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The Admiral and I were talking the other night (as we often do) and the conversation turned toward my writing (as it often does). I had to remind him of something I plan for the future, which I don’t expect him to remember, and it devolved into this whole other thing where he wanted titles, plots, and characters for the upcoming books. 

So I gave it to him. 

See, in my head I knew the titles and could recite a plot summary paragraph. And I already have the book I’m working on and the next book roughly plotted. But the two after that were just nebulous plot summaries in my head. 

Yes. 2. Caught that, did you?  

The Something Like series has grown. Right now, it stands at 5 stories. And I intend for them all to make it to the page. Eventually. 

Could there be more?  Maybe. We shall see. Right now I’m working on Something Like Trust and I need to take things one step at a time. But knowing what comes next? That helps me get what I’m writing now right. So I’m glad to have my plot summary sheet to guide me. 

Sometimes, I wish I existed in a vacuum.  Or maybe a bubble.  Perhaps a vacuum-sealed bubble?  Mostly what I’m referring to here is to just be…isolated from the real world.  Because that real world has a really bad habit of intruding on my life.  Of getting in the way.

And I let it.

So life has been happening for the last couple of weeks, and I was caught up in it.  And even when I wasn’t, I was letting things slide.  There is much drama at the day job, and that’s been trickling over into the rest of my consciousness.  So I keep saying I need to relax and decompress.  Which is true in a lot of ways.  But even when it wasn’t, I was still saying it and letting it get in the way.

So, as you can imagine, I haven’t written much.  Hardly anything at all since my big awesome sequester.  I let it slide.  I used excuses.  I was stuck and I knew it, lost a little enthusiasm and drive.  I love these guys, but my confidence was shaky.  And I let real life sneak in and take over for a while.

I got called on it.  And that’s what I needed.  Because in a couple of hours this past weekend, I managed to make a fair bit of progress and get a bunch of words on the page.

This upcoming weekend, my sister and I are having another one of our Sistertime Weekends away.  And that’s going to be awesome and all the decompressing I need.  I have stuff I need to get done this week in preparation of that and I’m scheduling in some time with the words as well.

Something Like Hope releases in about two weeks.  And since I’m working on the sequel, Something Like Trust, and since I don’t want you to have to wait too long before you can read it, I’m determined to get it done.  I have a date goal in mind, and I fully intend to have a completed first draft by then.

Real life be damned.

So this past weekend, I turned invisible on purpose.  In both real life, and on the Internet (though, if I’m completely honest, I did sneak on a few times, look at some stuff, answer a few emails, and the like.  But mostly ignored it).  My goal was to hide away and focus my brain, and write a lot of freaking words.

I’m happy to say that it was quite a success!

In two days, I managed a little over 11,000 words.  Well, I actually did a great deal more than that, but there was a lot of deleting happening on day two, and I don’t really count those words because they didn’t stay.  And I did struggle to get into the groove on day two that I had on day one, which is when most of those words happened.  But I still managed a huge chunk of writing.

I have, in fact, half a book written.  And that, right there, was what I wanted to emerge from my weekend sequester with.  I have half the book done, and still six weeks to finish the other half.  (the deadline was Admiral suggested and author approved.  I need boundaries sometimes, even ones I impose myself, or I’ll just procrastinate forever)

So the sequel to Something Like Hope, which is out at the end of the month, is half written.   And when I finish that?  Well, then I’ll be diving right into the third book.  Just so I can keep the momentum going on the series, and no one has to wait too long to read the next installment.

Because I know I hate it when I have to wait as a reader.  I don’t want to do that to you guys!

All in all, it was a really good weekend, capped off by the release yesterday.  I really do love those guys, and I hope that if you’re so inclined to read Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love, you’ll love them a little bit too.

It’s here, it’s here!  Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love is out!  *bites nails*

I do hope you like Ben and Zack.  And this story, which has a very special place in my heart.

As it often does, the bad news comes in the middle of the night.

