M.A. Church's Blog, page 198

Hop Against Homophobia

The purpose of this hop is to bring attention to homophobia and to stand together as an m/m writer community to fight of discrimination against the m/m genre.

Not  long ago a friend of the kiddo's killed himself. He lived in an orphanage in town that's tied to a major church. You know where I'm going with this, right? Hours after he came out he put a gun in his mouth. Details were never released, but he talked to some of his friends before he told his foster parents. My kiddo was one of the last folks to talk to him...

She found out the next morning.

 * * * *

The recent fiasco with Romance Writers of America is a perfect example, too. I’m not a member, but I was seriously thinking about joining. Then I heard about RWA excluding m/m romances from one of their contests because it felt "icky" to the judges.
Really? They used that word? Doesn’t that say a lot?
Well, they canceled the contest. Frankly, I think that's an insult, too. Apparently no one thought of trying to find judges who were not “icked-out” by men loving each other. I’m sure they could have found plenty of people to judge if the word had been put out.


There's a lot of work to be done for people to accept m/m fiction as something just acceptable as other fiction. Attention must be drawn to this subject—everyday lives are ruined or lost. And this has to stop.




Contest:

Okay now, so, what to do. Join my blog. If you’re a member already let me know in the comment. Then answer this simple question: Do you believe there’s life out there in the great vastness of space?

Leave me a comment with your email address. Please make sure to leave your email! The comment can be as long or as short as you wish! Someone will win a copy of Nighttime Wishes, my latest scifi release from Romance First. I’ll randomly choose a winner and contact you by email May 21!
Thanks, and have fun with the hop! I may bump into y’all, lol!
~M

Visit the Hop page for for links : Hop Against homophobia

Wednesday Briefs

Happy Wednesday, guys! This week's prompts are: find a creative way to use a salad - doesn't have to be eaten or the alternative prompts: 

moonlight, cotton, Mr. Ed 

or 

"Play it again..." 

or 

"He/she had a certain fondness for...." 

or 

Kentucky Derby, English toffee, silence

~I’m using the salad prompt.


