M.E. Tudor's Blog: Upcoming Event!, page 9

One Month To Release

I finished adding the new chapters to Building Love last night and officially wrote "The End." I'm so excited about finishing this story, and I'm going to be editing like a mad woman over the next month because my goal is to release this book on Amazon on Valentine's Day 2018. That is one month from today!

I've been blessed to have such awesome fans who have been patiently waiting for me to publish something new. The last new story I published was Taste Testing, a short erotic tale that I released on October 9, 2016. It has been more than two years since I released a full-length book and that was Standing Her Ground, which was released on October 15, 2015.

As some of you know, the past couple of years had a lot of ups and downs, including the sudden loss of my sister, Sheryl and her husband, Jim in a plane crash February 11, 2015. I was amazed I was able to finish Standing Her Ground during that first year of grief, but I believe it was my sister's wind under my wings pushing me forward.

I've been doing a lot of writing regardless of the fact that I haven't published anything. I have several projects started that have stalled in various stages for different reasons. But, I finished Finding Jenna That story is a drama about a female-to-male transgender man who finds his true self when he has to go into hiding from his very dangerous father. I'm trying to get that book traditionally publishes, partially because I want to have that experience and partly because I'm hoping a traditional publisher will be able to get the book to a new audience.

I'm still working on the synopsis for Building Love, but here's some general information about it. The story is about two young women, Patty McNeal and Theresa Garland. After Patty's father was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, Patty started making very bad choices. She starts taking drugs and partying too much. The result is an unexpected pregnancy. When Patty finds out she's pregnant she changes her course and focuses on the new life growing within her, despite the fact that her loser ex-boyfriend, Caleb Dalton, refuses to admit the baby is his.

Theresa Garland is surprised when her father, Richard asks her to take on a complete remodel job for his friend, Mandy McNeal. Theresa has been working for her father since she was a teenager, but he has been giving her bigger jobs and responsibilities ever since she graduated from the technical college. This remodel will be a huge responsibility.

Patty and Theresa went to the same high school in western Kentucky. Theresa is a few years older than Patty and remembers thinking she was beautiful the first time she saw her when Patty was a freshman. Patty knew Theresa as a popular upperclassman who was always nice to her.

Theresa is immediately protective of Patty when she starts working on the house that Mandy wants to turn into a bed and breakfast. Patty is seven months pregnant but determined to help her mother in any way she can to make her dream of owning a successful bed and breakfast come true. As Patty and Theresa get to know each other as they work on the house together, they both start feeling the pull of attraction.

Theresa is openly gay, partially from being forced out of the closet by Patty's ex-boyfriend, Caleb Dalton's sister, Linda. She has had a little crush on Patty ever since she first saw her at the high school, but she doesn't think Patty is gay and she doesn't want to do anything to make Patty's mom mad and lose this job.

Patty has never really thought about her sexuality. She had never really been interested in the guys at her school and dating Caleb had just been a part of being strung out on drugs. Most of her friends at school are queer, except for her very straight best friend, Daria. The more Patty is around Theresa, the more she likes her and the more she feels this unusual attraction. When Patty kisses Theresa the first time it's to throw the accusations Caleb and his girlfriend, Destiny has been making in their faces. This rush of electricity between Patty and Theresa surprises both of them. Even though they both are being cautious with their hearts, the love between them builds as they work on the bed and breakfast and become close friends, and then lovers.

What? There's more?

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! The funny thing is that I thought I was almost there. After I completed NaNoWriMo in November, I put the manuscript for Building Love up for a little while and went to work on some other things. So I started editing Building Love at the end of last month thinking I was finished with the story, but today, I arrived at the last page that I'd written in November and realized the story was not done! Oops! So I'm going to have to write at least 5 more chapters so I can wrap the story up nicely and not rush the end.

