Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Way Back Wednesday: My NSFW Version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas...E-Rom Author Style

This is the third year for my naughty rendition. Enjoy, but don't show the kiddies or stick-in-the-mud co-workers. ;)

An Erotic Romance Night Before Christmas
By Devon Rhodes

'Twas the night before Christmas, when in every hut
All the authors were reading and writing their smut;

The stockings were net above killer high heels,
In hopes that St. Nichol-ass would soon cop a feel;

The kids were at Grandma’s, all snug in their beds,
While drool-worthy eye-candy danced in my head;

And I in my teddy, and watching the clock,
Had just settled down to await the Big Cock,

When on the front door there arose such a thumpin’,
I reclined on bed to wait for my pumpin’.

From outside the window, Tom opened his sash,
Tore open his raincoat and gave me a flash.

The moon on the breast of my hero's huge pecs
Gave a woody the size of his home state to Tex,

When, what should my wandering eyes watch come in,
But a hot dommy Master, and eight smokin’ hot men,

With a huge throbbing cock, so taut and so slick,
I knew in a moment I must have his dick.

He cock-ringed his buddies before they all came,
And he spanked them, and stroked them, and called them by name;

"Now, Asher! now, Derek! now, Paulie and Darin!
On, Cristoph! On, Corey! On, Donnie and Larren!

On top of the bed! Let’s show her a ball!
Now lick away! lick away! lick away all!"

He was dressed in black leather, from his head to his feet,
And his skin was all oiled, inducing great heat;

A bundle of toys he had flung on my bed,
And I knew he’d torment me before I gave head.

His abs -- how they rippled! his chest smooth, not hairy!
His ass cheeks like apples, and no way was it cherry!

His sexy wide mouth was drawn up in a smirk,
And he looked like a man who knew just how to work;

He was hot and enticing, and wanted to tame,
So he tied me right up and started his game;

An hour or so later I was limp and wrung dry,
The guys were all empty, endorphins were high;

He spoke not a word, but packed up his toys,
And wiped up the cream then zipped up his boys,

And tucked a long finger under my chin,
And giving a kiss, said, “You were a ten.”

He strode to his ride, to his guys gave a leer,
And told me for sure they’d be back here next year.

And I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Sexy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."


Happy Holidays everyone!! Have fun, be safe, love well and laugh often.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Way Back Wednesday: Last Year's Christmas story--Making His List

I've been told by many readers that this is their favorite story of mine. It's also apparently a tear-jerker. And I'll confess...even I get teared up each time I re-read the scene where Cory's leaving a message on his sister's phone.

******

When his young niece Bailey moves in, Cory knows he needs to end his casual fling with Ken. Bailey’s had enough upheaval in her short life, and Cory doesn't want her to get attached to a “friend” who won't be sticking around. Even so, Cory finds himself continuing to let Ken into his life, but a one-night-stand gone serial isn’t what Cory wants, and so he makes The List: his requirements for the perfect partner.

Helping out during a difficult time, Ken finds himself being pulled into the family unit despite Cory’s previous emotional distance. He hopes he's finally breaking through, on the verge of convincing Cory to make their relationship more than a casual one. Then, while helping Bailey write to Santa, he finds Cory's list and takes it as his cue to bow out—just when Cory needs him the most.

******

“I threw up.”

The quavering voice brought Corbin jackknifing up out of a sound sleep, struggling to get his bearings.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake.” This in a disgruntled, groaning whisper from Ken on the other side of the bed.

Well, that helped settle who the participants were. And apparently something was going to have to be done about Ken—soon—but first things first. He pulled Bailey into a sour-smelling and unfortunately damp hug, resting his cheek against her extremely hot temple. Oh man.

“Where’s your mom?”

“Don’t know. I threw up on my bed.” The tears were starting, and God knew that wouldn’t help matters any.

“Do you want to sleep with the throw up or should I change your sheets?”

A watery giggle. “Change them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Uncle Corrrry….”

“Okay, okay.” He stood, glad that he’d had the foresight to put on his pajama pants after he’d fielded the booty call-turned-sleepover Ken probably now wished he hadn’t insisted on. Picking Bailey up—man she was scorching all over—he walked her into the hall bathroom, trying to remember what his mom had done for them when they were sick.

He flipped on the light, and then turned it back off again when Bailey winced and cried out. Turning the hall light on instead, he saw that there would definitely need to be a wardrobe change. He grimaced at the damp spot on his shirt. For both of us. He carefully pulled the nightie over her head backwards, taking care not to get any throw-up from the nightie into her hair or anything and tossed it in the sink for lack of a better plan.

“Do you think you could take a bath?”

“Don’t know. I’m cold.”

She was anything but cold, but she was shivering, so he wrapped a towel around her. “You sit here on the rug.” He sat her on the floor in front of the toilet. “I’m going to change your bed and get another nightie, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Becky was nowhere to be seen. Must’ve gotten a phone call of her own, he thought, and then cringed. He so did not want to think of his little sister in drunk dial terms. He hustled to strip the bed and remade it with the last sheet. Looking at it dubiously, he added a few beach towels for layers. At least if she continued to throw up, she wouldn’t get to the sheet until—he counted—the fourth time.

Arms bundled full of the abused bedding, a clean nightie dangling from his one clean finger, he almost ran into Ken coming down the hall. Fully dressed and apparently fleeing the scene.

Cory felt a swell of anger, even as he recognized it was unrealistic—after all, why would Ken stick around? Sex was obviously out for the rest of the night, and that was the sum total of their relationship to date. He ruthlessly suppressed the vulnerable twinge at being abandoned and kept walking. Good riddance. Guess now that Bailey was living here, he was going to have to add “Likes Kids” to The List.

Ken reared back to avoid the collision. “Whoa.”

Cory didn’t even stop, just veered around him. “See ya.”

“Hey! What’s your problem?” Ken actually sounded like he believed he was the injured party. Amazing.

“Just a puking kid in my bathroom, and an asshole in my hallway.”

He caught snippets of the defensive response but tuned it out, dumping his armload in the laundry room sink. A thought occurred to him, and he went back out to the hallway.

“Hey, can you go to the all-night drugstore for me?”

