Got Mistletoe?

Happy Saturday, Friends:)

This has been a semi-productive week. I'm starting to feel better and finally able to do a few things. On the plus side, I've done some reading this week and that's always enjoyable. :)

In the past couple of weeks, I've had several very nice people write me to tell me that they've just read my first Christmas story, Got Mistletoe?, and how much they've fallen in love with the characters Ryan and Blake. This will be the third Christmas that Got Mistletoe? has been released and it really warms my heart that readers still love that story enough to take the time to write me and tell me that.

One of the questions that I've been asked about it is if there will be another story continuing Ryan and Blake's story. To be honest, when I finished the it several years ago I had intentions of writing more about this couple, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I've decided as soon as I finish edits on my January release, No Greater Love, and completing on my current WIP, I will start the sequel to it. I'm actually pretty excited about revisiting these characters and seeing where they take me this time.

Here are a few facts about Got Mistletoe?:

I started writing Got Mistletoe on September 11, 2009 and submitted it September 15, 2009.  To this day, it's the fastest book I've wrote, next to The Sweet One, which I also started and finished in five days.

I received the acceptance letter and contract from Dreamspinner Press on September 18, 2009.

To this day, one of my favorite characters that I've created is Ryan Jolly.  His sweet disposition and zest for life was something I thought was different about some of the heroes that are portrayed today.  At the time, I had an Internet friend that was always upbeat and happy and he made everyone that was around him feel happy too.  Although I have never met him, I've pictured him being the type of person that was not only cute and adorable on the outside, but on the inside as well. So it's because of him that Ryan was born and Got Mistletoe? was written.  To this day, I still believe that Ryan’s sweetness and zest for life made him very suitable for a Christmas story.

When I started Got Mistletoe? I was constantly in contact with my mother and sister. I don't know how many times I practically blew up the phone lines calling them to see what their thoughts were about what I had just finished writing. If it wasn't for them, I don't think I would have had the courage to finish and submit it. So in many ways, I owe my writing career to both of them and I will always be extremely grateful that I had their support and encouragement during the entire process.

I want to thank all of my readers and wish them a very happy weekend and week ahead.

For those who might not have read it...here is the blurb and excerpt of Got Mistletoe?:

Blurb:

Blake Roberts just wants to buy some wrapping paper and go home. That changes when he's surprised by a super center employee keeping the Christmas spirit alive by singing and doing some impromptu dance moves. Ryan Jolly is bouncy and a little flamboyant... and Blake is immediately smitten with him. Despite being total opposites, Blake's heart is captured by Ryan’s bubbly personality and sweet smile, and when attraction flares between them, Blake starts to hope his new Christmas wish--to spend more than the holiday with Ryan--might come true.

Excerpt:

“OHHH… the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is sooooo delightful, and since we’ve no place to go… let it snow, let it snow, let it snooooow….” Ryan sang as he grabbed the last of the small boxes of twinkling lights and started stacking them neatly on the shelf.

“Ryan! Spare me, please!”

Ryan laughed as he slowly spun around to face his best friend, carrying yet another huge box of lights to be stocked on the already overcrowded shelves.

 Angela was always a sight for sore eyes, even if she was being grouchy. Her long brown hair was put up haphazardly with a sparkling red clip. Her sweet, round face always had a rosy flush to her cheeks, and her dark eyes glittered with mischief.

Ryan took the box from her arms, set it down, and grinned at her as she put her hands on her ample hips. “Angel babe, you know you love my singing,” he said as he puckered his lips and made kissing noises at her. She laughed and shook her finger at him.

"Honey, just because you like Dean Martin doesn’t mean you can sing like him! Besides, I’ve never seen Dean Martin wear reindeer antlers while he crooned “Let it Snow” on any of his Christmas specials he used to have every year.” Angela reached up and flicked one of the antlers on top of his head, causing the bells to start jingling.

“And, he’s the lesser man for it,” Ryan teased as he wrapped Angela up in his arms and dipped her backwards, causing her to laugh, just like he intended for her to do.

 He heard someone behind him clear their throat.

“Excuse me, I hate to interrupt the newest solid gold dance moves, but could you tell me where the wrapping paper is?”