I'll probably put the story away for a week or two and then edit it again. I was hoping to release the book around Valentine's day, but that's looking like it may be too soon. But, for my fans who have been patiently waiting for this book to come out, I am going to post the first two chapters. That way you all can get a start of the story before it officially comes out. I hope you'll take a minute to comment or email me about the story and let me know what you think about how it starts. I'm always happy to hear from you guys so drop me a line at metudor.com@gmail.com

Now, here's the first two chapters of Building Love:

Chapter OnePatty
“Have you lost your mind?” That was all I could think of to say when Mom took me to look at the house she had just bought. It looked like the left behind set of a really bad horror movie. “No, Patricia,I have not lost my mind,” Mom said indignantly. “I got this place cheap.” She walked into what I assumed had been the living room and turned in a circle. “It just needs some tender loving care and elbow grease.”I raised both eyebrows and looked down at my protruding stomach. “Well, I hope you realize that it will be at least two months before I will be lending much elbow grease.”Mom came over and put her arm around my shoulders. “Yes, I know you will be limited at what you can help with, but there is still a lot you can do. You can sweep stuff into a pile and I’ll pick it up.” She grabbed a piece of the peeling wallpaper and pulled it off the wall. “You can help strip the wallpaper.”I’m not afraid of hard work. There were many weekends, summers, and school breaks that I’d spent working alongside my parents on one job site or another. My father had been a painter and drywall finisher by trade. My mother had worked with him for as long as I could remember, so she was totally capable of doing a lot of the drywall finishing and painting that this place was going to need. I looked around the room. This was going to take a lot more than stripping wallpaper and painting to make it livable.“Are you sure it’s safe to walk around in here?” I asked looking at the scuffed wood floors.“Yes,” Mom said. “I had a building inspector go over every nook and cranny. He said the house was solid, it just needed some cosmetic work.I looked at her. “Cosmetic work? I think a wrecking crew might be more useful.”She scowled at me. “It’s not that bad.” She looked up at the place where a light fixture had been hanging that was just loose wires now. “Anyway, I’ve got a contractor friend who’s going to take a look at it for me. He promised to give me a good deal based on us doing a lot of the work.”Shaking my head, I followed behind Mom as she took me on a tour of the whole house. I listened as she told me about her plans for each room. Mom had been talking about owning a bed and breakfast forever. It was something Dad and she had talked about doing together. When he was killed by a drunk driver a little over a year ago, all of Mom’s plans were destroyed, or at least they had seemed to be at the time.This year had been really hard on both of us. We lost the home Mom and Dad had just purchased less than six months before his accident because his life insurance company and the drunk driver’s insurance company were stalling on giving Mom the money she was due. Mom hired a really good lawyer who finally got her all the money she was supposed get, and a little more for pain and suffering. The money had just finally come in and the was how Mom had bought this monstrosity. We have been living in a tiny two bedroom low income apartment while we waited for the settlement. Now that the money had finally come in, we had just a few weeks to get a new place.When Mom told me she was going to look at a house or two the other day, I never expected her to buy something so quickly. However, when she told me what she paid for this house I wasn’t surprised she’d jumped on the opportunity. It really was cheap, but now I know why. After we’d finished the tour of the upstairs, we returned to the living room. “So what do you think?”Slipping my arm around her narrow waist, I looked around the room again. I couldn’t see the potential, but apparently Mom could. If she wanted to turn this house into a bed and breakfast, I would help her as much as possible. “When you said you bought a house to turn into a bed and breakfast, I pictured something a little more ready to be moved into.”Mom grinned. “Im sure you did, but I couldn’t pass up this deal. The owner was the great grandson of the original owner and he was tired of dealing with it. I offered him a bid on it and he took it.” She turned to me. “I know I probably should have talked to you about it before I bought it, because some of that money is yours. But, once we get this up and running, you won’t have to worry about getting a babysitter for Mattie because you can help me run the bed and breakfast. You think you would want to do that?”She had a point about the babysitter. I have been worried about having to get a job and leaving the baby with a stranger. This way I could be home with the baby. “Yes, I want to do that. When do we start?”Mom leaned over kissed me on my cheek and patted my large belly. “This weekend.”I rubbed the spot Mom had patted and felt the tiny foot of the little girl I was carrying kick my hand. It made me smile. When I first found out I was pregnant, I had been completely devastated. Having a baby this early in my life had not been part of my plans, but now I couldn't wait for her to get here. Partially because I’m totally sick of feeling like a beached whale, but mostly because I couldn’t wait to hold my little girl in my arms. “Okay,” I said and followed Mom outside. “What does Mattie feel like having for dinner?” Mom asked.I ran my hands over my stomach and leaned down as if to really talk to the baby. “What do you think Matilda, Chinese, or Italian? One kick for Chinese. Two for Italian.” The baby’s answer was a solid single kick to my ribs.I rubbed the spot she’d planned her foot and said, “Chinese it is.”Mom leaned down and kissed my belly. “Good choice, Mattie. That’s what Grandma wanted too.”I