Ken’s jaw dropped. “Are you joking? You just called me an asshole.”

Cory ignored the hint of hurt in the other man’s eyes, defiantly covering his guilt with bravado and purpose. “What can I say? You’re acting like one. I need ginger ale and some kinda sports drink. And crackers, the soup kind. And, uh, kids’ Ibuprofen, fever reducer—whatever kind they have for a five-year old.”

Ken was just staring at him and Cory stared back for the count of three before throwing his hands up in disgust. “Fine. Would you rather stay here with her while I go?”

That jolted his guest out of his trance. “What? No. I’ll go.” He looked a bit surprised at his own response, and Cory helpfully steered him toward the front door.

“Keep your cell phone on in case I think of anything else I need. Oh, and popsicles. Hurry back.” He turned on his heel and headed back to the ominously quiet bathroom.

Poor Bailey was curled up in a ball on the bathmat, shivering under the towel. Wetting a washcloth, he gently bathed her, trying to simultaneously clean her up and cool her down. An unmistakable rumble preceded a violent heaving, and he neatly turned and supported her, holding her hair back while she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Once she quieted, tears streaking down her face, eyes glassy with fever, he sponge-bathed her once again and helped her into the sleep shirt. His phone rang in the other room. He propped a quiescent Bailey against the tub and hurried to grab it. Ken.

“I’m about at the checkout. Did you think of anything else?” At this point, the concern in his voice, while a little late in coming, was much appreciated.

“No, but thanks. Just come in when you get back, I’ll be up in Bailey’s room.”

“Okay.” There was a pause as if Ken wanted to say more, but then he said goodbye and hung up.

While he had the phone in his hand, he dialed Becky’s cell. The Black Eyed Peas started singing about tonight being a good night down the hall. Shit, why did he even pay for her cell phone? She never took it with her when it counted.

A few minutes later, he had his niece tucked back in, a big bowl by her bed—although he wasn’t sure she was of an age yet where she could reliably use it. The front door opened and closed in a hurry, followed by steps thumping quickly up the stairs.

“Hey there, sorry it took so long.” Ken was slightly out of breath and carrying two paper grocery sacks. He put them down and started rummaging. “Here’s the Tylenol. There’s some weight chart on it. Very important. Do you know how much she weighs?”

“Crap. No.” He turned to Bailey. “Honey, how much do you weigh?”

“Don’t know.” Popular response tonight.

“Okay, babe, we’re going for a short ride to my bathroom. Upsy-daisy.” Cory picked her up and amused himself trying to mentally guess her weight—how much did a bag of concrete weigh?—while he walked into his bathroom, kicking the button to turn on his digital scale with his foot.

When it zeroed itself, he stepped on, holding her and waited for it to beep.

“Two hundred and thirty two,” Ken read helpfully.

“Ack! Oh well. At least I get to lose the baby weight instantly. Here you go.” He placed Bailey into Ken’s arms, disregarding his look of alarm, and reset the scale. A bit of mental math later, and Bailey was proclaimed to be “about fifty.” Which of course was what he’d thought she’d be. Really.

Cory led the way back to Bailey’s room, leaving the tall, well-muscled Ken to carry her back in while he smoothed out the towels. Division of labor. “Hold her up for a sec while I read this.”

“See, there on the side.”

He frowned, squinting at the box in an effort to read the tiny instructions. “What if the age and weight don’t match?”

“The guy said to go by weight. Well, first he said call her doctor. But I wasn’t sure if you knew who it was, so I made him tell me the secret.” Ken sounded very proud of himself, and Cory felt himself thawing a bit toward him. He was redeeming himself nicely so far tonight, and really, who likes getting woken up by a sick kid? Ken’s reaction hadn’t been that bad.

Cory shifted uncomfortably. Truth be told, it was Cory who had overreacted. He had Ken mentally classified as an occasional, casual fuck-buddy. Yeah, a smoking hot one, and nicer about it than most, but he wasn’t really partner material—which is what Cory really wanted. It was probably past time to cut this fling off, something he’d been telling himself ever since the girls had moved in, but it was hard to walk away from the amazing sexual chemistry they shared.

Cory squared his shoulders resolutely. Sure, right now Ken was looking less like a fuck and more like a… boyfriend? But in the light of day, well, he’d be like Scarlett and think about that tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, he was going to chew his sister a new one for leaving for God-knows-where without a word and putting them all through this.

Bailey swallowed the grape medicine without complaint and then just sat there, sagging.

“Alright, Bails, tuck-a-muck time.”

“Okay,” came the dispirited response, so unlike her usual begging for a game or a story or a drink. Cory’s heart flopped over, and he gave her a light hug and kissed her heated forehead, laying the damp washcloth across it as a last measure. Standing to go, he was surprised to see Ken moving to kiss her cheek.

Aww.

In the hallway, Ken gave him an uncertain look. Cory shrugged in response to the unvoiced question and led the way back to his bedroom, trying not to care whether Ken stayed or went. The door closed and Ken hovered by the bed.

“Do you have some extra pajama bottoms I could borrow? In case we have to get up with her again.”

Cory’s heart did that floppy thing again at the “we.” Ugh. Just when he’d gone and crossed Ken off the roster, he had to go and get all chivalrous. There were no easy decisions in life. Especially when people were inconsistent.

A thought hit him, and he perked up as he tossed Ken his largest sweats. None of Cory’s pajamas would have fit his athletic ass and legs, never mind without looking like high waters.

Consistent. Another thing to add to the list. Cory smiled to himself. He’d get the qualifiers honed in on sooner or later, and then the man who met all the criteria? Viola. His perfect match.
 
******
 
You can find Making His List at Dreamspinner Press and most other ebook vendors.

Questions? Ask whatever questions you have about MHL and I'll try to answer!
 

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Holiday Edition of Gay Day on Sunday! Tons of giveaways!

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Sunday, December 11th is Gay Day at Ethan Day's Yahoo Group.  Gay Day is the one day a month when the best authors in GLBT Romance stop by to post excerpts of their new and upcoming releases.

