K.C. Kendricks's Blog, page 111

Your Whisper in the Dark highlighted by Carolina Valdez

June 24, 2011


Many thanks to author Carolina Valdez for highlighting Your Whisper in the Dark on her blog, Sweet Ecstasies (http://www.carolina-valdez.blogspot.com/?zx=3a814ffa39714adc)

When I began my writing journey, I didn't consider that I would meet so many interesting people along the way. Carolina hails from sunny California and had it not been for the wonders of the Internet, we would have never met. Check out her website at www.carolinavaldez.com .

KC Kendricks
Website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
Join mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys
Blog: Between the Keys: http://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
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MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kckendricks

Gateways

June 21, 2011
The first day of summer

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The first day of summer brings thoughts of getting away from it all. I was surfing the web, the only sort of surfing I do although the real kind looks like fun, and found this picture. The scene beckons to me, calling me to step through into life lived at a slower pace. I want to sit in the shade and gaze out over the water.

Hmm. That might be just enough beach for me this year.

Don't forget - new this week - Your Whisper in the Dark. Which also means this week only get it at 35% off from the Amber Allure website.


KC Kendricks
Website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
Join mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys
Blog: Between the Keys: http://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Kc-Kendricks/1439574042

MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kckendricks

Just released! Your Whisper in the Dark_KC Kendricks

June 18, 2011
Just released!

A new release is always exciting! It's a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. For those of you who frequent a lot of blogs, you may see this announcement at several different places. And if you think you're tired of seeing it, think how tired the author gets posting it!!

Just kidding :) We're usually too pumped over having a new book out to get tired. So... Your Whisper in the Dark. Now available!



Your Whisper in the Dark
Contemporary erotic gay romance
available now at Amber Allure

Kenzie Zahn is starting over as a single man. Left with few immediate options, he accepts a friend's invitation to visit and house sit. It's the perfect opportunity for Kenzie to put a little space between the past and present while figuring out the best path for his future.

Mason Hall enjoys the carefree single life. He works hard, plays a little harder, and doesn't think much about settling down. The right man will come along – or not – and he's content to wait. A night out to enjoy a little dancing leads to a hook-up with Kenzie, the kind of man Mason has only ever fantasized about. Mason can't let him get away.

Kenzie's smitten. Mason is irresistible, but home is a thousand miles away and a long-distance romance isn't workable. A strange twist of identity brings a linked past to light. Kenzie and Mason are brought to the realization that even when Fate arranges a man's destiny, he still has to take a leap of faith, or lose out on love.


INTRO:

I scampered off to the parlor like a love struck teenager, snatched the receiver off the hook, and fell breathlessly onto the sofa.

"Hey, Mason."

"Hey. I had this number on the service ticket from last fall. Um, is it okay I called?"

I heard the 'click' as Tyler hung the phone upstairs. "Yeah, sure. I guess I should give you my cell phone number, though."

"Yeah. Do it tonight."

My stomach plunged. The weather wasn't conducive to going out. I appreciated Tyler's offer of his truck, but it would be foolish to go out on unfamiliar icy roads when I didn't really need to.

"It's snowing, Mason."

There was a clattering crash in my ear.

"Fuck. Dropped my screwdriver. Dropped my wrench. Hold on."

I grinned as I listened to more noise and additional foul language. Was he nervous over calling me? His smooth voice flowed back into my ear. "Sorry about that. I know it's snowing, damn it. So you're not coming into town?"

"I'd better not. I don't know the roads around here that well." I held my breath, dreading his next words. What if he hung up and we never connected again?

But wouldn't that be best? My head and my heart weren't in agreement.

"I guess you're right." He cleared his throat. I heard him take a deep breath. "Kenzie, will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

I failed to remember I was thirty-six, and a mature man. I ignored how bad of an idea it was to get involved with anyone a thousand miles away from home.

We'd already had each other in the most physically intimate ways possible, and now he wanted to take me dinner. I pumped my fist in the air in a gesture of victory.

