Mandy M. Roth's Blog, page 84
June 11, 2012
I want my library to carry your books. How do I get them to?
You need to contact your library. You have to request that they carry my print book and electronic titles (if they offer digital lending). You can find a PRINT book list of ISBN here to print and take in. (PDF will open in new window)
As for digital/elec edition ISBN you can find each one listed on title’s book page if its a Raven Books Title. Yes, our titles are sent to Baker and Taylor so they can be ordered by libraries. My website has elec ISBNs as well and I will have a detailed printable list of them before summer is out.
Unfortunately, because of the number of requests I get to donate my books to libraries I’m unable to donate to all of them. I have to pay per title and already with what I’ve donated this year it has added up fast. I’ve also run into when I’ve donated books to a library they have turned around, not put them into circulation, and sold them at a book sale.
The more request they get the more likely they will be to carry my titles at your local library.
June 6, 2012
MwM Author Spotlight: Mychael Black
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight: Mychael Black
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Changeling Press.
A: Changeling Press is like a big, loving, (somewhat dysfunctional) family. To me, anyway. I adore everyone there, yet they’re all very professional. I ‘discovered’ them a couple years or so ago, and to-date, have 3 running series with them (Dark Reign, Spirits of Abaddon, and Blood & Fire).
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: Given that I’m coming back from quite a dry spell, in terms of writing and promo, I’m taking it kind of slow these days. I’ve returned to Livejournal, and I’m using Facebook and Twitter a bit more now. One thing I’ve started doing is Sneak Peek Friday on my LJ. While it’s usually new stuff I post excerpts from, I also will post bits from older titles.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: When the muse talks, do NOT ignore it!
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Dark Reign: Atonement is the third and final book in my Dark Reign series with Changeling. I’d started the first one (Found) years ago, but put it away. Once I dragged it back out and finished it, things kinda spiraled out of control. Before I knew it, I had more guys (and now 1 woman) wanting their stories told. Atonement is Marcus Deleon’s story. He’s the pack leader for the weres who are fighting against a quite depraved vampire, Dalton Gray. Atonement is due out February 9th.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: Right now, I’m working on at least one BDSM short for Torquere, and Shayne (Carmichael) and I have replotted the third book in our Romanorum series. Like the first two books (The Prince’s Angel, And the Two Shall Become One), this novel will be with Torquere Press once it’s done. We’re tweaking it a lot from what we had before, and while there still is our trademark amount of love scenes with Mael and Cian, this novel focuses a good bit on the Romanorum itself and the often deadly intrigue within it.
Q: How did you get into writing?
A: I’ve been writing since I was a kid. Writing gay romance, however, came about years ago (maybe 2003, 2004?) somewhat by accident. I wrote a horror story, but two of the supporting characters were, in fact, a gay couple. Before long, they took over. Needless to say, despite the periodic vacations my muse seems to take, I’m still going strong.
Q: How do balance family and writing?
A: I do precisely what I’m doing as I sit here typing this: I escape to Barnes & Noble’s cafe. I left my partner at home with the kids and I came here, grabbed a drink and a table, and popped in the headphones. I try to get several hours of writing in each day, whether it’s alone during the day, or at night with Shayne.
LINKS:
June 5, 2012
I want to read some of your books but you have so many. Where should I begin?
Here is a handy guide to my books that should help you decide where to start.
Did you love Fifty Shades of Grey?
Do you love Maya Banks, Lorelei James, Delilah Devlin and Cheyenne McCray?
Try my pen name books
Rory Michaels
A Macon Valley Ménage Series
A Hazard County Threesome
Theirs to Hold
Theirs to Tame
Theirs to Wed
Cowboys & Supernaturals
Do you love Christine Feehan, J.R. Ward, Gena Showalter, Nalini Singh, Lora Leigh, Laurann Dohner and Sherrilyn Kenyon?
The Immortal Ops Series
King of Prey
A View to a Kill
Master of the Hunt
Paranormal Payload
Force of Attraction
Point of No Return
Civil Twilight
Other Books
Do you love Laurel K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris?
Daughter of Darkness
The Enchantress
Bella Mia
The Valkyrie
Valhalla
Voyagers
Other Books
Did you like Fifty Shades of Grey and want more to read?
Did you love Fifty Shades of Grey? Give these books a try….
