Andrew Q. Gordon's Blog, page 51
January 14, 2014
My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker – 2
My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker – Part 2
Alex started to wonder if his parents had lied to him. “I don’t care about being in the assembly, much less being a leader.”
“Nonsense.” Nicholas rolled his eyes. “All your family members have been in the assembly for centuries. It’s expected of you.”
He turned his back on his guardian before he did something stupid again.” They told you to do this, didn’t they?
“What are you talking about?” Annoyed, Nicholas almost growled at Alex. “Who told me to do what?”
“Never mind.” Alex kept his gaze on the poster of Cristiano Ronaldo on the dorm wall. He didn’t need Nicholas to confirm what he already knew. “Go make your report and leave me alone, okay.”
With a thought he caused the closet door to open and his suitcase flew onto the bed. No sense waiting for the call from home, he knew the drill.
Nicholas moved to the other side of Alex’s bed, put his hands on the trunk and leaned forward. “What are you doing?”
Alex strained to look at Nicholas without tilting his head. He ran his finger along the seam of the trunk and the locks flung opened. “Packing.”
With a quick heave, he flung the top back, forcing Nicholas to take a step backward. “Honestly, you befuddle me.”
“Befuddle? What’s that from, like the Middle Ages? ” Reaching into the empty space, Alex grabbed two empty duffle bags.
“Stop this foolishness!”
The lid swung back, and Alex barely snatched his hands away in time. “What the….” He glared at the angry angel. “You almost cut my hands off.”
“Hardly.” Nicholas motioned Alex back by flicking his fingers. “Stop packing and go sit. We’re not done talking.”
“What’s the point?” Despite his protest, Alex did as Nicholas said. “You’re going to tell my dad I attacked you so you can finally be relieved of this job.”
Nicholas stopped walking and grabbed the back corner of their bunk. “You think I’ve been looking for a way to get you in trouble?”
“Please, I know you hate this assignment.” He didn’t try to hide his bitterness. Nicholas never wanted to be his guardian, but he’d been the only angel free at the time who looked the right age for the job. “Once you make the call, you know he’s going to make me – and you – come home. Problem solved – for you.”
Alex could feel the angel staring at him, but refused to meet his eyes. Most of the time he and his guardian got along fine – most of the time. But Nicholas died two hundred years ago and some times had trouble leaving the 18th century.
“I’m not going to tell your father what happened.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in. “Not going…? Why not? He’s like your idol or something.”
“Your father is a great leader and deserves my – and your – respect.”
“I love my father, but he’s not some mythical warrior to me like he is to you. He’s my dad.”
Using two fingers, Nicholas dragged the other chair closer. Spinning it around he sat with his arms resting on the back and his chin on his arms. “All I have is the warrior, he isn’t my father.”
“Not that I’m asking you to do it, but why aren’t you going to tell him? It’s what he expects from you, isn’t it?
Nicholas sucked on his lower lip for a moment. “Probably, but it will remain between us. I had a hand in your moment of temporary insanity.”
Despite his attempt not to smile, Alex couldn’t hold it back. Nicholas joined him and the tension dropped from the room. “Thanks, and yeah, you did push me a bit – not that I should have used magic on you, but I’m just saying why I did it.”
“Alex.” His smile disappeared and Nicholas moved closer. “I push you because you don’t push yourself. That is what your father asked of me in addition to guarding you – to help you reach your full potential.”
“Look, Nicholas.” Alex tried to keep calm. He hated this topic; he’d left home to avoid having it again and again with his father and uncles. “I know you think a lot of my father, but I’m not him. I’m not going to be a leader of our people. That’s not me.”
“You’ve been blessed with such great power. We – angels, kelsin, humans – need you to take up the mantle and lead us. The peace won’t last forever.”
“I know it won’t, and I’m not going to run away from the fight, but I’ll let Douglas or Jonathan be our leader. They want it more anyway.”
Nicholas started to speak then stopped. He cocked his head to the left and before he could speak, a phone rang.
Alex didn’t recognize the number, but answered it anyway. “Hello?”
Nicholas rolled his eyes and snorted. ” You’re answering a call during this conversation?”
He knew he shouldn’t have, but it was too late now.
“Alex? This is Austin.”
“Austin?” He hadn’t meant it to sound like a question. “Hey, sorry. Didn’t recognize the number.”
Nicholas threw up his hand and guffawed. “And yet you still answered it.”
He shot the angel an angry glare and Nicholas backed off.
“Yeah…Hannah gave me the number.”
