B.A. Tortuga's Blog, page 37
July 13, 2015
10 Random Things about Julia and Me
1. We love weird, colorful vinyl tablecloths with the burning passion of a thousand suns. The current one is red paisleys.
2. We have never had a fight. In 12 years, not one. ;-)
3. We spend about 22 1/2 hours a day together. The exception is that we work out in the gym separately and J naps while I don't.
4. We have cushy chairs instead of dining room chairs. Everyone that sees them, loves them.
5. We love love love to play games, cards especially.
6. We talk to each other a lot. I mean a lot. We can tell each other stories, we discuss feminism and movies, books and food and politics and antiques and art and and and and...
7. We do 3 small projects and 1 large project around the house per month. In July we've currently painted the hallway and cleaned out the studio closet. We're making a compost pile and building J a workbench in the garage next. In August we're planning to fix the kitchen ceiling, clean out the guest bathroom closet, replace the front room curtains, and reorg the rolltop desk.
8. We collect things -- tables, witches, birds, hutches, turtles, hat pins, books, tea cups, Havilland, doll house furniture, Dr Who and Sherlock shit. All the things.
9. We play the What If game. We eavesdrop. We people watch. We tell each other stories all the time. I help J with plot. She helps me with pacing. We both know each other's stories like they're our own.
10. We love to cook together. We spend hours planning meals and chopping and tasting and singing loud (what? you don't have a Bose in the kitchen for cooking time?).
:D
Much love, y'all!
BA
2. We have never had a fight. In 12 years, not one. ;-)
3. We spend about 22 1/2 hours a day together. The exception is that we work out in the gym separately and J naps while I don't.
4. We have cushy chairs instead of dining room chairs. Everyone that sees them, loves them.
5. We love love love to play games, cards especially.
6. We talk to each other a lot. I mean a lot. We can tell each other stories, we discuss feminism and movies, books and food and politics and antiques and art and and and and...
7. We do 3 small projects and 1 large project around the house per month. In July we've currently painted the hallway and cleaned out the studio closet. We're making a compost pile and building J a workbench in the garage next. In August we're planning to fix the kitchen ceiling, clean out the guest bathroom closet, replace the front room curtains, and reorg the rolltop desk.
8. We collect things -- tables, witches, birds, hutches, turtles, hat pins, books, tea cups, Havilland, doll house furniture, Dr Who and Sherlock shit. All the things.
9. We play the What If game. We eavesdrop. We people watch. We tell each other stories all the time. I help J with plot. She helps me with pacing. We both know each other's stories like they're our own.
10. We love to cook together. We spend hours planning meals and chopping and tasting and singing loud (what? you don't have a Bose in the kitchen for cooking time?).
:D
Much love, y'all!
BA
July 12, 2015
What I'm Working on this Week
Lost last week to auntie-ing, so ACK!
Writing:Tipping the Barrel -- f/f YA novel — considering just dumping this. I'm going to re-read this week.Musician. Bodyguard. Werewolves. Moving on this one againI Don't Dance -- m/m contemporary, doctor, EMT, explosions, dramaMidnight Rodeo 2 story
Aussie vs Texan -- blame Poppy
Spaghetti Western -- don't ask. OMG.
In edits/rewrites:Rainbow Brew in rewrites
Refired in edits
Boys in the Band in edits
Needing to Breathe in edits
At beta:nothing
At proofing:City/Country
Subbed:nothing
Next week's plan?WRITE ALL THE WORDS!
Writing:Tipping the Barrel -- f/f YA novel — considering just dumping this. I'm going to re-read this week.Musician. Bodyguard. Werewolves. Moving on this one againI Don't Dance -- m/m contemporary, doctor, EMT, explosions, dramaMidnight Rodeo 2 story
Aussie vs Texan -- blame Poppy
Spaghetti Western -- don't ask. OMG.
In edits/rewrites:Rainbow Brew in rewrites
Refired in edits
Boys in the Band in edits
Needing to Breathe in edits
At beta:nothing
At proofing:City/Country
Subbed:nothing
Next week's plan?WRITE ALL THE WORDS!