"I would love to have dinner with you, Mason."


EXCERPT:

"Kenzie, please. We need to go someplace private so I can tell you everything."

I couldn't think about anything except getting the hell away from him. "I'm leaving, and neither one of us is going to make a scene. Goodbye, Mason."

I stood, turned on my heel, and left him sitting there. I needed fresh air, to somehow manage to breathe again. If I could get out the door, I could quiet the pounding 'why, why, why' beating inside my skull. Was this what people meant by a surreal experience? I fumbled my car keys, dropping them. I bent over to retrieve them without paying attention to how close to the car I was and whacked my head on the car door.

"Fucking hell!" I plopped down on the frozen tundra of blacktop and grabbed the right side of my head to make sure my brains weren't spilling out.

Just fucking great. I'd sport a bruise for sure come morning, not to mention the fucking headache already eating through bone.

Every time I went queen-out, something nasty happened and it was usually my own fucking fault. Like now. I welcomed Mason's body heat as he knelt beside me. "Kenzie? Are you okay?"

I kept my right palm pressed to my forehead and glared at him.

"What the fuck to you think?" I moved my hand. "Just tell me if I'm bleeding."

Mason hesitated, then stroked my face with cold fingertips. "The skin isn't broken, but I think you're going to have a bump." He eased down beside me and I hoped his balls would freeze fast to the macadam through his jeans and stick when he got up. "Please talk to me, Kenzie."

I suspected there was no way to avoid a conversation with him. Self-induced concussion aside, I seemed to have regained some composure. Maybe. I had one burning question for him.

"Mason, why the fuck even tell me? Why not let me live in blissful ignorance?"

He reached for my hand but stopped short of taking it. I sighed and held it out to him. His chilly fingers closed around my equally cold ones. My gloves were in the car instead of my pocket. Score another point for the home team.

"I had to tell you, Kenzie. It was the only right thing to do once I realized who you were." He started to put his arm around me but I froze him with a look.

Yes, it was. I had to agree with him on that point. He could have kept it from me. How would I ever learn of it? Dennis and I weren't in touch, and as far as I was concerned, we never would be. It was all in the past, his and mine, and it couldn't be changed. Generally, I held with the belief that if there was one thing gay men had no right to judge, it was another gay man's past sexual history – casting the first stone and all that crap.

My immediate thought was he'd blown that out of the water, but maybe not. He'd taken a big risk by telling me about knowing my ex-partner. Lord, my head hurt.

"So you told me. Now you can fuck me guilt free."

Mason blew out a short, tired breath. "Kenzie."

"Sorry. I'm not at my best when my head is splitting and my balls are freezing."

This time, I didn't stop him when he moved to put his arm around my shoulders. "I told you because you deserved to know my side of it, okay? If I could take back that day, I would."

That day? One day? Had Dennis wrecked our life together over one lousy fuck? I certainly saw why he'd be attracted to Mason. The man was smoking hot and, heaven help us all, principled.

"I'm going home, Mason. I need to think about a few things."

"Will you come to my place so we can talk? And I mean talk. No sex unless you say so."

The man's sincerity rang clear and true in his low voice. I hated to turn him down, but I had to.

YOUR WHISPER IN THE DARK
ISBN 978-1-61124-129-7
available now at http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/YourWhisperDark.html



KC Kendricks
Visit my website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
Join my mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys
Read my personal blog: http://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
Check out the MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kckendricks

Website updates - again! Life upates - again!

I've been working on the website again. It seems I never actually attain the perfection I seek. But that's okay. The website evolves as I evolve, and I think that's a good thing.

There were several things that weren't working for me, like the nav bar. It's gone in favor of something more streamlined. To have a cascade menu, or not? That has been the question. So far the answer is not. I tried it, and it didn't work, so it's back to the drawing board.

The Bookshelf page pleases me. I tried several incarnations before I stopped and said, "it'll do."


