Pia Veleno's Blog: piaveleno.com, page 7

Paperback release

Hounded By Love

Now available in paperback format!

Buy yours:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Loose Id (link soon)

And, as always, ebooks available:

Loose Id

 

For Boston

This morning I wrote a Hunger Games post about the passion of runners, especially marathon runners. Shortly thereafter, as Boston scrambled to take care of the injured and ensure no other harm would come to those gathered to celebrate that running passion, I removed that post to reflect on what had happened. At some future date, I’ll probably revisit the topic but or now, let us remember that while running is often a solitary sport, it was runners who, along with the police officers, running toward the explosions instead of away. There is camaraderie among us, as athletes and as human beings. We will not let cowardly attacks from hidden faces weaken us and keep us down. We are strong. We love. We run.

Quick Update

Today, at Slash & Burn, I shared a writing update, looking back on the past (almost) year since the release of Hounded By Love. 

Also, today’s CRANK is posted. We’re entering a brief interlude to see what other characters have been up to. These chapters may be a little shorter, but (hopefully) an interesting glimpse into the lives of Crank’s friends.

Hunger Games: Take a Step

A month has passed since we picked the one thing we wanted to fix. What was it? More importantly, did you fix it? Have you learned to measure out one portion of your favorite treat? Or perhaps you’ve managed not to eat the entire large double pepperoni pizza? Most importantly, even if you’ve slipped up on that one thing we chose last month, I hope you’re being honest with yourself, because if you’re not none of this will work. If you’ve eaten half that bag of potato chips, I hope you counted all eight-hundred calories. And yes, if that happened, you probably went over your goal calorie count that day, but none of us are perfect, so forgive yourself, and exercise a little more willpower to weigh out your next portion, leave some food on your plate, or avoid the kitchen when you have the boredom munchies.

I don’t think we need to discuss the importance of healthy choices, and I won’t bore you with such things. We’re all adults. We know veggies are healthier and lower in calories than chocolate, but we’re also adult enough to understand that we can’t live on carrots alone. Every day we make choices, not just in our food, but in how fast we drive, how we talk to our friends and colleagues, and whether we want to be positive and happy or a snarky bitch. I’m not going to tell you that every item you choose to put in your mouth needs to be perfect. It doesn’t. I sure don’t do that. I do, however, choose enough healthy items that when I have a glass of wine, I don’t go over my daily calorie count.

Not often anyway.

We’ll come back to food at some point. Before that, let’s work at a higher level. Right now, we’re trying to stay within a set calorie range. It’s not easy. How can we make it easier? If we exercise – if we burn more calories – we can consume more. When I run two miles, I get to eat two hundred more calories. I’ll save the lecture about how there’s more to exercise than calories – how endorphins and muscles add to our healthy outlook — for another blog. Let’s, for the next month, focus on earning additional calories by leaving the TV behind and doing something. Anything. Anything, that is, except sitting around inert.

I challenge you to move this month. Take a walk on your lunch break. Play outside with the kids. Heck, even do jumping jacks or push ups during commercial breaks of your favorite program. Just move.

If you’re using a fitness app, add in your activity so you get credit for the calories you burn. Walking a mile earns you an apple. Or, if you want to be a little naughty, a half serving of potato chips. Good deal? Great, now put down the laptop and go for a walk!

 

Quoting Fiction: The Perfect Run

Free short story for you, dear Readers. Inspired by an ad for my favorite running shoes…

“We’re building you the perfect run.” (Newton Running ad)

~*~

Inevitable. February in New England had always mocked Josue, and today was no different. He loved to run, and New England loved to be warm and sunny and in the mid-40s during the work week when he could never get away from the office early enough, and then below 30, with freezing rain, mountains of snow banks, or blustery, icy winds on the weekends when he had all the time in the world to don his favorite sneakers and get lost in the rhythm of his feet on the pavement.

Josue stood on his front stoop stomping his feet and rubbing his arms. Maybe he should have put on one more layer before heading out. He knew better, of course. When it was chilly, he tended to overdress. He had purposely left the warmer jacket in the closet this time. The first half mile would be bitterly cold. After that, he’d warm up. He hoped so anyway. The wind cut through his thin running tights, and licked frost across his nose and cheeks. The thermometer read thirty-three, and yet it felt more like twenty-three with the wind whipping around him, teasing and taunting, as if Mother Nature wanted to scold him for daring to step out the door.