The smooth and slightly tense masculine voice washed over Ryan from behind. Angela immediately disassembled herself from Ryan’s arms and stood there looking over Ryan’s shoulder with a slightly embarrassed smile on her sweet face.

Ryan slowly turned around, and had to stop himself from gasping with pleasure.

Standing a couple of feet from him was the most beautiful man Ryan had ever seen. At five foot seven inches, Ryan was used to men towering over him, but not like this man. Tall, dark and handsome definitely fit the bill for describing the stunningly beautiful man before him. Beneath a wealth of gorgeous black hair shone the bluest eyes Ryan had ever laid eyes on. They seemed to twinkle from within. His smooth olive skin, tousled hair and five o’clock shadow gave him that sexy, just-got-out-of-bed look that Ryan always found so adorable. He was dressed casually in a worn brown leather bomber jacket, red T-shirt and jeans that were so old and tight, they hugged his muscular thighs and encased a prominent bulge at his crotch that made Ryan want to fall to his knees and worship the ground he walked on. He was gorgeous, and Ryan knew he was totally and utterly in love.

The man’s full lips formed a half-smile and he cocked his head to the side as he looked expectantly at Ryan, as if waiting for something.

Ryan felt himself cringe as he felt the unwanted heat of a flush come over his face and body. Damn! Being a natural redhead definitely had its drawbacks. Ryan knew his face was probably as red as Rudolph’s red nose, which caused him to blush even more.

The man’s crooked smile turned into a full one, causing his blue eyes to light up and small wrinkles to appear beside each, proving that this gorgeous hunk of a man smiled often. Between his brilliant white smile and ocean blue eyes, Ryan found himself immediately captivated with him.

“Can we help you?” Angela asked, apparently not having any trouble finding her own voice.

 The man looked slowly from Ryan to Angela, and his smile dimmed a little.

“Could you point me in the right direction of the wrapping paper?”

God, even the man’s voice was amazing, deep and smooth, with a slight Southern accent. Ryan would bet his measly year’s worth of salary that the sexy man standing before him could sing “Let it Snow” and women as well as men would be throwing themselves at his feet to hear more.

“Um, well, I’m not exactly sure where it’s located at, but my associate Ryan would be more than happy to show you where you need to go,” Angela said sweetly as she indiscreetly shoved Ryan in the right direction, bringing him out of his trance.

Feeling totally off balance, Ryan felt himself flush even more as he stumbled toward the man. God, even his feet weren’t working right!

The man reached out and grabbed Ryan lightly by the arms, keeping him from stumbling further into the man himself. Through the warmth of the handsome stranger’s hands, Ryan felt a tingling sensation from the top of his red hair to the tips of his toes. “Are you all right?” that deliciously deep voice asked softly, causing Ryan look up into those concerned blue eyes. Ryan could feel the warmth of the man’s hands through his long sleeved T-shirt as he started rubbing his hands up and down Ryan’s arms, as if to soothe any pain away.

He’s talking to you! Say something, idiot!

Ryan cleared his throat and attempted to smile at the man.

The man smiled back and slowly let go of Ryan’s arms as he took one small step back as if to put some space in between them.

“Ooops! Sorry about that! I must’ve had too much eggnog during break,” Ryan joked, as he shrugged his shoulders and smoothed down his “Got Mistletoe?” T-shirt.

The man laughed.

Oh my God, he’s got a gorgeous laugh too!

“That eggnog will get you every time!” the man said, almost reaching out to touch Ryan’s shoulder but stopping himself midway.

At the sound of the stranger’s joyful laughter, Ryan felt happiness flow through him and a genuine smile come across his face.

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!

Just another lazy day

What crazy weather we have here in Arkansas. One moment it's in the 20's and we're freezing to death, and then today it's in the 60's and absolutely gorgeous outside! No wonder everyone seems to have the sniffles!

I'm feeling lazy today, but I'm bound and determined to get some writing done tonight. Plus, I had to read "Ticket to Ride" by Shawn Lane. Oh my Gosh! It's so good! Once again, Shawn really did a great job in making me fall in love with her characters. It really has a great suspenseful storyline, too. Shawn should write romantic mystery/suspense more often. It was great!