Simmering Seductions and Executive Decision
May 31, 2012
Help us make these promo books FREE!
Hi everyone. Raven Books needs your help again to make these two promotional books FREE for good on amazon. Its not an easy task. Its simple and its NO cost to you. It will just take a bit of your time. I’m guessing under five minutes. In the end, if it goes FREE, you’ll be rewarded with a FREE book or you have the option to download for FREE from the other vendors that already honored our FREE request.
We’ve asked for your help before on another title and it worked! Why? Because you are all f-ing awesome!
Instructions: (these need to be followed for EACH title)
King, King, Goose by Mandy M. Roth
1. Visit this AMAZON book page link. King, King, Goose? by Mandy M. Roth (click and new window will open)
In the PRODUCT DETAILS section you will see this under the info listed there “ Would you like to give feedback on images or tell us about a lower price?” Click on TELL US ABOUT A LOWER PRICE. Select ONLINE story option. In the url section you can paste one of the following URLs (doesn’t matter which one you use) and you can input the price as $0.00 and the shipping as $0.00.
URLs to be pasted in
http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW0...
OR
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/produ...
OR
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/King-K...
Rings of Gold by Michelle M. Pillow
1. Visit this AMAZON book page link. Rings of Gold by Michelle M Pillow (click and new window will open)
In the PRODUCT DETAILS section you will see this under the info listed there “ Would you like to give feedback on images or tell us about a lower price?” Click on TELL US ABOUT A LOWER PRICE. Select ONLINE story option. In the url section you can paste one of the following URLs (doesn’t matter which one you use) and you can input the price as $0.00 and the shipping as $0.00.
URLs to be pasted in
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Rings-...
OR
http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW0...
OR
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/produ...
May 30, 2012
MwM Author Spotlight: Sky Robinson
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight: Sky Robinson
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Ellora’s Cave.
A:I was lucky enough to get the fabulous Raelene Gorlinski as my editor. I like her no nonsense style and hard hitting edits.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I have always been a Facebook user and I’ve found a new love for Twitter and do my best to stay active on both of those. I’ve also done a small blog tour. With two little boys destroying the house every minute I spend online I really have to limit the amount of promoting I do.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: Have several books finished and ready because things move fast once you’re published. It’s tough to find writing time between promoting and revisions and edits and everything else that is suddenly required.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Going All In is a sexy short story set in Vegas. It’s a reunion story that starts off with a bang…literally.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: I have a plane crash on a tropical island ending in a ménage with my editor right now, and am working on a futuristic space travel series that I’m very excited about.
Q: How did you get into writing?
A: I never thought of myself as a writer, barely even kept a journal as a teenager, but my ten year class reunion was coming up and I wanted to have something cool to brag about, so why not write a book? I had no idea the time it took or the difficulty in getting an editor to even look at your work. I went into it completely naive, and five years and six manuscripts later my first books came out.
Q: How do balance family and writing?
A: That’s a tricky one, with two rambunctious little boys it’s tough to find a quiet moment. I get as much writing done as I can when the little guy is in preschool and do my editing while I’m on the stationary bike at the gym or they’re in bed for the night.
LINKS:
May 25, 2012
Winter Solstice
Excerpt from Winter Solstice by Mandy M. Roth
The night air was bitter but the fresh blood pumping through Gordon O’Caha’s body warmed him. His cheeks were even slightly flushed—something that didn’t happen often. The man he’d fed from had been fat and jolly, stuffed in a Father Christmas suit and wreaking of whiskey. A second glance back at his “dinner” showed him the man was still slumped in the darkened alleyway. The man was propped haphazardly against an old building. Exactly where he’d left him after feeding from him.
Gordon adjusted the collar of his long, black leather coat and slipped on his gloves. He smoothed the front of his black Prada dress shirt. It matched his slacks. He had a thing for all black and cared not what others thought on the matter. He also had a taste for the finer things in life.
Freshly fallen snow crunched beneath his designer dress shoes as he stepped out from the alley. He worried not about his tracks. They’d never be linked to him.
The sounds of Christmas music, playing from loud speakers, carefully hidden away on lamp posts with wreaths, filled the air. With only a few days left until Christmas, the streets were busier than normal for this time of night. Last minute shoppers weaved paths past one another, each too absorbed in their own personal matters to notice that of any others.