“Okay, let’s do this,” he said. Gulliver snorted, and then trotted toward the road. The golden retriever had been snuffling around a bush, but running beat out the scent of the neighbor’s cat paws down. With his thick reddish blond coat, Josue was jealous of Gulliver during weather like this. Gulliver didn’t seem to ever mind the weather, even during the last snowstorm where the drifts came up to the dog’s shoulder. He’d plow right through, or when stuck, bound up and down like a rabbit, leaping over the snow.

At the mailbox, Gulliver looked back at Josue with his big, dark eyes, questioning Josue’s delay. “I’m coming,” Josue muttered. He jogged down the short driveway and turned left down the road. Gulliver fell in beside him, his claws tapping faintly on the asphalt. “You need your nails trimmed, bud.” Gulliver ignored him. Had Gulliver understood, he’d probably bolt down the road at full speed. He could be such a big baby about his paws.

As if thinking it made it happen, Gulliver let out a sharp, deep bark and ran at a forty-five degree angle onto the neighbor’s lawn. Josue spotted the U-Haul van the moment Gulliver darted for the two men unloading it. He lunged for the dog but knew it to be a lost cause. He ran faster, following Gulliver, calling his name despite knowing it was useless to stop his overly-social pet. He never worried about Gulliver biting anyway. Gulliver loved everyone – even kids who pulled his tail and stuck toys in his ears. Josue did, however, worry about Gulliver tripping someone with their arms full of boxes or furniture as he exuberantly bounced around them, demanding the love and adoration golden retrievers seemed to receive worldwide.

Josue ran around the back of the van. When he jumped up the narrow loading ramp, he stopped short at the top. One man sprawled on his back on the floor of the van, Josue’s very large dog, straddling him, shoving his muzzle around the man’s arms, his long tongue darting out, bathing the man’s face despite what seemed to be his best effort at warding off the canine kisses. Another man was laughing so hard he leaned against the wall of the truck, doubled over, holding his stomach.

Josue leaped forward and grabbed Gulliver’s collar. “Stop it, Gulliver. Geez, I’m so sorry. Come on.” He tugged, but Gulliver stretched his neck forward, pushing the man’s arm aside for another tongue bath. “Gull, stop. Get off him. Really, I’m sorry.” Josue, glanced up as he rambled at and begged the dog to listen. The man who was laughing, kept laughing. Okay, not mad, but not helpful either.

Borne of frustration, Josue tried a desperate attempt to curb his happy dog. He stepped back and used the tone and command he used when Gulliver got carried away with one of his nieces stuffed animals. “Gulliver! Drop it!”

The sharp command brought the dog out of his licking frenzy. Gulliver’s head snapped up, and he carefully backed away, paws always hitting the floor of the van and not what turned out to be a very handsome man beneath him.

Josue told Gulliver to sit and stay, and then crouched down beside Gulliver’s victim. “I am so sorry. He really means well, I assure you. Are you okay? Did you hit your head? What can I do?” Great, a cute guy is moving into the neighborhood and Gulliver ruined any hope of a casual meeting, maybe a friendship. “I promise he’ll be leashed next time.”

The man slowly moved his arms away from his face. He ignored Josue to tip his head back and glare at the laughing man who’d now subsided to chuckles. “Thanks for the help, asshole,” he said.

Josue looked up at the laughing man and apologized again.

The man stepped forward and then crouched down beside his friend. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “That’s the most attention he’s gotten from another male in a long time. Ain’t that right, little brother?”

Male. Brother. Oh boy! It was an “Oh boy” of both excitement and of disappointment. A potentially gay man… that his dog just mauled with joy.

“Bullshit,” said the little brother waving away the other man. He started to sit up. Josue grabbed an arm and helped him. Once upright, the little brother looked at Josue and stared.

“Speak, Brax,” said the laughing man. He chuckled again and slapped the back of his little brother’s –Brax’s — head. He looked at Josue. “See what I mean. The boy needs a man.” He rolled his eyes. “I hope he’s not offending you with his drooling.”

