K.C. Kendricks's Blog, page 26

Bourbon and Blues review - 4.4 overall at Goodreads

January 18, 2021

I confess I don't pay much attention to reviews when I'm buying a book. The same book is a different, and personal, experience for each person. I might think a book presented a wonderful story while the next person thinks it to be complete drivel.

This year, 2021, is what I'm calling the year of being intentional. I've been struggling with focusing on all things writing and that must change. That change can only manifest if I'm intentional. I'm off to a good start in January, having worked on the Rayne Forrest book and laid down the "first clicks" on a new KC Kendricks book. I also need to work on being more consistent with promotion. To that end, I chose Bourbon and Blues as the January focus. 

The Bourbon and Blues webpage has been updated, and I made one of the little promo cards that have been so popular on Twitter. This morning I went looking and found that Bourbon and Blues has a 4.4 overall rating at Goodreads! I did not know this (because I'd never looked). And just like that I already have to update the original promo card. We do live, learn, and improve. Next time, I'll do some checking before I make a promo card. 

Life is a bit unconventional and I like finding unconventional ways to bring my characters together. We don't always meet our perfect match at church, or a pub, or by way of well-meaning friends. What matters is that we recognize something in another person that marks them as special, and a match for us. 

Here's a bit about Bourbon and Blues. Enjoy!

*_*_*_*_*_*

Bourbon and Blues

KC Kendricks
Book 11 of The Men of Marionville series
Contemporary gay romance
4.4 rating on Goodreads
When Griff Ernde makes a late-day visit to the cemetery, the gates close with him on the inside. Griff ends up in a cell at the local precinct house charged with trespassing, and with no way to salvage the day. No doubt about, it’s a personal low in his life. Then his luck changed when Kory Watts joined him in the cell. 
Kory Watts has a knack for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Stood up on a blind date at a local club, Kory gets swept up in a drug raid and lands in a cell with an inebriated stranger. When his drug test comes back clean, the duty sergeant offers Kory a deal: if he takes Griff home, they both can go with no charges. It’s not a deal Kory will refuse. 
When Kory and Griff meet again, they agree to have a drink - of ice water. Neither man judges the other and it’s quickly apparent they share an attraction. As their budding relationship heats up, Kory wonders if he’s ready to get serious with a guy he just met no matter how well suited to each other they are. When Griff is suddenly charged with the murder of his father, Kory is ready to move heaven and earth to help prove him innocent, but it might not be enough to save what’s between them.
Amazon US
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06W9GXLVB
Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06W9GXLVB
Amazon CA
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06W9GXLVB
iTunes
itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1203118825
Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bourbon-and-blues-kc-kendricks/1125699864?ean=2940154209172
Kobo
www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bourbon-and-blues
Excerpts and more at www.kckendricks.com/BourbonandBlues.html

Fits and starts

  January 11, 2021

With the holidays behind us, I am determined to be intentional about putting on my writer's hat. So far it's working well. Ten days into the new year and I've made more progress on the Rayne Forrest work-in-progress, and on a new KC Kendricks story. I've also made a few website updates (with more to come) and created promo cards for use on Facebook and Twitter. 

Amazon FINALLY uploaded the updated manuscript for the Rayne Forrest book, A Hero's Bargain. That led to finalizing the updates to Bourbon and Blues. I also made sure the Sundown Saga was set up on the new series feature Big A offers. 

So. Progress. 

I purchased a very inexpensive desktop tripod for my phone. If I'm going to share my writing "real," I need to practice first. The tripod will also be useful for sharing Deuce's world over on his blog, Deuce's Day. The dog could be a star if I gave him a bit more encouragement. 

Being content with the start of 2021 is, I think, important. Each step has been a small one, engineered to be successful. That gives me something to build on as the January chill drags on. It may seem like I'm working in fits and starts, but that's real life. Staying on top of everything requires a lot of flexibility, another keyword for the year 2021.

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
twitter.com/kckendricks
facebook.com/kckendricks
instagram.com/kc_kendricks pinterest.com/kckendricks

So...YouTube??

