My Reason to Smile

Hey Y'all:)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me. I submitted a story to Silver Publishing called Kissed by Death. Now I'm obsessively watching my email like a crazed fan at a Adam Lambert concert. The waiting is always the hardest part. I'm nervous about this book because it's darker than my normal stuff. Also, it's a paranormal...but it's not a typical one. If it gets contracted I'll tell y'all more about it then. Until I find out one way or the other, please wish me luck!

My grandmother's birthday was a couple of days ago. We brought here out to our house and had a big birthday shindig out here. She had a blast and of course my niece Snow White was in rare form as usual! I managed to snag a picture of her and my two year old sheltie Lily. Both of them never fail to bring a smile to my face and I want to share one of my reasons to smile with you:)

We had a great time but now that every one's gone it's time to work on my current WIP and get it submitted hopefully by the end of the week.

I hope all of my friends here will stay out of this heat and have a great week ahead!

Snow Fun and Upcoming Reads

I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy week! Even though we've had our first batch of snowfall here at the Ozark National Forest, it really looks beautiful outside. What's funny our sheltie, Lil, does not like snow so it's been creatively interesting to get her to go outside to do her business. I've had to bribe her with extra cookies and/or go outside with her AND I've even thrown one of her toys out to get her to chase after it.

Sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.

On the bright side, when I'm not cleaning up dog puddles on my floor, there are some really great releases this week in the gay romance world. Two of my favorite friends and authors, Shawn Lane and Ava March both have releases this week. Pulling Apart by Shawn Lane was released over the weekend and it's a great quick read. It's the continuation of Noah and Charlie's story from Pulling Away.




Ava March's book His Client, is being released tomorrow by Loose Id.and I can not wait to read it! I love Ava's books and I have a feeling by all of some of the teasers she's given us on her blog that this is going to be an exceptional book. (I love her cover!)



When I'm not reading, I'll be finishing up my book, No Greater Love finished, sent off to my friend Linda for her approval, and submitted. I'm ready to write next book in the Men of Charlestown series. Shiloh and Allen from Yummy Indulgences will be making an appearance in it, and so will Nick and Josh from His Christmas Wish. I'm also going to be guest blogging at Silver Publishing's blog on the 19th of this month, so I hope everyone will stop by and say hello.


It looks like my week is going to be full! I'm tired already:)

I can't believe it has been a year

It was exactly one year ago today when we lost our eleven year old sheltie, Daisie. Most of you know that we now have a sweet girl named Lily, whom we love dearly, but it doesn't ease the pain from the loss of losing Daisie any less.
It's crazy to think of how much we become attached to our pets. In all honesty, Daisie and Lily are almost like our kidlets. My husband and I will not be blessed with children, but we will always have the four-legged variety. I guess that is one of the reasons why I've (we've) taken Daisie's death so hard this year.
I know in some ways I'll always grieve for her. She was my constant companion for so many years, I know I'll always love and miss her.
I hope this year will be easier.

My Little Rant on a Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day it is today! It's been hard staying inside and pounding away at my keyboard today. I've written about two thousand words on one of my blue collared labor stories, and I plan on writing more tonight.

One story will be about Chase and David. Chase is an emergency room RN and Dave is a mechanic. Chase has been out of the closet for years. He's recently gotten out of a bad relationship and is looking for a man who isn't ashamed to be seen and to be out and proud with him. Enter Dave, who has lived firmly in the closet all of his life. Dave knows that if he gives into his desires he will be disowned by many family members and friends. Once Chase and Dave meet, sparks fly and both men have to decide if their love is worth fighting for.

When I've pictured Chase in my mind, I've thought of Paul Walker. Paul has been in several movies, but he's best known as being in the Fast and Furious movies. There is something sexy about him, not to mention he has that boy next door quality about him that I absolutely love!


Dave has been a harder character for me. He's older than Chase and has had a rough family life and a tough time keeping his attraction for men under wraps all of his life. Chris and I watched Road House the other day and once I saw Sam Elliot, Dave was born. There is something about Sam's tough exterior, including that sexy voice that makes him the perfect example of male heterosexuality. Personally, I think he's even sexier once I thought of him being with another man; especially Chase!


I just read Still the One by Shawn Lane. I LOVED IT! My good friend Jack and his wonderful partner Shayne have both pointed out that I need to continue reviewing books on goodreads. I admit that I've been very slack at writing reviews. It's not that I don't want to write them, but finding the time and well having my own book on the chopping block has made me Leary of reviewing. It's not that some people didn't like it because not every book will appeal to everyone, it's the way it's reviewed and said that is often hurtful and sometimes downright mean.
So after much thought, I've decided to try to review at least a couple of books a week. I'm making it a goal of mine to make sure and point out good things about the book,even if it's not a favorite of mine. Since some of the reviews on there have been spiteful and just cruel, and as Jack and Shayne pointed out, it's time for us more positive people to keep reviewing and block out the people who constantly write negative things about books they supposedly love.

