The Author Under the Cupboards

Happy Friday! :)

I hope everyone has had a great week so far. The new work in process is still coming along - I'm currently writing their first smex scene *g* Those are fun to write, but also not so fun because it's not the easiest to get the scene in my head onto the page. But so far, the guys are cooperating, so fingers crossed they continue to smex it up the way I want them to.

In other writing-related news, I have officially relocated back out to the garage. Yeah, odd place to write, but it's the most peaceful place in the house. I adore hubby, but he has the 'wall of sound' thing going on with the computer games and TV. Not always so conducive to getting the muse grooving when my muse is rather partial to peace and quiet (and she's easily distracted - a TV show comes on and she's all 'ooh! Top Chef Masters!'). In the winter it gets damn cold in the garage, and even my space heater doesn't do the trick when it gets below freezing, so I move to the basement. But I'm not as productive down there, so as soon as it warms up in the spring, I relocate.

See - here's my current little home for the evenings. Very posh, let me tell you, but the muse likes it a lot out there so I'm not arguing with her. And yes, those are cupboards right above my 'desk'. Luckily I'm on the short side, so I fit under there nicely. lol

Dirty and Happy

It's the end of the weekend and I can officially report I've finished another chapter in the new work in process. Go me!! Since I left the guys when they were right about to have smex (really fun smex, too *g*), I'll keep working on this book for another chapter, and finish that chapter before the end of next weekend. Wouldn't want to leave them hanging - that would be cruel. Oliver and Vincent are starting to get chatty again, so I might go back to them after I finish this next chapter. The new guys are quite angsty (and I love angst), but Oliver and Vincent are my boys. Though both pairs have a fondness for kink (and I love that, too), so...I'll just have to see where the muse takes me.

The wonderful Eyre over at A Reader's Journey tagged me for an award. *g*

What to do:
List 10 things that make you happy.
Try and do at least one of them today.
Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day and let them know.
Link back to the person that tagged you.

Here is my list of 10 things that make me happy:

1. Hugs and kisses from the kidlet, and hubby, too.
2. Beautiful sunny days
3. My friends, online and IRL
4. Writing
5. Nookie (...yes, my friends in the shallow end, I do mean that)
6. Getting an email from Men at Play with a new video annoucement
7. Nookie (...my ebook reader)
8. Hot fudge sundae poptarts
9. Reading a good book
10. Getting this award from Eyre ((hugs))

I'm changing the rules a bit and tagging 5 bloggers (cutting the number in half so I don't duplicate anyone on Eyre's list). They are all in my little list of fav blogs on the sidebar - every time I see a new post pop up, I check them out. And I'm stealing Eyre's caveat - don't feel obligated to play along. I just wanted you to know your posts brighten my day. :)

• Martha at Just You and Me
• FV at Fiction Vixen Book Reviews
• Mandi at Smexy Books
• Wren at Nonsense and Little Things
• Kathy at Yin and Yang Reviews

Where The Princes' Vacation Cruise Took a Turn for the Worse

It's been quite a fun week in blogland. Mandi from Smexy Books and FV from Fiction Vixen Book Reviews had some fun with the guys from JR Ward's BDB series. Butch and Vishous Together at Last and Bella and Z, the Honeymoon is Over. In case you missed them, they are quite worth checking out. *g*

Their posts reminded me of a pic hubby snapped recently of the kidlet playing with The Princes. I didn't actually witness the event, but hubby captured it (he takes lots of pics, even got me on the treadmill recently - I was flipping him off in the pic).

My first reaction when he showed me the pic was 'OMIG!!!!' Since my mind is always in the gutter, I had one of those 'oh dear lord, how the hell did she get a hold of one of my books????' moments. The kidlet is only 6! She wouldn't even understand 1/2 the words in my books. Then I focused on the rest of the pic, and realized she was making one of her classic fart faces. Yep, she was making The Prince fart on Prince Phillip's face, and hubby caught her in action. She's 6, so farts are the height of hilarity to her. Once I realized that, I laughed my ass off.

Poor Prince Phillip. But it looks like he and The Prince were having a nice time right up until that moment - the kidlet had the Barbie Cruise Ship all set up (that's the thing in the background). My guess is they were having a nice vacation cruise. :)

In writing news, I did finish another chapter by the end of last weekend. But....it was chapter 1 of a new book. Oliver and Vincent weren't cooperating, so I decided they needed to 'think' on things for a bit while I turned my attention to a new pair of guys. Not sure how long I'll keep working on the new book before I go back to Bound Forever. For now, I'm grooving with the new guys. And by the end of this weekend, as you are all my witnesses, I'll have another chapter done of one of the books.

Nook Lovin'

After almost three years of reading ebooks on my laptop (and more recently on my iphone...yeah, the font's really tiny on it), I finally splurged and got an ebook reader yesterday. And I am totally lovin' on my new nook. *g*

It's so pretty and shiny and bee-u-tif-ful, and Nookie loves to be stroked and fondled and petted. Fitting since his name is Nookie (yes, he's a boy, a very pretty boy as a matter of fact), and 'nookie' is just one of the many terms hubby has for smex (....don't ask - I don't). Last night I charged Nookie for at least 3 hrs according to the directions and by the time he was ready to go, it was kinda late, so I didn't break him in until today. Popped his cherry with Reborn in Blood by Stephani Hecht. Fabulous book, btw, and Steph's fab, too. Anyway, I'm loving Nookie and he fits so perfectly in my purse. I can take him with me everywhere! I foresee my 'read' pile growing at a much greater rate than usual now that I have Nookie.

Why the hell did I wait so long to get an ebook reader? sigh. Sometimes I make myself wonder about myself.