A policeman stood waving several older women across the street. Gordon stared at the man, willing him to look in his direction. The man did. Once eye contact was made, Gordon simply drew upon the gifts of his kind, using nothing more than his mind, to instruct the man on how best to handle the situation of the drunken man in the alley.
The policeman would call for help. It would arrive. The drunken man would sober up in the hospital with a warm bed and food in his stomach. No one would remember the presence of the mysterious man—Gordon—because he simply willed it so. With a mix of ancient druid magik and the power of the blood drinkers running through him, he was a force to be reckoned with. None could deny him that much.
“Och, it’s almost too easy,” he muttered, partially under his breath as he strolled out and onto the busy sidewalk. Life lacked surprise anymore, not that what he did counted as living. He existed. Plain and simple. And this was his night. Yule. The longest night of the year. The day when the Celtic myths of old tell of the Oak King killing his brother the Holly King. All Gordon was fully sure of anymore was on this night he was afforded more darkness, allowing him greater freedoms.
His cell rang and he ignored it, already knowing who was calling. One of his cousins. Probably Coyle. The O’Cahas were fiercely loyal to their family and they alone, in the world of magiks, refused to abandon him to the darkness. After the attack, they tried their best to get him to see reason—to return with them and continue to fight the good fight, but he couldn’t. He was no longer a good man. A full-blooded druid. Now he was tainted with the blood of demons.
His phone rang once more and he knew it was Coyle again. Coyle liked to try to reconnect with him during the holidays. The Winter Solstice was a favorite of his cousin’s.
“I do nae need family. I need no one,” Gordon said partially under his breath.
Something slammed into Gordon and suddenly liquid fire ignited against his groin, drawing with it a groan from him.
“By Dagda!” Blinking in surprise, he reached out quickly, catching hold of the pixie before him. The woman, coming only to his mid chest, was tiny in his arms. She wiggled, almost managing to break free of his barely there hold. Eyes as green as the grass near the bog at the base of the land he played on as a child stared up at him through a shroud of thick lashes. Long wisps of blonde, unruly, curly hair fought to be free of the clips holding it up. There was a bit of the old country in her. No doubt about it.
The darker side of him—the side that should be sated for weeks to come—thrummed with hunger. His ears pounded with the sound of her beating heart. The blood raced through her veins, taunting him. His resolve nearly broke as he focused in on her neck. For a split second, he was sure his fangs had exploded through his gums. A quick roll of his tongue over his teeth proved otherwise. He knew he should release her and flee or risk being her end, yet he couldn’t get his fingers to unfurl from her upper arms.
With a sharp intake of breath, she stared at his groin. “Ohmygod, I’m so sorry.”
Fog coated his mind, making it difficult to form a thought. He had to focus, harnessing both his manly urges and the darkness he harbored. The woman shouldn’t have had that effect on him. Others hadn’t in his hundreds upon hundreds of years roaming the earth. Why would this one prove different?
“Are you all right?” she asked, her voice as demure as she appeared to be.
Am I all right? I want to rip the clothes from her body, feed from her and fuck her into the otherworld, and she’s wonderin’ if I’m all right?
Gordon shook his head slightly and cleared his throat, following her gaze. His eyes widened as he found the front of his black slacks covered in a large wet spot.
I’ve embarrassed myself?
Nae.
He looked again.
Aye.
“I, well, I…” he stammered, only then noting the crushed paper cup and plastic lid laying near his feet in the snow. Brown liquid was splattered on the ground around them.
“That coco was scalding hot,” she said, reaching for him. “Did it burn you?”
Her delicate fingers connected with the front of his crotch and Gordon knew then he’d not yet come in his pants. If she kept touching him, he would. Grabbing her wrist gently, he eased her fingers from him, instantly mourning the loss of her touch.
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shiloh Walker
Shelli Stevens
Zoë Archer
Lauren Dane
May 23, 2012
Contest WINNERS!
Most Wanted Authors Contest Winners*!(Note: You only have a short window to claim your prize)
TJ Michaels–You’ve won a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card. Please email mandy@mandyroth.com
Taryn Blackthorne–You’ve won an ebook copy of your choice of one of my titles from my (Mandy M Roth) Raven Books selection. Please email me (mandy@mandyroth.com) with your selection and elec format choice.