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The following authors will be generously offering giveaways you can enter to win:

Josephine Myles - Winter Warmers
Tara Lain - Mistletowed
Lex Valentine - Breath of Heaven
Jambrea Jo Jones - Freedom
Stephani Hecht - Choice from Backlist
Devon Rhodes - Let It Snow
AKM Miles - Scarcity Holidays
K.M. Mahoney - Odd Man
Justin South - Santa's Coming  
Lee Rowan - TBA
Jon Treadway - Print copy of Surfer Boys OR Christmas Campaign e-book
Sloan Parker - Take Me Home
William Cooper - Christmas Gifts
JL Merrow - Wight Mischief & Camwolf
Stevie Woods - Cold Fear & First Christmas

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The authors below were feeling particularly generous this holiday season:

ZA Maxfield
One lucky winner will receive all three of ZA's holiday themed stories: A Picture Perfect Holiday , I Heard Him Exclaim & What Child is This

JP Bowie
Is offering up his two newest releases: Christmas Wishes & He Ain't Heavy
In addition he’s also offering up to one Kindle reader a choice between Time after Time or Trip of a Lifetime in Kindle format only

Last but certainly not least

Ally Blue
Ally is giving away her Christmas short: Christmas Future
In addition she’s giving away one copy of each of the books from her Mother Earth series:

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The amazing Authors below will be popping in and out to chat & post excerpts from their latest books:

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Sara York - Working it Out
Andrea Speed - Infected
Lee Rowan - Tangled Web
Josephine Myles - Boats in the Night  
Donna McIntosh - The Christmas Gift
Berengaria Brown - Perfectly Presented
Clare London - Media Naranja w/ Jordan Castillo Price
Ryssa Edwards - Rogue's Christmas
KC Burn - Cop Out
Elizabeth Noble  - Strays
Lily Sawyer - Somebody to Love
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The day will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST in the Ethan Day Yahoo Group where we’ll be posting excerpts, running contests for free books, and chatting about all the new and upcoming releases from your favorite authors.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Twelve Gays of Christmas Video...Hey I KNOW Him!

...Or as I titled it in 2009, Small Freakin' World: Hey, I KNOW Him!! Here's the post from the past two years and a video I still love!! I was going to save this story for next Way Back Wednesday, but couldn't wait to share after the OTHER video (see below). :D



(Original post 12-17-09)

Talk about my two worlds colliding!

Okay, this all started when Brynn Paulin randomly posted this great video on her blog. I watched it, loved it, and proceeded to spread the joy.

Then my friend Melia watched it and said, "Oh, it's great, and you do realize Brad's in this, right?"

HUH?

I totally spread around this video not even knowing that one of my friends "in real life" is one of the dancers!  So bizarre!!

Anyway, when Brad was performing with the Rockettes' Christmas show about 5-6 years ago, the guys in the show got together and made this up as a Christmas present for the rockettes.  This is their performance for the gals, who you can hear doing all the screaming throughout!

Now I see him dancing every week...at my daughters' dance academy just down the road.  He brings all that enthusiasm and talent to the fore every single day working with the dancers of tomorrow, and he does a fabulous job doing it!

Melia, me and Brad--holidays 2010

Back to "now", here's me with Melia and Brad out on the town about a year ago. When you watch the video, he's towards the far end (away from the camera) with a white shirt and long dark scarf on. He's just astounded not only that this is still around but also how popular it is. LOL, why wouldn't it be? Watch and see for yourself, and give Brad and his crew some love. I'll be sure to pass it on! :D

For more Christmas smiles, here is a video Brad shared on FB today that got me in the holiday spirit!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Way Back Wednesday: An Interview with Kim and Abe from Silver & Gold

Way Back Wednesday is a new, regular weekly blog feature I'm starting today. I'll either be putting up blog posts from days gone by or perhaps revisiting one of my older releases. 

Today, I'm mixing the two together with a post that I originally did for another blog back in February of 2010, where I interviewed Kim and Abe from my 2009 Advent Calendar release, Silver and Gold Check it out...

An Interview with Kim and Abe

Me: Ah yes, Kim and Abe. Since they are close friends, I've decided to talk about both of them. Or rather, let them talk about themselves.

Kim: And just so we're clear, Abe and I are not together. He's into outies.

Abe: Or they're into me.

Me: Okay then. How did you guys meet?

Kim: Um. Why does he get a picture and I don't?

Abe: Sweetheart, you're a secondary character. That means you don't get on the cover. If it makes you feel better, it isn't my most flattering look. That shirt? Please. Grey is so not my color.

Kim: At least people get a visual of you! I'm just this nebulous image floating around.

Me: Would it make you feel better if I put up a picture that looks like you? I had an interviewer ask me this week if I could cast a movie of this story, which actors I would pick to play you guys.

Abe: *claps hands* Ooh, who did you pick for me?

Kim: *gasps* No you didn't. Now you want a second picture? You bitch.

Abe: Okay, okay, just curious, so shoot me. Who did you pick for Kim? There, is that better?

Kim: *pouting* Depends on who it is. Duh.

Me: Okay, here you go:


Abe: Now girlfriend, you've gotta be happy with Eva Mendes.

Kim: She'll do. But that's a bit tousled for me. I'd be into your salon like yesterday.

Me: And since we're on the topic, here's Abe. And Kim, he's the main character, so can you let the whole two-picture thing go?

Kim: You know, I hear her talking to me like I'm totally unreasonable, and I have no idea where the attitude came from.

Abe: Much better, and see? Look how much bigger yours is. And you call me the size queen.

Me: Let me give some examples of what great friends you are? Like from when Geoff still hadn't clued in to how lucky he was to have Abe fall into his lap, so to speak, and was still living in the past.

********

ABE gratefully accepted the huge latte from Kim and tried once more to convince her to leave. He had thought he’d been successful on the phone in persuading her not to come see him, but she had bribed him with an “extra” coffee that she just happened to have.


Abe, you’re such a slut for coffee, and apparently everyone knows it.


“I’m fine,” he repeated yet again. “Really.” And he smiled to emphasize how “fine” he was.


“Abe, get that ugly excuse for a smile off your face and tell me what’s wrong. What happened with you and Geoff?”


“Tenacious little thing, aren’t you?”


