Snippet from the WIP

Requiem in Leather, sequel to Hard Fall

“Food’s on!” Fred burbled from off in the kitchen.

My stomach kinda rumbled as I moved with the herd toward the table. Fred bustled about setting food out and such. Brian’s and my offers to help were shot down with a dismissive wave. Took us all a bit to settle into chairs. I ended up at one end of the table with Kabe on my right and Brian to my left. The other end we left open for Fred.

Fred hustled over with a platter of fish and set it on the table. The food smelled incredible and I realized I really was starving. As Fred eased into his own chair he clapped his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

Dishes started going round, family style. Once I managed to get a couple of helpings of fish and vegetables I asked what seemed the most natural question to me, “Who’s gonna say blessing?”

I swear, to a man, they all swung to stare at me.

I mean, Matt’s got his fork halfway to his face already and he just stopped. Kabe and Dale both rolled their eyes – I sure for totally different reasons. I knew it seemed odd, but you gotta give the Lord his due. He don’t ask much of us.>Still, I felt like Daniel among the lions right then.

“Well,” Dale broke the ice by sneering, “I’m pagan, you know.”
>
Wasn’t about to take him on with something like that. “Okay, well then we can keep it simple.” I grinned and tried to keep my tone even. “Cause you know my grandma always said you can thank the Lord, or you can thank the cook, but you better darn well thank someone.

Fred took a deep breath, “Why don’t you say grace, Joe.”

I didn’t correct Fred. Grace is what God had…blessings is what we ask for. “Lord, thank you for this food we are about to eat, good friends, old and new. Thank you for your love and your acceptance. We know you love all your children even of those who don’t understand.” I could have gone on, ‘cause you can never thank God enough, but I cut it short for the company I kept. “We ask that you love us and keep us in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.” Kabe, Brian and Fred answered me. Matt came along in a whisper a little bit later.

Dale glared. “You put up with that every night?”

“Sometimes,” Kabe reached for the bread, “it’s a little shorter.”

“Like what, only a third of a sermon?”

New and newer

I had to sit down at a different computer to write this blog post. It doesn't happen often, but I have a novel in my head that is writing itself. On the one hand, uber-yay! It makes it a lot easier when all I have to do is type what the main character says. I've never had one who's quite this talkative before, either, but then she is 13 and so I guess shouldn't be surprised. That said, though, it means that if I boot up my laptop, I'm there for the duration, taking her dictation and not getting anything else done. Hence the writing this post on a different computer. I know, I know: Shut your whinging, Maia. You could have way worse problems than that. ;-P

In other news, my novella, False Dawn, releases on MONDAY 26 JULY! Whee! I will be partying over the weekend, starting Friday because all weekends should start on Friday, right? Too right! Of course, being on the other computer means I don't have my pretty pretty cover to upload for you, but you remember it, yes? Sun flare over a planet; lots of stars; and a hunky guy. Sure. You remember. Pop over to my blog, Just add coffee, Friday through Monday and comment to win a prize! There will be an excerpt (maybe two, we'll see) and a release day bonus scene and I don't know what else because I tend to host by the seat of my pants, rather like how I write. I hope to see you there!

I've been sitting here for about ten mintues staring at a blank screen, wondering what to write about. Ever happen to you? It's not that I don't have anything to say or write, it's just my brain feels a bit fried. I spent the entire weekend finishing up my edits on my M/M story titled Kinks R Us to send off to one of my editors. After going through the 45K story, the long hours staring at this screen, it's no wonder I'm kind of blank.

But at least it's done. :)

Also, to top it off, I'm still trying to recover from having to get a new hard drive. My computer is much more organized now and of course cleaner, but still, having to install everything again has been a project in it own self.

So since I can't seem to think of a good question to ask, I 'll leave you with a little inspiration I used for Kinks R Us.

I know I like it hot...

...but this is ridiculous. We've been under a heat advisory here in good ol' Mississippi. Lookin' at heat indexes of 103 to 105. Ugh.

In the meantime, I've been editing and, damn it, I'm gonna write tonight, come Hell or high water!

First up: Blood & Fire 3. MUST get that one written. I know the general premise and the title, so that's a start! LOL

Under pressure

I like having deadlines. Deadlines are very motivating, since I am loathe to miss one and always have been. If I have to stay up all night to finish, I will make my deadlines. I pulled many an all-nighter in university finishing essays, since my time-management skills were not very well honed, to put it kindly.