As each book as its own page, Your Whisper in the Dark is finally loaded, complete with the excerpt...yea! I can't believe it will be out on June 19th. I haven't even gotten the galley yet. Scary stuff, these last minutes rush jobs. I always worry what I've missed, but I've got a great editor and I find my worry is generally unfounded. Doesn't stop me from doing it, though.

The weather has been triple-H this week. Yes, I'm in the mid-Atlantic states and that is the summer norm. Hazy, hot and humid. I'm a walker. I like to get out four or five times a week, frequently during my lunch break, and walk. This past week was heatstroke weather. I got out one day for ten minutes, then I wilted and quit.

Highway Nights, the current WIP is under control. I *see* the ending, now all I have to do is get it committed to the page.

This weekend is the Mountain Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival over in Halltown, WV, just a bit south of Harper's Ferry. I won't know if I'm going until I see just how hot it gets tomorrow afternoon.

And so it goes in my world, June 10, 2011. Not a great deal of excitement, nothing much out of the ordinary. But there is one singular fact to all my rambling tonight - life is good!

KC

May 2011 Top Ten Amber Allure Titles

June 1, 2011



The May 2011 Amber Allure Best Seller list was just posted. Between the Moon and the Deep Blue Sea made it to number three! Yea!

A big congratulations to everyone on the list this month, and to everyone who had a book released during May.

AMBER ALLURE / May 2011

1. Kissed By God - T. A. Chase (Gay / Contemporary)
2. Between Sinners And Saints - Marie Sexton (Gay / Contemporary)
3. Between The Moon And The Deep Blue Sea - KC Kendricks (Gay / Contemporary)
4. Galaxy's Heart - Shawn Lane (Gay / Contemporary)
5. Infinity Pools - L. A. Witt (Gay / Contemporary)
6. Homeless In Heaven - Deirdre O'Dare (Gay / Contemporary)
7. Catch Me If I Fall - Riley Knox (Gay / Contemporary)
8. Crossing The Line - Christiane France (Gay / Contemporary)
9. Class Distinctions - Rick R. Reed (Gay / Contemporary)
10. Four Days With Jack - Kelli A. Wilkins (Gay / Contemporary)

New cover - Your Whisper in the Dark

The cover for the next book, Your Whisper in the Dark arrived this week. Being swamped with vacation prep at the day job, I didn't get around to posting it. Now I'm playing catch-up with the fun stuff.

Your Whisper in the Dark. The cover's a little different from all of my other covers. The guys look too young (my readers know I'm into mature characters), but I like the overall color and tone.

Look for Your Whisper in the Dark around June 19, 2011.

Damn You Autocorrect!

Every once in a while you just have to throw decorum to the four winds. Screw the politically correct. Forget age and image. Every once in a while you have to come clean and admit you found something so funny you almost wet yourself laughing.

A friend sent me the link to the Damn You Autocorrect website and I haven't laughed like this in ages! Based on some of the things friend's phones have emailed me, I believe every one! Enjoy!

http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/

The Story I'm Meant to Write

May 22, 2011

I think one of the hardest things for an author to do is to completely ignore what those around he/she are writing as it applies to their own work. Writing is a solitary pursuit, and we humans are not solitary creatures. Every day we are bombarded – literally- with news about fellow writers. New releases, new reviews, new blogs – you name it, we hear about it.

That's not to say it's wrong to keep informed because it's not, but information is a mixed bag of good and bad. You wish some people would stop pounding themselves on the back. You begin to wonder if their mother neglected them to the point they simply must, must, must find approval and affirmation anywhere and any way they can. Some people you wish would share their good news from time to time even as you appreciate their low-key approach to life. It's never right and it's never wrong, all being part of that solitary pursuit.

Having this bombardment of news creates a peculiar problem for me. I was a reader long before I decided to put my writing talent to use, and I'm still a reader. This morning, I checked on the new releases from various publishers, read the book blurbs to see which one(s) I might like to add to my Kindle. I stumbled across one in particular and wondered why I didn't think of that plot. The answer is because it's not the story I was supposed to write.