shook my head. My mother is an amazing person. We had been a close family unit before my dad died. After he died, I lost my mind for a little while and started being an idiot out partying and trying to bury my pain in drugs and alcohol. I had been terrified to tell Mom about my pregnancy after I first found out. She had lost her husband and best friend just six months earlier, and then her only daughter became an out of control freak.Mom had not been as upset as I thought she would be. Granted, she had not been happy with me, but I wasn’t very happy with me either. Selfish is the nicest word I can think of to describe myself for those first six months. I was so wrapped up in my own pain that I had not considered how hard things were for Mom. It took me becoming pregnant and realizing the depth of that responsibility before I could see what I was doing to her. Now, I’m determined to make up for my bad choices by helping Mom as much as I can.  I looked around again as we closed the front door. This was going to be a huge project. I wonder if Mom really understood what she was getting into, but I was here for the ride with her no matter what.
Chapter TwoTheresa
I looked up from the pictures I was studying when my father walked in the office we share.“What’s new?” he asked.“Just looking at the pictures of Mrs. Doan’s yard,” I said. “She wants a path to the percula made with stepping stones and she gave me a list of the new flowers and bushes she’d like to have, so I’m trying to figure out how to best organize the flower beds.”He nodded and moved to look over my shoulder at the pictures. “About how long do you think that will take?”“A week, maybe a week and a half,” I answered. “The hardest part is going to be digging the new gardens, but John and Jesus will make quick work of it. Why?”“I might have a remodel job for you,” Dad said. “It’s going to be a pretty big job and will probably take at least a couple months. You interested?”“You sure you trust me with that big a job?” I asked, surprised.Dad shrugged and walked away, going to his desk and sitting down in his oversized leather chair. “It’s for an old friend. She’s on a tight budget. I figure you can do it for less than I can. There will be a lot of work you can do yourself and not bring a crew in, so more of the money will go in your pocket. Plus there are some things she wants to do herself to save money, and it will let me see how you do with a project like this. Not all my clients can afford to pay top dollar for a big and fast crew to come through and be done in a couple weeks.”“Okay, sure, I’d love to take on a remodel. What’s it entail?”“Before you say yes for certain, how about we go out to the house this afternoon so you can see what you’re getting into,” Dad suggested.I nodded. “Okay.”A couple hours later, Dad and I got in his maroon crew cab diesel and headed toward the downtown area. Riverton is a small city that has become known for its arts and crafts festivals. The downtown area has been being rejuvenated. Lots of small shops have started up since the city has started promoting tourism of the town’s historic district. Many people were buying the old, dilapidated homes and making them into beautiful show pieces while still keeping its historic value. That’s why I wasn’t surprised that the house I was going to be working on was in the historic district.We turned onto Fourth Street and Dad stopped in front of a two-story brick house in serious need of repair.“Is this it?” I asked, getting out of the truck.“Yep. My friend, Mandy wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast,” Dad said as he came around the truck and stood beside me. Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at the overgrown yard and rundown house. “This is going to take a lot of work.”“Yeah? What until you see the inside?” Dad said and took a key out of his pocket. “Come on, let's have a look inside.”I followed him up the broken sidewalk to the front door. The inside of the house had a heavy musk smell from years of being closed up. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls showing the old and cracking drywall underneath. Spider webs were everywhere. I hate spiders. “Is this place liveable?” I asked as I walked across the hardwood floor leading into a large room with a fireplace. “Mandy had a building inspector to come out and look at it before she bought it. The structure is sound,” Dad said, looking around. “It’s just going to need a lot of work.”“Yeah,” I agreed. We walked through the downstairs rooms. The kitchen looked like it hadn’t been renovated since the 1950s. There was one bathroom downstairs and it had been stripped of everything but the pipes. The linoleum floor looked like it would have to be replaced.I followed Dad upstairs where there were four more rooms, all of which had most likely been bedrooms. “No bathroom up here?” I asked.“No,” Dad said. “The house was build in the early 1900’s and had been used as a single family rental since the 80s. It has sat empty for the most of the last 5 years. The guy who sold it to Mandy was the great grandson of the original owner. I don’t think he’s done anything to it since he inherited it. His father had at least sent someone to mow and keep an eye on the house. I think the great grandson recently inherited it and decided to get rid of it rather they fix it up.”“Wow,” I said. “So what kind of budget are we talking about?”“Maybe fifty thousand,” he said. I looked at him incredulously. “You expect me to turn this into a bed and breakfast for under fifty thousand dollars?”“It can be done,” Dad said. “And I have faith that you can pull it off. Mandy and her daughter will do some of the non skilled work, cleaning place up and stuff like that, so that will cut down on what you have to pay out for labor.”I stood looking around the room with my hands on my hips. I wasn’t sure I could do it for that little money, but when Dad asked me if I accepted the challenge, I said, “Yes.The owner and I would definitely have to go over what she wanted specifically. This was not going to be an easy project to keep within the budget, but I would sure try.