I really think I'm going to put a hold on the book I've been working on, and continue Ryan and Blake's story while it's still fresh on my mind. It will be good to write about them again. I really do love them!

I hope everyone has a great Monday! Take care!

This week at a glance

I'm finally able to sit down and relax. As you know, it's been an emotional roller coaster this week at our home. We buried my husband's beloved Aunt this week. The funeral was hard because of not only saying goodbye to Aunt Bonnie, but watching Chris grieve was very difficult to take. I really felt very helpless through it all. All I could do is offer comfort and keep reassuring him of how much she loved him and how proud of him she was.

Believe it or not, one of the best things happened to Chris at the funeral. There were several people from Bonnie's work that came. After the funeral was over, they approached my husband and I and immediately started telling him that they recognized him from all of the photographs of him (it was our wedding pictures) on her desk. They called my husband by name, and told him how proud and how much Bonnie talked about him. They told him how much she loved him, and that he was always the apple of Bonnie and David's eye. I watched my husband take a deep breath and the weight of the the world was lifted off of his shoulders. It really was a nice way for him to have closure.

I actually finished Christmas decorating today. Tomorrow I plan to start the continuation of Ryan and Blake's story. But, I've been anxious to read Shawn Lane's newest book Ticket to Ride. I'll have to read it before I can get started! She's been teasing us all with it on her blog and I've been dying to read it!


Thank you to all of my friends here. Your well wishes and kind words meant the world to me.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and words

Some of you might have noticed my absence. In a previous post I told you about my husband's Aunt being in a coma, and the doctor was calling in a specialist to see if she had any brain activity or not.
Unfortunately for Aunt Bonnie, they didn't find enough brain activity that would make her able to breathe on her own, or even be aware of the world around her. Her sister opted to take her off the respirator despite some of our protest, and she's gone onto a place where she's with her beloved husband.

One of the amazing things about Bonnie was she was not a quitter. She had suffered from polo almost all of her life. Despite being in pain, and walking with the aide of crutches and braces on her legs, she insisted on taking care of herself. She never used a handicapped license or parked in a handicapped zone. She always did as much as her broken body would allow her. My husband's Uncle David was immediately smitten with her the minute they laid eyes on each other, and they had happiness together for over thirty five years.

One of the things I will always remember about Bonnie and David is they both had a very contagious laugh. Both of them laughed frequently and when they laughed it was a whole body laugh and you couldn't help but laugh with them. I loved it.

Since they couldn't have children, they kidnapped Chris when he was a teenager almost every weekend and spoiled him rotten. Chris has always considered them his "adoptive" parents. Chris has said one of his favorite memories is introducing his Aunt Bonnie to Sir Mix Alot's, Baby Got Back. He said they both wore out that song on his cd from playing it all the time.

When David was diagnosed with Cancer, neither one gave up hope. David died less than a month after his diagnosis, and Bonnie hasn’t' been the same since. Her sister had been staying with her, and according to her sister they had an argument. Three days later they found Bonnie unconscious, with bruises all over her face and neck and laying on the floor. There is an investigation, and hopefully we'll find out what really happened to our Beloved Aunt.

Her funeral is Thursday. I told Chris that she'll be right where she wanted to be; right at David's side.

I'm not going to pretend that today hasn't been a difficult day. Both Chris and I have been in a funk, but seeing how some of my friends have embraced my book made me realize how much even my online friends mean so much too me. I was happily shocked how much y'all like Ryan and Blake and how they met. I loved them and I have every intention of continuing their story. Thank you for taking a chance on a very green author and reading my book. I'm hoping the next book will be even better.

Thank you for being there.

Hi all:)

I thought I would post the unofficial, official blurb to Got Mistletoe?.

Here it is:


Blake Roberts just wants to buy some wrapping paper and go home. That changes when he's surprised by a supercenter employee keeping the Christmas spirit alive by singing and doing some impromptu dance moves. Ryan Jolly is bouncy and a little flamboyant... and Blake is immediately smitten with him. Despite being total opposites, Blake's heart is captured by Ryan’s bubbly personality and sweet smile, and when attraction flares between them, Blake starts to hope his new Christmas wish--to spend more than the holiday with Ryan--might come true.

My editor hasn't told me a release date yet, but I'll keep y'all posted.