July 7, 2015
Guest Author: K. Lynn
This year, a number of my releases are focusing on transgender characters, including Coffee Date. I have always been fascinated by both the perception of gender and the push of society to place people into specific gender roles. What does it mean to be a man or a woman? And what if you don't fit neatly into either role? Or if society has assigned you as one gender when you actually don't perceive yourself to be that gender? For my novella, Coffee Date, Alice is dealing with how society perceives her versus how she perceives herself.
Alice is finally happy with her body and her life—except for the part where revealing she's trans winds up leaving her hurt and abandoned over and over again. She's decided she's done making herself miserable by looking for love.
Love finds her anyway, in the form of Hank, the new guy at her local coffee shop. He's sweet, friendly, charming... and will probably turn out like all the rest. Determined not to shatter the fantasy and lose him before she has to, Alice holds fast to her secrets.
But if the truth doesn't ruin everything, the lies will, and it seems no matter which choice she makes
Alice is set for just one more heartache.
I knew that I wanted to explore Alice's feelings in this novella, and that she would have built up a wall to protect herself from the hurt she'd experienced over the years since she began her transition. What I didn't know, and what she soon showed me through revealing her story, was how deep that hurt ran and how much damage it had caused. Alice is constantly trying to match up to what she thinks she should be, what society has taught her she should be, while making herself miserable because she hasn't reached that constructed reality. In the end, what she had to learn and what we all have to learn, is that you don't have to fit into anyone's constructed categories. Be yourself, whoever that might be.
~~
About The Book: Coffee Date
Coffee Date is a 12,000 word contemporary transgender novella that explores Alice's struggle to find acceptance, and possibly love, in a world that has not been kind to her on either front.
Read an excerpt at Less Than Three Press.
http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/excerpt-coffee-date/
Coffee Date officially released on July 1st.
You can purchase is from Less Than Three, Amazon, or any online retailer.
http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=90&products_id=913
http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Date-K-Lynn-ebook/dp/B00VNYGOSO
About The Author: K. Lynn
K. Lynn has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. While in college, K. Lynn increased her involvement in LGBT issues and writing within the LGBT fiction genre. She has become a long-time fan of the authors that seek to explore the commonality that exists within all sexualities and genders. Most of K. Lynn's work features LGBT characters, many of whom are in established relationships and show how love perseveres through every trial and tribulation that life holds.
She also has a particular interest in seeing transgender characters gain a larger foothold within the LGBT fiction genre, hoping that the market for these works expand in the future. Contact K. Lynn at writerklynn@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @WriterKLynn
July 6, 2015
My Favorite Tropes Sing-Along
Sung to the tune of "My Favorite Things"
*ahem*
Heroes in danger with gun fights a blazin',
Misunderstandings that are truly hair raisin',
Billionaire ranchers who just cannot cope,
These are a few of my favorite tropes.
Blind guys and tough guys and guys with amnesia,
Cowboys in tight jeans who reach out and seize ya,
Stud anti-heroes that fill you with hope,
These are a few of my favorite tropes!
When the boat sinks,
When the bomb hits,
When the lie's revealed,
I simply remember my favorite tropes,
And know my happy ending IS REAL!
*bows*
Thank you, thank you very much.
;-)
Much love, y'all.
BA
*ahem*
Heroes in danger with gun fights a blazin',
Misunderstandings that are truly hair raisin',
Billionaire ranchers who just cannot cope,
These are a few of my favorite tropes.
Blind guys and tough guys and guys with amnesia,
Cowboys in tight jeans who reach out and seize ya,
Stud anti-heroes that fill you with hope,
These are a few of my favorite tropes!
When the boat sinks,
When the bomb hits,
When the lie's revealed,
I simply remember my favorite tropes,
And know my happy ending IS REAL!
*bows*
Thank you, thank you very much.
;-)
Much love, y'all.
BA
July 2, 2015
July 1, 2015
June 30, 2015
Book of Love- A Guest Post from Julia Talbot
Hey y'all!
BA was a doll and let me take over today to talk about Book of Love!
It's my first book with Samhain, and I'm so tickled. It's a MMF menage where all partners touch.
Here's the official blurb.