“That’s cool.” He winced at how stupid he sounded. “Um….”
“Ask him if he wants to get coffee.” Nicholas’ suggestion caused Alex to stop speaking. “Love struck child. Just ask him.”
Alex wanted to be mad at Nicholas, but he recognized he’d been trying to help – in his own way. “Um…what are you doing?”
“Nothing. You?”
“You wanna go get some coffee?” If Austin said no, Alex planned to kill Nicholas – or whatever one did to angels.
“Um…sure!” Even though they weren’t in the same room, Alex could hear the smile in Austin’s voice. “Want me to come get you?”
“Sure. Do you know where I’m at?”
“Yep. Hannah told. I can be there in five.”
In his mind, Alex could see Austin’s grin matching his. “Great. See you in a few.”
Be Sure To Check Out The Briefs Of These Other Flashers:
Find all your favorite flashers in one place and read the first 100 words on the groups website:
Wednesday Briefs Website:
or click on the individual links below:
January 12, 2014
‘Guesting’ and blog tours.
So I’m finally digging out from the avalanche that was my holiday. One of the things I’ve developed as a result of this year is yet more new found respect for my parents. It looked so easy to do lights, shop, cooked, a tree – not to mention my dad used to set up a Lionel Train set every holiday for us. But holy moly, trying to do most of those – and travel – really took the wind out of me.
But I’ve had some time to recover and I’m regrouping for 2014. So with that, I’m looking to start booking guest posts and blog tours for the coming months. I’m open to all types of posts – be they promos for new releases, interviews, giveaways and/or just stopping by to say hello and keep your name out there.
Anyone who is interested, shoot me an email – andrewqgordon@gmail.com.
-AQG
January 10, 2014
Our Christmas In Pictures. ’13
I wrote quite a bit about the lead up to Christmas ’13, but one thing I didn’t post was that we did a bit a of traveling for the holiday. [No sense advertising our house was empty for a few days, so I keep that info until I get back.] With a family all over, we had to make time for different celebrations.
We started with Christmas Eve at our house. As a kid, Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma’s house. The last two years we did that, but this year we had to switch things up.
The next morning – we had to leave at 8:00 am to get a flight to visit my parents. She looked so cute in her Christmas Dress, tights and black shoes – if I do say so myself.
But with travel, dinner, family, we opened gifts with my parents the next day.
We stayed a few days, but due to travel, Christmas stretched a few extra days. We still needed to take ‘lil q to see her other grandparents – oh and we needed to let ‘lil q open her gifts from Santa and her many friends.
Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa’s. Her ‘other’ Christmas dress was pretty cute too.
January 7, 2014
My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker – 1
My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker – Part 1
“Are you kidding me?” Alexander Preston jumped up, leaving his text book floating in the air. With the cell phone pressed against his ear, he spun around ignoring the look Nicholas, his guardian angel, gave him. “He asked about me? You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not kidding. Yes, he asked about you. And, no, I’m not lying.” His best friend, Hannah Sherman, sounded almost annoyed. “You two have only been drooling over each other since the semester started.”
“You can’t have a book floating in the air.” Nicholas motioned with his hand and the physics book floated toward the desk. “What if someone walks in?”
He shook his head. “The door’s locked.”
“What did you say?” Hannah asked.
Alex glared at his guardian. He’d lived among his fellow kelsin his whole life and forgot that humans couldn’t hear angels. “Nothing, I just meant my door is open if he wants to visit.”
Nicholas leaned against the frame of the bunk beds in their room and rolled his pale blue eyes. “Mooning, doe eyed, child.”
Alex stuck his tongue out and focused on his conversation. “So did you tell him I so want to go out with him?”
“I did.” He noted the sarcasm in her voice and frowned. “Right after I told him you were a blond god, with an amazing six pack and you were hung like a….”
“Hannah!” Alex didn’t hear the last word, but Hannah laughed.
“What? You are a blond god with an amazing body. The last part I’m just filling in from my fantasies.”
Luckily she couldn’t see his face burn. He’d known since the first day of college she liked him–a lot–but he’d told her right away he was gay. In the two years since, Hannah took that to mean she could flirt with him outrageously and say anything she wanted.
“Why do you do that? You know it makes me uncomfortable.” Almost as uncomfortable as Nicholas knowing everything Alex did in private.
“It helps me.”
Hearing the hurt in her voice, Alex felt like shit for carrying on like he did. “Sorry, I didn’t…I…sorry.”