Carrie J–You’ve won an ebook copy of your choice of one of my titles from my(Mandy M Roth) Raven Books selection. Please email me (mandy@mandyroth.com) with your selection and elec format choice.
Angie Crum–You’ve won a print copy of Valhalla by Mandy M Roth. Please email mandy@mandyroth.com with your snail mail addy.
Dianne Barskey–You’ve won an ebook copy of your choice of one of my titles from my(Mandy M Roth) Raven Books selection. Please email me (mandy@mandyroth.com) with your selection and elec format choice.
*Since I am leaving out of the country for business you have until May 31st to “claim” your prize. After that date no prize will be awarded.
May 18, 2012
Executive Decision
Excerpt from Executive Decision by Mandy M Roth
I bent over to catch my breath for a minute. I pulled my skintight, boy cut running shorts down a bit and adjusted my sports bra. Glancing down, I just stared at the ground for a minute. It was odd to see green grass. I was so used to sidewalks that I couldn’t help but reach out and touch it. I’d gotten in late last night and still couldn’t believe I was really home.
“Liz, are you petting the grass?”
People seemed to be asking me petting questions a lot lately.
“No, I’m not, Cindy. I just don’t get to see a lot of it unless I’m in Central Park. It’s not everywhere like it is here in Ohio.” I stood slowly and gave her an evil fake stare.
She put her hands in the air and laughed. “As scary as ever I see.”
Adjusting my baseball cap, I winked at her and moved my legs around a bit. “Do you want to go the rest of the way with me or is this just like old times?”
Cindy smoothed a piece of sweat soaked dark red hair back from her pale face and rolled her blue eyes before putting her cap back on. “I have no desire to kill myself, especially since we’re going out tonight to meet up with everyone. You’re going to be dead tired if you go anymore. We’ve been running for almost an hour as it is.”
I coughed slightly and nodded. “I’ll be fine. Where the hell is Sara? Didn’t she say she’d meet us?”
“She’s still chronically late. If you would have given us a heads up that you wanted to do this, I’d have made sure she was ready to go. You flew in, hugged everyone at home and tossed a pair of running shoes on. I’d say that spells issues that you don’t want to deal with. Like the Dale guy you were telling me about. But what do I know? I’ve only been your friend since we were four.”
Reaching down, I grabbed a handful of grass and tossed it at her. She immediately went for the nearest maple tree and started jumping in the air to get leaves from a low branch. At five foot three, she wasn’t getting them anytime soon.
I walked over and pulled the branch down closer to her. “Here.”
“Show off!”
“It’s not my fault you’re vertically challenged.”
Cindy tore several deep green leaves from the tree and tried to fling them at me. They blew away in the slight breeze. “Damn. I may be short but at least I’m not relationship challenged.”
“We can’t all be perfect.” I nodded towards Main Street and smiled. “Come on, I’ll jog you home.”
“Aren’t you sweet?”
We set out for the road. It was a doublewide street that had maple trees lining both sides of it. The entire town looked as though it was caught in a bizarre time warp. It was still safe to leave your doors unlocked at night and everyone knew everyone.
Cindy pointed towards town square, a large square the size of a city block that had a gazebo, several circular white picnic tables and a large fountain. Since the town celebrated anything and everything, the place was used a lot. It also held a lot of good memories for me.
A big red Ford-150 drove past blaring classic rock. The occupant rolled his window down and began to whistle. “Who is the hot set of legs with you, Caros?”
Cindy shook her head. “Zachary never quits. Though, I’m guessing he doesn’t recognize you. He hasn’t seen you since you were sixteen. He joined the service then.”
I almost fell when I realized the sexy, onyx haired stud in the truck was her brother. “What happened to him?”
Cindy laughed and grabbed my arm. “Don’t fall over. Zach just grew up, that’s all.”
“A picture would have been nice.”
Preferably a naked one. He was exactly Megan’s type of guy. She’d have loved me forever.
“Spill it, Red. Legs like that aren’t from around here!” Zach called out.
“If I tell him who I am, is he going to do it?” I cringed, thinking about Zach’s routine.
“Has he ever not?”
“Ugg.”