From time to time, I've heard other authors voice the question, "Has someone copied my work?" I'm not going to say that it never happens because maybe it does. Piracy is a big problem and very little is being done to address it. Once a story leaves your hands, anything is possible. But I think it's more likely that the professional writer taps into the well of shared human experience. Some stories, even if occasionally made familiar by the daily news, are told in our individual voice.

While however disheartening it is to learn someone else has written a story similar to something that we've had on our plot board for months, I think our job is to go ahead and write our story as we envision it, to put our own stamp on it. When finished, it will be different, unique with our own voice.

It is also unsettling when demands are made for information. The Internet is a very public place and once we have committed our ideas to the Internet they are free for the taking. When asked what we are currently working on, we need to weigh the pros and cons of our answer, of who is asking the question, why they believe they are entitled to that information, and in what forum we find ourselves when this question is put to us.

So bear with me, and other authors, when we are silent, for we have much work to do, writing the story we are meant to write.

The Science of Desk Clutter

May 18, 2011

I like to stay up-to-date on things. Every day, the current news stories the homepage of my browser selects for me keep me in touch with the real world.

Okay. Maybe not the real world, but some world outside my own four walls.

Somehow, and I don't remember the actual series of clicks my little mouse took to get me there, I landed on a page with this headline: "Computer Desktop Clutter Reveals Your Personality."

Say…what? That's a scary headline. Why in the world would I want to know what my clutter says about me? I wouldn't, but it was too late. I was sucked in – snared by my own curiosity into reading the article. Imagine my relief when I got to the part that says their survey, based on 80 million answers, is not scientific because it's not based on a representative sample of the population.

I wondered, too, at this point, why Live Science was wasting web space, but I read on, unable to stop myself.

It seems that men are more likely than women to have a neat desktop. That led me straight to the burning question of why can't men get their dirty clothes in the hamper, but I digress. They did say the survey wasn't scientific.

Moving on, messy desktop users are more likely to have completed some sort of higher education. Uh-huh.

I'll keep my mouth shut and my fingers off the keyboard on that one.

People who live in crowded cities are more inclined to keep a messy desk as compared to those in rural areas.

Messy deskers say work is often more important than their personal life. Messy deskers often have messy closets. (This was a surprise…why?)

Neat deskers who are more tech-savvy are more likely to their personal life first and responded they work simply to pay the bills.

So where am I in all that? I'm female (cluttered), I live in a very rural area (uncluttered), didn't go to graduate school (cluttered), I work because it pays the bills and provides health insurance (uncluttered).

My desk? It falls between "can't find a freakin' thing" and "a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind."

And I like it that way.


KC Kendricks
Visit my website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
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4.5 Divas for Beneath Dark Stars

With many thanks to Lasha at Dark Divas for her kind words:

Beneath Dark Stars is the sequel to The Back Stairs by KC Kendricks. Set six weeks after the original book, once again we enter the world of Fallon Roxbury and his shapeshifting lover, Sundown. In this installment we learn more about the Chal, the clan Sundown belongs to, and follow along while Fallon hunts down a serial killer.

As with the first book, KC Kendricks has created a unique being in Sundown as he is not your typical shapeshifter. Sundown's back-story and origins are fascinating as is the relationship between Sundown and Fallon. Combine their super hot sex scenes with true love and caring, then add in some comical relief with Fallon's police detective partner, Juny and you have an exceptional plot.

So if you like something a little rare in your m/m romance, then this series is for you. With its distinctive characters, amazing world-building and sexually charged love scenes, Beneath Dark Stars is a great read and hopefully we will get more from the author in this universe.

Rated 4 ½ Delightful Divas by Lasha!

Read the entire review here.

To read an excerpt from Beneath Dark Stars, click here.

Beneath Dark Stars
ISBN 978-1-61124-078-8
Contemporary gay romance with a paranormal twist
available now at
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/BeneathDarkStars.html

KC Kendricks
Visit my website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
Join my mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys
Read my personal blog: http://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
Find me on facebook - KC with the little butterfly
Check out the MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kckendricks