“Tenacious, yes. Little, hell no. Thing?” She gave him an arch look.


“Sorry, babe. You were the one who insisted upon seeing me before I’m caffeinated.”


“Meow. That actually almost sounded like the real you.” She softened her expression. “What happened, Abe?”

********

Abe: Yeah, that was a tough day. Kim about burst a blood vessel when I told her what happened with the phone call I overheard. She threatened to quit.

Kim: I knew right away that wasn't the best move. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And, boss of ten years or not, he was so going down if he fucked you over.

********

“Well, all I can say is my former boss won’t be getting any ass from you if it takes having to duct tape you to my bedroom door.” She pulled out her phone and dialed, her eyes flashing.


“Shit, love, don’t quit on my account!” Abe was regretting ever picking up the phone this morning.


“Don’t worry, I’m not quitting. I’ve decided I’m going to stay and make his life a living hell while I run his business into the ground.” She gave Abe an evil smile and left a terse message saying that she would be using a sick day and hung up.


Abe watched her warily. “What are you doing?”


Kim smiled more naturally. “Just going to help you pack for your trip and keep you company until you leave.” She waited a beat. “And keep you from going to his office, and him from coming up here,” she admitted.


Abe gave her a hug. “You’re a good friend, my dear.”


She hugged him back. “You don’t hate me because I fixed you two up?”

********

Me: That was so sweet.

(They both look at me in horror.)

Kim: Sweet?

Abe: Let me take this one, babe. (To me) Kim doesn't do sweet. She's more scary, hell-on-wheels, true-blue. Loyal as shit, but evil. In a good way.

Me: Do you guys still hang out now that Abe and Geoff have worked through things?

Kim: Hell, yes. Closer than ever. *smiles dangerously* I've got his back, especially since I know everything that's going on with the boss.

Abe: And I've got hers. She was insultingly underpaid until I spoke up.

Me: A lot of readers want to see more of you two. Do you think there will be another book in the future?

Abe: Babe? Isn't that up to you? You're the writer.

Me: Well, yes, but I can only write the stories you guys share with me.

Kim: Oh, you want more? Abe, get us some coffee...

********

Read more about Kim and Abe in Silver & Gold, available in e-book from Dreamspinner Press.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Come again? Sometimes words work...even when they aren't credified.

Made up words. Slang. Colloquialisms. Words that should be...but aren't.

To seriously rile up by-the-book proofreaders, throw a few inventively descriptive words into a manuscript (or leave them in, if you're the content editor), and watch the red markups, comments and links to thefreedictionary or allwords fly.

There have certainly been times when I've hit upon a word in a manuscript I'm editing, snorted and diplomatically commented "Word choice?" or "Different word here?", all the while thinking to myself, "Nice try." But every once in a while, the word just fits, even if you can't find it anywhere but the Urban Dictionary...and sometimes not even there.

In a near-future book I recently edited, the author used the word "technofied" as an adjective a character used to mentally describe a gadget within his POV. I left it as such, since a) it was clear what was meant, and b) the character was thinking this in his head, so who am I to say he'd word it more properly in his head? He had already been established as lacking a certain polish, and it seemed to fit the characterization. Of course, the proofreader jumped all over that with a grammatically correct example of what it "should" be. (FYI, I added my own comment to the effect that it was the author's choice before passing it along.)

In another instance, an author had a character use the term "ass-hat" to describe someone. This, while slangy, seemed to me to be a perfectly reasonable term for a character to use. I've heard it many times IRL before (not directed at me thankfully! lol). However, another editor on the manuscript had never heard the term before. In that instance, should the author switch to a more familiar insult?

Readers aren't stupid--they don't need to be bashed over the head with the obvious, and they can certainly make out non-traditional words mean, ie the above two examples, continue to read along, accept the meaning in context, and not have it detract from their enjoyment of the book. But of course, that's my take and I'm just one person. I'm really interested to see what other readers think about this. :)

So my question to all of you is, will the use of a word that is either made up or not known by you pull you out of a story? Do you appreciate an author's creativity in not sticking with the same old words? Or do you find it distracting? For authors, do you occasionally throw something different out there, or is the dictionary your best friend?

PS: I have successfully applied to have a word added to the Urban Dictionary. So maybe it's just a question of taking the words you make up as an author and credifying them... Hmm... :D

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Release Day for Let It Snow, my naughty Christmas story at Dreamspinner Press! NSFW Excerpt


My latest release, Let It Snow, is now available! It's my third year as part of Dreamspinner's annual Advent Calendar, and I really enjoy getting in the holiday spirit (albiet several months early!) by writing these winter-themed stories. Not only is it in the package, you can also buy it as a single e-book starting today. :)

Here is a NSFW excerpt as a disappointed Garrett settles in and prepares to face Christmas alone...

*****

By now, he was dealing with a semi-erection just thinking about Ethan and their scenes.  He was just fooling himself, he thought ruefully, if he was really considering bypassing the toy at this point.

After finishing his nighttime routine, he snagged the plug and a tube of lube before he headed towards the bed. Ethan loved to see him on hands and knees… well, head down and ass up, to be precise. The sight of Garrett in the open and vulnerable position never failed to bring Ethan into a dominant mindset. But first he’d get ready.

He lay on his back and took his time prepping himself, all the while remembering the last time Ethan and he had gotten together. They usually met at Ethan’s place, and that night had been no different. They’d been out with a few friends to watch a conference championship game at a bar over a few beers. The sex had been random; there was no set pattern to when and why they would go beyond friendship and take their respective kinks out to play.

All Garrett knew was that sometime during the evening, a look had passed between the two of them—a hot, electrifying exchange that left no doubts with either man that they’d be making their excuses to the rest of their group very soon.

As soon as they’d entered Ethan’s home, Garrett had all but thrown himself against Ethan, stepping into his space in a challenge the man would be hard pressed to ignore. He’d thumped his body into the other man’s, their similar heights allowing them to fit comfortably together, in contact from chests on downward.  Ethan quickly turned the tables, spinning Garrett around and pressing his upper body up against the entry wall, holding him in place with his chest, legs bracketing his.

