Guest author - Jon Keys

Today I have the honor and privilege of welcoming Jon Keys to my blog.

Jon is the author of one of my favorite books, Heart of the Pines. Here's a little blurb from Heart of the Pines:

Christmas is the worst time of the year to find yourself alone. Chris Moss, owner of a tree farm, knows this down to his bones as he makes his way through his first holiday season after losing his wife to cancer. When Wade Hart, an annual customer at the farm, visits, they find common ground: Wade lost his own longtime lover to a parting of ways and is lonely too. The constant, gentle companionship provides fertile soil for an attraction neither expects, but nurturing a new relationship is a tough proposition. With the encouragement of family and friends, Chris and Wade may yet find that a second love later in life can be just as fulfilling as the first.

I highly recommend this heartwarming and enchanting book.

Welcome, Jon! Thanks for visiting.

Crossfire

Hi Jim, thanks for letting me visit! I’m really excited about the release of Crossfire as part of Men in Uniform anthology from Torquere Press. I had decided to make 2014 my year to try out some short stories. I was excited when I found the Torquere Press call for Men in Uniform. I mean, look at the cover, they’re hot!

~ Jon ~

blurb

Rick Anthis, a forty-five year old veteran of the Colorado State Police, and his husband, Gabriel Thorkelson, a deputy sheriff in a nearby county, enjoy the peace of their suburban Boulder home. Until three gunshots rip through the tranquil neighborhood and Rick witnesses the kidnapping of his buddy, eight year old Jacob.

The clues are sparse until Gabe reminds Rick of something Jacob had said. Rick has a starting point. He and his CSI team locate the remote hideout, only to find the the kidnappers are gone, and Gabe is missing too.

Excerpt from Crossfire.

Rick dried the last dish and handed it to Gabriel to put away. Gabriel settled the last plate into the white cabinets. He loved their house and the quiet, older neighborhood it was in. He hoped Mark and Rachel could work out their issues, keeping Jacob in the forefront.

Rick put his hand around Gabriel's slender waist. He's as sexy as he was in college. Damn just being next to him makes me randy. Releasing Gabriel, Rick folded the dishtowel carefully and laid it beside the sink. "Supper was great. You're a damn fine cook."

Gabriel snickered and spun to pop Rick with a wet towel. "It should taste good. Your mother gave me herbs from her garden the last time we visited."

"Mom's just trying to fatten me up. I'm kind of skinny for a forty-three year old Greek man."

The towel snapped against Rick's butt again and he grabbed at it. Gabriel danced away, his face lit with delight. "Where does that leave me?"

Rick swept Gabriel up and kissed him. "It leaves you in my arms, just where you should be."

Rick paused as he remembered the note in his pocket. Leaving his hand on the small of Gabriel's back he reached in his shirt pocket and fished out a small piece of yellow paper. He gripped it between two fingers and dangled the sheet in front of Gabriel.

"Speaking of, I found another note in my lunch."

Gabriel studied the symbols on the page as if he'd never seen them. "Huh, what do you think that means?"

Rick smiled. "I know what it's meant the last dozen times I found one in my lunch."

"Really? And what was that?"

"It meant I was going to be exhausted the whole next day."

"You don't say. Let me see that." Gabriel took the paper from Rick's hand and appeared to study the content. "Looks like Native American symbols. Hmm, maybe 'bear' and 'hunt'." He smiled at Rick with a glimmer in his eyes. "Are we going on a bear hunt this fall?" Gabriel reached up and tugged on the short hair coming from the top of Rick's T-shirt. The slight touch shifted his libido into high gear.

He nuzzled his face against Gabriel's throat and sighed at the spicy fragrance that curled through his nostrils. Rick slid his hand under Gabriel's shirt; the rub of his chest hair on Rick's palm ignited his desire. "What's the sign for otter? Because I think I need to hunt one of those little furry things." I still can't believe Mom gave Gabe my Eagle Scout pictogram project.

eBook Link:

Torquere Press

Amazon

All Romance

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.

E-mail: jon.keys@ymail.com

Blog: http://jonkeys.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jon.keys.773

Twitter: @Jon4Keys

Heading Down The Long Road chapter 1

Chapter 1 of the 4th book of The Long Road series, Heading Down The Long Road, is now online.

Welcome, everyone to the latest installment of my The Long Road series. This is book 4 (for those who read the original manuscript, The Long Road was split into The Long Road (book 1) and Continuing Down The Long Road (book 2) due to it's length).

Some of you will no doubt notice a lot of similarities between Heading Down The Long Road chapter 1 and The Long Road chapter 16. They are very similar, but the events are being told from two different character's perspectives.

Please feel free to leave comments, questions, suggestions or feedback in the comments section. You may also contact me directly at playmaster0023@yahoo.com. It may take a couple of days for me to respond, but I will definitely respond.
  
Click here to read chapter 1. Here's a little teaser of what you'll find...

Okay, the lunch dishes are done, there’s a load in the washer. Should I mow the lawn or should I prepare my letter of resignation? I know the Mayor wanted me to succeed him, but I’m fed up with the petty politics and being stonewalled every time I tried to do something good for the community. I can do more working for the LGBT Center in their Public Policy office. Dave mentally checked off items on his to-do list when his phone rang. “Dave Barton”.

“Hi Dave, its Tommy.

“Hey T-Man, how’s things?”

"Not so good. That's why I'm calling you. I'm over at Kyle's. He's just been raped and had the shit kicked out of him by someone wearing an FBI hat."

"WHAT?????? Is he okay?" Dave collapsed into the nearest chair, eyes glistening with moisture. First he comes home and finds Jayson cheating on him, now this. Poor Kyle.