Cindy laughed so hard that she had to stop running altogether. Zach put his truck in reverse and began to go with us. Zach, Cindy’s older brother was well known for his outrageous antics. Driving backwards down the middle of Main Street didn’t even register on his radar of wrong.
“Hey baby,” he said with a wink. His hair was longer now than it had once been and his face had filled out. Apparently so had the rest of him. He was all muscle and all male. Cindy had told me that Zach was now the town’s Sheriff, but I still had trouble believing that.
“Damn,” he said.
Cindy started to jog again. “It’s sick that the man charged with keeping us safe is hitting on women while driving in reverse.”
Glancing ahead, I noticed a black convertible coming towards us. Fairfield didn’t see many of those so it caught my eye. It kept coming and Zach kept driving in reverse.
“Car,” Cindy shouted, sounding as if we were all ten and playing street hockey again.
“Who’s got a black mustang around here?” Zach called out.
“Apparently, that man,” I yelled back.
“Ooo, sexy and sassy. If I say stacked, will that put me up for harassment charges?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The mustang swerved into the left lane and never missed a beat. It came to a screeching halt next to us and this time I did stumble and stop when I saw the driver.
Dale turned his head towards us. I couldn’t see his eyes under his dark black Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. The black cotton, long sleeve shirt he had on was unbuttoned to mid-chest as usual and cuffed to just below his elbow. I pushed my sunglasses up and waited for him to say something.
“Excuse me, but would either of you happen to know where I can find the Rogers’ farm?”
“Why?” Cindy asked.
I bit my lip and waited for him to address me.
“I’m trying to find my girlfriend, Elizabeth Rogers.”
His girlfriend?
I coughed so hard that Cindy had to pat me on the back a few times.
“Is she okay?” Dale asked.
“Hell boy, she’s more than okay. Get a look at those legs,” Zach called out.
Dale looked to his right and nodded at Zach. “I’ll agree with that.”
Cindy put her ear to my ear and whispered softly, “Care to tell me what’s going on? Is he your boyfriend or what?”
“Hey, the Rogers’ place is back the other way. You can follow me there if you want. I need to drop some things off to Mrs. Rogers but you aren’t going to find Elizabeth there. She lives in New York now,” Zach said.
“Thanks.” Dale looked over at us and smiled. “You ladies have a nice day.”
“Goddamn, Cindy, who is your friend. I need a name to go with the legs when I think about her later tonight.”
Dale froze and turned back to us. “Are you Cindy Caros?”
Cindy snickered and nodded. Dale pulled his sunglasses down his nose a bit and stared at me with wide green eyes. I smiled from under the rim of my hat.
“Told you I ran.”
“You can run that fine ass past me anytime you want,” Zach said, hanging out his truck window. “And if you should happen to want me to run anything past it, I can oblige.”
Dale jaw tightened. He took a deep breath in and my guess was he’d blow in about a minute. Deciding to head off an ugly situation, I took matters into my own hands.
“Hey, Zach.” I stood straight up, handed my sunglasses to Cindy and smiled at him.
“She knows my name?” he asked, sounding shocked.
I put my middle finger up and smiled. “She also knows that you’re scared of snakes, used to wet your bed until you were six and that you had a crush on Jenny Tuck when you were twelve. I also know who the first girl you ever kissed is.”
Zach’s brows drew in. “Who … ? How do you know who my…?” His eyes widened.
“’Cause I was the first girl you kissed,” I said smiling even wider.
Cindy elbowed me. “He’s gonna do it.”
“He’s going to do what?” Dale asked, his voice deep and his face hard.
“I’ll be damned!” Zach tossed his truck door open and hopped out. He had really filled out in all the right places.
“When in the hell did he become buff?” I asked, leaning towards Cindy.
Zach smiled wide and Cindy pushed me. “Probably the same time you got breasts. I’d run if I was you.”
I looked down at Dale. “I’ll be right back.” Turning, I took off running in the other direction.
“You know the rules!” Zach shouted.
Glancing back, I saw him running after me. I faced forward and hopped over Mrs. Springer’s flowerbed as I ran for the Church. Zachary headed me off and shook his head.
“I can’t believe I hit on you.”
I grinned. “What did you say about my ass?”
He lunged for me and I ran back towards Dale and Cindy. Dale was now out of the convertible, looking like he wanted to kick someone’s ass. I ran past him. “It’s okay! I promise.”