“You’ve been wanting this all night, haven’t you?” he growled in Garrett’s ear. “I couldn’t believe it when you ordered another pitcher.”

He’d laughed, shamelessly pushing his ass back against the hard cock rocking along his backside. “I thought it would be a good peace offering since we both had to leave early because of… work.”

“Stop.” Garrett had known immediately what Ethan was referring to and reluctantly halted his movements, though he left his hips canted back in inviting contact with Ethan’s. Garrett remembered how he’d held his breath as Ethan moved his hand slowly down his abs to his waistband. His touch had lingered there for some time as if he’d been trying to decide what to do to Garrett next.

Hole slicked and ready, Garrett ran the plug down to his abdomen and let it rest there as his brain reenacted the moment of decision. He left the toy sitting on his lower abs as he ran his hand—in his mind, Ethan’s hand—up under his shirt to flick lightly at a nipple until it was taut, before giving a hard pinch that sent a bolt of sensation zinging straight to his balls.

Garrett had remained against the wall, panting for oxygen, as Ethan had leisurely tweaked and tortured first one nipple and then the other.

“One of these days I’m going to get you off with nothing more than twisting your nips. Won’t touch you anywhere else. Work them until they’re begging for mercy. You won’t make a sound, though, will you? Not until I tell you to come and you shoot for me.”

Groaning both at the time and at the memory, in both scenarios it took Garrett all the willpower he had to keep from squirming under the touch. They both knew that since Ethan had commanded him to stop moving, it would take an earthquake to get him to disobey—a fact which Ethan never failed to put to the test with upping the ante in challenge.

His pants had then been unfastened and unceremoniously shoved to his ankles. With his shirt and shoes still on, it had been a terribly slutty and debauched pose to hold, somehow making Garrett feel more naked than if he’d been completely nude.

Ethan had cupped his ass cheeks, kneading the muscles, exposing his hole repeatedly but not touching where he needed it. Garrett now flipped over, the dildo dropping to the mattress unimpeded as he replicated the pose, though on his knees on the bed rather than standing in Ethan’s foyer. He pulled his ass cheeks aside enough to feel the cool of the room on his slicked, prepared entrance.

On that night, Ethan had left him for a minute, walking deeper into the house before returning. He had then sank to his knees behind Garrett and roughly prepped his hole with lube-laden fingers until he was fucking two scissoring and twisting fingers in and out, in and out—oh, so good! Garrett had almost cried out in protest as the fingers disappeared, but he had forced himself to wait anxiously for the next touch. Surely Ethan wouldn’t leave him hanging?

Garrett reached down to grab the plug, knowing what came next. He’d been put out of his misery as Ethan ran a cool, hard object up and down the cleft of his ass over and over until it was as warm as his clenching hole. He slid the plug in just as Ethan had penetrated him with the dildo—not in increments, but in one long, inexorable slide that didn’t ask for entry, but demanded compliance.

He grunted as the plug seated itself and he breathed through the adjustment. Ethan had smoothed a hand along his lower back, then down the curve of his ass. Garrett remembered wishing fervently that the caring in his touch was that of a lover, of something more than just a friend and partner in kink….

He’d played Garrett with an expert touch, every movement bringing him closer to the point at which he’d break position or beg or… God, he loved every minute of what they did together. What a crazy, fucked-up, wonderful thing they had. They meshed like two sides of the same coin.

But Ethan wasn’t his lover. And Garrett wasn’t holding his breath that they’d become lovers anytime soon. Ethan wasn’t gay. Probably bi, if Garrett had any instincts about these things left. Ethan was just too comfortable with intimately touching another man to be completely straight. But he’d never, to Garrett’s knowledge, dated another man. In fact, Ethan and Chris and Will, their other two best friends, had cut quite a swath through the available women in the area.

Ethan and Garrett’s time together was all about an exchange of power. He would be a fool to think he could “convert” him to a boyfriend.

The dampening effect of that reminder on his emotions didn’t begin to touch the fever pitch he’d roused his body to, and he broke off from the memory. Maneuvering carefully, plug still held in place in his ass, he lay down on his back and took his uncomfortably hard cock in a rough, welcome grasp. He planted his feet and thrust up into his palm while he reached down to give the plug a nudge at just the right angle. A couple more pulls and the orgasm boiled up from his balls. He yelled as he came, the physical release so complete and consuming that it nearly made him pass out.

It took eons for his heart rate to resemble normal again, but eventually he dragged himself from bed to do some cleanup in the bathroom. He rinsed the toy and left it sitting on a towel, then headed to the bedroom again, a bit too awake to just go to bed. A good orgasm had the opposite effect on him than many other people; it enervated him, wound him up.

Remembering that the wood-burning fireplace was operative, he kindled a fire in the already-laid hearth and then sat back on the loveseat, poking at it occasionally until a decent-sized fire was going. When the yawns finally started, he made sure the screen was in place, crawled into the four-poster, and closed his eyes.

Lying in bed, the random dancing of firelight teasing at his eyelids, Garrett could almost hear the voice of his grandma, reminding him to make his Christmas wish before he went to sleep.

What I really want, Santa can’t bring, Mimi. 

Flipping on his stomach and burying his head under the pillow, he wished anyway… then promptly cursed himself for his sugar-plum delusions.

You can find Let It Snow at Dreamspinner Press.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful to still be a daughter...Happy transplant day, Mom!

Note: I've posted a version of this the past couple years, so some of you may have read it, but this time of year will always remind me of what I'm truly thankful for and the sentiments I originally wrote two years ago on her first anniversary are just as heartfelt and relevant today. I've tweaked the time references so they are accurate for the current year, but otherwise it stands as previously written. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


Fall has always been my favorite season of the year, the colors, coolness in the air, what's not to love? It was Dad's fave as well, which made it especially difficult when he passed away unexpectedly at 61 in late October 2003. Every Thanksgiving since then has been bittersweet with happy reminiscences comingled with the memories of the raw shock of that first holiday season without him.

Three years ago, my remaining parent was literally fighting for her life. She had been diagnosed with leukemia in May 2008, fought a losing battle with chemotherapy over the summer, and nothing was helping to stem the advance of the cancer in her blood and bone marrow. With the classification that she fell into, her prognosis at the time of diagnosis was less than a year.