 January 8, 2021

How important is it to have a record of my "work" for posterity? Early on in my writing career, the most seasoned writers said to keep a record of everything you write. Every version of every draft of every manuscript complete with worksheets, notes, inspirational photos - The Works. The reasoning was you never know when you might hit it big and your scribbled notes become very valuable to the highest bidder. 

I get all that but I don't aspire to be another JK Rowling or a Clive Cussler. Or even Nora Roberts, if you want to stick to romance. It's not me. I like having a quiet life. When I write a story it's a story I want to live and then read. 

And so enter YouTube. 

The spousal unit and I have been watching a lot of YouTube these past few months. One evening he turned to me and said I should post my videos. Seriously? I take videos around the property for fun or to remember where something is planted, etc. Okay, so I've now posted some. Most are of Deuce for on his blog, Deuce's Day. So the question is, would I enjoy making a few writing videos? The jury is definitely out on that one. 

Videos of Deuce are easy. I want to always remember my time with him so even his naptime is precious to me even if no one else agrees. But videos of me as The Writer? 

I do a lot more than write, though. We've watched This Farm Wife walk through mud video after video hoping for something exciting to happen. The same thing with Outdoors With the Morgans. The man lives and breaths firewood. I know how to cut and split firewood so it's not very exciting. Then there are the "prepper pantry" folks. Those are actually educational, but I have little to add.  Or do I?

Those videos are about a unique perspective on life. That's the one thing we all have (unless we drank from too many pitchers of Kool-Aid and only know how to parrot rhetoric). Do I have a unique enough perspective to offer, too? 

I'm pondering the possibilities and experimenting with new-to-me software. We'll see where it leads.

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
twitter.com/kckendricks
facebook.com/kckendricks

Amazon series feature - new to my bookshelf

 January 2, 2021

For some time now I've noticed how Amazon displays series information in a different way. Suddenly, just a few days ago, that feature popped up as part of my bookshelf control. It seems like a good idea so I thought I'd test it out. 

Note to self: trying new things at six o'clock in the morning, in the dark, before finishing that first cup of coffee - not a good idea. 

I decided I'd set up the Ian Coulter's Amethyst Cove series, and it was going well for the first three books, Double Deuce, Deuce of Diamonds, and Ace, Deuce, Trey. Then SNAP! I went back to add books four and five, Circle of Steel and Steel Wheels, and it had vanished. The panel said my updates were in review, but I wasn't finished and there was no option to continue past the first three books. 

In trying to make this a simple process, Amazon has complicated it. If I can't edit the feature is it really going to help me? Maybe. I can edit after the review process is complete. 

But I now have to wait seventy-two hours to see what my series feature will look like. If there's a preview option, I didn't see it. 

It's still dark outside and I have yet to finish my coffee. Maybe I'll learn something from this. You know - like wake up and engage your brain before you try shit like this. Bad author. 

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
twitter.com/kckendricks
facebook.com/kckendricks
instagram.com/kc_kendricks
pinterest.com/kckendricks