Shadows in the Night Ch 6
Chip sat the kitchen table. His uninvited house guest lay curled on the floor, head resting on its paws. Every move Chip made had the cougar’s ear twitching towards him. Nearly half an hour had passed, and Chip’s ass ached from the hard kitchen chair. To add to his discomfort, his stomach was gnawing. After a particularly loud grumble greenish-yellow eyes blinked opened and the big cat stretched its long body. Sharp claws extended from the pads of the cougar’s paws, and then it came to its feet. Chip gulped at the sight.
“Jesus, you need a trim.”
The animal looked at him, then yawned, displaying long deadly canines. Chip swallowed hard again. He had a predator sitting at his feet, eyeing him. What if he wasn’t the only one hungry? Chip gripped the table as the cat stepped closer to him, whiskers twitching. Then the creature turned and padded over to the refrigerator, rubbing against it. Chip shook his head, not believing what he was seeing. Talk about your not-so-subtle hints. Chip slowly stood up, waiting to see what the big cat would do.  Unconcerned, it moved into the living area and made its way around the room, stopping at each window.
“Damn thing acts like it’s checking the windows and stuff.”
Since the cougar was occupied, he grabbed the prime cut of streak he had planned to grill for dinner. Better to sacrifice the steak than have the animal sample his prime cut. With that thought in mind, he decided steak would be the only meat he fixed. No point in tempting Fate. Turning his back, he quickly prepared a bag of pre-packaged salad and dumped blue cheese dressing over it. When he turned back he came face to face with the big cat who was sitting on the bar.
“Mother of God!”
Chip yelped. Startled, he started an insane juggling act with the bowl of salad. Bits of lettuce, egg, cheese and globs of blue cheese flew everywhere. Finally he trapped the bowl against his chest, but the damage was done. He was covered in salad. The cougar snorted, then leaned closer.
“Ah—ah.” He froze as the big cat’s rough tongue swiped across his cheek, tasting the remains of Chip’s dinner. “Ewww, cougar slobber.”
The animal’s nose twitched and a funny look crossed its face. “Oh no, come on… don’t—” 
The cougar sneezed.
Chip stood frozen, unable to believe what just happened. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Tell me you did not just sneeze all over me. Really. That’s so damn gross.” He opened his eyes. “Thanks to you, I’m going have to shower.”
The big cat jumped off the bar and stood waiting as if to say hurry up already.
“That wasn’t an open invitation.”
Chip skirted the cougar and walked to the bathroom. As he went to close the door, a dark head barred the way as the animal moved into the bathroom, then lay down.
“This is why I never got a dog, just so you know.” Chip stripped off his shirt.
* * * *
A good thing you don’t have a dog—I’d eat it. With or without that damn blue cheese.
His tail flicked as his human threw his shirt in the hamper.
Damn, what a chest. Pretty little nipples. Nice trail of hair going down, too. And oh yeah, check out the six pack. Soon, very soon, I’m going to run my hands through that hair all the way down to that nice cut cock. Then tease it until it’s leaking all over my hand.
Chip turned the water on and laid out a towel.
Didn’t mean to scare the shit out of you earlier with the salad dressing, but sure worked out good for me. Okay, who am I kidding? Yeah I did. Just wasn’t expecting you to throw salad everywhere.
After Chip checked the water, he dropped his shorts and briefs.
That’s right, drop’em baby. Now if you’d just bend over a little…
He reminded himself not to make any noise. Chip kept glancing at him, checking to make sure things were okay. His human was nervous enough. If Chip had any idea how complicated things had just become because of the other… He’d probably be passed out on the ugly tile floor.
I’ll have to speed things up now, no choice.
Chip kicked his clothes off to the side.
Just enough hair; not too much. Oh Gods, what an ass. Tight, firm and round. I’d like to start at his toes and lick my way up to that. Then spread those cheeks open and bury my tongue deep inside his hot little hole while he moaned in pleasure. Fuck, I’m getting hard.
Chip’s shower was an old shower/tub combination. Once his human had the water right, he stepped in and pulled the curtain closed.
Oh, I don’t think so. I will see what’s mine. You’ll learn, Chip. And I’ll have fun teaching you.
He crept closer and nosed the shower curtain back just enough so his view wasn’t obstructed.
Get that gorgeous body clean for me. Soap that dick up, run that sponge over those nice full balls. I’m going to empty those for you, make you shoot all over yourself, then cover you with my own cum. Oh Gods, yeah, reach back there and soap that ass up, too.
He watched as Chip rinsed off. Moments later the water shut off. Chip reached out and grabbed a towel.
Dammit, that was entirely much too fast.
* * * *
“Jesus, how ‘bout a little privacy?” 
Chip toweled off and left the bathroom with the black cougar following him. He dressed in a pair of night pants and walked back to the kitchen. After cleaning up the mess he’d made, he put the steak down on the floor. Fixing a peanut butter sandwich he sat down.
“So, now what, boy?”

~To be continued.
Until next week y’all. Remember to drop by the other Bloggers!
~M
Lily Sawyer m/mNephylim m/mMC Houlem/mSara Yorkm/mTali m/mJulie Lynn Hayesm/m

Tuesday and Tattoos

Tattoo Quotes
One of the hottest trends with tattoos these days are tattoo quotes or word tattoos, as they are also called.

That is where the tattoo is made up of letters and words instead of a picture or sometimes combined with a picture.

For years tattoos were mostly art work, but today tattoo sayings, words, quotes seem to be what everyone is looking for. But before getting a tattoo of letters there are some very important things you must consider.

As you get older your body and skin will age. This will cause your skin to sag, wrinkle and stretch. The tattoo on those areas of your body wil experience the same changes and it will be reflected in the way it looks.

So, it is critical you think ahead before getting a tattoo with letters instead of a picture, especially if you want the phrase to still be readable as you get older. For example, if the print is to small or too close together, in later years it could turn into a blob of ink that is hard to make out.

Keep in mind that tattoos with letters are best placed on parts of the body that will experience the least change over the years like ankles or wrists.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day! I got treated to breakfast in bed and whites roses-a favorite of mine. :) The kiddo's came through, lol!

~M

TGI Friday

Hey guys! Make sure to check out Cia's Stories, I’m over there with her today! Stop by and say hello.
 