When attorney Ben Winters’s close friend takes a bad spill and ends up in the hospital, he flies across the country to be there for her.  His instant attraction to her brother takes him by surprise.  Wanting Zack Anderson is easy; actually having him is a bad idea.  While the two connect over concern for Zack’s sister, there are many reason to fight the attraction brewing between them.  Things heat up as Ben’s friend begins to show improvement, but the reasons not to get involved with the younger man remain the same–long distance relationships never work and Ben doesn’t do one-night stands.  But there’s one powerful reason to give in: Ben has never wanted anyone more.

You can purchase it from Dreamspinner directly.  And I’ll add the other buy links to the books tab at the top as soon as they become available.

In the meantime, how about an excerpt to entertain you for a bit…and maybe whet your appetite?  Enjoy!

“This place is gorgeous,” I breathed.

Zack’s laugh was low and soft. “You should be here in May, when the lilacs are in full bloom. There’s a festival and everything. It’s at its height then.”

I couldn’t imagine it looking even better, but I took his word for it. We strolled in silence, walking close together but not touching. It was fairly empty, but that made sense because it was the middle of a weekday. I would bet this park would be bursting with people on the weekends.

After a while, Zack reached over and took my hand. I tried to pull away, but his fingers clenched tight, keeping my hand trapped in his. I sighed, but relaxed. “Zack, come on.”

“You come on,” he said playfully. He gave me a tug and I followed him off the path. He sat on the grass beneath a tree and pulled me down with him. “Have a vacation fling with someone who knows how to treat you right.”

I shook my head, and my smile, I was sure, was a little rueful. “This is hardly a vacation.”

“It is now,” Zack said quietly. His gaze searched mine. “Josie is fine and will be out of the hospital tomorrow. So for however long you have left, it’s a vacation. I want you. And I want you to give in to me.” He paused then, and his face grew serious. “I’d never force you. I’ll back off if you really don’t want this or aren’t attracted to me.”

The snort escaped before I could check it, and his eyes lit up. Of course I wanted him. I knew he knew it, and he was trying to be a gentleman by saying that. I still didn’t think it was a good idea, though. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, something that made him different than every man I had tried dating before. But I knew it could never work, not in any lasting way, and I was tired of having my heart broken.

As if Zack could sense my inner turmoil, his smile softened and he opened the bag he carried. He handed me one of the wrapped sandwiches. I took it automatically.

“Think about it while you eat,” he said.

Like I’d be able to do anything else.

So the year is just about half gone, and it’s turned out to be quite a year for me.

Last year, I didn’t do so well on the writing front.  A lot more got shelved and forgotten than actually written.  In the end, I actually managed to write two thing, both of which were slated for release this year.  One was Pumpkin Rolls and Porn Sounds, released back in February.  The other is Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love, available on Monday as an individual title.  Of course, if you’ve already gotten the entire Daily Dose, it’ll show up sometime during the month.

Incidentally, I get a serious kick out of Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love.  There’s a lot inside that…well, let’s say it’s a bit self indulgent, and I love it, and I hope y’all enjoy the heck out of it too.  The Admiral has already geared the challenges for June toward Ben and Zack, so if you enjoy them, check back here on Fridays, and see more of their story.

While I was waiting on, and working on edits for, DWLYL, I wrote Something Like Hope.  In a whirlwind twist of fate, that one was submitted, accepted, and slated for publication super fast.  That’ll be out at the end of June, and I’m really looking forward to that one as well.  I started writing that one with a vague notion and a submission call in my head, some pushing from the Admiral, and a desire to see those guys find their HEA.  In the end, they did, and I fell in love with them along the way.

I’m hard at work on the sequel, Something Like Trust (which has morphed into something different than I originally intended, but better in this incarnation, I believe).  Right now it’s only a fifth written, really, but I know where it’s going and what’s going to happen, I have my vague outline (which just got revamped last night), and an self/Admiral imposed deadline to get it done.  It’ll be fine.

Couple other things that happened this year so far?

Well, I learned that I actually write better when I have my plot all written out, as long as I keep it vague enough for some wiggle room and I don’t beat myself up if I veer off course.  Having it all written out means that I can see plot holes better, and I can see where things need to change.  This has been working phenomenally well so far.