I have a deadline for my new novel, and I've been plugging away to ensure that I meet it, which I will, with some room to breathe, even. After months of nose to grindstone, I'll be taking a much-needed vacation to Provincetown and New York City. I can practically taste the frozen margaritas already.

So here's a question: What's your favourite way to celebrate once you've completed an important project and met a deadline?

Two new ebooks from Amanda Young

Reckless Heart By Amanda Young

Book IV in the Reckless series

Now available at:

Cast out of the family home for being gay, Milo Santiago considers himself lucky to have a soft place to land. However, crashing with his older brother isn't all it's cracked up to be. Desperate for an escape from his dismal reality, he turns to work and casual hookups to take his mind off his troubles.

He isn't prepared for Campbell Brooks or being rejected in front of all his coworkers. Another run in with the older, enigmatic man is serendipitous, but not entirely unwelcome once he gets a gander at Cam in a pair of tiny swim shorts. One hot night leads to a weekend of debauchery. Long before the weekend is through, Milo finds himself falling for the enigmatic man who insists on keeping things casual. Milo doesn't want to let Campbell go, but there doesn't seem to be any other option.

Afterward, Milo isn't sure if they've parted ways as friends or lovers. Cam's eventual return leaves Milo with a hard choice. A little persistence could go a long way toward landing the man of his dreams. Or it could alienate Cam and send him running right back to New York for good.

---

Tempestuous Revelation by Amanda Young

Book II in Mackenzie Twins series

Now available at...

Dominic and Mason have barely come to grips with the new aspects of their bond when one tiny slip up shines a light on their forbidden relationship. With societal pressure weighing down on them, the brothers are faced with an impossible decision – one which could end more than their taboo love.

Warning: this story contains taboo themes.

You know you're overworked when...

... you're sitting in front of your laptop at 11:15 on Sunday night with Blogger open and can't think of anything remotely interesting to talk about because you've been working since 5:30 a.m. and are just now getting around to thinking about ye olde blog. Blah.

Soooo. What about you guys? Anything interesting happening in your lives?

Misc. Goodies

First Blood won't be out for another two months or so Dreamspinner got the ball rolling early with this fantastic cover art. I'm loving the look Paul Richmond came up with for these books. (you can check out the first one Clean Slate over in the sidebar)

What's fun for me is the way the names lined up beneath the characters we each created. Aleks and I do share and cross write all the characters but tend to concentrate more on certain ones.

* * * *

Noble Romance is have a special subscriber's only 15% "subscribers only"discount until the 22nd.

Subscribe to the Noble Romance Newsletter by July 22 and use code RXVJWR for 15% off your total order Sign up for the newsletter here (below new releases)

If you're feeling daring you may just want to use that 15% off to put a Copsucker in your Kindle. ^_^

Deep into Requiem in Leather

the sequel to Hard fall with Joe and Kabe.  I'll just leave you with a visual of my inspiration for the book.

Pride

I saw a lot of people blogging and posting about how they spent their holiday weekend, so I decided to share my story. My wife and I went to a Gay Pride celebration. In addition to a few sweet little plot bunnies, I had had some other thoughts. At the parade, there were 185 floats plus more walking contingents than I could count. After watching for two and a half hours in the 90+ heat, we decided we'd rather be ashamed and cool in the hotel room than hot and proud on the street. We saw the rest on a cable news channel, with two hosts doing a their inane patter with so much enthusiasm that I felt like I was watching the Rose Bowl. A strange sensation stirred. This was pride.

It didn't stop there. Everywhere I looked there were signs of Pride celebration. The hotel lobby had rainbow flags and even a table display in the six colors to celebrate. Sears arranged its mannequins in same sex couples and made sure there were plenty of rainbow displays. A cookware store had its pots in a rainbow. That feeling welled up again. So what if they were after my money. They were standing with us.

I usually feel like an invisible lesbian. When I'm out with my wife, strangers talking to me refer to her as my sister or my friend. I correct them. I didn't have to. At breakfast our fun chatty waitress leaned in and said, "Happy Pride. Have a great time."

At the street festival, dozens of police kept the peace while draped with rainbow beads, laughing and chatting with people, posing for pictures with those in elaborate costumes. There were hundreds of booths hawking everything from dildoes and leather restraints to Jones soda, hot tubs, time shares and an opportunity for a law enforcement career or the opportunity to serve in the armed forces. Surprising, I know. Because I wasn't in the land of "liberty and justice for all" on the fourth of July, I was in Canada.