“They do this all the time,” Cindy said.
I looked back and found Zach on my heels. I stopped and crouched low. “It’s not happening, Zach. My shoes are expensive and this is a designer top.”
“It’s a bra that’s barely holding those suckers in. And as for the shoes, I suggest you take them off.” He winked at me. “You still got it or will I hurt you?”
“She’s still got it!” Cindy called out.
I was just thrilled that she had confidence in me.
“It’s been a long time, Zach.”
He smiled wide, looking like a rugged angel. “I’ll go easy on you. Aiming for head first.”
I nodded and took a deep breath in. “Ready.”
Zach lunged at me and threw his arm out. I ducked to the side fast. If he’d have wanted to hit me, he would have. He did it again and I ducked out of his reach.
“What in the hell…?” I saw Dale running at us out of the corner of my eye and I saw Cindy trying to stop him.
I grinned at Zach and spun in a circle, tossing my leg in the air as I went. He ducked back fast as my foot whizzed past his chin. He stared at me with wide eyes.
“Sorry, I think I’m taller now.”
Zach stared down at my legs and got a weird look on his face. “I’d say so.”
Dale put himself in front of me and faced Zach. “What in hell do you think you’re doing?”
Tapping his shoulder gently, I waited for him to tip back towards me before I kissed his cheek lightly. “It’s okay. Zach won’t hurt me.”
“He just took two swings at your head.”
“I know.” I looked at Zach and shook my head. “Are you that old that you can only get two swings out?”
He made a move for me and I ducked behind Dale and peeked out the other side. I smiled wide and batted my eyes innocently. “Was it something I said?”
“Liz?” Dale put his arm over me protectively.
Zach nodded and flashed him a smile before staring down at me. “I seem to remember this scrawny lil’ thing with dark brown hair that hung to her nothing of a butt begging me to teach her to defend herself. I then spent six years teaching her every day only to find her grown and hiding under a man’s arm now.”
I wiggled closer to Dale and wagged my eyebrows. “In my own defense, you were scrawny too and now you’re as big as he is.” I nudged Dale. “And I’d never try it with him. He’d break my neck. Don’t let the thousand-dollar outfit fool you. I’ve seen him pissed.”
“’Bout done makin’ up excuses?” Zach asked, tipping his head slightly.
“I think so. But I’d like to take this moment to point out,” I stood and put my chin on Dale’s shoulder, “that before you knew it was me, you thought I was hot. Would you ever really do what you’re planning on doing to a hot chick?”
Zack beamed and tossed his cap on the ground. He pulled his dark green polo over his head, exposing his chiseled dark brown chest as he went. Sliding his belt off, he worked on his boots while he stared at me.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dale asked.
Quickly, I slipped my shoes off and gave them to Dale. “Hold these for me.” Pulling my hat off, I handed it to him as well. “This too.”
Dale seized hold of me and pulled me around to face him. “Care to tell me why you and this man are stripping in the middle of the town, in broad daylight?”
Zach chuckled. “Want us to wait until it’s dark? I should warn you that we only did that once, okay maybe twice.”
The look on Dale’s face was anything but friendly. Before I could comment, I was yanked off my feet and tossed in the air. I grabbed for Zach’s back to hold onto something.
“In all the years I’ve been doing this to you, I’ve never dropped you once.” Zach smacked my butt hard and laughed. “Well, except that one time but that was because … err … you remember.”
Dale folded his arms over his chest and glared at me. I hit Zachary in the back and pinched him hard. “Stop making everything sound sexual! You’re pissing Dale off.” I glanced at Dale and smiled. “Honey, he’s just saying that to make you mad. He’s like that. It’s your own fault. You shouldn’t have said I was your … ahhhh!” I screamed out as Zach hopped into the ice cold base of the fountain with me. Instantly, I was submersed under two feet of freezing water.
Pushing off the cement bottom, I got to my knees. Zach stood, dripping water everywhere and offered me his hand. I took it and yanked as hard as I could. He tumbled under the water next to me.
I climbed out of the huge grey fountain and hopped up and down. “Ha! It took me almost thirty years but I dunked your ass!”
Zach stood tall and shook his head, laughing. “Somebody’s gotten stronger. What the hell have you been doing? You aren’t still beating on that heavy bag I got you, are you?”
