Background on Shadows

Hey everyone! I thought I'd share what I see in my head while I'm working on Shadows in the Night!  

This is my idea of Jason Sky. I had him nailed down almost from the beginning for some reason. I guess he just spoke to me, lol.

This guy kinda reminds me of Chip. The hair is supposed to be a deep auburn- not sure it shows that way on here. The eyes are the wrong color though; Chips are green. But you get the idea: boyish and sweet-looking.  ;)

 

 Here's what the house and land reminds me of:

Hope ya'll enjoyed quick trip through my head when I try to set up a place for a story, LOL! Hehe, you may never be the same again!!!!

See you guys Friday. ;)

~M



TGI Friday

School is officially out—I survived all the end of school insanity—and the kiddo is now on summer break for the next nine weeks. My God, the child will be a senior next year. *shudder* Where the hell did the time go?

So far I haven't heard the famous words 'I'm bored' but they're coming, thrust me. Just give it a couple of weeks! But hey, I'm ready. ;) I got all sorts of things she can do when she starts in about being bored, and none of them she'll like.

Hehehehe.

So yay, the weekend is here! Just let me be the first to say thank God, thank God. And a special weekend, too. Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone! The weather is supposed to be nice down here, if a little on the warm side. :)

While looking for things to post on Monday for Memorial Day I ran across this picture. It really got to me and I wanted to share this. None of my remaining family is in the Armed Services... now. For those with family involved in the on-going war I wished you a speedy and safe return of your loved one. That message really sums it up, doesn't it?  

   



So lets not end this post on a sad note, okay. Here's a little taste of what I have planned for Monday. Guys, y'all have a great and safe weekend! I know several of you are heading out of town—my own son left this morning for a canoeing trip with some friends. So yes, lol, safety is on my mind! :) Take care.

~M

And the winner is...

Okay wow, just let me say thank you for the comments! Being a fairly new author I never dreamed I'd recieve so many! Which, *head/desk* makes me wish I'd offer more than one copy! This was my first blog hop so next time I'll know better. And lol, I may have more ebooks to offer.

This was an important hop and I'm glad so many readers and authors' took part. There were stories that moved me to tears and made me wonder how we, as a people, can treat others so harshly. No matter the color of your skin, your religious beliefs, your age, OR your sexual orientation... We all are human and bleed red. We all feel and have needs, dreams and desires. And we all hurt.

I'll never understand why this is even an issue to begin with. It shouldn't be. Let me say that again...



IT SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE.








It shouldn't matter wha the sex if the couple is... They love each other! Period.

If you're lucky enough to find love-true, mind blowing, want to send every minute with you, the world is a better place with you in my life-love, then why should any adult be denided that?

Okay, end of rant. LOL







AND THE WINNER IS: Cyn

Congrats Cyn! I'll be emailing you shortly!

~M

Under contract!

Good morning all! I have wonderful news-Storm Moon Press took my short story Faded Love for their anthology Carved in Flesh. The projected release date is in September.

Here is what the Open Call said:

Scars are visceral reminders of a person's past, a sign of an event that can never fade. Whether it was gained in combat, a traumatic experience, or part of a ritual with a lover, scars are the ultimate labels. In Storm Moon Press' Carved in Flesh anthology, we're looking for short stories in which at least one character sports physical scars. These scars can be injury/trauma scars or decorative scars, but they must be noticeable: visible to the naked eye, and prominent enough to spark a conversation. Emotional scarring doesn't count. That's cheating.


The scars must also be the erotic focal point of the story. We want red-hot scenes between men, be it a contemporary sub's first scarification session or the survivor of an intergalactic war enjoying some scar-worship after his homecoming. Are your character's scars a mark of possession? Shame? A part of their life they would rather forget? An HEA or HFN ending is required. No leaving your scarred character battered and broken, please. Whatever they have been through, we want to see them have at
least a little respite with a partner who adores their scars.

* * * *

My story focuses on one of the top male models in the world who's in a car wreck, and from that-scarred. Can you imagine what that would do to someone who depends on his face to make a living?

I'm really happy with this one, it covers a lot of emotions.
Granted, it is a short shory, but I think it packs a lot of punch! Here is the pic that got the ball rolling for this story. I found that pic while searching and immediately knew I had just found my main character. Those eyes alone had my Muse shaking and going 'hell yeah!"

Faded Love will be released as its own ebook in a year after the September release date for the anthology.



Hope everyone is still checking out the blogs in the Hope Against Homophobia. I've ran across several that made me cry, made me think and a few that made me giggle. Monday I'll post who won the contest here and email the winner! Have a good Sunday everyone!

~M

Hop Against Homophobia

The purpose of this hop is to bring attention to homophobia and to stand together as an m/m writer community to fight of discrimination against the m/m genre.