Then a miracle happened...her doctor was able to convince the insurance company to approve a bone marrow transplant despite her age (63) being beyond their normal range. That was followed closely by a second miracle...she didn't have to wait for a donor match. Her brother, who lived 4 miles away from her and was still in good health at 65, tested to be a perfect match for donation. Sibling donations have the highest success rate, and we crossed our fingers that Mom could hold out long enough to stabilize for and undergo the god-awful pre-procedure chemo and radiation.

So on November 25th, 2008, she was given the transplant, and we waited while her body fought both the cancer and the 'invading' new bone marrow cells. That Thanksgiving was filled with worry and hope.

As December began, she started slipping away. Her counts were proceeding 'normally', but she was becoming delirious and eventually unresponsive. An unexpected allergic reaction to her anti-rejection medication sent her into a coma due to fluid buildup in the brain called PRES syndrome. Nearly 2000 miles away, I could only wait for news. She was moved to intensive care and the second week of December I received a call needing permission to place her on a ventilator as a respiratory infection set in.

At that point I could wait no longer and scheduled my flight to South Dakota. I hadn't seen her since August, and barely recognized her; her hair was gone, she was 30 pounds lighter, and all the medical support equipment... I walked into her empty house alone that night and it was the strangest sensation, as if she were already gone.

I sat by her bed for nearly a week with no response. I'd had the irrational thought that once there, she'd hear my voice and open her eyes, but that only happens in fiction I suppose. I lotioned her feet, tried to keep her bloody tears from drying on, and tried to talk. It was hard to know what to say, again where the movies and fiction have it wrong. Her hand was warm but dead in mine. During this time, her only movements were occasional gagging motions, and I asked, begged, pleaded, and finally demanded they remove the breathing tube. Their response was that she'd met every protocol except one; she had to be responsive before removal.

I was stymied by ICU staff and resp therapists at every turn until one day I finally spoke to the Pulminologist on the phone and reminded him that she's been unresponsive for days before insertion. After securing my permission to reinsert if she went south, he approved the removal, much to the dismay of the resp therapist who'd smugly handed me the phone in the first place, sure that the doc would support her instead of me.

She and the ICU nurse went through the shut-down and pulling of the tube. It was awful watching my mom's body fighting and gagging. But it was finally out.

Then her eyes opened...

After weeks in a coma, when that tube came out, she just...woke up. The nurse asked if she knew who I was, and she said in a raspy, but clearly disgusted whisper, "Of course! That's my daughter." Oh, that's my mama. Give 'em hell, Mom.

While she'd been laying there, her body had been accepting the transplant. They moved her back up to oncology the next morning (that was a jolt, coming into her ICU bay and having it be empty!). I flew home the day after, on Christmas Eve, to be with my girls for the holiday. And only two weeks later, she went home. Her mom, my grandma, who was nearly 90, moved out to the farm to spend the rest of the SD winter with her and take care of her 'little girl' during her recovery.

Tomorrow is the three year anniversary of her transplant, and she is 100% donor cells and cancer-free. She's flown out to Oregon a few times now for visits, something I never thought would happen again. She is living alone, still driving and doing for herself. Moreover, she's still herself--still Mom, still Mimi to my two girls and my brother's little boy--something that I'd almost given up hope on during my vigil that winter.

Back 'round to Thanksgiving again, I am so thankful that my small family is not one person less this year. We had every reason to expect that she could have been gone by now, but a few miracles later and I have something very real and concrete to be thankful for this year and every year...my mom's future.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Guest Blogging about "Deadlines" on OGG today...Scary Word, Isn't It?

Today, I'm back at my old stomping grounds on Oh Get A Grip! talking about deadlines...from an editor's perspective! See you there!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

More New Cover Art... Military Guys--check!


A Ring and A Promise, my story from the His Hero anthology (which releases in January), will come out as a single e-book in February, and here is the fantabulous cover by Emmy Ellis. :P

Here is the blurb:

Careers in military service are never easy on relationships—even less so when both lovers are in different branches…and both are men.

Naval Academy graduation now under their belts, Cary Barrientos knows the reality of the upcoming separation from his roommate of the past four years. Owen is more to him than just his best friend—he is the one person Cary can see spending his life with. 

Owen Marsh knew that when he became Cary’s lover, the day would come when he would have to walk away. Now that day has come, and he’s having a hard time convincing himself that it’s just sex between them. Even with DADT repealed, there is no way a Marine and a Navy flier can be together. He’s just being realistic not expecting more.

When Cary switches their Academy rings, hoping Owen won’t notice, he makes a vow—he will do whatever he has to do, including believing enough for the both of them, to make their unlikely relationship stand the test of time. But when his Marine is called up for duty overseas, can a piece of jewellery and a promise be enough to get them through?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Announcing the Winners of the GRL Swag Contest and the Answers!

Hi everyone! Hope you had fun looking through my posts for the answers! I've put the highest scoring names in and randomized them and the winners are:

Beatrice Tan: Swag Bag of GRL goodies and signed copy of Gaymes
Michelle L.: GRL T-shirt

And since Beatrice chose TA Chase as the answer to question #11, she'll be getting some TA swag too, PLUS TA has kindly offered her a free ebook as well!!

Congratulations!! I'll be in touch with the details. :) And thanks to everyone who participated!


Here are all the answers:

1. Name two of the dancers we saw at Lafitte's.  Paco, Axel...also accepted Bored Guy and Cute Twink
2. Who did I ride on the streetcar with?  Jaime Samms
3. My admirer's nickname?  Puppy Boy
4. Who did I chat with in the airport on the way home?  Rick R. Reed
5. I shared a table at the booksigning with what author?   Marguerite Labbe
6. Which of my books made multiple readers cry?   Making His List
7. Someone who was with me on my balcony.   Amber Kell, Stephani Hecht, Trina Lane
8. Two of the bloggers I spent time with?   Janna, Kassa, Leontine, Chris, Kris, Tam, Tracy...and also accepted as answers authors who blog
9. My roommate for the retreat?     Trina Lane
 10. Dates and location of NEXT year's retreat!     Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 18th-21st
11. BONUS: Your favorite author in one of my photos (no wrong answer here!).
 

