Friday, May 30, 2014
Welcome guest author Jon Keys to my blog today
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Sunday, May 25, 2014
The Winner of the Blog Hop IS....
Debby!
congratulations. And thanks to everyone for stopping by and entering my contest.
Debby check your e mail.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Surf's Up....Maybe a Weds Brief
Surfs’ Up….Maybe
“Oh come on, Tom. Aren’t you going to tell me where we’re
going on vacation?” It was Saturday morning. Tom and Ben had plenty of vacation
time banked between them. Ben remembered getting e-mail from Tom at work one
afternoon, simply stating to put in for vacation for the last week in May, and
that was all he said. He’d been pretty mum about where they were going, and it
was driving Ben crazy.
Tom left some vague clues. The latest was this photo of a
surfer in a magazine.
“We’re going to Hawaii? Is that it?”
Tom smiled as he took a sip of coffee. They were sitting at
the breakfast bar at the kitchen counter, enjoying eggs Tom skillfully made for
them.
“Nope, although we’ll have to keep it in mind for the future.”
“Come on, Tom.” Ben reached
out and rubbed Tom’s arms up and down, trying to entice his man to let him in
on the big secret. “Tell me where we’re
going.” He leaned over and planted a
kiss on his firefighter husband.
“Mmm, that is tasty, honey, but it’s not going to get me to
reveal my surprise.”
“Oh poo.” Ben sat
back and sulked. His mood didn’t stop
him from finishing up his eggs. He
wouldn’t let good food go to waste.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be worth the wait to find out.”
Their vacation was going to start in a few days, and Tom
hadn’t let the cat out of the bag once.
If it didn’t go against the trust that Tom and Ben had built up over
their years together, Ben might have been tempted to look at Tom’s e-mails and
see if there were any clues there.
Tom was very good at keeping secrets. One morning, Tom had
left for work. And Ben was working from home. He picked up the phone. “Hello?
No, Tom isn’t home. Who—” Ben listened to the man on the other end of
the phone. “You have a cancellation on
the flight and you want to know if we want an upgrade to first class? Where’si this flight going again?” Just as the man mentioned the destination,
the caller ID beep went off. Ben
glanced at the phone and saw it was Tom calling. “Um, hold on I have another call.” He pressed the flash key and was transferred
to Tom. “Hi, honey, talk about timing.
I have the airline on the other line. They said they have a last minute
cancellation and would we want to be moved up to first class.”
“Really? Did they
tell you where we’re going?” Tom
inquired.
“No, you called just as they were about to…darn it.”
“Good. You tell that man NOT to tell you about the flight,
get his number and I’ll call him. Please, Ben, don’t spoil the surprise for
me.”
“I won’t, honey, I promise. “ Ben
went to the other line and got the information for Tom and relayed it.
“It won’t be long now, baby.
You’ll love it.”
It was a few days later when Tom and Ben packed up their
suitcases. They made sure they only packed enough into a carry on so they
wouldn’t have to pay the fees for checking bags in.
They made it to the airport. Tom had printed out their
boarding passes the night before, and checked on the airline to make sure they
were going to be leaving on time.
Just before they got to security, Tom stopped Ben. “I wanted to let you know our destination
now.” Tom reached into his suitcase and
pulled out a bag and handed it to Ben.
Ben opened it carefully, a big smile stretched out on his face. “You’re kidding?” He pulled out two Mickey Mouse ear hats from
Disney.
“Nope, Ben, we’re going to“Disney World!”
Ben put the hats on each of them, then wrapped his arms
around Tom’s neck and kissed him. They
headed for security and then boarded a plane for the happiest place on Earth.
TBC (I’ll weave in my trip to Disney, Hey these guys deserve to enjoy their own
version of the Magic Kingdom)
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia contest
Blog main site
It's the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Things certainly have changed over time, there was a time that this was all locked up in a closet somewhere and the 'general' population pretended that homosexuals and transgender people didn't exist. Or that they were going to hell, or should be locked away, etc.
Flash forward to 2014 and it's, thankfully, a different world. But unfortunately there is still hatred out there, still those who would use violence and lies to spread their message of hate. Just like I want so desperately to think anti-Semitism is a think of the past, but recent events at a Jewish Community center in Kansas City tells me that the hatred is still alive.
We must all stick together to wipe out the hatred. That we all have a right to be who we are and that love is what is important.
Speaking of love, a few weeks ago I was at the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. I went on a cruise, which I highly recommend. Earlier in the day I met up with my nephew and his boyfriend, they had come into town and were spending the weekend enjoying the festival too. We had lunch and then walked down the mall to take a look at the Capitol and other sites along the way. They were walking me toward where I need to meet up with some friends who were going on the cruise with me.
One of the things I saw was that my nephew and his boyfriend were openly holding hands, something that some gay couples still feel uncomfortable doing in public. I was so happy that he has found someone to love and that they are open about it. They have every right to show their love like any couple, gay or straight. I am also happy that there are many states that allow gay marriage, and that the list is growing every year. I hope that all 50 states will join in and let people who love one another have the right to marry. There is so much more work left to be done. Gay couples should also be allowed to adopt if they choose to as well.
You also hear so much about transgender folks who are beaten, treated like they are worthless. Well they are NOT worthless. I was in the grocery store recently, and saw a transgender man checking out. I tried not to stare, but I was curious. I was looking around to see if anyone else was taking notice. No one did. He was having problems at the self checkout and one of the workers helped him. Treated him like they'd treat any other customer. I was happy to see this.