I’d gotten some requested for stories, and that in turn sparked ideas, and I actually took the time to write out a “schedule” of sorts.  Really, it’s a list of what I want to write and where each thing is in the queue.  Now, so far I’m sticking to it but I’m only on the second item.  But at any rate, this thing is really working for me to, as it acts as incentive.

I quit smoking.

I rearranged my space, and it is now more conducive to writing.  I’m enjoying the hell out it.  The new space, the super awesome comfortable chair, and the table with the tea in the corner.  I have all I need, and it’s making a difference, I think.

So, all in all, this year has been a good one for me.  And I’m working hard to keep that momentum going.

So let me start by saying that my novella, Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love, releases in two weeks!  Gasp and yay!  The entire collection is up for sale at Dreamspinner, and you can buy the whole bundle at a ridiculously good price, and then a new story will be delivered to your email every morning in the month of June.  It’s fun, because you won’t know what story is going to be there until that day.  But if you’re a little choosier, or if only some of the titles strike your fancy, then you can buy any of them as individual titles starting June 1st.

And in six or so weeks, Something Like Hope will be released as well.  That one is the longest I’ve written and had published so far, and Aaron and Lucas have a place in my heart that I didn’t expect.

So check out Ben and Zack on June 1st, and Aaron and Lucas a few weeks after that.

In the meantime, I’ll be nervous and worried and excited and thrilled.  I’ll be working on the sequel to Something Like Hope.  And I’ll be trying to squash my doubt like a bug.

It’s sneaky, that doubt.  Like a ninja.  I can be going on along, not a care in sight, working hard and being excited and then…that doubt starts to whisper.  It starts to tell me things and tear down my confidence.

I think that doubt is a part of who I am, and the truth is, I don’t want to kill it completely. Doubt keeps me working hard to tell the best story I can.  It keeps me from getting complacent.  Some days it’s stronger than others, and it impedes me.  But I mash it down, do my best to quell it and keep going.

It’s not easy, because it’s impossible to beat a ninja, but I’m working on it.

Sister and I went out to dinner the other night.  Our waiter was fantastic.  Friendly, personable, funny,  and jovial.  He was there at the right times, apologizing for things he didn’t even really need to, and utterly adorable.

He was also unabashedly and unashamedly gay.

I don’t know if he sensed that he was serving a girl on the spectrum and a straight but incredibly supportive ally or if he’s always like that.  But I would have loved to find out.  I would have loved to have a conversation with him about it, and get to know him a little better, because I’d have loved to put him in a book.  Or at least, you know, a character based on him.  I loved his confidence, and his attitude.  I loved his playfulness.  I wished I would have been brave enough to say “Hey, can I pick your brain a bit and use your personality and confidence and answers as the inspiration for a character?”  I must have thought of a dozen different ways to say it, and there were at least three opportunities in which I could have made an opening to conversation.

But my bravery failed me and I remained silent.

I’m too much of an introvert to strike up my own conversations.  I’ll respond to someone talking to me, and even then, most of the time it’s only if I have to.  And even though this guy was friendly and fun, and we did play around a bit, I still couldn’t make myself jump in with the questions I wanted.

It was an opportunity lost.  But it’s my own fault.

I’ll just have to let my imagination run wild instead.

I’ve got a new chair.

I’ve needed one for a while now.  A long while.  A really long while.  When I get in the writing zone, it’s not uncommon for me to spend hours upon hours with my ass planted in the chair, bad posture and all, writing away.  The only time I get up is when I have to pee.  And the chair I had?  Well, it wasn’t the best of chairs.  My ass would go numb.  My back would start to hurt horrendously.  I have a bad tendency to pull my feet up underneath me, and they would fall completely asleep…and then I’d need to get up because of the numb ass and the back pain and the full bladder, but I couldn’t actually go anywhere because I couldn’t feel my feet.

It was, to say the least, not the most ideal of situations.

But quality costs money, and a lot of stuff is horrendously overpriced anyway, and I kept putting it off in favor of other more necessary things.  Like car repairs and bills and yes, even a weekend away with my sister.  But it was just getting worse, not better, and it was starting to be really difficult for me to keep my bum in the chair and write.  Plus, I now have the new arrangement, the writing nook of awesome, and I wanted to be incredibly productive.  It was time to buck up, get the chair, and suffer with a lack of funds if I had to.

