I'm back from the Retreat

I know it's been a while since my last post. I've been away on vacation and on Silver Publishing's retreat in Gatlinburg Tennessee. I have to admit, it was a big deal for me to go there. I'm a self-proclaimed homebody and I'm quite shy, so I was extremely nervous before we arrived there.

I met Leiland Dale and AKM Miles first. I'm a huge fan of both of them so I admit I was all blushing and stammering like a schoolgirl. Once we received the keys to our cabin and so forth we left to meet my cabin roommates. The cabin itself was beautiful. It was surrounded by the Smokey Mountains, so the view was very serene and stunning to look at.

The cabin itself had three levels. We stayed in the bottom level with Mathilde Watson across the way from us. In the center of our level was a pool table, jukebox and an arcade game. My husband and several others spent MANY a night playing pool until the early hours of the morning. Lucky for them, I packed a fan, so it blocked out all of the noise they made. LOL!

The second level was the main area. It had two huge tables where we all sat at and visited, a BIG kitchen, nice sized living room and a back porch with a hot tub that many of them used. (I only used it once, it was too freakin' hot!)

The third level held several bedroom and I think a pinball machine. For some reason, I never ventured up there. There was always so much activity in the main area, I forgot to explore the entire place.

My cabin mates were: Silvia Violet, Angel Martinez, Lori Bell, Vicktor Alexander, Freddy MacKay, Toni Griffin and Mathilde Watson. I have to say I loved all of them. We all became fast friends and every one of them were truly amazing people. I learned so much from all of them and our cabin was filled with laughter and joy. Once we all became acquainted with each other, we hung out together and really formed a friendship that I will personally always cherish.  If you are looking to meet six amazing people, look no further because they are all down to earth, lovely people.

I had a wonderful time and have some wonderful memories to last me a lifetime.

Thank You!

I can't believe my newest book, A Realistic Romance, is finally released! I'm very excited and anxious about it. In a way, this feels like it's my baby. It definitely holds a special meaning for me. It's the second book I wrote and it's also a story that I had thought about writing for a long time; even before my first book Got Mistletoe? was written. I remember sitting with my sister, Ashley, and discussing the characters and the story itself. Ashley even came up with Merrick's name. (Kudos to my sis on that one)
Originally, it was supposed to be a M/F romance, but then I realized that I should write what I love to read the most which is homoerotic romances and Samuel Meriwether was born.

I really hope that those of you who will read this book will like it. I know I'm still a newbie at all of this writing and publishing stuff, but I'm particularly proud of my boys and I hope I wrote them a story that served them well.

Here is the official blurb:

Merrick Kitchi was once a famous rock and roll star. Now at the ripe old age of thirty-two, he‟s quickly becoming a has-been in the fickle music industry. Desperate to rise to the top again, he agrees to meet with some network executives to discuss participating in a reality television show. To his dismay, he finds out his roommate, Samuel Meriwether, is not only the sexiest thing he‟s ever seen on two legs, but he‟s gay as well. This is a problem for Merrick, who has kept his homosexuality a secret. Desperate to be a household name again, he agrees to become roommates with the sexy Sammy, vowing to keep his hands and his secret to himself.
No one is more surprised than Samuel when he is chosen to be roommates with the sexy Merrick Kitchi. He‟s not sure what a gay librarian and a womanizer like Merrick will have in common, but he‟s willing to give it a shot. Soon Samuel realizes there‟s more to Merrick than meets the eye and not only do they become good friends, but there‟s an attraction between them that neither man can deny. As their feelings and attraction to each other grows, will Merrick be able to step out of the closet and into the light, or will fear of the unknown keep him deep inside?

Thanks to all of my friends who have been supportive throughout this past year. Y'all are the best!

Great News for Merrick and Samuel!

For the past couple of days, I've been floating on cloud nine. As y'all know, I've been hoping that Merrick and Samuel's story, A Realistic Romance, would find a good home. I'm very proud to say that Extasy books offered me a contract for it, in which I happily accepted it.

I really think I'm going to enjoy being part of the Extasy family. I've been impressed by the way they've communicated with me and I'm very excited to start a new venture with them.

Once we get through all the legal stuff, I hope I'll be getting my edits so we can get a release date. Of course, I'll keep y'all informed of everything as it happens!

So, I'm planning on writing about Samuel's brother, Sidney, in the very near future. I'm still working on my blue collar books which is coming along nicely too!

I want to thank everyone for being supportive and has encouraged me to continue to write and keep trying. I truly have the best Internet friends around! I don't know if I could have done it without you!

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.