Halfway?

 
Happy day after Christmas. Like many of you, I had to go back to my day job today. We made it through Christmas without any major family drama. Yay! Next holiday up is New Year's, which is my personal favorite holiday. New Year's always makes me feel like I'm getting a fresh start and the upcoming New Year's Day will be no different. It will be a fresh year and I'll fresh new stories coming out. I expect to release at least two new stories next year, and I plan to freshen up a few of the others.

I'm about halfway through Building Love in my first round of edits and working very hard to get it ready for a Valentine's Day release. As we get closer to February I'll update you on all the progress I'm making.

I know many of you are waiting for the next installment of Suddenly and The Wrong Place at the Right Time. Unfortunately, both of my follow up stories for those books have stalled. Maybe after I finish Building Love and get it out there, I'll be able to get back to the installments, but for right now, they are just not coming together. 

I've been toying with taking a few of my stories out of the Kindle Unlimited program and making them available through other venues, but I'm having a hard time with it. I make more money per book in the KU program than I do through direct sales. Yes, if I were to put a higher price tag on the books I would make more money per sale, but I'm afraid I would lose sales overall.

There are a few other reasons I'm not going to jack up my prices. The number one reason is that there will be a lot of my fans who won't be able to afford to buy my books if I make the price too high. It's more important to me that my fans be able to read my books than it is for me to make a lot of money per book.

Another reason is that it would make me less competitive with other lesbian authors. There are a lot of excellent authors, who write similar stories, who are also using Kindle Unlimited and keeping their prices reasonable. The reward is a lot of loyal fans, including me. One of those authors is J. A. Armstrong. I love her short, quirky stories, and because I can read them on Kindle Unlimited, I can afford to read two or three of hers a month (I'm behind actually too busy writing to read).

Sadly, there are only a few authors I will pay more than a few dollars for their books, partially because I just simply cannot afford to spend a lot for books. Gerri Hill is one of those authors whose books I buy every time she puts out a new one. I've been reading her books ever since she first came out with One Summer Night. That was back in 2004, and I've been following her ever since. I have to admit though, I have gotten her newest book, The Secret Pond because I just haven't had the money.

So what do you think about the Kindle Unlimited program? Do you use it? How much is your limit for a book these days? Leave me a comment here, or email me at metudor.com@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

Happy day after Christmas. Like many of you, I had ...

 
Happy day after Christmas. Like many of you, I had to go back to my day job today. We made it through Christmas without any major family drama. Yay! Next holiday up is New Year's, which is my personal favorite holiday. New Year's always makes me feel like I'm getting a fresh start and the upcoming New Year's Day will be no different. It will be a fresh year and I'll fresh new stories coming out. I expect to release at least two new stories next year, and I plan to freshen up a few of the others.

I'm about halfway through Building Love in my first round of edits and working very hard to get it ready for a Valentine's Day release. As we get closer to February I'll update you on all the progress I'm making.

I know many of you are waiting for the next installment of Suddenly and The Wrong Place at the Right Time. Unfortunately, both of my follow up stories for those books have stalled. Maybe after I finish Building Love and get it out there, I'll be able to get back to the installments, but for right now, they are just not coming together. 

I've been toying with taking a few of my stories out of the Kindle Unlimited program and making them available through other venues, but I'm having a hard time with it. I make more money per book in the KU program than I do through direct sales. Yes, if I were to put a higher price tag on the books I would make more money per sale, but I'm afraid I would lose sales overall.

