Hard to believe isn't it that next month the Yuletide will be upon us. I was lucky in that total-e-bound accepted my Christmas story - A Special Christmas - as part of their "Yule Be Mine" collection. It's due out on Dec 13th in ebook, and you have to love that cover! TEB's art department always does such a great job.
The story is pure romance - a love-lorn guy, a log cabin, a roaring fire, now all he needs is another guy to go with it all. Well, it's Christmas when wishes come true, and Santa isn't going to let our hero down. So, don't forget, this Christmas, or Hanukkah, upload A Special Christmas onto your Kindle or Nook or Sony reader or iPod - we've got 'em all covered - and enjoy!
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving too!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
In praise of older women
Recently I was asked by a friend of mine if I'd mind escorting her widowed aunt to a special presentation of the local ballet company. I had met Sheila only on one prior occasion some years before, and remembered her as affable but couldn't quite remember what she looked like. Anyway, I told my friend I'd be delighted and called Sheila to ask if she'd like me to pick her up, but she said, no, she'd rather drive herself and would meet me at the theatre entrance.
When I got there I looked around, scanning the crowd for my friend's aunt Sheila.The only woman I could see standing alone and obviously waiting for someone was a rather chic looking lady fashionably dressed in black with a large red rose pinned to her lapel.
I approached her carefully. "Sheila?"
She gave me a lovely smile and held out her hand. "You must be Jim. Thanks you so much for agreeing to spend time with an old broad!"
She looked so elegant in her black brocaded coat and matching skirt, her hair beautifully coiffed, that I found myself wishing I'd dressed accordingly - not in a coat and skirt - but in something a bit smarter than my beige slacks and blue polo.
As we walked inside she took my arm and I could actually feel the eyes of many people upon us. I handed over the tickets and we went to the bar for a glass of wine. We stood chatting before the show and Sheila told me of her life in dance when she was a young girl.
"I always wanted to be a prima ballerina," she said wistfully, "but had to settle for being a Vegas showgirl."
I could tell there were many stories hiding behind her twinkling blue eyes, and I recalled that my friend had told me her aunt had been 'quite the free spirit' in her youth.
Just as we were about to mount the stairs to take our seats a young girl walked up to us and put her hand on Sheila's arm. "I just want to tell you that you are so beautiful," the girl said.
"Why, thank you," Sheila said, with a smile, and I intuited by the way she accepted the compliment that this was not an unusual occurrence for her. I imagined that Sheila had been told she was beautiful by many men and women during her life, and even now despite the tell tale lines around her eyes and mouth, she still looked stunning.
She squeezed my arm and whispered, "Not bad for seventy-four, eh?"
After the show we went for a late supper and once again I could feel the stares of the other patrons as Sheila vivaciously regaled me with hilarious tales of her life upon the 'wicked stage'.
I was quite sorry to have the evening end, but Sheila insisted she had to have her beauty sleep. I escorted her to her car, she kissed my cheek then slid onto the driver's seat with a dancer's elegance.
It was one of the most memorable evenings of my life, and something I hope to repeat often in the years to come.
As Mark Twain said, 'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter'.
I think that is the creed by which Sheila has lived her life - and it shows
When I got there I looked around, scanning the crowd for my friend's aunt Sheila.The only woman I could see standing alone and obviously waiting for someone was a rather chic looking lady fashionably dressed in black with a large red rose pinned to her lapel.
I approached her carefully. "Sheila?"
She gave me a lovely smile and held out her hand. "You must be Jim. Thanks you so much for agreeing to spend time with an old broad!"
She looked so elegant in her black brocaded coat and matching skirt, her hair beautifully coiffed, that I found myself wishing I'd dressed accordingly - not in a coat and skirt - but in something a bit smarter than my beige slacks and blue polo.
As we walked inside she took my arm and I could actually feel the eyes of many people upon us. I handed over the tickets and we went to the bar for a glass of wine. We stood chatting before the show and Sheila told me of her life in dance when she was a young girl.
"I always wanted to be a prima ballerina," she said wistfully, "but had to settle for being a Vegas showgirl."
I could tell there were many stories hiding behind her twinkling blue eyes, and I recalled that my friend had told me her aunt had been 'quite the free spirit' in her youth.
Just as we were about to mount the stairs to take our seats a young girl walked up to us and put her hand on Sheila's arm. "I just want to tell you that you are so beautiful," the girl said.
"Why, thank you," Sheila said, with a smile, and I intuited by the way she accepted the compliment that this was not an unusual occurrence for her. I imagined that Sheila had been told she was beautiful by many men and women during her life, and even now despite the tell tale lines around her eyes and mouth, she still looked stunning.
She squeezed my arm and whispered, "Not bad for seventy-four, eh?"
After the show we went for a late supper and once again I could feel the stares of the other patrons as Sheila vivaciously regaled me with hilarious tales of her life upon the 'wicked stage'.
I was quite sorry to have the evening end, but Sheila insisted she had to have her beauty sleep. I escorted her to her car, she kissed my cheek then slid onto the driver's seat with a dancer's elegance.
It was one of the most memorable evenings of my life, and something I hope to repeat often in the years to come.
As Mark Twain said, 'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter'.