And you know what else is fitting? This pic I found of a nook features the first chapter from Pride and Prejudice, my fav of fav books. Ah - a true match made in heaven. The only thing that's kinda a bummer is that B&N's ebook store doesn't have a ton of m/m books. Only a limited selection. But that's OK. I prefer to buy direct from publishers and Nookie gets along just fine and dandy with .pdf files.

In other news, Shawn interviewed m/m author Andi Anderson on her blog. So pop on over to check out the interview if you have the time.

Little Things...no, not those 'things'

I finished another chapter in the work in process last weekend and am well on my way into the next chapter. Go Me! Since the witness thing seems to be working, you all get to serve as witnesses again. I’ll get the next chapter done by the end of the weekend. There. Commitment made. *g*

Speaking of the work in process (Bound Forever), it’s my first book that will feature a fully established relationship. Bound to Him was a sequel, but the relationship wasn’t cemented yet. That was the point of the book - getting the guys over the initial bumps in their relationship (….okay, so by bumps I mean getting Vincent to stop being an arse). Anyway, Bound Forever picks up a good year after Bound to Him. Their relationship is reaching that established point, and with it comes that feeling of solid, lasting love. Most of my stuff deals with getting the guys into a relationship whereas Vincent and Oliver are already there. It’s a different feel than I’m used to infusing into a story. Of course, there’ll be angst and hot sex (how can there not be?), but even then it has a different feel to it than their first or even second book. Anyway I’m quite digging on the book. Hopefully you will like it, too.

And this leads me to inspiration for books. Insomnia seems to be Shawn’s latest muse, mine has been music. It’s the sentiment behind the lyrics that seems to get the muse grooving. The last 2 new book ideas have been sparked by songs. And for Bound Forever, it’s been this song by Pomplamoose. Because love is in the Little Things. :)

…oh, and Oliver’s not sorting Vincent’s lights and darks, nor do either of them cook. But you get the idea. ;)

And since I'm in a chatty mood tonight, I'll leave you with a question. When it comes to romances, what's your favorite 'stage' of a relationship - very beginning (lust that has the potential to turn to love), early (new love) or established (solid love)? Or are you of the greedy sort and you want it all? *g*

Random News & a Meme

First up, random news. Shawn Lane is holding a contest for her upcoming release Only for Him, the next book in her Only Forever series. This one features Barnaby - he's damn adorable ;) Contest is open until 4/17, so pop on over to her blog if you want to throw your name into the virtual hat.

In other random news, I was the featured author over at Naughty in the Backseat. They reviewed a few of my books last week and to my great relief, they liked them :)

Now for a Meme. I stole this one from Shawn. I don't think she intended it to be a meme (it was part of a Wednesday Musings post), but Devon Rhodes commented that it would be a great M/M romance writer meme, so I snagged it.

• Book I am most looking forward to in 2010: With Abandon by J.L. Langley
• Book I read again and again and never seem to tire of: Diving in Deep by K.A. Mitchell
• First M/M book I ever read: Open to Possibilities by Carol Lynne (yeah, I jumped in with both feet and read a m/m/m)
• Last M/M book I read: More by Sloan Parker (...yep, a m/m/m....*g*)
• First M/M book I wrote: Object of His Desire
• Last M/M book I wrote: From Afar
• Work in Progress: Bound Forever
• First Book I wrote: Her Ladyship’s Companion
• First Book I Published: Bound by Deception (first published book, though Her Ladyship’s Companion was my first contracted book)
• First M/M Book I Published: Bound by Deception
• Will I ever write another M/F book: You’ll have to ask the muse. Lately she’s been fully focused on the boys ;)
• Favorite gay porn sites: Men at Play and Bel Ami
• Favorite Heroes Someone Else Wrote: Payton from The Englor Affair, Noah from Diving in Deep, Aiden from My Fair Captain, Lainey from With Love, Scotty from At Long Last.
• Favorite Heroes I Wrote: Oliver from the Bound Series, Leopold from Convincing Arthur, Raphael from From Afar. I have a thing for my more beta boys ;)

I'm going to tag someone for this one, too.

Tagged - Devon Rhodes ('cause it was her idea to make it a meme)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! It's beautiful and sunny here - can't ask for much more for a Saturday.

Deliberately Unbound - Free Story

Deliberately Unbound, a free short story featuring Oliver and Vincent from the Bound series, is now up on my website. Click HERE to check it out!

It takes place about 8 months after Bound to Him, and it's pretty much just one long sex scene (i.e. NSFW). *g* I'm working on the final book in the series (...there, I admitted it, that's the current work in process). This scene doesn't quite fit the feel of that book, but I really wanted to write it (the idea for the scene came from something Vincent asked Oliver in the first chapter of Bound to Him). So...I decided to write it as a free story.

I should use you all as witnesses more often. I had the thing done within 2 weeks of when I made the committment to write it. So that means I officially got it finished and posted before the deadline. ;)

I hope you enjoy it!

Pimpage, Updates and Wet Men

Shower smex...yum! Hop on over to Shawn Lane's blog and you'll understand why I have hot naked wet men on the brain. ;)

Speaking of Shawn, she's holding a contest for her upcoming release, Still The One. If you're in the mood to throw your name in the virtual hat, the contest is open until Friday, April 9th.

I'm quite the pimp today, aren't I? But if you can't pimp your awesome crit partner, then who can you pimp? LOL

As for me, I finished up copy edits for the book with girl cooties and have turned my attention back to the boys. In keeping with my promise, I'm working on the short freebie story for Oliver and Vincent. Been writing smut *g* In fact, it's very close to being done. So look for a post sometime next week with a link to the story on my website.

For all those who celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful holiday. For everyone else, I hope you have a great weekend.