Josue blinked a couple of times, banishing the feeling of being stuck in a dream. “Uh, no.” He looked at Brax. Interesting name, and yes, that gaze was definitely an I-want-to-fuck-like-bunnies gaze. “Not at all,” Josue said.

“I’m really sorry about Gulliver.”

“Who’s Gulliver?” Brax asked.

“Maybe he did hit his head,” Brax’s brother said. “I’m gonna grab a beer.” He walked around them and out of the van without looking back, and without acknowledging the plaintive whine Gulliver gave him as he skirted the dog. Josue wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard the man chuckling on his way out. Only a brother could be so casual about a potential concussion.

“My dog. He… He likes people.” Josue looked away. He mentally kicked himself for sounding like such a dork.

Brax laughed, bringing Josue’s gaze back to him. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Your head?”

“Fine. It was the barrage of doggie breath that almost killed me.” He smiled, and it outshined his brother’s warm laughter. “But if it’d make you feel better, you can apologize with dinner so I don’t have to unpack my kitchen tonight.”

“Oh, sure, of course. It’s the least I could do.”

“And to be straight–” he smirked briefly “—I’m not. I mean…if you invite my brother, I’ll be really disappointed.”

Josue relaxed. The man really wasn’t hurt. Though he didn’t need to worry, his heartbeat still raced. He hadn’t been hit on since he gave up the club scene six months ago. It felt good. It felt better than the best run he ever had.

“I think he would be too.” They laughed together, and then Josue offered his hand, helping the man to his feet. Their hands lingered, warm and inviting. “I’m Josue. I live two houses up the hill.”

“I’m Braxton. And my brother is…” He glanced at the open front door of the house. “Not here, so fuck him.”

A small smile curved Josue’s lips as he thought about who he’d really like to fuck. Sure, the brother was cute – it definitely ran in the family — but Braxton made his heart flutter. Gulliver had chosen well.

Coming Soon…?

Maybe I need to rename this post to something like “Stuff That Happened Recently and Hopefully will be Happening Soon.” Perhaps I’ll shorten it to just “Stuff.”

Since the funeral, I’ve been spending most of my mental energy on the Job That Pays The Bills. Q1 is always busy, but with the market performing well lately, I’ve been tapped every day. Sure, I get personal time — I do get to come home every evening — but after the busy market days I’ve had lately, personal time rarely has any mental acuity for things like WiPs, blog posts, or some nights, cooking a healthy dinner.

Never you mind that because it will pass. It always does. When summer rolls around I’ll be hip deep in my new story, and (maybe) posting regularly again here. I say maybe because let’s face it, I’ve never been a good blogger. It’s not in me to share with strangers when I barely share with my friends. Ah, there’s a fun blog topic. Introverts. We do try, dear Readers. Really.

Anyway, this post is titled “Coming Soon” for a reason… I mean “Stuff.”

On the Slash & Burn blog today, I wrote about running and writing, with a hint at the upcoming WiP: “The Written Mile”

No CRANK today, but there was one last Sunday. Mike eavesdrops and Ash puts Crandall on the spot in “A Favor Asked”

In the next week or two, we’ll revisit our calorie counting, and our favorite junk food in the next Hunger Games post. So if you’ve been slacking, get counting!

Quoting Fiction will be back this week. Stay tuned.

Happy March, dear Readers!

~PV

Book Sale!

Silver Publishing is offering 14% off all day on February 14th. Go download some Happily Ever After on the biggest romance day of the year.

http://spsilverpublishing.com

Pia Veleno at Silver Publishing

Quoting Fiction: Love Does Not Die

“If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn’t be filled?”

― Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes

A family member was taken suddenly last weekend. As with any death, one thinks a lot about life, sees things a little differently for a spell, and some of us, perhaps mostly the crazy ass writers, start to wax poetic. Or maybe, waning. Call it what you will, but today we celebrated a life and said goodbye to a good man, and tonight, I’m maudlin, or maybe just overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotions all around me.

