S.A. Ozment's Blog, page 2
January 29, 2015
Illusions- Excerpt #2
Here it is…excerpt number two. I hope you enjoy. :)
*Disclaimer* The following excerpt contains adult language.
Illusions
S.A. Ozment
As Skylar neared the gazebo, he heard something behind him. Immediately thinking it was Emma following him, he said, “I swear to God, if that’s you, Emma, I may….”’
“May what?”
Skylar swung around at the sound of Aiden’s voice.
Smiling, he said, “May… nothing… never mind. There’s a fan who insists on following me around. I thought you were her.”
“Nope, not a fan. And definitely not a ‘her,’” Aiden teased.
“Hum… wonder if I could change that?” Skylar said with a smile.
“What? The fact that I’m not a fan or the fact I’m not a ‘her’?” Aiden asked.
“A fan,” laughed Skylar.
“Keep it up. You are definitely headed in the right direction,” Aiden said as he walked closer to Skylar.
Skylar, whose heart rate started skyrocketing, tried to make himself chill out as he asked, “Want to have a seat in the gazebo or do you have to get back?” He looked toward the house.
“No, I’m on break. I saw you walk off down the path and thought I’d take the chance to follow you.”
“I’m glad you did,” Skylar said with his heart in his throat. Okay, this crap needs to stop. Since when do I get nervous over a little flirting?
Aiden and Skylar walked over to the gazebo. They managed to stay a good distance from each other, as if they were afraid to touch in any way. Once inside the gazebo, Skylar went to stand against one of the beams, setting his drink down on the railing.
“It’s sure is beautiful out here tonight,” Skylar said as he looked up at the moon.
“It sure is,” Aiden whispered as he gazed at Skylar.
Noticing the tone change in Aiden’s voice, Skylar turned to see Aiden walking closer to him. Within a second Aiden was standing directly in front of him. The closeness was intoxicating as the ache inside him magnified and began settling in his groin. Skylar reached out to touch Aiden’s cheek. Very tenderly he began running his finger down the side of Aiden’s jawline. Both men held each other’s gazes and tried to steady their breathing.
Skylar continued to draw Aiden’s face with his fingers as if he wanted to memorize it forever. His finger reached Aiden’s lips and lingered there as the touch of his lips sent jolts through Skylar’s body. Aiden opened his mouth slightly to capture just the tip of his finger in his mouth.
Skylar gasped. He had a hard-on so rigid, he felt like it might burst out of his jeans. Groaning slightly, Skylar leaned down and replaced his finger with his mouth. Grabbing Aiden’s upper lip with his mouth, Skylar moved his lips around until he had completely covered Aiden’s mouth. Instantly, Aiden opened his mouth, and Skylar pushed his tongue inside.
Taking their time, the kiss was slow and deliberate. Skylar pulled Aiden closer to him as he worshipped his mouth with an intoxicating, slow movement that drove both of them crazy. Gasping and straining against each other, the kiss deepened. Aiden moaned as he pushed Skylar back against the pole, the kisses becoming more desperate.
Genre: M/M Romance, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Novel
Release Date: February 13, 2015
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art: Christy Caughie
Pre-Sale Link: e-book http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6041
Pre-Sale Link: paperback http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6042
BLURB
Ever since arriving in Hollywood, Skylar Murphy has been loving life. He’s starring in a hit television show and on the verge of grabbing the lead role in the most anticipated movie of the decade. Poised on the edge of superstardom, he doesn’t want or need any complications to distract him from that goal. Whether he’s sleeping with a woman or a man, his noncommittal, no-strings-attached love life suits him perfectly, and despite his rep for playing gay roles, the world still thinks he’s straight.
At the launch party for his new show, Skylar meets Aiden Moore, an openly gay firefighter by day and cater waiter to the stars by night. Skylar is immediately attracted to him, but Aiden rejects him. When an arsonist appears to have targeted Skylar, their paths keep crossing. Always up for a challenge, Skylar works to win Aiden over, and he agrees to a date. Soon enough they can’t stay away from each other. Despite hiding their relationship away from the ever-present paparazzi, they’re happy together until a jilted fan joins forces with the arsonist to sabotage their future.
January 18, 2015
Illusions – Excerpt
About Illusions
Genre: M/M Romance, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Novel
Release Date: February 13, 2015
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art: Christy Caughie
Pre-Sale Link: e-book http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6041
Pre-Sale Link: paperback http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6042
BLURB
Ever since arriving in Hollywood, Skylar Murphy has been loving life. He’s starring in a hit television show and on the verge of grabbing the lead role in the most anticipated movie of the decade. Poised on the edge of superstardom, he doesn’t want or need any complications to distract him from that goal. Whether he’s sleeping with a woman or a man, his noncommittal, no-strings-attached love life suits him perfectly, and despite his rep for playing gay roles, the world still thinks he’s straight.