For those who are on goodreads, I heartily recommend becoming friends with Erotic Horizon and Lily. Both of them are outstanding and fair reviewers. They are not spiteful and even when they aren't crazy about a book they've read, are tactful about it. It's apparent that both of them actually love what they do and what they read and I know when I read a review by either of them, it will be fair, entertaining and unbiased.

There are several other friends I have on goodreads that write great reviews. Eyre, Maggie, Shayne (Yes you Shayne), Jack, Drew and Lindsay. I'm hoping they will start showing up more often and reviewing more books, too. After all Lily and Erotic Horizon can't do it all by themselves! LOL!

I've decided to put my money where my mouth is and try to show up on Goodreads more often. Shayne pointed out that there has been some negativity there, but instead of giving into it, banding together with other positive friends and make it fun again. So, I'm going to join Jack and Shayne and make an effort to make it a more positive place.

Now, I'm taking a few hours off and I'm going to go enjoy the sunshine! Y'all have a great rest of the night and a great week!

I wish he would drop the towel!

I really wish he would drop the towel!

It's been a busy couple of days. I've been trying to stay on top of housework, laundry and everything else I've put off until the last minute.

On the plus side, Merrick and Samuel's book is coming along very nicely. I've gotten 26,000 words written and should be wrapping it up by the end of the weekend. YAY!





I'm debating on what to write next. I had planned on writing my May/December story next, but Samuel's older brother Sidney is driving me crazy. He's a starving artist, who works part time in an art gallery and does other odd jobs to get by.
He's outrageous, bossy and has a Gothic look that he always works to his advantage.
I'm thinking someone conservative will rock his world up. Maybe someone even a little or a lot nerdy even. What do y'all think?

The weather is still horrid here. The snow has never melted and now they are calling for even more snow here tonight. Is it me, or is the weather crazy where you are too? I'm thinking it's from all of his global warming we've had, which is pretty frightening if you think of it.



Lily is finally house trained. *Keep your fingers crossed* I'd forgotten what it's like to have a puppy. Daisiemae had tons of toys, but in the past year she neglected them quite a bit. Since we've had Lily, every night she drags out every one of those toys and plays with them. Now my house looks like a tornado hit it! Puppies really are a lot of fun!

Fun in the Snow

Here is a picture of our new baby, Lily. As you can tell she loves the snow.

Well it was supposed to get up to forty-five degrees today, but it didn't happen. The temperature barely reached thirty degrees, so all of the snow is still there. As you can tell by the picture below, my husband has had a great time playing in the snow.

Here is some pictures we've taken around the house. We live across from the Ozark National Forrest and anytime it snows here, it's always breathtaking. I took this picture standing on our front porch.



My husband took this picture down the road from us. Isn't it cool how the ice on the branches look?



I've been very lazy today. I'm blaming this on the weather! Chris goes to work tonight, so I'm hoping to get motivated to do some writing.

They say it's supposed to get up to almost fifty tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it!

Meet Merrick

Well, it's been a busy week for me. I've been working on Merrick and Samuel's story and I've got a little over 12,000 words written. It's gone rather smoothly because Merrick has been quite vocal throughout the whole book, which has been very nice! I think it's going to be around 30,000 words when I'm finally finished with it. I've really enjoyed both Merrick and Samuel and I'm interested in what y'all will think of them too.

The eye candy I've provided looks exactly like my Merrick. Isn't he beautiful?

Our new puppy, Lily, has been keeping life interesting around here! She's a smart girl, and has so much energy and is so full of fun, she's been a joy to be around. What's interesting about Lily, and a little bittersweet to me is she has several of Daisiemae's mannerisms, which I love, but it still makes me miss my old girl. I know Daisie would have loved Lily, too. She would have liked being a bossy/older sister!

Congrats to my friends Jack and Shayne on their engagement! If ever two people deserved to get married it's those two! Even though they aren't able to make it legal where they live, in our eyes and I believe in the eyes of God, they're already bonded together forever. Love you guys! Change will come. We just have to keep on fighting until everyone has the privilege of marrying who they love.

Happy M.L.K day!

Whew! I've had a busy week! I've been working hard on my newest book. I've written close to seven thousand words on it so far. I hope everyone will love Merrick and Samuel as much as I do. I'm still working on a title for it, when I decide, I'll let y'all know!

After this book, it's back to Ryan and Blake. Ryan's been impatiently tapping on my shoulder for the past week. Some people are so impatient!

We also have a new addition to the family! Her name is Lily, (I've always named my female dogs after flowers) and she's the sweetest puppy in the world. She was given to us by an acquaintance of my husbands. He had found out that we lost our girl, Daisie, and knew we were having a tough time with it. Out of the goodness of his heart, he decided to let us have her. She's six months old, looks a lot like my Daisie in some ways and we love her! As soon as I get the pictures of her downloaded onto my computer I'll post it so y'all can see her!

As a devout M/M romance reader, today has been a good day. Devon Rhodes has a new release through Total E-bound books called Gaymes. I had to indulge myself and buy a copy. Can't wait to read it.



Shawn Lane has finished her new book. She's told us so much about Barnaby I think we are all excited to read it! Congrats, Shawn! I hate to stop lusting after the fair Ashton, though. He's been some of my favorite eye candy, that's for sure!