~RIP GC~

~*~

Please stop telling me it’ll get better. It’s been three years, and I still feel empty. I live my life day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, hoping and praying that it’ll be my last, that I’ll be reunited with the love of my life. Oh, don’t worry about the depression. I don’t have the energy or focus to actually kill myself. Besides, if the doctrine is to be believed, suicide would send me straight to Hell, and I am certain that Paul achieved grace, rising above the material world with golden wings and a halo that could blind the devil himself. I suppose there’s a chance we’re both doomed. Some churches would say so, loving men as we did – loving each other as we did – but I can’t believe that any god who creates a wonderful relationship like Paul and I had would make it evil. Evil has a feel, and when Paul and I were together, it never once felt like temptation from the fallen one. He agreed, my Paul. He’d hold me in his arms, sweaty and pleasantly exhausted, and say, “My dear Eric, if loving you is a sin, then I’m going to stock up on sunscreen tomorrow.”

I never had the heart to tell him there was no sun in Hell, just fire, and torture, and well, he never did have an interest in reading Dante. I used to tell him I loved him despite this, but I knew, and he did too, that I loved him because he was the perfect complement to me, pulling me out of my books long enough to live my own life – our lives – in the real world.

Ah, but I digress. It happens often now. My mind rambles on while my body goes through the motions of the living. I’ve shut down because the pain is too much to bear. It has not made me stronger. I am weak, a child crawling along the worn carpet of life, because I’ve lost the strength to walk. Unlike a burn or cut, this pain, I know, will never end. Not until I do. I gave him my heart, and when he died, he took it with him. I hope he keeps it safe in Heaven. No, I know he still watches over it with the utmost care. Except, with my Paul removed from this life, no matter how much he loved –loves – loved — me, I cannot feel it. I am a void, missing my key part. Not my heart, mind you — not really — but my love, my Paul. My everything.

Hunger Games Renewed

Oh yeah, I dropped the ball on this one. Nearly three months ago, I wrote Hunger Games. I didn’t forget to follow up. Not really. Time flew by this winter.

 

However, because I was following my own advice, and tracking my foods, I managed to keep my weight steady through the precarious holiday season, and through the bitterly cold winter months that make me want to eat junk food curled up in a warm blanket. I didn’t follow that urge to hibernate. Not much anyway. As much as it melts my brains with boredom, I went to the gym when I couldn’t run outside. On occasion.

 

Ah, but I get ahead of myself. Did you write down everything you ate? Even if you wandered off the path during my lengthy delay, did you do it for a couple of weeks? Or even one?

 

More importantly, did you look over that list afterwards? And did anything surprise you?

 

Do you sneak pieces of chocolate much more often than you thought? Did you find yourself eating potato chips right out of the bag, so that you couldn’t write down how many servings you actually ate? Did you notice a lack of vegetables on the list? Of non-deep-fried meats? Of fresh foods?

 

This month, pick one thing that surprised you and fix it. If it was the chips, weigh out a portion on a scale. If it was a lack of vegetables, bring a dozen baby carrots to work to munch on throughout the day.

 

Also, if you haven’t already, add calorie counts to your food tracking. How many calories do you eat a day? It might surprise you. Learn how many you need each day too. It’s not 2000 for everyone, and for many of us, it’s much less.

 

I recommend www.myfitnesspal.com for easy food tracking and calorie counting. It’s free, and you can use the web, or a smart phone app to enter each meal. You also get calories back for exercise, of course, because the app set a net calorie goal for your day. Another good website is www.sparkpeople.com. If you like community support, forums, and articles, Sparkpeople is more your speed. I found I spent too much time there, but it definitely had its benefits. This one, too, is free and has a syncing smart phone app, but I found the app cumbersome when I first tried it about a year ago.

 

Don’t worry if at first you struggle to control that calorie count. It is a challenge. Keep working at it, and next time I’ll talk about food choices. Not all healthy stuff lacks flavor, but sometimes you have to search for the best ones.

 

We are a computer society, but we don’t have to sit on our fat asses all day because of it. Read your blogroll, your Twitter, your Goodreads, and then get up and walk around the block. I’ll see you back here when you return, with pink cheeks from the cold and fresh air in your lungs.

Update

CRANK is back on a new(ish) schedule. I will post a new chapter every other Sunday, starting last Sunday with a naughty (NSFW) scene. www.thecrank.wordpress.com

Last Sunday was also my Slash & Burn day. I shared an update on writing and the creative process. www.slash-and-burn.blogspot.com

Today, I’m working on a new manuscript, though I may take a break for another quoting fiction. Maybe. I think I’m ready to ignore all else to get the next book written. Maybe.

Happy Tuesday, cari miei!