I grinned. “Yep. My friend Seth hung it in the basement of our building and even hooked me up with all kinds of other neat, related gadgets.”
“How the hell do you hit a punching bag with those fingernails?” He arched a brow and stared down at my hands.
“Very, very carefully.”
Dale cleared his throat and I flashed Zach a look warning him not to be cute or funny. He smiled and put his hand out to Dale. “Zach Caros, long time friend to Liz. Sorry about giving you a scare. If it was the other way around, I’d have been pissed too. But Liz is right. I’d never hurt her.”
I turned and looked at Dale, afraid of what I’d see. He put his pleasant face on and walked up to us. I noticed that he stood extremely close to me as he reached his hand out to Zach. “Nice to meet you, Zach. I’m Dale Corbin, long time … uhh….”
Hearing him struggle over what to call himself, I decided to cut him some slack and help out. “Dale and I have been living together for eight years. He doesn’t exactly have a label. Beyond friend but other than that I’m lost.”
Zach let go of Dale’s hand and laughed. “You can wipe the jealous look off your face, Dale.”
My jaw dropped. I moved towards Zach to shut him up.
“Calm down, Liz. I was just going to tell him that if he’s managed to live under the same roof as you for eight years and still have you get that dreamy look on your face when you introduce him to someone, then he’s safe. You aren’t going anywhere. It’s pretty damn obvious you love him.”
That was rather unexpected. Apparently, Dale agreed with me because he laughed and slid his hand down my wet back. Running it over my butt, he stopped and inched his finger under the edge of my shorts. He adjusted them, moving them to cover my cheek completely. Guess they must have ridden up during the water thing.
“I’ve got to admit, Zach, when I saw the way you two ran around here and seemed to know exactly what the other was going to do, I thought there might be something between the two of you.” He glanced back at me with questioning eyes.
I tried not to laugh. But the very idea of sleeping with Zach didn’t make my stomach curl. It made it flip inside out. “Dale, remember how we discussed you not feeling like a brother regardless how close we are?” He nodded. “Yeah, well, Zach feels like a brother and he always has.”
“But you said he was your first kiss?”
“No, I said I was his first kiss. Cindy was my first kiss. We were like six and pecked each other on the lips fast and thought we’d just done the same things adults do.”
Cindy’s hysterical laughter reminded me she was still there. I motioned for her to join us. She looked Dale over rather obviously and put her thumbs up. Rolling my eyes, I just laughed.
Zach took his shirt from Cindy and put it back on. “I was too young to appreciate two women making out in front of me. If I only knew. And as for the rest of that. I was just trying to get Liz riled up.” He tucked his shirt in and kept his eyes on Dale. “See, when you pulled up and she didn’t cuss you up one side and down the other I figured she liked you. I couldn’t stop myself. But, you’ve got nothing to worry about. In fact, I’m most likely going to be unable to perform for some time because I’ll be mentally replaying everything I said to her while she was running with Cindy.”
“Wait until I tell Nathan you said I was stacked!”
“Fine, but you should know that I’ll arrest his ass if he beats the shit out me like he did that college kid who blew into town trying to get you, at age fourteen, to go out with him. I’m still not sure why Nathan bothered to kick his ass. You already had the guy lying flat on the ground holding his nose and groin when we found you.”
Dale looked down at me, smiling slightly and looking at me like he didn’t know me. “Why was he like that?”
I smiled sheepishly. “Cause he tried to put one hand up my skirt and the other up my blouse. Zach, Nathan and Scott had drilled into my head what boys and girls do.” I cast Zack a wry grin. “I did exactly what they told me to do when a boy touched me where he was trying to touch me. Turns out, you really aren’t supposed to grab that spot every man loves and twist until you can’t twist anymore. They tend not to like that.”
Dale and Zach made moves to cover their groins.
“He screamed so loud that he sounded like a woman. It scared me so I punched him. He shut up then. I never got a chance to thank you for completely re-writing the birds and the bees did I?”
Zach shrugged. “It was Nathan’s idea. He said we couldn’t watch you and Cindy all the time. It worked. No need to discuss safe sex when the guy you’re with doesn’t have working equipment.” His gaze flickered downward on Dale.
Dale flinched. “I … uhh … thankfully she outgrew that.” He put his face close to mine and locked eyes with me. “You did outgrow it, right?”