Oh, but there was a sale!  There was a really good sale, and a chair that when I sat in it, felt like heaven.  It cradled my poor body and I just wanted to sit and sit and sit.  I could pull my feet up comfortably.  It supported my back at exactly the right spots.  It was even better than the one I actually went to buy, and just a wee bit cheaper too.  It took me minutes to make my decision.

I bought the chair.

I put it together in about thirty minute and rolled it over and sat and I am so happy.  I can sit for hours with nothing going numb and nothing hurting.  I’m sort of pissed at myself that I waited so long.  I just keep telling myself the time wasn’t right, and it was supposed to be now.  So I could get this chair that feels like it was made for me at a price I could afford.

It seems silly that a little thing like a chair makes all the difference but it does.

I’m almost entirely certain I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.  I love series.  Love them.  I love reading books that follow the same two MCs as their relationship grows and changes, as they face new obstacles and overcome them.  I really love reading books that have different MCs tied together by a town, or friendships, or family, or any other manner of things.  I love getting the story of guys I’ve met before in previous books, and I love that, more often than not, we also get to check in with the previous MCs to know that they are still happy and in love.  So I love reading series, and I will pick up a series if it seems interesting and start reading until I run out of books.  It gives me a great deal of joy.

I love reading them, but I have yet to write one.

(Well, that’s not entirely true, years ago I did write a series, but it’s not very good at all.)

The Something Like series falls into the second category.  They characters are linked by a town and a TV show, but each book features a new set of MCs.  I had the next two books in the series plotted out practically before I finished writing Something Like Hope. But I decided I wouldn’t start writing the following books until I was sure that the first one had a home.

It does, and it’ll be out at the end of June.  And that means that I’ve started work on Something Like Trust.  It was originally book three, but as I was plotting things out and finishing book one, I realized it would work a lot better as book two, timewise.  I have the first chapter written.  I am gung ho and full steam ahead to write more.  That will be my focus for the next couple of months.

And yes, once I’ve got that written and done, I’ll be writing Something Like Love.

Will there be more after that?  Well, that remains to be seen.  There’s a vague idea for maybe a fourth, but I make no promises at this juncture.

What I can promise is that if you read Something Like Hope, you’ll have at least two more books to read afterwards.  Characters that have shown up and made themselves known, and begged for their own story.  Character who I can see clearly and know their path to the HEA.  I’m excited to bring them to you. And I hope you’ll love my guys as much as I do.  Because they’ve wormed their way into my heart and aren’t letting go.

And from a writing standpoint, not letting go of the world means I don’t have to have a mourning period before beginning something new.  Its the same place, and though I’m currently in a different guy’s head, I can still visit with my guys, and know they are doing fine.

I am a creature of habit.  I like it when things go exactly like they are supposed to, and, if I’m honest, having a routine helps me function a bit.  When things change (especially unexpectedly) it can send me into a bit of a tailspin.  It’s usually different if I’m the one instigating the change, but not always.

This past weekend, however, I was the one that changed things up.

Pretty much since I moved into this space, I’ve had my computer set up in the same spot.  It was a comfort to me, I think, to sit down and see the same exact things every time.  And I’ve done a lot of writing with the computer facing that way and it has been good.

But because of a big change in my life, I needed to move things around.  I needed a new space to write.  It took a great deal of furniture moving, and a couple of dedicated hours, but I now have a new space.  The change-up, thus far, is still in the new and exciting stage.  But when I sit down here, it’s already starting to feel familiar.  And some of the habits and desires I had while sitting in that other spot are just plain gone, which is what I needed.

I haven’t written much yet, but I can already feel like it’s going to be a good thing.

I did get some paperwork out of the way, and wrote a flash fic, so I’m moving in the right direction.  And so here in my new space, I’ll break ground on Something Like Trust…the followup to Something Like Hope.

**Something Like Hope will be available at the end of June from Amber Quill Press.