At the launch party for his new show, Skylar meets Aiden Moore, an openly gay firefighter by day and cater waiter to the stars by night. Skylar is immediately attracted to him, but Aiden rejects him. When an arsonist appears to have targeted Skylar, their paths keep crossing. Always up for a challenge, Skylar works to win Aiden over, and he agrees to a date. Soon enough they can’t stay away from each other. Despite hiding their relationship away from the ever-present paparazzi, they’re happy together until a jilted fan joins forces with the arsonist to sabotage their future.
EXCERPT
(Lead in– Skylar ran into Aiden, who was serving champagne, at the premier party for The Executives. When there’s a fire at the sound stage near Skylar’s, he spots Aiden again. Not having been introduced, he refers to him as “Mr. Champagne”.)
“…” refers to edited dialogue for length
***********
It couldn’t be… could it? Skylar looked again to make sure he was not mistaken. This time Skylar saw the flicker of recognition in Mr. Champagne’s eyes before he turned back to continue talking to his chief. As Skylar stood there, trying to decide his next move, he watched Mr. Champagne grab an ax from the side of the truck, put on his helmet, and disappear into the building. That was it. Maybe it was the sheer hotness of that guy just grabbing his ax and walking into a smoke-filled building, or maybe it was the memory of that rock-hard body, but Skylar knew he had to know more about him, fan or not.
“…..”
Mr. Champagne walked out of the building, which was now almost smoke free, and headed toward the fire engine. As he removed his helmet to wipe the sweat off his face, Sophie knew immediately why Skylar was so interested. It was the hot serving guy she had seen him flirting with at the party.
“Is that the guy?” asked Sophie, motioning toward the firefighter.
Skylar moved to block her from Mr. Champagne’s view. “Yes, that’s him, and would you please stop being so obvious?”
“Are you going to talk to him?” she asked.
Getting annoyed at the constant string of questions, Skylar just glared at Sophie and said, “I might. I haven’t decided yet.” Then, motioning toward the soundstage, he said, “But will you please meet me on set? I’ll be there in a second.”
“Okay, fine, but I really think you should talk to him.” At Skylar’s second glare she said, “I’m leaving, I’m leaving. See you in a few.” Sophie walked off down to Soundstage 5.
“…”
Turning back to Mr. Champagne, who looked slightly busy trying to get the hose latched onto the truck, Skylar tried to be patient. But after a few more minutes, Skylar felt he had waited long enough. It’s now or never, he thought as he started toward the fire truck and the sexy fireman.
“Hey,” said Skylar as he walked up behind Mr. Champagne.
Mr. Champagne turned around. Upon seeing it was Skylar, he said, “Hey,” and then he immediately turned back to his truck to finish tying in the hose. He had no time for the disappearing actor.
Okay, what the fuck? Not sure exactly how to take that reaction, but not wanting to back down, Skylar continued, “I saw you a few minutes ago, talking to your fire chief, and I thought that I recognized you. Didn’t you work The Executives premiere party the other night?”
Aiden paused for a second, then turned back and replied, “Yeah, that was me.” And then, unable to stop himself, Aiden said, “Although, I must say, I’m surprised you remembered me. If I’m not mistaken, you were more than wasted that night.”
“You can say that again,” Skylar agreed. “….” “Yet, I do remember you, so I believe that proves that I did have some clarity that night. But I have to admit, if you introduced yourself to me, your name was lost someplace between six and eight gin and tonics.”
Aiden looked at him for a second before responding, “Actually, I didn’t find it necessary to introduce myself. I was just serving champagne to the party guests.”
Well, damn! Skylar, a bit taken back by the chill in the fireman’s voice, said, “Okay. I only thought that you might have because in my experience, most fans introduce themselves right away. Forgive me, I didn’t mean to assume something so simple.”
Aiden turned all the way around, looked Skylar straight in the eye, and said, “Actually you’re still assuming, if you think I’m a fan. Truth is, until that night, I didn’t know who you were.” He paused before finishing with, “Sorry about that.”
Skylar, a bit insulted yet somehow intrigued, stood there for a moment, taking all this new information in. Then he smiled, held out his hand, and quietly said, “No apology needed. Let me introduce myself. My name is Skylar Murphy.” And you are certainly going to know me now.
January 17, 2015
Originally posted on 
January 15, 2015
Pre-Sale Experience – fun and terror rolled in one
I feel like I’ve been spamming the universe with the word, “Illusions”. But the past couple of days have been a whirlwind of setting up accounts, promoting a little and seeking help with promotions.
Yesterday, I found out that my book, Illusions, was on the “Coming Soon” page at www.dreamspinnerpress.com. To say I was excited was an understatement. This is something I’ve wanted my entire life. To write a book, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed writing, to be published. Thank you DSP for this opportunity!!!
I immediately text my family and friends (as many as I could find at the moment) and told them about it. I posted on Facebook and on Twitter. So many of my wonderful friends were excited with me. Some purchasing the book right then! It was an amazing experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you guys!!!
