’t choose who you fall in love with. Despite knowing from a young age that he was gay, Scott Murphy couldn’t imagine life without Shelly. He threw away the labels and had eleven amazing years with her, but now, he feels even more lost trying to figure out how to move on after Shelly’s death. After nearly a year of watching Scott fade away, Shelly’s father forces him to start living again.

As much as Chris loathes the idea of attending a bereavement group week after week, it’s one of the only places he can go in this town, other than the bar, to not feel so alone. When there’s nothing to distract him or dull his senses, he spends too much time obsessing over how he should have been able to help his sister. When Scott shows up at his group session, Chris decides that maybe some good can come out of his sister’s death. 

There’s no denying that Chris is the first man to catch Scott’s attention in a long time, but how can he move on when just thinking of Shelly sends him to his dark place? 

The road to recovery won’t be an easy one, but Chris is determined to help Scott see that life is still worth living. But before Scott can allow himself to admit what he feels for Chris, he knows he has to reveal the full truth about Shelly’s death.

I promised Ma that I wouldn’t drink my dinner every night, but some days, it’s impossible to keep that promise. I tell myself that it’s different on days like today because I’m not drinking to forget how much I miss Jill, I’m drinking to forget how miserable some people choose to make one another. Today, I just about lost it and told one couple that there’s no point in them even trying to get along. Unfortunately, my partner frowns upon me telling couples that sometimes two people just aren’t meant to be together, as was this case with this pair.

It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dark atmosphere of Brewster’s after walking around for thirty minutes trying to tell myself I didn’t need a drink. I find an empty seat at the end of the bar and signal the bartender for my usual. Okay, so maybe Ma had a point since he simply nods and has a tall whiskey sour sitting in front of me in less than a minute.

I look around, the same way I do every night, wondering if this town will ever start to feel like home. It’s a nice enough place, but there’s a definite divide between those who are from here and those who move here at some point in their lives.

I sit a bit straighter when I see Scott, the quiet, broody guy from group, sitting at one of the high top tables in the center of the room. He looks absolutely miserable. When I catch a glimpse of his date for the evening, Adrian the annoying twink who thinks he’s God’s gift to all gay men in town, the annoyance radiating off Scott is understandable.
I nurse the first drink, rather than down it as quickly as possible. I’ve wanted to talk to Scott the past few weeks, but he’s ducked out as soon as the official meeting ends, even though Jim hangs around for a while. I’ve considered following him when he leaves, to see if I can talk to him, but then I tell myself that he must have his reasons for not wanting to deal with people and I have to respect that.

I feel like a creep, watching Adrian and Scott eating dinner, but I can’t help it. A few times, I’ve thought Scott was checking me out the same way I have been him and this is the first confirmation I have that I might be right. Scott excuses himself from the table and Adrian reaches out for him as he walks away. I laugh when Scott practically jumps back to keep from being part of an awkward and unwelcome embrace.

Once he’s in the restroom, I order another drink before putting a five-dollar bill in the jukebox. I don’t give a shit about the music, but it’s the closest I can get to Scott without following him into the bathroom, which is a level of creepy that I can’t imagine stooping to.
 
Sloan Johnson is a big city girl trapped in a country girl’s life. While she longs for the hustle and bustle of New York City or Las Vegas, she hasn’t yet figured out how to sit on the deck with her morning coffee, watching the deer and wild turkeys in the fields while surrounded by concrete and glass.

When she was three, her parents received their first call from the principal asking them to pick her up from school. Apparently, if you aren’t enrolled, you can’t attend classes, even in Kindergarten. The next week, she was in preschool and started plotting her first story soon after.

Later in life, her parents needed to do something to help their socially awkward, uncoordinated child come out of her shell and figured there was no better place than a bar on Wednesday nights. It’s a good thing they did because this is where she found her love of reading and writing. Who needs socialization when you can sit alone in your bedroom with a good book?

Now, Sloan is a tattooed mom with a mohawk and two kids. She’s been kicked out of the PTA in two school districts and is no longer asked to help with fundraisers because she’s been known to lose herself with a good book and forget she has somewhere to be.


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Thursday, February 12, 2015

Heading Down The Long Road chapter 14

Chapter 14 of Heading Down The Long Road (the 4th book in The Long Road series) is up. You can find the chapter here.

If you have not read the first 13 chapters yet, you can find them here.

Here's a little preview of what you'll find:


"Greg. Greg! We have some of the best orthopedic surgeons in the country. My money is on Kevin making a full recovery. I've seen people with worse spinal cord injuries than his walk out of this hospital unassisted.  Kevin has a chance. Don't take that away from him.

Tears flowed down Greg’s face as he digested the news. “I want to see him.”

“You can’t be moved because of your body cast and he can’t be moved because of his broken back. What I can do, though, is get you the number to the phone in his and Gwen’s rooms so you guys can at least talk on the phone. Since only Gwen’s neck is immobilized, I’m sure I can arrange for her to visit you.” Andy answered him.

“I don’t know if she’ll want to see me,” Greg whispered sorrowfully.

“She does. She’s been asking about you and Dave.”

“Probably to blame me for her and Kevin’s condition. I know because I blame myself.”

Once again, Dave jumped on this a little more forcefully this time. “You are not responsible for their injuries. Hicks and Kenson are. Not you!”

“I’m the one who got them fired…”

Guest Post - Memories of the Heart by Felice Stevens

Title: Memories of the Heart
Author: Felice Stevens
Genre: Adult, Gay Romance
Release Date: February 12, 2015
Ruthless, Controlling, A Loner. All words used to describe Dr. Micah Steinberg by the hospital staff for their next head of surgery. When a letter arrives from his grandmother’s friend at the assisted living facility, his orderly world tilts dangerously out of control. 

Josh Rosen had everything until it was revealed much of his world was a lie. Forced to re-evaluate his life, Josh gives up his career and returns home to New York City to care for his beloved grandmother. What Josh didn’t figure on was an attraction to a man who on the surface, appears to be exactly like the life Josh chose to leave behind.

As Micah struggles with the reality of his grandmother’s illness, the bond they share deepens, as Josh helps Micah heal, then open his heart. Micah discovers there is more to life than work, control and success. Josh is in deep but has yet to tell Micah who he really is.

When the fight for the hospital’s head of surgery turns ugly, Josh’s past and present collide. Micah must let go of the past and accept who he is, if his life is going to move forward.

Life is full of surprises, and as both Micah and Josh learn, love can happen whether you plan for it or not.

I have always been a romantic at heart. I believe that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending just around the corner. I started reading traditional historical romances when I was a teenager, then life and law school got in the way. It wasn’t until I picked up a copy of Bertrice Small and became swept away to Queen Elizabeth’s court that my interest in romance novels became renewed.

But somewhere along the way, my tastes shifted. While I still enjoys a juicy Historical romance, I began experimenting with newer, more cutting edge genres and discovered the world of Male/Male romance. Once I picked up her first, I became so enamored of the authors, the character-driven stories and the overwhelming emotion of the books, I knew I wanted to write my own.

I live in New York City with my husband and two children and hopefully soon a cat of my own. My day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass or two of red wine. I practice law but daydream of a time when I can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there is bound to be angst along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.


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