I grew up a fierce little patriot. I loved American history. In celebration of the bicentennial (yes, I'm that old), I had my bedroom done in red, white and blue, complete with a tricolored shag rug (I'll wait while you shudder in horror) and a stars and stripes sheet set. The site of the battle of Yorktown awed me as a fourteen year old. Yet on the day when we celebrate the signing of a document that begins "When in the course of human events" I had to find my pride, my sense of belonging, in another country.

Sure I could go to a Pride celebration closer to home. Like the one in Albany, NY where a guy was hospitalized afterward when three guys beat the crap out of him. The police are classifying it simple robbery. Who can forget last year's fun opening of the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, TX where the thirtieth anniversary of Stonewall was celebrated by law enforcement coming into the bar to break some skulls?

As I celebrated the birth of modern gay revolution in another country, I thought about the younger me who believed so fiercely in the power of our history to give us forward momentum to an amazing future. She would have sworn that these words would have been spoken by an American in a debate on gay marriage, "We would risk becoming a country in which the defence of rights is weighed, calculated and debated based on electoral or other considerations." But she'd have been wrong. That was Prime Minister Bill Martin of Canada. I'm afraid he was talking about the "land of the free" to the south of him. I have to thank the governor of Hawaii for proving my point in demonstrating how unworthy of equality gay people like me are.

This summer, I plan to paint my office the same shade of deep blue I once had in my bedroom. (Don't worry. I'm skipping the shag rug. And the sheets.) I wish it was as easy to regain my sense of pride.

Summer's here. No really!

I see common themes here this past week or so. Tired brains and US Independence Day. I'm sure there's an amusing connection to be made there, but (you guessed it) my brain is too wiped out to come up with it. Personally, I celebrated the 234th birthday of my country by laying around on the sofa and watching the fireworks on TV. Summer colds suck. Just sayin'.

However, despite the stuffed up head and the plethora of cold meds running through my blood, I managed to get final edits off to my editor at Torquere, and you can all look forward to the release of False Dawn later this month. I'll be having a bit of a party on my own blog leading up to the release on the 26th. So be sure to swing by that preceding weekend as there will be fabulous prizes to be won! http://maiastrong.blogspot.com/

It looks like summer has finally arrived. All true Pacific Northwesterners know that summer starts not at the solstice, but on July 5. This year, it's a day late (and following an especially cool and cloudy extended spring), but apparently it's making up for that by being sunny all week. Better soak up the Vitamin D while I can. If only I had a magic wand to make my laptop screen non-reflective, I could take it to the lake with me and I could write while watching fit, shirtless men jogging past. That'd be some nice inspiration.

It's a big ol' holiday here in the land of the free, home of the brave! And one I don't mind saying I fully participate in. America is my home and my first choice of places to live. While I will freely admit that I am not always proud of America, I am ALWAYS a proud American. Today is my day to celebrate that fact, and tomorrow I will go back to being quietly patriotic in my heart. I've got fireworks lined up on my kitchen counter to set off later and there are hot dogs and potato salad waiting to be consumed. I hope you get to participate in some kind of celebration today or at least have a fireworks show in your area that you can watch.

Happy Birthday, America. May your colors never run.

Land of the Free...July 4th Manlove

I'll make this short, because it appears I'll be spending the evening with a bottle of aloe vera. Overdid it at the beach today - seems no matter how much sunscreen I use, my shoulders get burned. I look like Linda Evans circa 1986 in a red dress.

Anyway, while I remain in M/M writing flux, I want to remind you that I do have a free July 4th themed short, In-Dare-Pendence Day, which came out last holiday. If you haven't read it yet, it's new to you! It's part of the Dareville series and will serve as an epilogue to my eternal work in progress, Daring Red.

Download the story in PDF format from Phaze Books here!

Busy Week

Wednesday saw the release of MOST WANTED my M/M western historical from Dreamspinner, and a sneak peek at the concept art for First Blood the next espionage co-written with Aleksandr Voinov and this coming Tuesday we have the release of RISKY MANEUVERS from Loose Id.

Here's the nifty video trailer for RM:

Mmm... eye candy!

Okay, so today on the Torquere Social loop, we're talking about the last 3 magazines we read. Well, here's a link for one I would LOVE to get my hands on!


http://www.filamentmagazine.com/

*droooooools*

Just click through the previews. Trust me. *goes back to drool more*