Dark magic draws them together, but they’re generating sparks all on their own.Culper, Colorado, is a one-everything town. One stoplight. One post office-slash-pawn shop-slash-bakery. And one bookstore, which Shiloh volunteers to watch while the owner is on vacation. It’s a nice change of pace to her lonely life.While perusing the shelves, Shiloh finds a book that contains some shockingly naughty illustrations. When all sorts of mystical disasters start happening, Shiloh is sure they’re somehow connected to the book. Butsby then it’s too late to simply put it back on the shelf. Liam and Elijah’s response to the town’s call for help is a first. Their first paranormal case, and their first in-person meeting. They’re longtime online friends with a common interest in the unexplainable, but they’re shocked by the sparks that fly, not only between the two of them, but between them and Shiloh.Somehow the book’s dark magic is not only the catalyst, but is also feeding off their sexual attraction. They must work together to figure out how to put the escaped entity back where it belongs—before it closes the book on their budding relationship.Product WarningsContains wild acts of sexual magic, a porny old book about demons, and a threesome where the boys touch each other as well as their woman.
Here's the link!
I love porny old books. When I was cleaning out my grandma's house during her estate sale, I found a bunch of 1950s erotica. I've seen engravings in Georgian era books of people having sex wearing powdered wigs. I've seen paintings on the walls in brothels in Pompeii. Everyone needs to be touched, right? I loved the idea that a book could cause so much trouble, too, like in my favorite mummy movie, The Mummy. No harm ever came from reading a book? Tell that to a less than benevolent spirit!
Thanks for hanging out with me, y'all, and I hope you love Book of Love.
XXOO
Julia www.juliatalbot.com
BA was a doll and let me take over today to talk about Book of Love!
It's my first book with Samhain, and I'm so tickled. It's a MMF menage where all partners touch.
Here's the official blurb.
Dark magic draws them together, but they’re generating sparks all on their own.Culper, Colorado, is a one-everything town. One stoplight. One post office-slash-pawn shop-slash-bakery. And one bookstore, which Shiloh volunteers to watch while the owner is on vacation. It’s a nice change of pace to her lonely life.While perusing the shelves, Shiloh finds a book that contains some shockingly naughty illustrations. When all sorts of mystical disasters start happening, Shiloh is sure they’re somehow connected to the book. Butsby then it’s too late to simply put it back on the shelf. Liam and Elijah’s response to the town’s call for help is a first. Their first paranormal case, and their first in-person meeting. They’re longtime online friends with a common interest in the unexplainable, but they’re shocked by the sparks that fly, not only between the two of them, but between them and Shiloh.Somehow the book’s dark magic is not only the catalyst, but is also feeding off their sexual attraction. They must work together to figure out how to put the escaped entity back where it belongs—before it closes the book on their budding relationship.Product WarningsContains wild acts of sexual magic, a porny old book about demons, and a threesome where the boys touch each other as well as their woman.
Here's the link!
I love porny old books. When I was cleaning out my grandma's house during her estate sale, I found a bunch of 1950s erotica. I've seen engravings in Georgian era books of people having sex wearing powdered wigs. I've seen paintings on the walls in brothels in Pompeii. Everyone needs to be touched, right? I loved the idea that a book could cause so much trouble, too, like in my favorite mummy movie, The Mummy. No harm ever came from reading a book? Tell that to a less than benevolent spirit!
Thanks for hanging out with me, y'all, and I hope you love Book of Love.
XXOO
Julia www.juliatalbot.com
June 29, 2015
What I'm Working On this Week
Been a busy week
Writing:Tipping the Barrel -- f/f YA novel — considering just dumping thisMusician. Bodyguard. Werewolves. Still working on it. Eternally.I Don't Dance -- m/m contemporary, doctor, EMT, explosions, dramaMidnight Rodeo 2 story
In edits/rewrites:City/Country in edits.
Ranger Boys (working title) in rewrites
At beta:Rainbow Brew
At proofing:Articles of Release
Subbed:Refired to Dreamspinner
Next week's plan?Keep on keeping on
Writing:Tipping the Barrel -- f/f YA novel — considering just dumping thisMusician. Bodyguard. Werewolves. Still working on it. Eternally.I Don't Dance -- m/m contemporary, doctor, EMT, explosions, dramaMidnight Rodeo 2 story
In edits/rewrites:City/Country in edits.