There are a few other reasons I'm not going to jack up my prices. The number one reason is that there will be a lot of my fans who won't be able to afford to buy my books if I make the price too high. It's more important to me that my fans be able to read my books than it is for me to make a lot of money per book.

Another reason is that it would make me less competitive with other lesbian authors. There are a lot of excellent authors, who write similar stories, who are also using Kindle Unlimited and keeping their prices reasonable. The reward is a lot of loyal fans, including me. One of those authors is J. A. Armstrong. I love her short, quirky stories, and because I can read them on Kindle Unlimited, I can afford to read two or three of hers a month (I'm behind actually too busy writing to read).

Sadly, there are only a few authors I will pay more than a few dollars for their books, partially because I just simply cannot afford to spend a lot for books. Gerri Hill is one of those authors whose books I buy every time she puts out a new one. I've been reading her books ever since she first came out with One Summer Night. That was back in 2004, and I've been following her ever since. I have to admit though, I have gotten her newest book, The Secret Pond because I just haven't had the money.

So what do you think about the Kindle Unlimited program? Do you use it? How much is your limit for a book these days? Leave me a comment here, or email me at metudor.com@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

Let The Editing Begin

I finished NaNoWriMo with two days to spare this year. It's always a wonderful feeling to cross that finish line and know that I've almost completed a new novel in a month's time. In the past four years of competing in NaNoWriMo, only one of the novels I worked on actually made it to publication, which surprises even me. 
One of the stories, "Aunt Gladys' Wish" fizzled out and I haven't gotten back to it. "Beginnings" I've been working on for like five years. "Standing Her Ground" came out of that original story. I will finish "Beginnings" eventually, but it has been an epic undertaking. 
This year's book, "Building Love" is definitely going to get published. My goal is to have it ready for Valentine's Day. I took a week away from it, and I'm going to start the first round of editing this week.
The other big project in the works is "Finding Jenna." I took some time to rework it, and I'm getting ready to send it out agents. I decided that I wanted to try the traditional publishing route with that book just for the experience. I like the control I have with self-publishing, but I'd like to see what happens with a book that gets traditionally published. 
Of course, the big challenge in all of this is time. As some of you know, my partner and I are raising three of my seven grandchildren. The two older kids are 13 and 11. They are pretty good about letting Nana have her writing time. The four-year-old is a different story altogether. In fact, he's been in here to interrupt me three times since I started writing this. But, baby needs attention too. 
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and it time doesn't permit an opportunity for me to get on here before Christmas, I hope you have a Merry Christmas. 
Oh! I almost forgot. I'm giving away digital copies of my books in December. Check out my author page on Facebook to see how to win. https://www.facebook.com/metudorwriter/

We're Having A Baby

Good Evening! I've been working away on my new young adult lesbian romance during NaNoWriMo this month and I'm up to 35,690 words. I just wrote the scene where one of my main characters, Patty has her baby and, of course, her future love interest, Theresa is there for the birth. At this point they are not a couple yet. Theresa has had a crush on Patty for a long time, but Patty is just starting to realize that the friendship she and Theresa share feels like something more. Here's an excerpt and please keep in mind this is a very first draft, straight from my brain to the keyboard, no editing. 

Patty
I woke to the smell of coffee and donuts. For a minute I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Looking around the room and seeing Mom and Theresa talking, and then seeing Mattie sleeping in her crib, I realized I was in heaven. All the people I loved were in this room. I paused at that thought and looked at Theresa. Yes, I loved her. It was weird that I felt that way. We’d become close over the past few months as she’d worked on Mom’s house. I had had no doubt we would continue to be friends even after the job was done. But, I had always felt a tinge of something more than friendship with her. I’d wondered if it might just be a little bit of curiousity on my part. Not that I didn’t know any gay people, ironically most of my friends at school, except Daria were sexually fluid. One of my friends from art class had been trying to get me to go out with her, but it just seemed like a game to me. She was cute in an androgynous way, but I just wasn’t interested in going out with her. With Theresa, it wasn’t let’s go on a date feelings, it was let's hang out and just enjoy each other’s company. “Well, look who’s awake,” Mom said and got up to get Mattie.Theresa laughed. “You thought she was talking about you, didn’t you?”“Yes,” I said a little indignant, but I understood. That little angel would draw my attention first too.Sandy walked over to the recliner and sat down with Mattie. “I’ve already spent eighteen years with your, I’m just getting to know this little angel.”I smiled and shook my head thinking that child was going to be so spoiled, but that was okay. She was also going to be very loved.
Theresa pushed the tray toward me with a cup of coffee and an apple fritter on it. “The coffee is probably a little cold. I can go get you some hot coffee if you want me to.”

Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo

Above is a screen shot from my NaNoWriMo page. I'm going to be writing my next young adult lesbian romance starting next month and hopefully finishing before Christmas. Here is the synopsis. I'd love to hear what you think so send me your thoughts either here, on Facebook, or send an email to metudor.com@gmail.com
Theresa Garland is thrilled when her father, Richard gives her a remodeling project of her own to run. Theresa has been working for her father since she was a little girl and just finished her Associate's Degree in Construction Management. The project is to remodel an old house into a bed and breakfast for Richard’s high school sweetheart, Sandy McNeal. Theresa doesn’t realize it, but Sandy is the mother of Patty McNeal, a girl she had a crush on in high school.
Patty McNeal is having a very bad year. Her father was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver a little over a year ago. The insurance companies for her father’s life insurance and the drunk driver’s car insurance are trying to get out of paying Patty’s mom, so the two of them were forced to leave their beautiful new home by the river and move into Section 8 housing. Patty takes her father’s death very hard and starts self-medicating with drugs and alcohol until she finds out she’s pregnant.
When Sandy finally gets her money from the insurance companies, she buys and old house that she wants to turn into a bed and breakfast. Patty likes the idea, even if it means they will have to live with construction workers coming and going in their new house while they renovate it.
Right away problems start between Theresa and Patty. Although Theresa still finds Patty absolutely beautiful, even in her advanced pregnancy, she is disappointed to find out that Patty can be quite a pain in the behind.
Patty thinks Theresa is obnoxious and bossy. She can’t wait until the renovation is done so Theresa will be out of their lives. The sparks fly between Theresa and Patty as they always seem to be in each other’s way.
That all changes when Caleb Dalton, who denies he is the father of Patty’s baby, decides he can show up at Patty’s house and force her to sleep with him. Theresa and her crew come to Patty’s rescue and Theresa makes her mission to protect Patty from Caleb. Theresa and the Dalton family have a bad history and Theresa is not going to let the Dalton family ruin Patty’s life.
At first, Patty’s not happy about Theresa’s over protectiveness, but when Caleb becomes more aggressive with his harassment, Patty is glad that Theresa is around to protect her.
Patty starts letting her guard down with Theresa as she starts to find herself drawn to her. Theresa’s stable calmness reminds Patty of her father and she starts to rely more and more on Theresa to help her deal with her turbulent emotions.
Theresa realizes that Patty’s attitude toward her has been part of her defense mechanisms that she’s put in place since her father passed, and since she became pregnant as a result of a lot of bad choices. Theresa feels compelled to protect the younger woman. She knows Patty is straight, and tries to keep her emotions in check, but she can’t help but fall in love with her even though she knows Patty can’t feel that way about her, or can she?

What A Year It Has Been

It's time that I gave you all an update of what's been going on. I didn't even realize how long it had been since I'd posted to this blog. I don't have anything new coming out soon, but I do have several projects in the works.

Those of you who have been following me for a few years know that I have a boat load of grandchildren. My youngest daughter, Michelle added to my collection in June. She had a beautiful baby girl who was a little early, but healthy. Here is a picture of me with all 7 of my grandchildren from left to right on the couch at my youngest daughter's house: Jazmyn (11), Julian (4), Me (Old), Deborah (2 months), Gage (9), Samuel (7). On the floor, Jacob (13) and David, (10). Of these 7, my partner, Rosa and I are raising Jacob, Jazmyn and Julian. My oldest daughter, Jess had some drug issues that she has gotten over, but she still has not developed motherly skills. It runs in the family I'm afraid. My mother and maternal mother were not very motherly either. Of course, back in their day, mothers stayed at home to raise children, who were to be seen and not heard. They were to work on the farm, around the house, or babysit, depending on the family.

Both of my parents came from large farm families. My dad came from a family with 8 kids and my mom's had 10. I'm not real sure what kind of farmer my dad's father was, but my mother's father was a dairy farmer.

There would be no way we could get this crew of kids to work on a farm, not unless the tractors were run like video games, then maybe.