2020 Retrospective

January 1, 2021

We've welcomed another New Year! Never did I dream, back in 2008, that I'd still enjoy blogging here at Between the Keys. That's the key - I still enjoy it. 
Life is a constant experience of change. We all saw that in the year just past. 2020 will not go down in the personal history of many people as a "good" year. And yet we have arrived here today triumphant over many adversaries, real and imagined. What I wanted to accomplish in 2020, and what I was actually able to do, are poles apart. And yet triumphant is the only way to describe how I feel. 
I wanted 2020 to be the year I once again made writing a priority. At the beginning of 2020, my partner's health had improved, my mother's condition had stabilized, I'd closed the door on settling my step-father's estate, and my finances were aligned in such a manner that I could, and still can retire at any time. I penned a cheery little poem to welcome the year. Little did any of us know what was ahead. 
Enter Covid-19 and its devastation. The heart has been ripped out of so many families by what I firmly believe is man's combined avarice and stupidity. Something sinister lies in the center of this pandemic and I don't believe it's a bat. 
2020 delivered the most massive changes I've ever lived through. Never did I expect I would live to see the shelves at the grocery stores be empty. My thoughts continually turned to my grandparents and what life must have been like for them during the Great Depression.  We were ordered by our government to remain home unless we were considered essential personnel by an employer. We are still under orders to wear a face-covering in public. Life in the United States changed rapidly and drastically and I fear it has been forever altered. 
The 2020 Retrospective
January 2020 saw me back to the writing. I had a work in progress, The Quest, and was keen to get it finished. In February, we began to hear bits and pieces about a serious outbreak of a new virus in China. The news escalated until in March we were all suddenly under stay-at-home orders and the rush was on for toilet paper. Seriously. The Great Toilet Paper Shortage was also upon us. 
Late in 2019, I began a new blog, Holly Tree Manor, to chronicle our rural life. It wasn't until the end of January that I decided to keep it going. It's hard to judge if it's the sort of thing anyone would be interested in, but it's important to me to journal these days. 
 April found me working from home. I again contemplated retiring but didn't want to lose my employer-paid health insurance. I penned a reflective blog entitled What We Will Remember and attempted to get some work done. 
In May I finally realized that part of my problem was grief over the loss of my writing buddy, Chris Grover. The approaching anniversary of her death left me questioning why I continue to write when there are so few writers left from the time I was first published. They say writing is a lonely profession and that is correct when no one around you speaks the language. 

But summer was here. There were fawns, fledgling hawks, fox kits, and for the first time in years a growing garden. My employer decreed I needed to once again work in the office, which did not please me but I went. By the end of summer, I was canning produce and developing a "prepper pantry" to be more prepared for the next wave of Covid-19.  By the middle of October, it was clear the second wave was upon us, and once again I was able to work from the safety of my home office. 
The middle of October also saw The Quest published! I cried with relief to have the project finished. The last thing I wanted was for 2020 to be the first year since 2003 I didn't publish a book. At the close of 2020, I'm working to finish a Rayne Forrest manuscript. It's almost done and I do wonder why I didn't finish it sooner. I suppose I got sidetracked on all the KC Kendricks books, but taking a journey back to my writing roots is good for me.  
Not all of 2020 was contentious, but our presidential election certainly was. If I ever doubted (and I did not) that politics are a sham, 2020 proved it over and over again. Our Constitution weighs in favor of individual rights. Everyone remembers that. No one seems to care for the responsibilities that come along with it. That's all I can say on that subject. 
I can't see into the Year of our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-one. I wish I could. All any of us can do is go forward in faith, one day at a time. I hope you'll stay with me on my journey. 
KC Kendricks


The 2019 Retrospective
The 2018 Retrospective

The 2017 Retrospective

The 2016 Retrospective

The 2015 Retrospective

The 2014 Retrospective

The 2013 Retrospective

The 2012 Retrospective

Capping off Christmas

  December 26, 2020
We're going to hear it said a lot - this Christmas was different. Can I get an "amen!"? I'll settle for you muttering under your breath, "you got that shit right." In the year 2020, it's about the same thing. 
No, I'm not making fun of Christians. It's the faith to which I espouse. Lighten up, folks. 
I'm part of the generation which, so it seems, was the first to be vocal about the commercialization of Christmas. Christmas is big money. I'm curious as to what the retail numbers will be this year. Our own personal experience with Christmas buying is not a good marker. We tend to discuss our needs and wants and settle on that one big thing we agree on instead of a bunch of little things. This year we decided to wait until spring to make that purchase since it's for outside. 
But what we received this Christmas isn't something we could purchase. I spoke with my two closest male cousins which did my heart good. I left a message for another cousin and I hope she'll be able to call me back today. My partner's siblings all joined together in a facebook chat (or zoom or whatever) with various spouses and offspring wandering in and out in the background. It was a welcomed connection to family.
Back in the day, I wasn't much of a fan of the digital lifestyle. I foresaw us being exactly where we are, although I never saw a pandemic coming. I saw the reliance on digital or virtual as the end of the personal gatherings. One of my friends used to shake her head at me, telling me that going digital was a great way to keep tabs on a friend without putting up with all their shit. She was right. I do that with her. 
Our Christmas was a solitary one. It's really good that after twenty-six years we still tolerate each other pretty well. The one cousin popped in with his new puppy but outside those ten minutes, we had our solitude. Last Christmas, I penned a light-hearted little poem entitled The Elder and The Crone. It was meant in fun but has deeper significance this year.  So as the hours of Christmas 2020 ticked away, the Elder and the Crone enjoyed a slice of bourbon-laced sweet potato pie and some heavily spiked eggnog. After that, the two old farts fell asleep in their respective recliners while the dog put himself to bed. It was a great way to cap off this particular Christmas. 
KC Kendricks www.kckendricks.com twitter.com/kckendricks facebook.com/kckendricks instagram.com/kc_kendricks