Ranger Boys (working title) in rewrites
At beta:Rainbow Brew
At proofing:Articles of Release
Subbed:Refired to Dreamspinner
Next week's plan?Keep on keeping on
June 27, 2015
Musings on Yesterday's SCOTUS Ruling
Hey, y'all!
Like a lot of people out there, I spent yesterday in happy tears. I swear, I got dick-all done, I didn't write, I'm not 100% sure we cooked supper (although, I suspect Julia did), and I was basically worthless as tits on a boar hog. I'm serious as a heart attack (which I always type attach, blergh), by the end of the day I was too pooped to pop.
I keep thinking about all the things -- y'all know, in that ALL THE THINGS way -- the joy, the haters, the political ramifications, the personal ones, the bizarre path that I took to stand where I'm standing, who I'm standing with.
I've told y'all before, when and where I grew up, there were no LGBT people and, while we knew gay men -- my Uncle M, his beloved partner R, lots of Mother's friends -- there were no lesbians. They were something that did not, under any circumstance exist.
I was madly in love with my best friend in high school. I'm serious. I would lay there beside her at night and just vibrate. We used to have people call us 'lesbos' at school, tease us (One particular lunch period someone threw a brick at us. I don't remember his name, I bet C. does), but we both had boyfriends, we both had sex, we both were what we needed to be to survive small town Texas.
Flash forward to my senior year in high school where I was married, pregnant, terrified and scared (it's a long story, don't ask, you wouldn't believe me anyway) and the plans of going away to college to be with the girl I loved were dust. Or three years later when I weighed well over 500 pounds and was trapped in a relationship that was unbalanced at best, and she introduced me to her girlfriend and I was so jealous I wanted to die.
Another three years and I was in love with another woman and being told "you should thank God every time he doesn't hit you" and believing that. Knowing that I would lose my child if I came out of the closet (and believe me, both the ex and the ex-in-laws made that clear).
I thought about dying a lot.
Then I went to college, discovered political activism, found out that there were a number of lesbians on earth, remembered that I wasn't a worthless piece of shit, and discovered the internet.
The internet brought me my best friend who introduced me to my wife.
Together J and I started the first online m/m romance publishing company. She convinced me to move from horror to romance. I convinced her to... hell, I don't know. I can tell you that the day I knew I loved her, I knew I couldn't do what I'd done for so long. I couldn't stay in the world I knew and pray that it would be enough.
She saved me. She saved me from pain and fear, she saved me from lies, and she saved me from the closet.
She didn't pull me out. I came out because I needed her to know that I could be brave enough to be who I was, to walk away from diseased bullshit, and be the woman I could be, with her.
For her, I could be brave.
Two years ago family members that are supposed to love told us that they didn't think we should be allowed to get married. That we didn't deserve the legal protections that institution brought.
We were told that we just needed to keep our mouths shut and be careful.
Be fucking careful.
I was careful when I did what everyone said I should. I was careful when I stayed in a shitty relationship because I was scared of what would happen if I left. I was careful every time I didn't hold her hand in Texas because I was worried someone would hurt her.
I haven't been careful one second since I asked her to marry me. I left home to live somewhere that believed that all couples have the right to be married, to be happy and have the legal protections that marriage brings.
Do I believe that the SCOTUS decision fixes things everywhere? No. In fact, I think right now is probably a very dangerous time to visit my hometown because a lot of those people are feeling attacked and defensive and ready to eat someone's face. Hell, we'll probably still be incredibly careful traveling to places where we can't be assured of hospital visitation rights being honored.
But it's a start.
It's a huge step forward.
Every time I introduce her as my wife and no one blinks, it's another step forward. Every time I go to a country music concert and I don't have to have a fist fight because I'm holding my wife's hand, it's another step forward. Every time I hear my son say "my mom and my stepmom", it's another step forward. When my baby-est sister says on her FB, "Don't tell me two men or two women can't love each other as much as a man and a woman. My big sister and her wife taught me what it meant to be in love", it's another step forward. When the girl I was in love with in high school can come back out of the closet and find her one and only, it's another step forward.
I'm a small town girl, that's it, but here I am, and thank goodness, yesterday, we all took another step forward.
Much love, y'all.
BA