Monday, November 14, 2011

Amber Kell Visits with Part Fourteen of her Birthday Extravaganza story, Accidental Alpha!

Today I'm thrilled to welcome the amazingly talented Amber Kell on her Birthday Extravaganza story blog crawl!

 


Accidental Alpha #14

Stanley rushed through the door, his protective instincts screaming to protect Fenris.

Disaster. Everything in his apartment was torn apart. The couch tilted drunkenly on one wide, the cushions torn apart. Claw marks were evident on everything. His entertainment center resembled toothpicks, his television shattered, the smell of urine everywhere.

“I’m sorry, babe. You might not want to go into the bedroom.” Fenris’ calm tone helped settle some of Stanley’s panic but once the words sank in, a chill froze Stanley’s spine.

“I have to see.”

It was like being that stupid heroine in the spooky movie. Like knowing you shouldn’t go into the dark cellar of a haunted house in the middle of the night but still feeling compelled to check out the spooky noise.

Fenris slid his fingers through Stanley’s, squeezing his hand in a show of support.

Stanley gave the man a sickly smile, hoping he looked more confident than he felt.

Taking a deep breath through his mouth since his place stank, he walked down the short hall. His bedroom door hung solely by the lower hinge, long scratches scarred the surface and someone had carved the word ‘mate’ on the surface.

“What the hell?”

Pushing the door open he sucked in his breath. Someone had used red paint to cover the wall with the words. “You are mine.”

“That’s paint, right?”

Fenris gave a shaky laugh. “Yeah. I don’t think you want to sleep in your bed, though. He peed all around it.”

The bed itself looked pristine until he realized he never made his bed and he certainly never folded down the covers.

“Who did this?”

“Sebastian. It stinks of him. You might want to check with your dad about what exactly he promised the alpha. It looks to me he like he considers you as good as claimed.”

“Yeah, because I always fall for guys who trash my stuff then pee on it,” Stanley said dryly.

Fenris shrugged. “He probably figures you’d be more open to staying with him. He doesn’t expect you to have someone who recognizes the scent. Having you vulnerable and scared makes you more malleable. After all, he wants to immediately establish the power structure. If you are weaker he not only gets a strong mate but two alphas will draw stronger wolves to the pack. Sebastian wants to take over the city and you’re the man he’s chosen to help him do it.”

“It’ll be hard to take over the city with my shoe up his ass,” Stanley growled. “First I’m going to call the police and report this, then I’m going to call my mother and cry on her shoulder until she invites me to dinner where I can explain to her how I got in this situation.”

Fenris smiled. “And then?”

“Then I’m going to watch my sweet mother kick the big bad Overseer’s ass.”


To learn more about other Amber Kell releases, go to www.amberkell.com

 If you need to catch up, here are the links to all of the previous parts. Make sure to comment here for an entry for Amber's daily and weekly prizes!

Friday, November 11, 2011

New Cover Art!! Gorgeous Cover for His Hero anthology

Here's the cover art that landed in my inbox this morning from Emmy Ellis for the His Hero anthology, which includes my story, A Ring and A Promise.



Ain't it purdy? Thanks Emmy! This releases on January 16th from Total-E-Bound, and yes...it's all MM and all uniforms!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Free Reads, Contest Reminder and Writing Military Virgins...

...Because you know they're out there. You catch them early enough in their military careers and they're typical young (horny) guys, who may not have had any manlove yet. But once you get them going...

The two guys in the book I just finished (Wed) and contracted (Thurs), A Ring and A Promise, were roommates at the Naval Academy...with benefits. So come January, you can read some Navy on Marine (and vice versa) deflowerings. I pretty much smushed all my favorite tropes together in one smexy bunch--men in uniform, first times, against all odds, roommates, friends to lovers, and a smidge of gay for you. It'll be a happy (ever after) new year for us all. ;)

I got creative (well, more so) and decided to take the plunge into the world of self-pub on All Romance ebooks. My two free short stories this year, In The Wild (The Dreamspinner Halloween short, which is One Wish #2.5), and His Last Resort (the MM group Don't Read In The Closet antho short) are both now available as free PDF downloads from ARe. The links are also on my right sidebar.
 
Oh, and don't laugh too hard at the covers. I have a much greater respect for cover artists than ever before! BTW, GRL attendees might want to take a close look. :D

Speaking of GRL, I'm in the middle of a voyeuristic little story set at the retreat and the bar across the street, Oz, and what one lucky attendee got to watch two hot guys doing on the balcony. More details when I'm done!

Just a reminder, don't forget to take a read back through my GRL updates and answer the ten questions I posted on Halloween for your chance to win an autographed book and swag bag. See THE CONTEST POST for details. Good luck! :)

Monday, October 31, 2011

GRL Swag Contest ...Happy Halloween!!

**ENTER THRU MIDNIGHT, MONDAY, NOV 14TH**

Okay, here at last is my GayRomLit swag contest. Take a look back through my recaps, then send the correct answers to the following questions to me at devonrhodes@hotmail dot com with GRL Contest in the subject line. I will randomly draw the winner from all entries with all (or the most) correct answers. Contest runs through next Monday, November 14th at midnight, and I will announce the winners on Tuesday. Good luck!

1. Name two of the dancers we saw at Lafitte's.
2.Who did I ride on the streetcar with?
3. My admirer's nickname?
4. Who did I chat with in the airport on the way home?
5. I shared a table at the booksigning with what author?
6. Which of my books made multiple readers cry?
7. Someone who was with me on my balcony.
8. Two of the bloggers I spent time with?
9. My roommate for the retreat?
10. Dates and location of NEXT year's retreat!
11. Your favorite author in one of my photos (no wrong answer here!).


***The winner (in the US or Canada only due to shipping costs, sorry!) will receive a swag bag including a signed copy of the Gaymes anthology, a Devon travel mug, a T-shirt I specially designed for GRL, and other assorted fun stuff.***A runner up will receive the T-shirt.***

And everyone who enters and provides their snail mail addy will receive a magnet I specially designed for GRL and at least one autographed postcard. Hopefully that's enough incentive to look through my posts for the answers, and they are all right here on my blog.