Christmas 2020

 December 24, 2020

May we all have a safe, healthy, and happy Christmas season, and a prosperous New Year. 

KC Kendricks

Are breaks really a good thing?

 December 19, 2020

Are purposeful breaks a good thing? My answer is it depends. The old adage to "write something every day" has never worked well for me. It works well three days a week since I don't work at the day job Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but the other four days of the week? Not so much. 
Knowing that for four days a week I'll be too emotionally tired to write has always been an annoyance and frustration for me. The year 2020, well, who can adequately describe 2020? What usually happens to me is that I'll come home from the day job and want to write until I sit in the chair and stare at the monitors. Then I sort of crash. It's very unproductive. 
We've arrived at what is my annual Christmas break, that time from the weekend before Christmas to January 2. It feels like a cheat to take the time off. I've almost finished a Rayne Forrest story and it would be great to kick-off 2021 with a new release. 
Sometimes it really works to tell myself I can't do something. I believe writers should be well-rounded in knowledge. That doesn't mean an expert. It means to take an interest in many topics - except politics. That shit will rot your brain. My planned breaks are so I can indulge myself by working with genealogy, ancient cities and peoples, crafts, cooking and baking, and planning a spring garden. This year I've added spying to my repertoire of interests. We bought a trail camera to keep an eye on the deer in the west woods. Something is having way too much fun out there at night and we think it's a coyote. 
Just typing the words "I'm on a break" has me itching to open the folder and work on the story. Any story. It's not only the Rayne Forrest story I have on the plot board. 
Maybe a huge part of staying motivated is getting myself to relax. The thing I've wanted in my life, above all else, is at hand. If not for the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to maintain really good health insurance, I would have retired back in June 2020. I came so close....
It snowed a few days ago providing me with a winter wonderland vista outside the windows of my sunroom office. Maybe if I write a few hundred words, I can take a break and go wander about the manor. Then tomorrow I can watch the footprints melt. I've got to fit that imagery in a story now. 
First day of being "on break" and already I have a new idea to jot down. Breaks can be good. 
KC Kendricks www.kckendricks.com twitter.com/kckendricks facebook.com/kckendricks instagram.com/kc_kendricks