Not  long ago a friend of the kiddo's killed himself. He lived in an orphanage in town that's tied to a major church. You know where I'm going with this, right? Hours after he came out he put a gun in his mouth. Details were never released, but he talked to some of his friends before he told his foster parents. My kiddo was one of the last folks to talk to him...

She found out the next morning.

 * * * *

The recent fiasco with Romance Writers of America is a perfect example, too. I’m not a member, but I was seriously thinking about joining. Then I heard about RWA excluding m/m romances from one of their contests because it felt "icky" to the judges.

Really? They used that word? Doesn’t that say a lot?

Well, they canceled the contest. Frankly, I think that's an insult, too. Apparently no one thought of trying to find judges who were not “icked-out” by men loving each other. I’m sure they could have found plenty of people to judge if the word had been put out.



There's a lot of work to be done for people to accept m/m fiction as something just acceptable as other fiction. Attention must be drawn to this subject—everyday lives are ruined or lost. And this has to stop.




Contest:

Okay now, so, what to do. Join my blog. If you’re a member already let me know in the comment. Then answer this simple question: Do you believe there’s life out there in the great vastness of space?

Leave me a comment with your email address. Please make sure to leave your email! The comment can be as long or as short as you wish! Someone will win a copy of Nighttime Wishes, my latest scifi release from Romance First. I’ll randomly choose a winner and contact you by email May 21!

Thanks, and have fun with the hop! I may bump into y’all, lol!

~M

Visit the Hop page for for links : Hop Against homophobia

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day! I got treated to breakfast in bed and whites roses-a favorite of mine. :) The kiddo's came through, lol!

~M

TGI Friday

Hey guys! Make sure to check out Cia's Stories, I’m over there with her today! Stop by and say hello.

 

I thought I’d talk about Nighttime Wishes that's been released at Smashwords and All Romance. The story is definitely science fiction, which is a favorite of mine. It was written with an anthology in mind. Of course, the farther I got into the story the clearer it became I wouldn't be able to stay under the maxium word count. That's what led me to submitting it to Romance First.

Combining non-humans and elements of space, world building, new societies and such fascinate me. While it is fun, it’s also tiring. The very same thing that’s so fun is also so time consuming, lol. When I wrote this story I had said I hadn’t done tentacles before, and after thinking about that I found I was wrong. There was a part in Ch12 of The Harvest that basically involved a toy that was controlled by the wearer and had tentacles. Duh, what was I thinking??? 

*Laugh* anyway it got me to thinking and researching. I hunted down a bunch of stories that had some sort of tentacle creature in it, and most were either man-made globs or aliens. There were some really good stories, too. The more I thought about it though, the more I wanted a creature whose tentacles weren’t the focus. Sounds odd, right? I wanted mine to be more than just tentacles, let’s say that. 

I spent lots of time researching different alien looks. Luckily I watch that show Face Off, anyone know what I’m talking about? Now there’s a good place to get ideas and blend them to make your own alien. Then there’s my old friend Google, lol. I had my alien, Ziang, in mind, but I’m a visual learner; I needed to see something so I can reproduce it with words. This is actually something I do a lot. 

Then on to my human. Oh, my. He was such fun. I have to say the artist who did the cover for my eBook did a bang up job. She nailed the look of Shawn, perfectly. I think he’s really cute. Then there’s his sense of humor, lol. *wink* I didn’t have to spend as much time researching him—never do for humans; they’re just easier.

Of course, there are secondary characters: a bunch of old southern county farmers, a lonely sexy sheriff named Bryan who is the main character in the sequel Nighttime Dreams, and two FBI agents. One I’m calling Agent Asshole, lol. Bet y’all can guess why. 

That’s the why and how come I wrote this and the sequel. :)

~M

Dreamspinner Spins Me a Dream!

Priceless is under contract with Dreamspinner--signed, sealed and delivered. Yes, *grin* I stole that line from tali. What can I say, it's a good one! Oh my God, I am absolutely bouncing off the walls with excitment, lol. The release date is July/Aug 2012. Holy cow that's not far away, either!

I'm so happy to be working with them... happy and speechless. What a learning experience! When I got the email yesterday I screamed so loud Kitty-Kitty hauled butt out of the room, lol. Poor thing was sound asleep when I got the news. I also brought the hubby into the room at a dead run. *Blush* One male ran from me and the other one came running to me.

Hehehe.

I'll post more as its get closer to the release date. Good Lord, I can't wait to see cover for this! LOL

~M



Here's a short little blurp:

Sparks ignite when Cupid, the God of Love, takes aim at two lonely men in the City of Sin. Garrett, a jaded, cynical billionaire, is used to what his money and power can buy. His bottom dollar is of more interest to the men he dates than he himself. Life has taught him that innocence and love are figments of the imagination.