"No, he's not. He's a mess. But that's not why I'm calling you. There's a cop here who's being a total dick to him. He just threatened to shove his nightstick up Kyle's ass, saying that all fucking faggots love to have things shoved up their asses. Kyle's going through enough without pricks like him making things worse."

"What's the officer's name?" He asked. If it’s that fucking Kenson, Burke’s getting a call. Something’s got to be done about that asshole.

"I don't know. Hang on a sec and I'll find out." A minute later Tommy came back on the line. "Kenson."

"Shit! Here we go again. I'm sorry, Tommy. I'll take care of this immediately." Dave seethed.

"What can you do?"

"I'll make sure both the Commissioner and the Mayor hear about this. Can you write me up a statement as to what happened?"

"I'll be glad to." Tommy responded, his anger very much in evidence in his voice.

"There have been a lot of complaints against this guy from the gay community. The Chief of Police may turn a blind eye, but I guarantee the Commissioner won't. Nor will the Mayor." He told Tommy, furious that the Police Chief refused to act upon the multitude of complaints against the obviously bigoted officer.

"I know. That's why I called you. Sorry to have to call you on your day off with this."

"I'm glad you did. Something like this can't wait. Let me call you back." He hung up and dialed the Police Commissioner’s phone number. Please be home. He prayed.

"Commissioner Burke."

Okay, here we go. He’s going to have a cow over this. "Fred, its Dave Barton. Sorry to bother you on a Saturday, but I just got a call from a friend of mine. A mutual friend of ours has just been beaten and raped in his home. One of the investigating officers just threatened the victim with bodily injury. I'm on my way over to check out the situation and thought you would want to know."

"You wouldn't happen to know the officer's name would you?"

"I think you know who it is." Dave replied with anger and disgust in his voice

The Commissioner’s deep sigh of resignation was quite audible coming through the phone. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Kenson." The Commissioner’s response held the same anger and disgust as Dave’s did.

"A-yep."

"That fucking ass-wipe has stepped over the line for the last time. What's the address? I'll meet you there.”

Love Across Time chapter 10

 Chapter 10 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 10:

Ryan shifted uncomfortably in his chair under the scrutiny of the tribunal. "You've been with this organization for over 10 years, with an exemplary record. I am extremely dismayed and disappointed in you. These charges against you are not only extremely serious, but inexcusable. Stealing medications? Administering them without a license? Unlawful interactions with people in the past? What in HELL were you thinking?"

Before he could even open his mouth, his advocate stood up. "Magistrate, I have documentation here that will eliminate most of the charges."

"Let me see the documentation, please." She was handed the prescriptions and Ryan's certification to administer the meds. "I see. All charges are hereby dropped EXCEPT the unlawful interactions with people in the past. Mr. Edwards, do you have anything to say in your behalf?"

Love Across Time chapter 9

 Chapter 9 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 9:

While waiting for Duncan to respond, Ryan thought back to the night, several days ago, when he went back the last time to retrieve the artifact. He waited until around 3am to slip into the house. Quietly he climbed the stairs and entered Ethan’s bedroom. Ethan was asleep on his side. Ryan crept around to the side facing away from Ethan and carefully pressed the injector to his bare shoulder. A quick, quiet hiss announced that the medications had been delivered. He pressed his lips gently to Ethan’s temple then whispered. “I’ll always take care of you.”

“That’s not the issue here. I wouldn’t be giving my wife medications stolen from the future. That’s the issue. You went back into the past and administered medications from our time to a person in the past. You DON’T have a license to practice medicine. You don’t know what effect the medications could have on him. As a matter of fact, I sent Terrence back to check on your lover boy and you may be interested in knowing that he’s in the local ICU. Nobody knows what’s wrong with him or what to do. Think about that.” He got up to leave. As he reached the door, Duncan turned back, the look of pain once again on his face. “What happened to you, Ryan? You were the best, with a spotless record. Now look where you’re at; in jail, facing multiple counts of illegal interactions with people in the past, 4 counts of medication theft, 4 counts of administering medications without a license, and now possible murder if he dies. I wish I knew what was going on in that head of yours.”

“I don’t care what happens to me, as long as Ethan lives.”

“Let’s hope he does.” Duncan closed the door behind him.

 

Love Across Time chapter 8

 Chapter 8 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 8:

Upon walking in the door from playing a few rounds of miniature golf with his girlfriend and her family, Ethan’s brother Chris heard a loud banging coming from upstairs. What the hell? Rushing up the stairs he quickly zeroed in on the source of the banging – Ethan’s room. Throwing the door open he found Ethan on the floor in the midst of convulsions. He grabbed a pillow off the bed to protect his head as he dialed 911. Looking around while waiting for the paramedics to arrive he noticed an open pill bottle in Ethan’s hand and several pills scattered about on the floor. God, I hope this isn’t what it looks like. He prayed. After several attempts he was able to pry the pill bottle out of Ethan’s hand. He sighed with relief that it was one of his HIV medications, Epzicom. He must have been taking them when the seizures hit. I wish I knew what to do. He did the only think he could do while waiting for help – he kept Ethan from hurting himself.

The paramedics arrived, took one look at the scene and rushed Ethan to the hospital after helping Chris gather up all of the pills scattered about. A half-hour later, Chris was out of his mind with worry. After a couple of hours a doctor entered the waiting room. “Is there a Chris Evans here?”

Chris and his girlfriend, Jenny, approached the doctor. “I’m Chris Evans and this is my girlfriend Jenny. What’s happening with my brother?”

“Honestly, we don’t know. The seizures have finally stopped. We’ve done a brain scan and everything appears to be normal. In a few minutes we’ll be taking him up to an isolation room in the ICU. Until we know for sure what caused his seizures, we’re leaving nothing to chance.” The doctor looked hesitant to continue.