Happy Halloween Hunting and good luck! :)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

GayRomLit Recap, Days Three and Four

Picking up a couple of short hours after I left off on Day Two...
Thanks for the java babe!

Alarm went off mega-early pour moi, but I rallied. Hauled my box o swag for the cemetery tour participants down to the bellman, and then went to go grab coffee in the lobby...only to have it run out with a gasp I echoed. This is after watching the person in front of me fill three caffeine-laden cups of bliss to the brim. Karma was with me and it turned out to be none other than Jackie (whom I didn't recognize from behind with her wet hair). She took pity on me when I began to gamely fill up with decaf and swapped cups. Not sure who in her room got the decaf later on (Steph?) but I sure appreciate your sacrifice!

Some of "The Bloggers": Leontine, Janna and Kassa (nice legs!)



Unusual since it's all metal.

Chair with footstool for the lady, tree trunk for the man.
Ended up sharing a cab to the cemetery after having heard stories about non-existent streetcars, which worked out great. (I swear, NO must have the cheapest cabs of any city I've ever visited.) After a bit of a wait, our tour guides showed up, divvied us up and we headed out. Among those in my group, I had "the bloggers"--which I loved after having such a great time with them at Laffite's the first night. Here are a few shots from the tour, which was fairly simple but hey...I still geek out over history, so I enjoyed it. Plus the weather was insanely nice.

After the tour, which included the Katrina Memorial, in the shape of a hurricane, most of us rode the streetcar back towards the hotel. I had a great time chatting with Jaime Samms on the ride and subsequent walk. I tease her about her Canadian accent (she claims they don't have one...right).

Kids got their own swag bags.
Back at the hotel, author spotlights and readings were going on, so I had a chance to peek in on those. Collected some masks from Kiernan Kelly, which were a huge hit with my girls. Took some pictures, including a top-secret photo of some brand new tattoos, one of which was in an interesting place...made more interesting when the person in question had to admit to going commando as they reason they didn't want to drop trou. Well, of course we bulldozed that objection and ended up with a great shot (which I'm still waiting for a copy of, ahem!!).

Damon Suede was tantalizing us all with his kilt--and proved to enough of us that I wonder if he doesn't have an exhibitionist side exactly what men wear under kilts. (The answer, btw, is nothing. Otherwise, it's just a skirt.)

Apparently needed a flask to deal with GRL'ers.
Had a lovely lunch al fresco with TA Chase, Stephani Hecht and VJ Summers, then dropped by some publisher spotlights in the afternoon. Had my first and only hurricane of the trip at the MLR poolside event, where I tried to make the rounds a bit, after which a group of us went out to dinner. I was signed up to take the Vampire and Ghost tour that evening and we ended up with a little old lady who was shorter than me and quite the orator. She had some fabulous performances/reenactments of events around the Quarter, and at one point stopped talking mid-sentence to run (with us trailing along like so many chicks) and join a wedding parade.


Has everyone's attention except for TA...who claims she was looking at me.
When we returned to the hotel, there was a wine/cheese reception at the pool we hit towards the end. Already, we were starting to feel like things were winding up, so I made sure to get a few photos with some authors I fangurled all over (at least in my own head).

Jackie, Damon Suede and me
With Marie Sexton, whose Coda series kept me up before I came.

Jackie and me with Ethan Day (one of my heroes later that night!)
That event flowed right into the bar crawl organized by Stormy, Joyee and Gabrielle. At the second place (Good Friends), we ran into the entertainment from the first night, all of whom were utterly horrified happy to see our group again. We had a nice time visiting with some locals before I looked around and realized most everyone I knew had left (and most of those remaining weren't staying at the hotel.

So by default, I ended up with Jason and Gabrielle Evans for the rest of the evening (um, early morning?), mostly dancing at Oz. It was another if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em night where I didn't get to the room until about 4:30am, took a much-needed shower, did some packing and fell into bed right about the time it started to quiet down (and get light) outside.

The next morning was all about saying au revoir. The location for next year's GRL was announced at the farewell brunch--Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 18th-21st--and rounds of goodbyes were made by all. A bit more packing and I was off to the airport. The only side note to the trip home was the fact that I ran into Rick Reed in the Atlanta airport. We had flown from New Orleans on different flights and also had different flights home--him to Seattle and me to Portland--but our gates happened to be right across from each other. I'd barely seen him at the retreat, so it was great to sit and visit with him one on one for a half hour or so until he had to board his flight.

All in all, I think it could definitely be called a successful premiere. All the organization that went into this is just staggering, and I really admire the dedication of the organizers and helpers who pulled it off. Of course there were challenges, and I do think a few things could use a bit different approach, but I really enjoyed myself. It was a big lovefest of MM. Most of us who were there have a true love of the genre and don't get that kind of unconditional support elsewhere. So it was truly unique and a great start to what will hopefully continue to grow and be an event we can all look forward to.

Hope you enjoyed my recaps! Now for the fun part!! I will be having a contest based on my three recaps, so look those pictures over and read between the lines. :) More details and contest kickoff in my next post. :)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Details on Dreamspinner Halloween Sales and Advent Calendar Bargain!

 
2011 Advent Calendar package now on sale at its lowest price through October 31!

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM DREAMSPINNER PRESS!

SPECIAL RATE DETAILS
It's the most fervent dream of the holidays: to have a life full of blooming romance and enduring devotion with love, joy, and even a touch of lust to warm the cold winter nights. No matter what holidays are celebrated, the idiom holds true: home is where the heart is.

Your Christmas present to yourself! A package of 31 stories, all with holiday flair. One story a day will be placed on your bookshelf. The full set is around 1,800 pages of romantic M/M fiction selling individually for a total $92.69. Buy as a set and save!elf each day in December. Over 1,700 pages of fiction selling individually for a total $92.69. Buy as a set and save!

October - $39.99
November - $49.99*

*Sale of packages for daily delivery ends Nov. 25.





On Dec. 1, stories will be available individually or as a set for $64.99.

Check out the I'll Be Home for Christmas story list.

Includes my next release, Let It Snow!