B.A. Tortuga's Blog, page 72

Rambling on September

I have to be honest. September sucked. 

I didn't get to see my mom for her birthday. My father in law went into the hospital on the third, into hospice on the ninth, into 24/7 care on the 23rd and passed away in the small hours of the morning on the 26th. 

We spent the last week of September cleaning out his place.

I swear, it was the longest month ever and I feel like I'm totally out of touch with the real world. 

Today was the first 'normal' day I've had in 5 weeks. 

O.o

Weird, huh?

I'm really ready for a few days of normal in a row.

Much love, y'all.

BA

Six Sentence Sunday -- story for Horsing Around (no title yet)

“Oh, I could have something sweet.” Everything that came out of the man’s mouth was sex. It made Kaycee hard as a rock, his cock pushing at his jeans.

“Me, too. Though we might get dessert to go…”

“Then we could share.”

***

Y'all pray that I finish this one. Vincent's been uber patient with me. 

 

Much love,

BA

What I'm Working on this Week

Life seems like it's never going to get back to normal, but I did get some writing work done this week.

 

Active Writing:

Cereus: Training (co-write with Julia) -- Weed and Feed -- Come on, boys. You're LATE.

Better as a Memory (m/m, cont) -- new Eat My Brain novel without deadline or publisher. Playlist is up to 53 songs. Can't stop crying.

Beauty and the Butch (working title) -- f/f assassin piece for Ellora's Cave

Story for Horsing Around anthology -- editor is waiting and staring. *blush*

On hold:

m/m/f novel (co-write with Julia) -- fun, sexy menage. This one doesn't have a home or a deadline, so it keeps getting pushed back. I need to get this one open, or it's going to die.

 

In edits/rewrites:

The Four Horsemen: Ace and Kitty: working on the rewrites

Absinthe: In edits.

 

Next week's plan?

Writing. Lots.

 

Much love, y'all.
BA

What I'm Reading This Week

Eeeeeeeeeee!

Just a quick note

We lost Julia's dad Thursday morning while we were out of town for a family wedding. We're home and dealing with all the details, so forgive my scarcity for a few more days.

Much love, y'all.

BA

Dying and Weddings and Books

I had all these grand plans, then last week involved dozens and dozens of strokes for my father-in-law. Julia and I moved him into a 24/7 care facility yesterday and we're leaving tomorrow for my baby-est sister's wedding in Texas. Then we come home and have 6 days to clean out and sort Dad's place.

I have books coming out tomorrow -- I'm incredibly proud of them both and I *hope* to squeal about them in the manner in which they deserve after I get to a hotel tomorrow night.

I'll be a little scarce for the next 2 weeks, but know that I love y'all dearly. 

Please pray for an easy passing for Julia's daddy, a non-rainy day for Tiffy's wedding, safe flights, and peace.

Much love, y'all.

BA

What I'm Working on this Week

A surprisingly good writing week, what with the constant interruptions.

 

Active Writing:

Cereus: Training (co-write with Julia) -- Weed and Feed -- This one's going long. Silly puppies.

Better as a Memory (m/m, cont) -- OMG the love.

Beauty and the Butch (working title) -- f/f assassin piece for Ellora's Cave. Going very well. Yay!

On hold:

m/m/f novel (co-write with Julia) -- fun, sexy menage. This one doesn't have a home or a deadline, so it keeps getting pushed back. I need to get this one open, or it's going to die.

 

In edits/rewrites:

The Four Horsemen: Ace and Kitty: I will open this up week after next.

Absinthe: In Julia's hands for her rewrites.

 

Next week's plan?

Moving J's dad to a facility on Monday and Tuesday, leaving Wednesday for my babyiest sister's wedding. There's no hope. ;-)

 

Much love, y'all.
BA

2013 CHARITY SIP BLITZ!

Our Bloghop Starts Here: Torquere Press

 

Happy Wednesday and happy 2013 Charity Sip Blitz!

I've been participating in this drive since it started and every year I'm so pleased and proud of the readers and authors who make this happen. I donate all my royalty and Torquere Press matches my donation. :D

This year we're honoring our GLBT folks in uniform -- now, the charity OutServe is for military, and I admit, I wrote a sheriff and a cowboy that's recently out of the service, but uniforms are important, no matter who wears them, right?

I'm so glad that the people who serve can now serve openly, can acknowledge their partners, can have benefits for them -- it was a long time coming and I'm tickled it came in my lifetime.