It's amazing how much things have changed in what we expect out of kids. It's no wonder so many of them get into a lot of trouble like my girls did. They didn't have anything to keep them busy and out of trouble and Rosa and I worked all the time. 

Anyway, since my last post, way back in April, I've had a lot going on. Besides finishing writing my trans story, I was dealing with the grandkids for the most of the summer, which definitely dug into my writing time. David, Gage, and Samuel are back in Colorado with their dad. Deborah is in Owensboro being spoiled rotten by her parents. Jacob and Jazmyn are back in school so I just have Julian when I'm not at work. Of course, that's like having 3 kids in one because he is all over the place.

As you can see, I've had my hands full, but I've also been juggling stories. I finished my female to male transsexual story titled, Finding Jenna. I got a rejection from an agent and a publisher. Both were positive rejections so I'm reworking FJ in hopes of getting it traditionally published. I know some of you are probably wondering why I'm doing that when I've self-published everything else. Honestly, I just want to go through the traditional publishing experience. And, I just kind of what to see if I can get published traditionally. So, that's what 's going on with that.

I have a lesbian romance that I've been working on for close to four years that is finally starting to shape up. It's one of those stories that is requiring a lot of research and I have no idea if anyone will like the story. It's just been one of those stories, like Finding Jenna, that is demanding that I write it.

I'm also working on a wedding story for The Wrong Place at the Right Time fans, and another sequel to Suddenly. The one I have out now, It's All New was just a tester sequel to get a feel for what the fans want.

I have a couple other stories that I've started that went no where. I have two that I published on the Royal Academy of Bards sight that I'm editing and preparing for publication on Amazon. And, just because I don't have enough to do, I'm going to write a whole new young adult lesbian romance next month during NaNoWriMo. 

Even though I have not published anything new this year, I expect to get two or three of these stories I've mentioned out to the masses next year. I'm also going to try to do a better job of posting on here, on my website and my other social media outlets. Thank you all for being patient. I promise to have something ready for you to snap up soon.

Enlightenment

If you've been following me on Facebook, you know that I'm working on a story that is going to have a female-to-male transsexual character. I was fortunate enough to have two very nice young gentlemen contact me on Facebook. One, I interviewed via Facebook Messenger, and the other was a local man that I sat down with and had coffee. Both interviews were very enlightening.

I have to admit all I've known about transsexuals has come from what I've seen in the media. Chaz Bono and Caitlyn Jenner's stories. I've read a few books on the subject so far, Beyond Magenta: Trans Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin and Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders by Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall.

When I was interviewing my two new gentlemen friends, I mentioned that I was amazed that there were a lot more stories about male-to-female trans than there were about female-to-male trans. They both said that it was safer that way because society seems to be more comfortable with males becoming females than it is with females becoming males. I think this is true. I think generally people consider a transwoman less threatening than a transman.

After discussing my friends' stories and what they've had to go through, it made me realize just how dangerous it still is to be an LGBTQ person, especially for transsexuals. As LGBTQ people we constantly have to decide how out we want to be. If we are out, we are still having to keep coming out every time we meet a new person. If we are not out, we have to fear being outed every time we meet a new person.

Even within our own community, there are still a lot of prejudice. I'm not sure if this true with men who were married before they came out, but I know with women who were married before they came out, they are often not considered true lesbians because they accepted the straight privilege first. I know lesbians who would completely shun a former friend who became a man, and bisexuals are shunned by both the straight and the gay community. If you are gay, there are other gay people who insist you have to be out, regardless of the consequences.

Even though I've learned a lot talking with my new friends, it's left me with difficult decisions for my character. Will he have top and/or bottom surgery? Will he be out about who he is? How will his family react to his new identity? At this point, I haven't decided what he's going to do, but I hope that I can tell his story in a way that makes his character relatable and loveable. 

Expanding Availability

I'm working on formatting all my books to go on Smashwords so they can be distributed through different markets. I'd kept them strictly to Amazon because I was making pretty good money in the Kindle Unlimited program. Well, do to the fact that my book, Suddenly could still be found online in different places that I couldn't find but Amazon could, I cannot put a book in the unlimited program for a year. This really pissed me off, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Now my books will be available through other online retailers like Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Sony, etc. Eventually, they will be available on my website. It's just a lot of work and a lot of time. The Wrong Place at the Right Time is the first book I'm publishing on Smashwords. I hope to have them all on there over the next couple of weeks.