Been working on the layout of the blog

the changes are subtle, but I like it!

How about something fun for a Thursday?

(grins)

It's so hot here that I thought I would post a pic from Niagara Falls in March. It was bitter cold, and BA Tortuga is a Texas girl, through and through. She was a little offended by the cold.

Almost done with 2 new stories

eeee

I love the end of a story. Now, don't get me wrong, the last thousand words is the hardest for me, but damn. I love the sense of accomplishment when I do finish one. Makes me happy as hell.

working hard today

BA and I take Thursdays and Saturdays off. Sundays are catching up on the to-do days, and so far I have cleaned out emails, gone through a story edit, done 500 words on an impending doom deadline and worked on some bill paying

I would much rather be here:



Ah. Colorado *and* rodeo...

Started a new story

which is both good and bad, as I have 3 deadlines and this is not the one that's urgent...

Still, it's good to be writing smokejumpers again

tired and hot

but accomplished. I haven't canned since my mom died. BA Tortuga and I did 10 quarts of tomatoes and 5 pints of strawberry jam. We're doing blackberry next week

I don't talk about it much as Julia, but in my real life I've lost from a size 28/30 US to a 16/18, and half my body weight is gone. We do WW now, but we started just by no longer eating fast food or drinking soda

Now BA I are gluten free (she's violently allergic to wheat) and we do our best to eat local and seasonal. We cook together a lot; it's a family thing, now.

I just had to share about the canning. My mom would be so proud

Happy Birthday to me!

I have the best job in the world, a new Ipad, and BA Tortuga got me a slide scanner so I can access all my childhood pics and a corn dog maker so I can make decent Gluten Free corn dogs

all in all, it's a good day, Tater

good day

I love days where I get to concentrate on writing. I do. I don't always get a lot of word count in, but those are my favorite days. When I get a little blocked I play a game or two of pool with BA Tortuga, and chat about what werewolf would do what to which vampire, or which one of her cowboys would do what to which redneck.

It's always a great give and take, talking characters with another writer. It makes me smile.

So do basset hounds.

night all

Party of Two Excerpt and buy link

as promised. Late, but still
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Lalala

Here's where you can buy my Sip, Party of Two

And here's a wee bit to get you going!

     Liam knew he ought to get his ass down the mountain.
     He'd been at Matthew's cabin for two weeks, the first spent recovering, the second helping to pay his way by repairing snowshoes and chopping wood. They'd had another tremendous snow two days ago, and Liam used that as his excuse for not moving on.
     Really, he was hanging around to watch Matthew move. The man went shirtless inside a lot, wearing just a pair of soft sweats, his cock and balls clearly outlined.
     It was a little crazy-making, especially since he'd decided that Matthew wasn't going to go all Donner party and eat him, or go all cabin fever on him and whack him with an axe. They got along really well, in fact.
     Really well.
     God, he needed to go home, just to save him from making a fool of himself. The only problem was he wasn't sure where home was; the storage building where he'd stowed all his stuff before Denali probably didn't allow live-ins. Matthew made it hard to leave, too. The man was bright, funny, oddly companionable for someone so quiet, and his job didn't require a lot of time. In fact, all Liam had seen him do was record a bunch of data after his daily hike, and then call someone on a satellite phone twice a week to relate it.
     That left a lot of time for them to spend together.
     Liam had managed to cobble together a decent wardrobe from Matthew's clothes and what had been in his pack, but he'd taken to wearing nothing but sweats inside, as well. When in Rome, right? Matthew seemed to like his creature comforts, so the place was always pretty warm.
     "So, let me get this straight." Matthew's voice startled him, coming out of nowhere. They'd stopped talking a few hours back, when Liam had gotten surly discussing his ex. "He dumped you because the weather was bad on Denali and you couldn't climb?"
     "Well, it was more that we missed our window of good weather because I had bronchitis. Then we had to wait, and the storms set in a thousand feet above base camp."
     Matthew looked up from the rabbit snare he was working on. "Do you have emphysema?"
     "No."
     "Are you a smoker?"
     Liam shook his head, his cheeks heating. "No."
     "Did you set out with a cold? Deliberately compromise your lung capacity?"
     "No." Liam could see how silly it sounded now, to let Dave convince him he was a failure. He couldn't be sorry, though, as it had led him to meet Matthew, and that was a good thing.
     Matthew set aside the snare and stood, stretching before walking over to put one hand on Liam's cheek. "I know a little about being the odd man out. Don't let him make you feel like you don't deserve to be alive."
     Without another word, just as Liam was reaching for Matthew's hips, the man turned and grabbed a parka, heading out into the snow.

New Sip out tomorrow

Hey y'all! I have a new Sip out tomorrow from Torquere Press.

It's called Party of Two, and it's about mountain climber Liam and what happens when he almost freezes to death. Matthew wonders if Liam has a death wish when he drags the shivering man to his cabin, but he has secrets of his own...


Look for an excerpt and buy link tomorrow!