I let my mouth fall open a bit and cocked my jaw to the right. “That all depends. Are we done fighting all the time? It’s all we do anymore.”
Dale’s gaze darted towards Zach and then towards Cindy as if to remind me that other people were around. I folded my arms and pushed a hip out. I knew I looked like a bitch. I was aiming for that look.
“I want witnesses, Dale. Are you done throwing a fit every time something doesn’t go exactly the way you want it to?”
“Honey,” he said between tight lips. “Now’s not really the time.”
“When is a good time, Dale? We’ve established that nightclubs don’t work. My apartment doesn’t work. I’m sorry that Charles showed up. In twenty-four hours you have flipped my entire life upside down. One minute you’re my best friend. The next we’re lovers….”
Dale smiled, his face red and nodded at Zach.
I grabbed his chin and made him look at me. “Don’t you dare be embarrassed when I’m talking to you. I said lovers not ‘fucking my brains out on the bedroom floor because we couldn’t make it to the bed.’” I stopped a minute and looked at Cindy.
“We get the picture. Zach’s turning white so I’m thinking he really got the picture. Hopefully, he’ll face the other way before he throws up.”
Putting my focus back on Dale, I found him standing there with his mouth open. I pushed his jaw shut. “I can’t do this rollercoaster thing with you. Friends for eight years, more than that for one night and then slamming doors and taking keys back from each other. So, until you’re ready to make a choice, I’m not sure if I outgrew the knee jerk reaction to keep twisting.”
Zach coughed. “Now, that right there is why I never even thought of laying a hand on her. She’s scary.”
I glared at him and he backed away with his hands up. When I looked back at Dale he laughed softly.
“He’s right, you are scary. You did chase two interns away.”
Huffing, I went to walk away.
Dale grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. “Hey, before you went off on your tangent, did you stop and think that I’m standing here, before you, in Ohio. Clearly, I ran to you, Liz. Not from you.”
Great, he would point out something obvious and huge.
He moved his lips down towards mine and someone pulled me backwards.
“Hey.”
Zach ignored me. “Now, I’m trying to let the floor comment go but I’m not going to watch you kiss someone.”
“Then go,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Hurry up. I might use my tongue.”
Zach batted his arm as he turned and ran towards his truck. “We’re causing a traffic jam!”
Dale and I turned to see a line of cars on both sides of the road. Taking Dale’s hand in mine, I pulled him towards the car, laughing as I went.
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
HelenKay Dimon
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Lauren Dane
Steampunk and where my love of it started
Steampunk and where my love of it started…
It was the summer of 1993. I’d been hired on by Cedar Point to work at their amusement park. I’d been very clear on my application form and during my entrance interview that I do not like heights and would not work on a roller coaster. I show up for my first day of work to find they’d put me on the Magnum Roller Coaster (which at the time was the largest coaster in the world). I laughed… long and hard and said, thanks but I’ll find a different job. They quickly moved to the Gemini, a smaller wooden coaster. Not small enough for my liking. After one week it became clear I could not, not just would not, work on a coaster. Cedar Point moved me to the train.
Bit about the train at Cedar Point—it’s a 2-foot-gauge steam-powered railroad. It’s fully functioning. While riding it visitors are treated to animated scenes set up to look like Ghost Towns of the old west with skeletons dressed in period outfits. It’s a “ride” but it’s not. It’s more of an experience. I had to dress the part as a “train girl”, with overalls, red bandana around my neck and red shirt under the overalls. I’d see people on and off it, read the spiel you all hear when visiting amusement parks, jump on and off it while it was moving and entering/leaving the platform and ride on the back end, carefully watching all was well and that the indicator lights for the approaching stations were right. I worked at the crossing gates.
I got asked about a million times by children if they could place a penny on the track to see if the train would derail—I placed many said pennies on the tracks for the kids and gave them to them as keepsakes. I hung out with the men who operated the train, learning about it. It was a good time for all and it started me on my interest in something else, something old, something interesting and something that had once helped to shape this nation—trains.
I’m not talking new ones. They hold no interest for me. I’m talking old ones.
This of course spiraled into my interest in all things related and easily lent itself to a love of Steampunk—but when I started in it the genre didn’t really have a name.
Cowboys & Supernaturals Series