“Don’t be. I brought it up.” Her words said it was okay, but her voice told him otherwise.
Alex’s stomach twisted. Austin Calhoun asked about him and he couldn’t ask for more details.
“It’s really quite unbecoming for you to dance around like a love struck school girl.” Nicholas looked like he’d just sucked a lemon. “A kelsin of your power should carry himself with more poise and confidence.”
He opened his mouth, but caught himself before he told his annoying chaperone to fuck off. Saying that out loud would really not go well with Hannah. Glaring at Nicholas, he struggled to keep his thoughts on what he most wanted. The other end of the line sounded almost dead so he just decided to take the plunge.
“Did you…do you have his number?”
“Yep.” Her one word answer set his pulse racing.
“He’s not even that good looking.” Nicholas rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe I have to sit through this juvenile chatter.”
“Hang on Hannah.”
He hit the mute button and crossed the room toward his companion. There’d been times he’d been mad at Nicholas, but right now he wanted to throw him out the window and never see him again. He put his free hand on the wall to the left of his guardian, trapping him next to the bunk. “Why are you doing this?”
“My job is to watch over you and keep you safe.”
“By ruining every chance I have at a social life?”
“He’s a human. What’s the point? There’s no future in it.” Nicholas had made this argument every time Alex fell for a hot guy.
“Says who? Aunt Veronica married a human and no one cared.”
“Oh they cared.” The angel ducked under Alex’s arm and sat on the bed. “They just didn’t stop her.”
“Just leave me alone.” Alex clicked back to Hannah. “Back.”
“Where’d you go?”
“Had another call…my mom.”
“How’s she?”
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when for sexual favors we practice to deceive.”
Without thinking, Alex flung out his arm and sent a silencing spell toward Nicholas. His body seized when he realized what he’d done. Forget Austin, he’d be lucky he didn’t get sent home immediately. “Um…she needs me to call her back. Now.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, sorry.” He kept his gaze fixed on Nicholas. Even though he couldn’t speak, the angel’s body shouted his anger loud enough to make Alex wince.
“I hope everything’s okay.”
“I’m not sure. Can you text me Austin’s number?”
“Like you’ll call, but sure.”
“Thanks, Han, you’re the best bff ever.” Nicholas jerked his index finger at his mouth. “I gotta go, chat later.”
“Bye.”
Alex hung up and reluctantly waved his hand, releasing the spell.
“How dare you!” Nicholas had been angry before, but never like this. “How! Dare! You!”
“I know. I’m sorry. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Wrong?” His voice rose three octaves and several decibels. “Wrong? Leaving the book floating is wrong. Attacking me is beyond wrong.”
“I’m sorry, Nicholas. But you keep pushing and this time I snapped.”
“Me?” Nicholas’ eyes grew wider. “You’re blaming what you just did on me?”
“I said it was wrong and that I’m sorry, but I was trying to talk to Hannah and you kept making comments. You always do that and I’m tired of it.”
“Of course I did. You were acting like brainless oaf.”
“See.” Alex threw his arms wide and spun away. He quickly turned back to face his tormentor. “There you go again. I’m twenty years old, in college and never had a serious boyfriend. What’s wrong with being excited that someone I’m interested in is interested back?”
“He’s a human.”
“I know he’s a human!” Alex let his anger erupt. “Why do you think I wanted to go away for college?”
The angel stared at him, mouth slightly open. He exhaled and sank back onto the bed. “We need to talk.”
Be Sure To Check Out The Briefs Of These Other Flashers:
Find all your favorite flashers in one place and read the first 100 words on the groups website:
Wednesday Briefs Website:
or click on the individual links below:
Jon Keys
Tali Spencer
A.R. Von
Grace Duncan
Raine O’Tierney
MA Church
Chris T. Kat
Lily Sawyer
Nephylim
Shelly Schulz
JC Wallace
Victoria Adams
Michael Mandrake
Cia Nordwell
Lily Velden
Elyzabeth VaLey
Julie Lynn Hayes
A New Year.
I resisted the urge to post a first of the year, state of my authorship, replete with goals and resolutions. My goals and resolutions haven’t changed since the end of last year, the turning of the page to a new year didn’t do anything to make them any more devout. I still want to eat better, lose some weight, exercise more, do more writing, etc. But 2013 was quite a year for me, personally and professionally and it will be hard to find resolutions and goals to top last year. So I’ll refrain from such things.