I thought I’d talk about Nighttime Wishes that's been released at Smashwords and All Romance. The story is definitely science fiction, which is a favorite of mine. It was written with an anthology in mind. Of course, the farther I got into the story the clearer it became I wouldn't be able to stay under the maxium word count. That's what led me to submitting it to Romance First.Combining non-humans and elements of space, world building, new societies and such fascinate me. While it is fun, it’s also tiring. The very same thing that’s so fun is also so time consuming, lol. When I wrote this story I had said I hadn’t done tentacles before, and after thinking about that I found I was wrong. There was a part in Ch12 of The Harvest that basically involved a toy that was controlled by the wearer and had tentacles. Duh, what was I thinking??? *Laugh* anyway it got me to thinking and researching. I hunted down a bunch of stories that had some sort of tentacle creature in it, and most were either man-made globs or aliens. There were some really good stories, too. The more I thought about it though, the more I wanted a creature whose tentacles weren’t the focus. Sounds odd, right? I wanted mine to be more than just tentacles, let’s say that. I spent lots of time researching different alien looks. Luckily I watch that show Face Off, anyone know what I’m talking about? Now there’s a good place to get ideas and blend them to make your own alien. Then there’s my old friend Google, lol. I had my alien, Ziang, in mind, but I’m a visual learner; I needed to see something so I can reproduce it with words. This is actually something I do a lot. Then on to my human. Oh, my. He was such fun. I have to say the artist who did the cover for my eBook did a bang up job. She nailed the look of Shawn, perfectly. I think he’s really cute. Then there’s his sense of humor, lol. *wink* I didn’t have to spend as much time researching him—never do for humans; they’re just easier.Of course, there are secondary characters: a bunch of old southern county farmers, a lonely sexy sheriff named Bryan who is the main character in the sequel Nighttime Dreams, and two FBI agents. One I’m calling Agent Asshole, lol. Bet y’all can guess why. That’s the why and how come I wrote this and the sequel. :)~M

Dreamspinner Spins Me a Dream!

Priceless is under contract with Dreamspinner--signed, sealed and delivered. Yes, *grin* I stole that line from tali. What can I say, it's a good one! Oh my God, I am absolutely bouncing off the walls with excitment, lol. The release date is July/Aug 2012. Holy cow that's not far away, either!


I'm so happy to be working with them... happy and speechless. What a learning experience! When I got the email yesterday I screamed so loud Kitty-Kitty hauled butt out of the room, lol. Poor thing was sound asleep when I got the news. I also brought the hubby into the room at a dead run. *Blush* One male ran from me and the other one came running to me.

Hehehe.

I'll post more as its get closer to the release date. Good Lord, I can't wait to see cover for this! LOL

~M



Here's a short little blurp:


Sparks ignite when Cupid, the God of Love, takes aim at two lonely men in the City of Sin. Garrett, a jaded, cynical billionaire, is used to what his money and power can buy. His bottom dollar is of more interest to the men he dates than he himself. Life has taught him that innocence and love are figments of the imagination. Randy, an average guy, comes to Vegas for a working vacation. Shy, a little hesitant, he stumbles across Garrett at a craps table, and time stands still as the God of Love lines up his golden arrows. The road to love is more than gamble. Garrett has trust issues, and Randy fears he has fallen in love with a man who considers him nothing more than a weekend fling. The differences in their lifestyles become apparent as Garrett takes Randy on a whirlwind tour of Vegas, using his money to open doors. Garrett throws money around without a thought while Randy struggles to make him understand money can’t buy the one thing that is priceless… love.

Wednesday Briefs

Happy Wednesday, guys! This week's prompts are: "That lucky old sun..."
And the alternative prompts are: 
"The sunlight streamed in through the..."
or
peppermint, vodka, pole dancing
or
"Brother, can you spare a dime?"
or
"kisses sweeter than wine"
or
write a time travel story involving dinosaurs.