Randy, an average guy, comes to Vegas for a working vacation. Shy, a little hesitant, he stumbles across Garrett at a craps table, and time stands still as the God of Love lines up his golden arrows.

The road to love is more than gamble. Garrett has trust issues, and Randy fears he has fallen in love with a man who considers him nothing more than a weekend fling. The differences in their lifestyles become apparent as Garrett takes Randy on a whirlwind tour of Vegas, using his money to open doors. Garrett throws money around without a thought while Randy struggles to make him understand money can’t buy the one thing that is priceless… love.

Do you believe?

Hey guys! Since The Yellow Rope is finished I thought we'd spend a little time with Ziang and Shawn from Nighttime Wishes. There is a quiz that has to do with... what else, lol. Aliens!!!



* * * *

~The U.S. Air Force investigated UFO sightings under Project Blue Book. Of the 12,618 sightings reported between 1947 and 1969, how many are still "unidentified?"

701

2

10,000

None

Ziang: I did say we have been coming to Earth for a very long time.

*The answer is 10,000

* * * *

~In 1947, a man in Roswell, New Mexico, found foil reflectors, metallic sticks and other odd material in his...

His sheep pasture

His bedroom

Outdoor swimming pool

Ziang: Damn Roswell! Gods, more stuff got stirred up over that. And the government managed to cover all that up! I mean, they knew we had been there. 

*The answer is his sheep pasture

* * * *  

~Mysterious red lights hovering in formation over Phoenix, Ariz., in April 2008, turned out to be...

Flares attached to helium balloons

Four flying angles holding candles

The glow from alien spaceships

Ziang: *Snort* as Shawn likes to say—yeah, right. Flares attached to helium balloons? Does anyone really believe that?

*The answer is flares attached to helium balloons

* * * *  

~In 1957, in Levelland, Texas, UFO sightings were reported after residents said a glowing rocket-shaped object had caused... 

Their car engines to stall  

Temporary paralysis in those exposed 

Dogs across the small town to start barking.

Ziang: Okay, there is some truth to that. We have this—

Shawn: Oh, you mean like the time I was eighteen and you siced that damn light on my dad’s new truck and it died out in the middle of nowhere? Something like that? Oh, oh, wait. It didn’t just die; right before it rolled to a stop the whole electric panel flipped out and lit up like a Christmas tree. Then, if I remember correctly, you spotlighted me with that pale blue light—

Ziang: Um, some haven’t read the book, Shawn.

Shawn: Oh. Oh yeah, sorry folks. 

*The answer is their car engines to stall.

* * * *  

~In the first reported incident of an alien abduction, a couple in the 1960s reported... 

Three glowing big-eyed aliens persuaded them to move to Texas

Being beamed up into a spaceship where aliens treated them to dinner  

Occupants of UFO chased them down and erased their memories 

Ziang: Good Gods, who came up with these answers? The first one I refused to even answer. Big-eyed aliens? Where did that come from? And we certainly didn’t treat anyone to dinner. And as far as chasing anyone down, don’t be ridiculous. We didn’t chase anyone, we took them. We only erase their memories if we returned them. 

Shawn: *glances at the tentacle petting his arm* Glowing big-eyed aliens? Boy, did they miss it on that one. And ah, E.T., you’re starting to sound a slight bit barbaric.

 

Ziang: *Glares at Shawn* You did not just call me by that silly nickname here, of all places! I am neither cute nor cuddly.

 

Shawn: No, but you’re sweet and soft to me with a little kink thrown in… mate. Love you. 

Ziang: *Tentacle nudges Shawn’s chin up while another wraps around his wrist* I love you, too. Just wait until I get you back to the ship… 

*The answer is occupants of UFO chased them down and erased their memories.

* * * *

Hope y’all enjoyed a peek into my newest book Nighttime Wishes. It’s available at Smashwords now. Amazon and All Romance will be coming this Friday, May 11^th.

 

~M

TGI Friday

Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late with TGI Friday today. :(

I'm guest blogging at Full Moon Dreaming today with Julie Hayes! Please stop by and check out my answers to Julie's infamous Rick Reed's questions, lol! They were a lot of fun. :)

Julie is the Editor in Chief with the publisher that will release Nighttime Wishes. I had a blast working with her-enough that we became friends. She is a wonderful person who has been a *huge* help to me.

Just a reminder-Nighttime Wishes will be released May 11th now, but it is up at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159029 

~M

Quick Note

Sorry everyone-the release date for Nighttime Wishes has been moved by the publisher to next Friday, May 11th.

~M 

Hey everyone! May 4th is the release date for my second book Nighttime Wishes! My good friend Tali has done an interview with me for the release on her blog Brilliant Disguise. *Laugh* it was a lot of fun, so please stop by and check it out!

~M