That said, I reached a turning point with Purpose. I’d finished the story arc I started and needed to pick a new direction. When I started Purpose – A New Beginning, I expected to go back to Second Shot – The Senior Year. But this being a new year, I decided to start something totally new.
Tomorrow I’m going to start a new story during the free Wednesday Briefs Flash fiction – that I’ve titled – My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker. As will all things, I never know how far I’ll take it, but I have a rough idea for the story so we’ll see. I ‘beta tested’ the title and from the reaction I figure if the story gets half as good a response it will be worth the effort. So with that – here’s to the new year, whatever it may bring.
-AQG
January 2, 2014
Guest Author: Dawn Kimberly Johnson
Welcome Dawn, why don’t you start by telling everyone a bit about yourself.
Thank you, Andrew. Whenever I’m asked to tell someone a bit about myself, my mind immediately goes to the data police collect at a crime scene, either for the victim or the perpetrator: age, race, gender, height, weight, and what they’re wearing. “Just the facts, ma’am.” I’m a fifty-year-old African American lesbian who writes about men in love, to quote my Twitter bio. I worked as a copy editor for a daily newspaper right out of college. I’m a lapsed artist, meaning I have a hefty collection of art pens but haven’t touched them in years. I’ve been writing instead and can’t seem to do both in the same time period. I draw women and write about men. I used to participate in spelling bees as a child but never made it to the big leagues. Still words and writing have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, working on school newspapers and reading obsessively. However, lately I find myself staring at a word and thinking, I know there’s another way to spell this that has the meaning I’m seeking, but it eludes me. I think it’s “middle-aged editor’s homonym brain.”
Your new novel–Button Down–was released recently, but this isn’t your first published work. Tell us a bit about those and how they were different from this book.
My first novel is called Broken and came out of a combination of a newly discovered passion for reading m/m romantic fiction, my crushing on a certain actor, and my mobility issues. Because of a gay bashing, the main character walks with a cane and is suffering from the loss of his partner. Sounds like a real downer, I know, but I don’t think it is. I like my stories to have a sense of hope and a good amount of humor. I did a sequel called Home, because things are rarely tied up in a neat little package outside of Brady Bunch episodes. Between those two novels and Button Down, I’ve written seven short stories and three novellas dealing with holiday themes, paranormal activity, and time travel.
I love the cover art to Button Down, it’s really different. Tell us a bit about your reaction when you got the final cover art?It was created by the talented Maria Fanning, and when I first saw it, I found it striking. I loved the composition, the colors, what the image suggests. I could see a story unfolding just within that image.
Okay, let’s talk specifics; tell us a bit more about Button Down.
The story is set in a small fictional town in Georgia and revolves around Ford Reilly, the second son of a prominent member of the community and Gus Hansen, an out and proud architect with a broken heart. Ford is black and Gus is not, but that’s not the issue of the story. It’s about Ford breaking out of the limits he’s placed on himself because he meets someone he desperately wants to be with. Gus is the golden ring on the merry-go-round he’s set himself on, and he needs to reach out and grab it…uh, him.
Where did the inspiration come from for these characters?
This story came together in pieces, from several different directions: interracial relationships, the tension between the gay and African American communities, the fight for civil rights for all, and my love for HGTV and old houses. The characters were born out of what I had to say about those subjects.
Ford’s Old House
Your book deals with legal issues and lawyers, do you have some legal training or did you find a really good beta reader to help you out?
No beta reader. I haven’t had one for a while, and I should probably remedy that. I did more research on the renovation process than the legal aspect, which I’m just this minute beginning to worry about.
The closeted main character, Ford, finds himself in a quandary, working for ‘the other side,’ what made you write about a closeted man working for anti-gay people?
I wanted to put him in an impossible situation. We learn of LGBT people working for the enemy (usually after the fact) but it happens. I created Ford as I tried to imagine how that would wound a person over the years.
Tell us something(s) interesting that is not in the blurb?
Gus has a thing about colorful shoes, which came from my youthful desire to have a pair of Reeboks for each day of the week. I blame Whoopi Goldberg.
Have you ever based characters on anyone you know?
No one I know personally. Eli from Broken was based on the actor Dan Radcliffe in appearance, and Ilsa from the same novel is simply the woman I wish I were, minus the alcoholism. There’s a dash of me in all my characters.
Gus’s Condo
What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
Shaping the characters: what they look like, their quirks, the reasons why anyone would fall for them in the first place, naming them. And then when I begin to tell their story and they become real for me, that’s what I like most. I still think about Alec and Eli from my first book. I still wonder what they’re doing. My favorite part of the writing process is when they come alive for me.