 

My story is titled, Acts of Kindness and it features Evan, an East Texas sheriff's deputy, and Russ, an Oklahoma man whose rough stock riding brother took a bad fall and is in a coma in Evan's local hospital. 

Excerpt:

It never ceased to amaze Evan how the rodeo cowboys that came in looked like car accident victims.

He'd been the on-duty officer when all the shit went down at the fairgrounds. There were always accidents at the country fair, always, but when Rowdy Parker when down in the bareback event...

Whoa.

You never wanted that much blood on the dirt. Ever.

Evan Masters shook his head, goosepimpling up at the memory. He'd been lecturing a group of teenagers who'd been hassling one of the carnies at the fairway when he'd heard the siren of the only bus the county had, had heard the panicked sounds over the radio, and he'd gone running, only to see parts of Parker's skull on the dirt.

The man was just... fucked.

Totally.

He nodded to MaryLynn, the charge nurse. "Hey, lady. How's it going?"

"Same old, same old. He's still with us." She gave him a sad smile. "You still visiting every day?"

"They're good folks, honey, and not close to home. They need someone to talk to, so sure I am."

He'd been coming for eight weeks, now. First, he'd sat with Brittany Parker, held her hand, trying not to look at the size of her daily-growing belly. Then, when Brittany had that baby girl and had to head home to Oklahoma, he'd sat with Parker's momma. Then, about four weeks ago, he'd started sitting with Russell Parker, the man's oldest brother.

Russ was... Well, even he had to admit the man interested him personally as well as in a public servant kind of way. Evan took a deep breath, giving his cheeks a chance to cool off and headed to Room 323, knocked at the door as quiet as he could. He was here to visit someone who was sick, not come on to the man's brother, right?

***

The Charity Sips are available at Torquere Books.

Please, get yours today!

Much love, y'all.

BA

Guest Blog Post: Chris Owen and Tory Temple

Hi BA!

Thanks for inviting Tory and me to your blog. It's pretty cool in here, I gotta say. I like what you've done with the place. The dogs are a great touch.

Speaking of dogs, it's no secret that that we're all dog mad. Tory has three, I have two, you and Julia have your hands full as well; we all know how it goes with the pups around -- big messes, big noises, and big love. None of us would have it any other way, even on the days when I find yarn being turned into Ottawa's latest toy. Sydney would never do such a thing, thank goodness. And neither of mine are as smart as Tory's Justice -- that pit is far too smart for anyone's safety!

I guess that's why we have so many dogs in our stories -- they're such a huge part of our lives that we need to drag their personalities into everything we do. Q and her pups are good dogs, for the most part; Trey and Deuce have enough on their hands that they should be grateful for such mellow puppies, really. With a seven year old girl around there's enough mayhem. Well, the girl and her mom. And a wanna-be-grampy.

So, essentially, family is mayhem, which sounds just about right now that I see it written out.

Tory and I had a couple of guys, see? They were great together -- a fireman and his nerd, a nerd and his hero. They liked sex, they liked sex with each other. All was bliss. But then there was the complications of real life. Tory and I poked at them. Then poked harder. All that Trey and Deuce wanted to do, frankly, was have more sex, but we wanted more. Thankfully, they both had some strong feelings about Holly, Lacey, a blended family, and what people do in order to make each other happy.

It wasn't an easy story to write, aside from the fact that Tory and I love working together. The actual writing part is easy -- like breathing -- this story was a challenge. Neither of us comes from a blended family (we come from dogs!!), and it's been years since my children were seven. Tory, thankfully, spends a lot of time with seven year olds and got Lacey's voice easily. And Holly was a character we had to be very careful with; she is a woman who was hurt, a woman who was slightly bitter. Trey was very wary with her, giving their history, but I was stuck with Deuce and his dad. Two guys just grooving along and being all idealistic. Meanwhile, Tory and I were trying to make sure that we didn't paint Holly horribly while still making it clear that Trey had reason to be wary -- too far one way, he'd look silly, too far the other way and we'd wind up with Tory + Chris = misogyny and THAT wasn't going to happen, either. Poor Deuce just wanted everyone to get along and be happy! To my great glee -- and hopefully yours! -- Trey didn't just let that happen. :D

Of course, it's a romance. We can't fool you guys into thinking that the end of all the boys smooching is at hand. But we can give you a good story. :)

Tory and I hope you enjoy Adding it Up: By the Numbers II! It's available now at Torquere Press.

Best wishes and love to everyone!

Chris Owen

Happy 10th Anniversary Julia!

I love you!

BA