Shadows in the Night Ch 5  

“Oh my… God.”
Chip snapped his mouth closed as the cougar raised its head, one ear turning toward him as greenish-yellow eyes pinned him in place. He stood frozen, staring at the animal. What the hell was it doing here? The thing was freaking huge, black as night and bleeding all over his porch from a bite on the back of its leg. To make matters even more interesting, it was lying in front of the door. Now what?
“Okay, Plan B.”
Chip side-stepped to the left, moving slowly. Hadn’t he read somewhere not to make eye contact—they took that as a sign of aggression? Or was that dogs? Did it matter at this point? The cat was bigger and had claws, enough said. Maybe if he could ease around to the back door…
Calmly the creature lifted a paw and cleaned the blood from its muzzle. Eyes trained on Chip, it let out a loud warning yip, then slammed the paw down. 
“Son of a …”
Chip yelped as he cleared the ground in fright. Once he had his feet planted safely on Mother Earth—and his heart crammed in his chest—he glanced at the black cougar. Now it was tending the bite to its haunch. Again Chip edged toward the back of the house and another loud yip sounded, stopping him. But the big cat climbing to its feet had the air in his lungs freezing. With a grace that belied the pain it had to be in, it jumped off the porch.
Feet rooted to the ground, Chip watched as the cougar, rumbling deep in its chest, blocked the path. He risked all and made eye contact. Holding his eyes, the black cougar turned its head, slowly looking at the front door. Cutting its gaze back at him, it huffed out a breath.
Chip, mouth hanging open, stared at the big cat. Oh no, it did not just…! Chip side-stepped again, and the animal’s tail swished on the ground and again it slammed its paw down. Once more it yipped at him.
Oh yes, it just did.
“That’s it, I’ve flipped completely out. Heat stroke combined with sheer fright has fried my brain.” Chip flinched as the cat stepped nearer. “Okay! Front door it is. Then a phone call to the local shrink ‘cause I’ve lost my damn mind.”
Chip walked backwards; he was not taking his eyes off that wild animal. And damn if it wasn’t following him. Finally he had to turn around or trip. Jumping on the porch, he dug in his pocket for his keys. The thump of the big cat landing behind him had his hand shaking. The smell of crushed grass, sweat and something more pronounced—a woodsy musk—enveloped him.
“Get the door open, Chip. Now,” he mumbled to himself.
He stabbed the key at the lock. Why the hell did they make these things so damn small? Didn’t the stupid manufacturers understand that being ordered by a big-assed cat weighing more than you and standing waist high was a fucking tad unnerving? Just as he slid his key in a low, viscous growl sounded behind him.
Chip closed his eyes, assaulted by visions of his body torn to bits. Glancing over his shoulder—prepared to look death in the eye—he instead found the big cat staring at the woods. Its ears were laid low, tail twitching madly and hair bristling. It dawned on Chip the black cougar had its body between him and woods, almost as if it was… guarding him.
Was that other cat out there?
With a hiss, the big cat stepped away from Chip, backed up to one of the pillars and arched its tail…
“Oh come on! Not with the spraying again!”
The smell of urine flooded the area as the black cougar turned its head, eyes trained on Chip. Looking back at the woods, it let loose a scream that had every hair on Chip’s body standing up. But the answering call had him going light-headed.
Something wasout there.
A not-so-gentle nudge nearly knocked Chip off his feet, but got his attention. The damn animal was herding him indoors! Throwing the door open, he scrambled inside, ignoring what his mind yelled at him—mainly because he had company. The big cat had followed him. Stunned, he watched the black cougar limped across the floor toward the kitchen. Chip quickly locked them inside.
“Okay, shit.” Instead of having a tiger by the tail, he had a cougar under foot. A very large cougar who didn’t exist. Instinct told him to grab his shotgun, but curiosity had Chip following the animal into the kitchen. The damn thing was head first in the sink.
“You thirsty?”
The cougar’s tail swished as it looked back at him. Holy hell this animal was big… and intelligent. Much too intelligent.
“Ah, um, if you’ll back up some I’ll see if I can find a water bowel.”
The big cat settled on his haunches. Chip, still shaking, found a large plastic bowel and filled it. His uninvited guest acted like it understood him, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it? Of course it was. Chip set the bowl on the floor and dropped into a kitchen chair as the cougar quenched its thirst. Once done, it curled up on the floor and started cleaning its coat.
How the hell was he supposed to get this animal out of his house? Especially since it acted like it wasn’t ready to leave. Not that it mattered; he was not opening the door right now, not with whatever else was out there. Chip rested his hand on his chin.
“First thing tomorrow….” Chip mumbled.
Just as soon as sunlight streamed in though the window, he was going exploring. If he made it through the night.
~To be continued.
Until next week y’all. Remember to drop by the other Bloggers!
~M
Nephylim m/mSara York m/mLM Brown m/mMA Church m/mTali m/mJulie Lynn Hayes m/mMC Houle m/m

Tuesday and Tattoos

Primitive Tattoos

Skin was the first canvas for art. Sticks and other pointy objects were the first paintbrushes. Tattooing was first a form of scarification. This involved wounding oneself and packing dirt or ashes into the scrape or cut to discolor it permanently. It is believed that prehistoric man cut holes in his skin, charred sticks in the fire, let them cool and then applied the black substance to the wound to create tribal markings.





As tattooing involved pain, blood and fire, primitive man believed the process released sacred life forces. The letting of blood was also associated with a sacrifice to the Gods. The symbol or animal form of the tattoo was thought to bring one protection from attack from that very same animal.