What’s your least favorite?
Getting stuck and feeling like the story sucks and isn’t going anywhere and wondering why I even bother…etc.
Since there is always another story to tell, what are you working on now?Actually this is the busiest I’ve been since I started on this writing road in 2009. I’m working on a sequel to my short story Good Question, called Answer Me, a very short story for an anthology, and there’s this old, never published novel I have that I’m thinking about rewriting and submitting for consideration, but that one is always on the back burner. Also, I have a novel coming out in May/June called Right On Time, which is a sequel to One Constant. I had some strong reactions to the end of that short story and decided Charleston and Barnaby had more to say. Lastly, next month I have a short story coming out called Come Clean.
What have you read lately that most people haven’t read but should?
Hmm, the “most people haven’t read” part stumps me. I can tell you what I’m reading right now: the Men of Myth series by Brandon Witt. I snapped them up because I enjoyed his The Shattered Door so much.
If you could meet any writer, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
Isaac Asimov or Hugh Howey. Asimov because I have fond memories of consuming everything he’d written when I was younger and Howey because Wool rocked!
What’s a fun – non-writing – day for you?
Watching Dexter on Netflix, just one of several super popular shows I never watched when it was on. They were right. It’s brilliant.
Besides reading and writing, what else do you enjoy?
The two Ts: TV and Twitter, preferably at the same time where Scandal is concerned, but there are fewer TV shows these days that I just can’t miss: Elementary, Scandal…oops, that’s it, I think. Haha! Although we just got BBC America in my neck of the woods, so that may change. I also enjoy keeping up with Husbands the Series. Can’t get enough of that.
Last question is all yours – feel free to talk about anything you want your readers to know about you, your book, anything at all.
Well, my health isn’t the greatest, so I write when I have the energy. I fear I’ll never be as productive as some authors out there, but I do what I can. It’s an absolute joy to get a story done, terrifying to submit it, thrilling to have it accepted, and terrifying again when it’s time for reviews to accumulate. So…totally worth any effort I can manage.
Thanks for being my guest, now it’s time to plug your work.
Blurb:
When he finds himself captivated by a movie-star handsome stranger he meets in a bar, lawyer Ford Reilly watches a simple one-night stand develop into a taste of what living honestly might bring him.
Out and proud Gus Hansen has built a small architectural firm from nothing, but could lose it all as he tries to break a contract he signed before knowing about the project’s antigay ties.
After Ford discovers he spent a passionate night with the man on the other side of the dispute he’s handling, he finds himself in more than one quandary. He can either maintain the status quo, enforcing the contract to the letter, or he can defy his overbearing father and break free of the closeted life he’s built for himself in order to be with Gus.
Gus has his own choices to make. He knows the sting of loving a man who hides himself, but the longer he lingers in Ford’s presence, the more difficult it becomes to deny their attraction.
Buy Link(s):
Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4468&cPath=55_110
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Button-Down-Dawn-Kimberly-Johnson-ebook/dp/B00HH1FZLY
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/button-down-dawn-kimberly-johnson/1117792680?ean=2940148925958
Bio:
A native of West Virginia, Dawn earned a BA from the Marshall University W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications and worked as a copy editor at The Charleston Daily Mail for eight years. She enjoys writing just after waking, after her characters have strolled through her subconscious, chatting with one another, making love, arguing, figuring out how to live their lives and hold on to their lovers.
Social Media Links:
Blog: http://kimswritingagain.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dawn_KJ
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113841211608777893259/posts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnKimberlyJohnson
December 31, 2013
Wednesday Briefs – A New Beginning – 12
A New Beginning – 12
I stretched and felt Ryan’s naked body snuggle in closer. Wrapping my arm around my boyfriend, I pulled him closer and kissed the back of his head. A glance at the gap in the curtains told me the sun hadn’t climbed high enough to do more than give the sky a pale bluish-gray hue.
The red numbers on the clock told me the time, so I slowly separated myself from the sleeping body next to me. If Ryan got out of bed before 8:00 a.m., he’d whine all day – and it wasn’t yet 6:00 a.m. I’d always been an early riser, at least since my early teens. My brother Tom insisted we get up before dawn to train. Once I got old enough to beat him, he seemed less enthusiastic about the pre-dawn training, but I forced him to continue. Being the host to It only enhanced that trait.
No, that wasn’t right, being host to It left me with nightmares if I slept too deeply. Since I didn’t need the rest, I generally avoided anything longer than a catnap.