I want to celebrate today by offering up my books. Because of the bru ha ha at Silver two of my books have been taken off publication. I have the rights to both books. "Catch of the Day" and "From the Depths"
And my Dreamspinner book, "The Finest Thing." was put into out of print. I have the rights to that book as well.
Right now RL is in an upheaval so I haven't been able to write much, nothing beyond my Weds Brief. I am thinking of turning Tom and Ben's story into a full length story.
I am running a contest. The winner will receive a copy of any of my books, including those that are no longer available. Hey the belong to me I can choose to give them away if I want. :D
All you have to do is leave a message and contact info. The hop ends on May 24th. I'll select a winner and announce it on May 25th.
Thank you for your support.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
The Hat Party Interview
Hi Everyone,
Today I did a Hat Party Interview at on Raine's blog.
Please stop by and check out the interview. (I was away so I forgot to ask her to post a link back to my blog. Hopefully she'll fix that.)
Thanks
The Hat Party interview
Today I did a Hat Party Interview at on Raine's blog.
Please stop by and check out the interview. (I was away so I forgot to ask her to post a link back to my blog. Hopefully she'll fix that.)
Thanks
The Hat Party interview
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Weds Brief Surprises
This week's prompts:
“I’m going to ask one last time.”
“Isn’t that the one I pointed out?”
“Do you need help?”
“I can’t help with that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“And how was your day?”
“I called you three times today.”
or have pool boy in your story
or use: butter, tornado, bird seed
or have a character eat icing
or use a lawn service in your story
or use: tire, golf ball, fan
or use: shrub, box, drink
or “If at first you don’t succeed, call a plumber”
or “How many times can you wish on a star before you give up?”
or use a munchkin in some way
or “Love is winged Cupid painted blind”
Find out what Tom and Ben are doing this week.
Surprises
“I’m going to ask one last time. Are you going to tell me
what the surprise is, or am I just going to sit here on the couch until you
do. ‘Cause we’re not going anywhere
until you tell me what the hell is going on.
Why the mystery?” Bencould be the
most amazing man that Tom had ever met.
But he hated surprises; Tom knew that when they first started
dating. The only surprise he didn’t get
into a huff about was the day he proposed to him.
“Honey, I just wanted to do something special for you. I know how stressed you’ve been since you
lost that big real estate deal.” Tom sat
next to him, wrapping his man up in his big firefighter arms.
“I’m sorry, Tom. I
know you like to do special stuff for me, but you know I’m worried about Stanley.
He’s not just my new boss. I’ve known
him for years. He and his wife just had
a baby, and I just found out the baby isn’t doing well.”
“Oh, Ben. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“They’re worried
sick. She was a preemie and they have
her on a ventilator.”
“Do you want to go over to the hospital and see how they’re doing?”
“Yeah, I think I would.
Would you come with me?”
“Of course, Ben.”
They spent some time at the hospital. Ben was consoling his friend. Tom stood by, politely making conversation
with Stanley. They were allowed to
visit his wife, Rita, for a little while.
“Thanks for coming by, Ben.
It was nice to finally meet you Tom.
I’ve heard a lot about you since taking over the real estate
office. Ben and I knew each other from
college. Rita and I just moved back to Lancaster a few months ago.”
“Where were you living before?” Tom asked him, thinking that sometimes small
talk helped keep a person’s mind occupied.
“We were living in Texas for a while, Rita’s family lives
there. But I just couldn’t stand the
heat and I was homesick for Pennsylvania.
So Rita said let’s give it a go, and here we are.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re back, and I’m glad you’re my boss.”
“Whoa, don’t say that too quickly. ‘Cause once I come back, I’m going to be
cracking the whip on all of you slackers.”
“Slackers? Who are you calling a slacker?” Ben and Stanley were kidding around, like old
times. They shared a dorm in college;
that was how they met.
“Tom, am I a slacker?”
“I can’t help with that one.” Tom feigned ignorance. If there was one thing he knew about Ben, he
was a hard worker. He put in the long
hours to prove it.
“Oh you.”
“Wel,l I think we’d better go. Rita, you take care of yourself.” Ben reached down and kissed her on the
cheek. The redheaded woman was
understandably anxious about her daughter.
“Thanks for coming, Ben.
It was nice to meet you, Tom.”
“So, what was the big surprise you had planned for me?” Ben asked as they drove out of the hospital
parking lot.
“Oh, it can wait, I guess.”
Tom was still being cryptic.
“Come on, I know that look.
You were looking forward to going out with me.”
“Okay. Well, you have
to put on a suit and be ready to go by six,”
Tom informed him.
Tom drove Ben to a famous inn at the outskirts of town. The drive up to the place was
picturesque. He stopped the car in the
restaurant parking lot and got out. He
opened the car door for Ben and helped him out.
“Tom, what is this all about?”
“Shhhh, just don’t say anything.” He led the way inside, spoke to a waiter, and
then took Ben by the hand, and they were taken to a deck overlooking the
woods.
“Tom? What did you do?”
“Happy Birthday!”
“Oh my goodness, I forgot my own birthday!” Ben couldn’t believe it.
“Considering all the things on your mind lately, I’msurprised
you can remember your own name.”
“Oh honey, thank you so much.”
Tom had planned this whole night out, including the meal and
dessert. All of Ben’s favorites were placed on the table.
They sat holding hands, , and held each other as they
enjoyed nature and were thankful to have found the love of their lives.
TBC
my fellow authors
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