Tattoos were also used to bring one's soul in alignment with God's purpose, increase virility and fertility, ensure the preservation of the body after the death and delineate hierarchies and roles within tribes. For instance, a tribal chieftain would have a very different tattoo than the individual in the tribe who was thought to bring them all bad luck. 

As skin does not preserve that well there is very archeological evidence that prehistoric people engaged in tattooing, although a few Paleolithic artifacts that have been discovered seem to suggest that the art of tattooing is as old as mankind.


 See y'all tomorrow for Wednesday Briefs!
 ~M

Do you believe?

Hey guys! Since The Yellow Rope is finished I thought we'd spend a little time with Ziang and Shawn from Nighttime Wishes. There is a quiz that has to do with... what else, lol. Aliens!!!

* * * *

~The U.S. Air Force investigated UFO sightings under Project Blue Book. Of the 12,618 sightings reported between 1947 and 1969, how many are still "unidentified?"
701210,000 None
Ziang: I did say we have been coming to Earth for a very long time. *The answer is 10,000* * * * ~In 1947, a man in Roswell, New Mexico, found foil reflectors, metallic sticks and other odd material in his...His sheep pastureHis bedroomOutdoor swimming pool
Ziang: Damn Roswell! Gods, more stuff got stirred up over that. And the government managed to cover all that up! I mean, they knew we had been there. *The answer is his sheep pasture* * * *  
~Mysterious red lights hovering in formation over Phoenix, Ariz., in April 2008, turned out to be...
Flares attached to helium balloons
Four flying angles holding candles The glow from alien spaceships
Ziang: *Snort* as Shawn likes to say—yeah, right. Flares attached to helium balloons? Does anyone really believe that?*The answer is flares attached to helium balloons* * * *  
~In 1957, in Levelland, Texas, UFO sightings were reported after residents said a glowing rocket-shaped object had caused... Their car engines to stall   Temporary paralysis in those exposed  Dogs across the small town to start barking.
Ziang: Okay, there is some truth to that. We have this—Shawn: Oh, you mean like the time I was eighteen and you siced that damn light on my dad’s new truck and it died out in the middle of nowhere? Something like that? Oh, oh, wait. It didn’t just die; right before it rolled to a stop the whole electric panel flipped out and lit up like a Christmas tree. Then, if I remember correctly, you spotlighted me with that pale blue light—Ziang: Um, some haven’t read the book, Shawn.
Shawn: Oh. Oh yeah, sorry folks. 

*The answer is their car engines to stall.

* * * *  
~In the first reported incident of an alien abduction, a couple in the 1960s reported... Three glowing big-eyed aliens persuaded them to move to Texas Being beamed up into a spaceship where aliens treated them to dinner   Occupants of UFO chased them down and erased their memories 
Ziang: Good Gods, who came up with these answers? The first one I refused to even answer. Big-eyed aliens? Where did that come from? And we certainly didn’t treat anyone to dinner. And as far as chasing anyone down, don’t be ridiculous. We didn’t chase anyone, we took them. We only erase their memories if we returned them. 
Shawn: *glances at the tentacle petting his arm* Glowing big-eyed aliens? Boy, did they miss it on that one. And ah, E.T., you’re starting to sound a slight bit barbaric.  
Ziang: *Glares at Shawn* You did not just call me by that silly nickname here, of all places! I am neither cute nor cuddly.  
Shawn: No, but you’re sweet and soft to me with a little kink thrown in… mate. Love you. 
Ziang: *Tentacle nudges Shawn’s chin up while another wraps around his wrist* I love you, too. Just wait until I get you back to the ship… 
*The answer is occupants of UFO chased them down and erased their memories.
* * * *  
Hope y’all enjoyed a peek into my newest book Nighttime Wishes. It’s available at Smashwords now. Amazon and All Romance will be coming this Friday, May 11th.  
~M

TGI Friday

Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late with TGI Friday today. :(



I'm guest blogging at Full Moon Dreaming today with Julie Hayes! Please stop by and check out my answers to Julie's infamous Rick Reed's questions, lol! They were a lot of fun. :)

Julie is the Editor in Chief with the publisher that will release Nighttime Wishes. I had a blast working with her-enough that we became friends. She is a wonderful person who has been a *huge* help to me.

Just a reminder-Nighttime Wishes will be released May 11th now.

~M