Our suite at the Sofitel was high enough that we could see for miles. Ryan hadn’t been to a place this nice in his life, so I booked the most expensive room they had. He flinched at the price, but last I checked, we had enough money that we could afford this place for a few centuries.
Being high up in the pre-dawn that stirred something inside me. Before I became Gar, I wouldn’t say I was an adrenaline junkie, but since then, I’d done things that even X-Gamers could only dream of doing. Still, I enjoyed the view.
“Will?” I heard Ryan slowly get out of bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” I turned and saw his naked–and highly aroused–body moving toward me. That lit a fire inside me. “Nothing’s wrong. You know I don’t sleep late and I like to think while looking out the window like this.”
He walked around until he stood in front of me and leaned back. I knew I wasn’t going to get much thinking done like this, but I didn’t give a damn.
“What were you thinking about?”
I suspected he knew. “I need to have a chat with the Secretary and then we can go back to Seattle.”
We’d been here a week. Had Christmas dinner at the five star hotel restaurant, spent New Year’s crashing their reservation only party and had plans to spend New Years Day doing nothing–well nothing that required us to get out of bed or leave the room. He seemed to enjoy our stay, and that made it hard for me to suggest we leave.
Unfortunately, our Purposes had needs. Either we went home or we–I–would have to find a new source of energy for our hungry ‘friends.’ I knew what Ryan thought of that.
“Do we really have to go home?” He didn’t make it any easier for me.
“Have to? No, but if we stay we’ll have to find a way to feed them.” I’d felt the call of a few innocents so we did have options.
“You mean…?”
I pulled my lips tight and shrugged. There were other ways of course, but we hadn’t tried to make those arraignments here. “With Griffin off the force, I’m not sure who I’d work with if we stay.”
“What about the Chief? She owes you for finding the bugs in her office.”
“I’m not sure.” In my experience, those in power will say one thing, but quickly change their minds if they found it necessary. “If you’d like to stay a bit longer I can ask her after I finish meeting with the people from Homeland Security.”
Ryan stayed unusually silent. I knew how he felt about how the ‘old’ Will handled things, but I wasn’t suggesting that as the solution.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Ryan twisted his head so he could look up at me. “I mean agree to work for the government?”
“I’m not working for them, but yes.” I didn’t really have a choice. “They want us to investigate this at some point. What option do we have?”
“Are you sure They’ll make you? I mean, they’ve got things exactly as they want them. If they lose us, there’s no guarantee they’ll ever have it this good.”
His logic made sense, but it didn’t apply to Them. “Don’t expect them to think like we do because they don’t. Remember, they survived for thousands of years before we met. They could have changed how they did things to get what they wanted, and they didn’t. Losing us won’t really matter to them in the grand scheme of their existence.”
“You make us sound so….” He turned to stare out the window.
“Expendable?”
“I was thinking insignificant.
In a sense we were – to Them. “That’s probably true, but they also prefer things the way they are right now. More importantly, they’re in no rush to investigate so unless you feel otherwise, I say we stick to the plan and wait until whatever this is reemerges.”
He wrapped his arms around mine and hugged me tighter to him. “How long will that be?”
I kissed his unruly hair, feeling my crotch still to life. “Who can say? They only killed the last host a few months ago. From the data the CIA provided, I estimate it takes a couple years for the host to be ready to act. And then the authorities need to take notice.”
“So you’re saying three or four years.”
“Yes.” For the authorities to figure it out, not me. “But forget that. Let’s go back to bed.”
“I thought you said you weren’t tired.” He faced me, a smirk on his face.
“Who said I wanted to go back to sleep?”
He grabbed my hand and led the way. “Not me.”
The End – for now.
Be Sure To Check Out The Briefs Of These Other Flashers:
Find all your favorite flashers in one place and read the first 100 words on the groups website:
or click on the individual links below:
Tali Spencer
Raine O’Tierney
Jon Keys
Rob Colton
A.R. Von
Grace Duncan
MA Church
Chris T. Kat
Lily Sawyer
JC Wallace
Shelly Schulz
Elyzabeth VaLey
Lily Velden
Andrew Q. Gordon
Julie Lynn Hayes
December 24, 2013
Christmas ’13 Part 4 – Christmas Cookies
As many of you have guessed from the Holiday Event I had on my blog this season, I love the different aspects of Christmas. I also want to create memories for ‘lil q like my parents and grandparents did for me.