I think that is the creed by which Sheila has lived her life - and it shows
Monday, October 4, 2010
October at last
Finally, the suffocating desert heat is on the wane and we can breathe some rain-fresh air. Vegas has its charm, though mostly for the tourist; when you live here, 6 months of grinding heat can start to be just too much.
So, it's autumn and not a day too soon, say I.
Blood Relations my new vampire story will be released on Nov 22nd and A Special Christmas sometime in December. Until then, With a Little Help From My Friends, a story of pure romance is proving popular. For an excerpt visit:
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=927
Hope you enjoy.
So, it's autumn and not a day too soon, say I.
Blood Relations my new vampire story will be released on Nov 22nd and A Special Christmas sometime in December. Until then, With a Little Help From My Friends, a story of pure romance is proving popular. For an excerpt visit:
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=927
Hope you enjoy.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
New release
A Deadly Deception which is the sequel to A deadly Game is now available at MLR Press - click on the cover for more details. The second in the Nick Fallon series finds Nick involved with a bunch of people who couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it - and unfortunately for them, they soon find out it does. Nick also suspects his normally straight arrow partner Jeff Stevens is hiding something from him - something that could jeopardize not only Jeff's future but that of his friends and his business.
Nick wonders, what's a guy to do when no one wants to come clean?
Nick wonders, what's a guy to do when no one wants to come clean?
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Book Signing
I'm excited about visiting San Diego this weekend - Sat. April 24th to be exact. I'll be at Martinis Above Fourth signing my latest Nick Fallon Investigation novel, Murder Above Fourth. The restaurant owners, Chaz and Dale are kindly hosting the signing, and it should be a lot of fun - plus the martinis are great. Join us if you can at 7.30pm!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Good news yesterday from LAMBDA. My novel Time after Time (see below) is a finalist for a Lammie Award - LAMBDA's annual literary award for gay fiction. Winners will be announced on MAy 28th in NYC - only sorry I can't be there - but my fingers will be crossed, along with everything else. But sticking with the Olympics ideal - it's not the winning , it's the participating - or something like that!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I Like Cowboys!
When I was a kid there was nothing more exciting for me than to go to a Western movie. Even now I tune in to Encore's Western channel and catch some of the oldies but goodies, starring the likes of Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart - though I don't recall either of them riding a horse like the gentleman on the right! Needless to say, this post is to tout the release of Ride 'em Cowboys, in print, due out March 15th. Yee-haw! Click on the cover for more info on these two super sexy stories with hot dudes in leather chaps - or should it be, leather chaps in hot dudes? Either way - enjoy!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Cowboys!
Total-e-bound.com is issuing both my cowboy stories in print next month in one volume - to which I say - Yippee-eye-oh-kyay - or something equally corny! Title with be Ride 'em Cowboys! and the original cover (see right) will be used. I'll establish the link once I get the release date - until then, curb your enthusiasm. I know y'all can't wait for another taste of baccy and leather!
Friday, February 26, 2010
A year in the life
Life sometimes has a strange way of kicking you in the ass just when you think everything's going great. I don't usually write posts like this one, but recently I've felt the need to rant just a little. Last year -- 2009 -- sucked . Not professionally, you understand -- I did okay with writing and book sales etc. -- but I lost two very dear friends and it's been hard to reconcile their loss. We went back a long way together - Jimmy, Gee (short for Godfrey) and I worked together in show biz years ago.
Though time and distance kept us apart most of the time, we never lost touch, and when my partner Phil and I visited them in London they always made us feel so welcome and at home. Gee passed away after a long bout with cancer, and sad to say Jimmy never really recover from the loss. He visited us at our home in Nevada last April, but he was a shadow of his former self -- totally at sea without his safe haven.
Last December I received the sad news that Jimmy had died after falling down a flight of stairs at his home in Mitcham, Surrey. Phil and I attended his memorial service in London on Jan. 30th, his birthday. His and Gee's ashes were scattered together from a boat on the River Thames. I was glad I was there to say goodbye to both of them, but the crushing sadness I felt that day has taken a long time to dissipate. It's still there, and somehow I feel it always will be. Friends -- good friends -- are rare, and impossible to replace. The memories I have of them, the good times, the laughs we shared, will never die -- I will always hold them close to myheart. I just wish I could hold my dear friends there again too.
Though time and distance kept us apart most of the time, we never lost touch, and when my partner Phil and I visited them in London they always made us feel so welcome and at home. Gee passed away after a long bout with cancer, and sad to say Jimmy never really recover from the loss. He visited us at our home in Nevada last April, but he was a shadow of his former self -- totally at sea without his safe haven.
Last December I received the sad news that Jimmy had died after falling down a flight of stairs at his home in Mitcham, Surrey. Phil and I attended his memorial service in London on Jan. 30th, his birthday. His and Gee's ashes were scattered together from a boat on the River Thames. I was glad I was there to say goodbye to both of them, but the crushing sadness I felt that day has taken a long time to dissipate. It's still there, and somehow I feel it always will be. Friends -- good friends -- are rare, and impossible to replace. The memories I have of them, the good times, the laughs we shared, will never die -- I will always hold them close to myheart. I just wish I could hold my dear friends there again too.
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