One of my best friends, www.facebook.com/joweil.de Jo placed a post about it on his fanpage. And that meant so much to me. Especially since it was his role in a German soap opera that gave me my first beautiful gay romance. He was on a television show, Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love) and he was one half of the supercouple, “Chrolli” (search YouTube for “Christian and Oliver”, I promise you won’t be disappointed). Between the amazing writing of Tom Chroust and the acting of Jo and Thore, I was profoundly moved by the m/m romance. I had watched “Queer as Folk” and as much as I loved that show (I was a TRUE Brian/Michael lover), it took “Chrolli” to truly move my heart. It was then that I decided I wanted to write m/m romance. It was my dream that one day I could also tell a beautiful story such as that. Sigh…dreams…
Ok where was I? Oh yeah..my whirlwind two days. :) After chatting with another fellow DSP author, http://renaekaye.weebly.com/, I realized that I needed to set up a goodreads author page, set up my DSP author page and still promote the book wherever I could. It was a lot to take in, especially since I had been buried in my second book and hadn’t paid too much attention to what I was supposed to be doing for “Illusions”. Can I just say I have about 10 guest blogs and I haven’t written the first one?? YIKES!
But then the worries started to hit me. What if no one liked it? What if they hated it? What if they didn’t love Skylar and Aiden as much as I did? Holy Cow, I know how to stress out.! And in waltzed Renae and she helped calm me down. What a sweetheart! Thank you Renae!!
So now, I will go back to writing Demons and promoting and working my full time day job. AND…if I say the word “Illusions” too much, just try and ignore me. :)) I’m just so excited!
January 3, 2015
June 21, 2014
It’s beginning to look a lot like …publication.
Back in June, 2014, (6 months ago) I found out that my first novel, Illusions, would be published by www.dreamspinnerpress.com
I received my first set of edits on October 31st. At the time, I was mid-way through book number two. I must say, stopping midway through an entirely different thought process to go back and work on the first book kind of threw me. I had to get into the heads of Skylar and Aiden once again to rewrite a few scenes. Once the first edit was complete, I bounced back to book number two. We did this three different times before we completed the edits.
In between the edits and working on BN2 (book number 2) I had to write a blurb for Illusions and pick out the cover art.
Now, it’s the end of December and Illusions is at the galley proof stage, heading to a tentative release date of February 13, 2015..
I have to say working with DSP has been fantastic. Their process from choosing the manuscript to where we are today has been amazing. They are highly professional and working with DSP is like working with a well oiled machine. Every person knows their part of the process and like clockwork, they show up with it.
Unfortunately, I fell in love with my two main characters, Skylar and Sebastian (they made me change his name) Aiden. I simply didn’t want to let them go. Much like my real life affection for “Sebastian Stan”. Therefore, my only option was to write about their friends so that “I”, by that I mean “their friends” can interact with them.
In BN2, you will meet Dylan and Jackson. Jackson is Aiden’s cousin, so we’ll be seeing Skylar, Aiden and Ryan again in BN2.
I hope you’ll join me for the cover reveal the first of January. We’re off to a new year and hopefully, fun times.
Shirley
Now for the song and video that inspired me as I wrote Illusions.
The Kill by Thirty Seconds to Mars
June 16, 2014
Illusions
I have been trying to think of a way to start my author blog. Being new at this, I wasn’t sure what was appropriate for me to post. Thank goodness the folks over at Dreamspinner Press have been nothing but nice.
I thought I would start out by posting the “unofficial” blurb about my book. It is unedited but I hope it’s enough to get you interested in finding out more about my beloved characters. Thanks :)
ILLUSIONS
By: S.A. Ozment
(unedited)
Television heart-throb Skylar Murphy is loving life. He is starring in a hit television show and on the verge of grabbing the lead role in “Checkmate”, the second movie in the award-winning franchise, “Kings Pawn”. Poised on the edge of super-stardom, he doesn’t want or need any complication that might distract him from that goal. Whether he’s sleeping with a woman – or man of his choosing, his non-committal; no-strings-attached love life suits him perfectly.
Aiden Moore works as a firefighter for the Hollywood Fire Department and moonlights as a server for a catering company, whose clientele often include Hollywood’s Elite. Young and openly gay Aiden lives a low-key life when not fighting fires. Upon meeting Skylar at the premier party for the new hit television show, “The Executives”, Aiden is immediately disillusioned with the free-spirited, playboy, Skylar.
When Skylar appears to have been targeted by an arsonist, Aiden finds himself continuously crossing paths with the Hollywood heart-throb. Always up for a challenge, Skylar works his charms until finally Aiden agrees to go out with him. After one date, feelings flourish and they can’t stay away from each other. That is, until a jilted fan joins forces with the arsonist and tries to sabotage their relationship.
Will Skylar be able to escape his lifetime of commitment phobia? Will Aiden be able to handle all the Hollywood “illusions” and commit to Skylar? Or will they both be too late if the arsonist gets to Skylar first?