On Deanna Wadsworth’s blog I wrote about how Christmas is for kids, even the little kid inside us all:
And onBrita Adams’ Advent Calendar, I wrote about Christmas lights and how ‘lil q and I went out driving to look for them.
Another thing I remember is the cookies. My grandmother used to make all different kinds, sugar, chocolate chip, jelly cookies, ‘Aunt Rosie’s’ and more. My mother used to make sugar cookies and chocolate chips and to this day still makes different kinds that greet us when we come home. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like Christmas cookies?
So last weekend I dutifully made the dough for sugar cookies. For those who don’t bake, you need to make the dough and then chill it before you use it – which seems rather backward ass when using a cookie press because the dough needs to warm up before it works well. Go figure. On Sunday, ‘lil q and I made pressed cookies. She choose which shape we’d use and then helped add the sprinkles. She stood on the chair and held my hand as we shook the colors onto the cookie dough. As a measure of her fascination with the activity, I didn’t once hear the ubiquitous ‘I do’ that she is so fond of telling me whenever we do anything these days. She was perfectly content to have us do it together.
Yesterday I made the cookies using the cutters. Let me tell you, trying to find cookie cutters in Christmas shapes was not easy. ‘lil q and I eventually found some at an antique shop. But we were busy most of the day, so I ended up making them and putting them aside to decorate today. I got home just about the time ‘lil q got home from daycare/pre-school and after washing her hands – and being told, ‘I do’ several times during the process – we sat down to frost and decorate our cookies. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, though I am certain she enjoyed eating the frosting more than spread it on the cookies.
Here’s the results:
Merry Christmas to everyone and a happy New Year.
-AQG
Wednesday Briefs – A New Beginning – 11
A New Beginning – 11
“Mr. Secretary,” Griffin said, sounding more like an administrative assistant than a cop. “This is Gar.”
The man in his expensive suit walked over and held out his hand. “Good to finally meet you.”
I ignored his hand and kept my eyes on him. I’d started to read his mind when he walked over, but he knew enough to keep his thoughts on anything but the topic at hand. That’s what I get for talking too much and letting people know my secrets.
He kept the hand out and I could feel Griffin’s unease. Too bad. I wasn’t in a polite mood.
“What do you want?” I put my right hand in my pocket. If he didn’t take the hint, I’d ‘tell him’ to put it down.
The brief glare broke his otherwise seamless armor of outward cool. A fake smile forced its way onto his face as he lowered his arm. “Would a modicum of decorum hurt?”
“You had Griffin fake his own kidnapping to get me here, you use Barrington to test me, and only then do you tell me what you really want. If you want congenial, go look for the Tooth Fairy.”
The National Mall was empty, but my box detected several attempts to follow us electronically. His car ‘left’ per my instructions, but I expected it would be back once they realized they couldn’t keep tabs on their boss. Not for the first time I thought I should have gone home to Ryan.
“Since you read minds, why don’t you tell me why we’re here?” His pulse told me he didn’t have ice water in his veins, but I saw no other signs of his anxiety.
“You can relax, even though you lied to me and have this place under intense surveillance I’ve no intentions of harming you.” I raised an eyebrow at his slight moment of panic. “Yes, I can detect and neutralize them – all of them.”
“So you don’t know what we want?”
“Mr. Secretary, if I want to know anything about you, all I need is some time to root through your mind. If motivated, I’ll find things you don’t even remember you know. But we both know you’re doing everything you can to think about anything but what you asked me here to talk about. So either you tell me what you want, or I’m leaving – for good.”
I cast a sideward glance at Griffin and the man had the decency to be embarrassed.
After staring at me for another few seconds, the secretary reached into his suit coat and removed a white envelope. “Homeland security uncovered some peculiar information from Russia.”
He offered me the packet, but the information flooded the forefront of his mind. Accepting the envelope, I ignored it as I assimilated what I’d learned.
“There are more of you?”
“There are many more of us, but only my other and I are in your dimension.”
“Could this one have come through before or after you?”
“No. As I told you once before, the ability to travel between our planes of reality would require an event that has not happened since my other and I arrived.”
“Could another have come before you?”
“Again, no.” I sensed agitation in It. “Your world is very parochial in its thinking. There are endless numbers of other species that it could be.”
Staring at the white envelope I handed it back. “Another test?”
“It’s my nature to be distrustful.” The Secretary took the blank pages and handed them to Griffin. “So do I have your interest yet?”
“No.” It had nothing to do with Ryan and me. “Why tell me?”