Passion's Victory promotional card

 December 6, 2020

Passion's Victory is the second story I wrote as KC Kendricks. It garnered a CAPA nomination, which both surprised and pleased me. It shouldn't have. Passion's Victory is a solid story if I do say so myself. 
One of the tasks I've set for myself is making a promo card for every book. This morning, it was Passion's Victory's turn. This card is about my third effort and I think I'll stop while I'm behind! 
Here's a bit about Passion's Victory, available at the usual on-line book sellers. Some of the links are below, and others can be found on the book's webpage. 
Enjoy! 
*_*_*_*_*
PASSION'S VICTORY
 Micah Souther is young, talented, and gay. As the junior owner of the family business, he knows better than to look for love “on the clock.”
 Jonas Chadwick is the new guy at the firm. Older, wiser, and a survivor of the school of hard knocks, he’s not in the market for an office romance, even if he learns for certain his young boss is gay.
 One kiss is all it takes to send Micah and Jonas on a collision course, and when bodies collide, the friction gets hot...
EXCERPT
... My pulse pounded loudly in my ears and my cock rose, anticipating something I knew wasn’t a certainty. He’d come back, but for what? His warm lips found mine, seeking permission. I opened to him, inviting him to plunder at will. He did, thrusting his tongue into my mouth. I met him eagerly, hungrily. I wanted this, and more.
Jonas’ strong fingers encircled my wrist as he lifted my arm above my head to body pin me, full length, against my front door. He pressed the hard ridge of his erection firmly to mine. I reached for him with my free hand, wanting to feel his length and girth, but he grabbed that wrist, too, and lifted it beside the other. I bucked against him, totally turned on by the aggression I sensed in him.
“Be still,” he growled in my ear. He trailed kisses down my neck, even as his grip tightened. I struggled to break free of the vise grip he had on my wrists.
His pelvis ground against mine. I tilted my head and delved into the heat of his mouth. I moaned. He moaned. I wanted my hands free in the worst way. I needed to touch him, caress the sensitive, silky skin I knew sheathed his penis. I ached to feel his lips on my cock.
I threw my weight forward, desperate to force him to take a step back. It worked and I quickly spun him around and pinned him with my body. He grunted as he came in contact with the door and his lips bowed beneath mine. His strong fingers released my hands, and I reached for him, gathering him to me. His muscled thigh slipped between mine and applied upward pressure on my balls. Instead of worrying about injury I pressed down, reveling in the tingling sensation.
“Jonas,” I murmured against his smiling lips. “Talk to…” His tongue flicked to mine, cutting off my request for a moment of conversation.
Any of my neighbors watching were getting quite a sideshow. I shoved my hand in my pocket, fumbling for my keys. They fell from my shaking fingers to the porch decking. Jonas pushed me back, breaking physical contact. I longed to see his eyes, to get some idea of what he thought, what he felt.
“Bend over and pick them up,” he said cheerfully as he rubbed my nipple.
I stared at him and tried to catch my breath. “Not in front of you, Chadwick. I know all about men like you.”
“Do you?” Something rough and dark in his voice gave me pause. What demon did he battle?
“I know enough.” I pushed him back against the side of the house, not with some little force. “Why did you come back?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to satisfy my curiosity.”
“Bullshit.” I fisted my hands in his shirt and gave him a shake. “We take this inside, make it private, or we’re done here.”
Jonas stared at me for the longest twenty seconds of my life, then he nodded. I released him and he bent over, snagged my keys, and dropped them into my outstretched palm. I unlocked the door and invited the devil into my home for the second time in one day.
“I need a drink. Do you want one, Jonas?” I needed to haul him into my bedroom and have my way with him, that’s what I needed. My insides quivered. I shivered despite the warm evening.
But I knew, to my sorrow, that quickie sex now would be a mistake, and I bet he knew it, too.
“I’ll take a brandy, if you have it.”
“I hope you’ll settle for bourbon.”
I poured us each a generous shot and handed him one. He nodded and tossed it back like a pro. I followed suit, and we set our empties down on the counter in unison. Jonas reached for me again. I lifted my chin and stared him down. His hand dropped to his side.
I wanted him. God, how I wanted him. I ached with it. His gaze met mine before flicking down to the bulge in my pants and back up.
“Looks nice.”
“It’s a sock,” I told him cheerily, in the same tone that he’d used to tell me to bend over.
“Hmm. Well, that’s the risk we run, isn’t it?”
I snorted. “Ya think?” I went to check his package, and he moved away.
“Shy?” I hardly thought shyness to be a problem for him given his examination of my tonsils with his tongue.
“Let’s just say I’m cautious.”
 PASSION'S VICTORY
Available at
 Apple/iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1236569692
Barnes and Noble: barnesandnoble.com/w/passions-victory-kc-kendricks/1017484051 Kobo: www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/passion-s-victory
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Passions-Victory-KC-Kendricks-ebook/dp/B071Z5YRB4

KC Kendricks kckendricks.com twitter.com/kckendricks facebook.com/kckenricks pinterest.com/kckendricks instagram.com/kc_kendricks

A short promotional video

 December 1, 2020

Sometimes a person just gets a notion to do something, like, make a little video. 
Enjoy!