M. Durango's Blog, page 3
August 25, 2011
Summer!
Summer may have finally reached the Pacific Northwest! I know, it's almost the end of August, but our weather's been atrocious this year. Hopefully a few days of sun and temps above 75 will help ripen the handful of tomatoes we have growing. I'm bringing my laptop to the deck to work on edits for "Where You Least Expect It." I think I've made good headway, which is good since the edits are due back in five days (can you say "deadline-driven"?).
I'm glad I didn't go with my original plans to visit New Jersey at the end of August; a hurricane would not make for a fun vacation at the beach.
August 21, 2011
Back from vacation!
Back from two weeks at the Jersey Shore; now it's time to work on edits for my first novel with Torquere, writing, outlining, and the day job. I posted some pictures from vacation here.
July 12, 2011
Long time, no post
I need to start taking my own advice regarding time management, which I kind of suck at. But I have a major update planned for later tonight or tomorrow, so hopefully that'll get me moving in the right direction.
On a positive note, it's getting more summery here in the Pacific Northwest, which is helping my overall productivity, I think. Winter and spring were hellacious this year and summer really hasn't been much better. Oh, well. Eventually I'll get that second home in Baja. 
July 11, 2011
Test
Testing the new Windows Live Writer. A little weird, and it seems one of my accounts is missing.
April 24, 2011
Happy Spring!
A bit belated for, but it's finally warming up enough to start planting the garden. So far, we've started peas, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, lettuce & "salad mix", eggplant, and beets. (And I'm testing uploading photos using Windows Live Writer.)
Writing wise, I'm almost finished editing "Where You Least Expect It" and should have it submitted by the end of the month. Then it's on to editing some more WIPs and working on new short fiction.
February 12, 2011
New story out!
I have a new story out from Torquere today. "My Secret Valentine" continues the story of Jeremy and Brian from "Dinner and a Movie."
Blurb:
Valentine's Day seems like a greeting card holiday designed to bilk people out of their hard-earned money. That's always been Jeremy's take; but this year is different. Months after becoming lovers with his twin, Brian, Jeremy finds himself wondering just how this new aspect of their relationship changes things. In addition to battling his own insecurities, Jeremy might have to battle Brian's sexy — and interested — study partner, as well. Will Jeremy and Brian work out their differences or will their first Valentine's Day be over before it begins.
Excerpt after the jump:
Jeremy placed his empty bottle in the sink and stepped up behind Brian, placing a hand on Brian's hip and kissing his neck.
"Tell me you're done studying for a while."
Brian leaned back against him. "I think I can take a break." Brian reached back and tugged Jeremy's hand forward from his hip to his already hardening erection.
"Oh, fuck, Bri." Jeremy rubbed lightly, teasing Brian through his jeans. Brian moaned and turned his head to kiss Jeremy. Jeremy slid his other hand underneath Brian's shirt and felt the muscles contract under his hand. Jeremy finally broke the kiss and pulled away. "Come on." He hooked a finger through Brian's belt loop.
Brian grinned and followed him. "Are we going somewhere?"
"I was thinking the nearest bed would be a good start."
"I always knew you were the smart one."
October 13, 2010
Getting ready for Fall
Fall is not my favorite season, but it does contain my favorite holiday – Halloween. We're gearing up for our 12th Annual Halloween party (and already starting to plan for #13 next year). This involves temporarily transforming my writing space into Satan's Chalet (complete with life-sized coffin and papier-mâché Gateway to Hell entryway).
Fall also means nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). This will be my third year; so far, I have a vague idea, but no real plan.
On the Work in Progress front, Where You Least Expect It is with beta readers; hopefully there aren't too many major issues and I can get it subbed by by the end of the year. I'm also in the middle of story boarding the first novel-length story I started way back in 2007 and just managed to finish recently. It has major issues, mostly because I went on an exposition kick and have pages and pages with no dialog. Ugh. Not reader friendly.
September 19, 2010
Sunday in the Wood Hood
It's pouring down rain in here in Bellingham and the cat is not happy. Hubby's in PA for a week and I'm planning to lock myself in the cabin and try to complete some of the bazillion things on my To Do list, including some free fiction I've been meaning to post, edits I need to finish, and the, of course, that day job.
September 1, 2010
Happy 7th Anniversary to Torquere!
Torquere Press Celebrates 7th Anniversary!
Seven years?! No, we can hardly believe it either. Seven years of bringing readers the best, the sexiest, the most romantic GLBT fiction. And to celebrate, we're giving away prizes — great themed gift baskets, gift certificates for free books every day, and a scavenger hunt that will give readers a chance to collect a deck of cards that will win big – -a Nook from Barnes & Noble!
Readers will get the chance to "collect cards" by visiting each participating author's website, blog, or Facebook page. By collecting all the cards and filling in the form, players have the chance to win free books daily, a gift basket once each week, (including BDSM, werewolf and ménage themed baskets), and be entered in the grand prize drawing for the Nook.
We'll also be having random sales via our blog, GLBT Romance, Facebook, and Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1182167880&ref=ts
http://glbtromance.blogspot.com/
With bestselling GLBT romance authors like Chris Owen, Tory Temple, Kiernan Kelly, P.D.Singer, Sean Michael, and B.A. Tortuga, you'll have a blast playing along. Just log onto Torquere Press website http://www.torquerepress.com/contest/index.html
Check out the contest page, and start hunting!
So, ya feel lucky, dude? Let's play!
July 27, 2010
July?
Man, Real Life has been nuts this past year. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's starting to settle back down into normal insanity. I've actually managed to start getting back on track writing-wise and am slogging through edits of my ex-Army guy / twinky college student novel (2008's nanowrimo product – yeah, I'm a little behind). I have one major change left to work in; the rest is all minor continuity issues and proofing for grammar.
Hot Summer Nights, my Jersey life guard story (started BEFORE "Jersey Shore," thank-you-very-much) is finished and awaiting revisions, as is my unnamed 2009 nanowrimo project. Apparently, I only work under insane deadlines, since it took me four years to finish HSN, but I pulled off nano two years running with fairly decent first-draft results.
Now, I need to get working on some shorter pieces and figure out what comes next.
Beyond that, we're getting ready to tear out the rest of our blackberries to make room for a greenhouse. Buried in the blackberries are one old, rotting shed, a 55-gallon drum (which could be empty or filled with something scary), and an old bathtub. We bought the house in the summer of '03 and the shed was literally covered in blackberries; when everything died back in the fall, we discovered our surprise bonus structure. Fun times!