“Are you kidding me?” Griffin stepped closer, bringing us fact-to-face. “One of your kind is tearing up Europe and you don’t care?”
“Loose the righteous indignation, Detective.” He flinched at my words. Good. He needed to feel ashamed. “First this isn’t ‘one of my kind.’
“What?” Griffin’s vocal reaction mirrored the director, only he hid his emotions better.
I rolled my eyes at them both. “Humans have this misguided belief they’re alone in the universe.” I ignored Its amusement and continued. “You search for other life out in the stars, but ignore any sign that some of them might be here on Earth.”
“So this is…what?” The secretary asked.
“I don’t know what it is, but it’s not my concern.”
“It is something we should investigate.”
It took an effort not to react outwardly. “Maybe that’s true, but they don’t need to know we’re interested.”
“This game you play with your own is difficult to understand.”
It might be right about being straight forward, but I needed to ensure Ryan’s safety before I said more. I scanned their faces once more and started to go.
“Gar, wait.” Griffin put his hand on my arm and seemed almost surprised when it felt real. “Please. I didn’t do any of this for personal reasons, I…we…need your help. This is beyond anything we know. It took an arsenal to take down the killer and from what I could read….”
“It gets harder every time. Yes, I know.” It certainly sounded like It. I slipped a card out of my inner coat pocket. “Send me all the intelligence you have on it to this address.”
The Secretary eyed the card. Without reading his thoughts I knew his concern. “Trust me, it’s secure.”
“I’d rather give you a thumb drive.”
“Fine. Have your driver bring one here.” I made sure they couldn’t see me any longer. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
Moving quickly, I found my phone and called Ryan. It rang twice before he picked it up.
“Will?”
“Hey, handsome.” I started to feel better immediately. “How do you feel about spending Christmas with me in DC?”
Be Sure To Check Out The Briefs Of These Other Flashers:
Find all your favorite flashers in one place and read the first 100 words on the groups website:
or click on the individual links below:
JC Wallace
Lily Sawyer
Jon Keys
Nephylim
Shelly Schulz
Rob Colton
Cia Nordwell
Victoria Adams
Tali Spencer
Grace Duncan
Chris T. Kat
Julie Lynn Hayes
Holiday Blog Event: Becky Condit – Christmas Pajama’s
When my children were small we fell into rather than decided on certain traditions. On Christmas Eve the children were each allowed to open one gift when we got home from Christmas Eve church services. I pretended to make a difficult choice, then handed each of them the one package they were allowed to open. Somehow they never caught on that it was always the one from their Granny and it always contained some really cool pajamas or a princess-worthy nightgown, which they were allowed to put on right away. My thirty-something daughters still talk about the year they received harem-style pajamas. Bicycles and dolls have been forgotten over the years but those pajamas linger as one of their all-time favorite Christmas memories. Sleepy heads snuggled in while Daddy read The Night Before Christmas, and then off to bed. The result was they always looked nice in the pictures taken the next morning as they opened Santa’s and other gifts. Cute kid pictures on Christmas morning: mission accomplished! This is a tradition that has been retained in our family as my grandchildren now open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it’s always from me and it’s always some really special pajamas or nightgown. They haven’t caught on to the trick yet either, but boy, do they look cute in their Christmas morning pictures.
A favorite Christmas song in our family has always been O Come Little Children.
About The Author:
Mrs. Condit never rants. She seethes with righteous indignation after gathering facts.
Mrs. Condit never reads inappropriate material. As an adult, she delights in the right to peruse books written for adults. Those under 18 years of age are hereby instructed to seek appropriate entertainment elsewhere. Move along.
Mrs. Condit never writes snarky reviews. She provides an honest opinion, politely stated. The word snark, as coined by Lewis Carroll in 1876, means an imaginary animal. Therefore, the currently in vogue use of the term to indicate a cutting remark is inappropriate and incorrect.
Mrs. Condit reads nothing but important literature. Any book she decides to read is important to her. Occasionially, books reviewed here are provided by authors or publishers. Regardless of the source, any book that Mrs. Condit chooses to analyze will be reviewed honestly and fairly.
Mrs. Condit finds a wide variety of topics interesting and occasionally amusing. If these matters are not fascinating to you please choose to spend your time doing something productive rather than sitting on your soft bottom reading about issues that do not concern you. Mrs. Condit suggests using your time to end world hunger, eradicate poverty, or eliminate prejudice.
(Tongue in cheek, people, tongue in cheek!)
Contact Mrs Condit at mrsconditreadsbooks@gmail.com
