March 12, 2023

It's all bloomin', baby!

The first edit of Breaking News is happening this weekend! I’m looking forward to getting this one in your hands soon. It’s a fantastic story and I love Van and Liam as a couple. This series is going to be amazing.

In the continuing saga of home projects - the shed has been wired up and has internet. Now we’ve got to make a trip to get insulation and paneling for the walls. I tell the authors I work with when they get overwhelmed with how much you need to do as an indie author - that it’s like eating an elephant. You take it one bite at a time. I have to remember my own advice when it comes to home projects. Yes, I’m laughing. No, not quite maniacally. But close. Very close.

Spring weather in the mountains has been crazy with days in the 70’s and 80’s - and days in the 40’s with nights in the 20’s. But right now? Everything is blooming.

Have you entered the BookSweeps Giveaway yet? Win a collection of romantic suspense novels just by following authors on BookBub!

A tease from a new novella that will be in Booktober 2023 - then later released as a free novella for The Chess Club series. This one is called “Gambit”. It happens BEFORE Rook - and is Wes’s story.

Chapter 1

The sun that streamed through the windows woke him a moment before Wes realized he wasn’t alone in his bed. The heat of the body against his naked back reminded him of the night before, and how much he and Chad had had to drink before they finally stumbled into bed.

There weren’t any gay-friendly clubs closer than an hour away, so they had bought mixers, made drinks, and streamed a movie. He didn’t even remember which movie, because they’d spent most of it making out on his couch.

“Hey, stud,” Chad said as he rolled over and ran a hand down Wes’s back. “Let’s make it a late breakfast. Whaddya say?”

Wes forced a smile to his face before he rolled over and kissed Chad. “I don’t have time for a late breakfast. I’m going to get into the shower and get dressed. I’ve got a meeting in about an hour, and I’d like to at least have coffee in me, first.”

Chad pouted and Wes had to hold back the eye-roll.

“I guess. I can make us some food, though, while you’re in the shower,” Chad offered.

“An egg and cheese on an English muffin would be perfect. Thanks, Chad,” Wes replied as he got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He made sure to lock the door behind him, because he just didn’t have it in him to do shower sex with the man.

He’d planned on breaking up with Chad last night, but his hormones got in the way and they ended up in bed instead. Was he a nice guy? Sure, but he was so bloody needy and Wes was tired of the arguments about the time Wes spent working. His job was demanding, and he loved it. He wasn’t cutting back on that for anyone.

Shower time was the best time for Wes to work out any coding issues he might have run into, and this one was no different. He dried quickly, pulled on his clothes, and dropped into a seat at the kitchen table with his notebook and pen. Soon he’d figured out the coding issue and wrote page after page of what needed to be tweaked, what it should do, and only stopped when the clack of the plate hitting the table next to him broke his focus.

“Here’s your breakfast, as ordered. Did you even hear a thing I’ve said in the past twenty minutes?” Chad snapped at him.

“No, I didn’t. You know I hyperfocus when I’m working out a problem. We’ve discussed this before,” Wes said.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You’re welcome. I’m going to go shower and get dressed. Will I still see you tonight at the Fall Festival?”

“Yes. I plan on being there at six. I’ll meet you at the gate,” Wes said. “And thank you for breakfast.”

“Whatever,” Chad muttered as he left the room.

Wes sighed, got himself a mug of coffee, and sat back down to eat while he looked over his notes.

He barely registered Chad’s goodbye as he left a little bit later.

It was always this way with Wes. He could visualize a problem in his head that some people would take months to plot out and analyze. Then he could make it happen in code in ways that had people wondering how he’d learned what he knew. He couldn’t explain it – it was just how his brain worked. This had to happen, then that, then the other thing and boom, it was done.

The project he was on now? He’d come up with the idea, pitched it to his uncle, who took it to DARPA and got him funding and permission to go ahead and try it. A Master Key that could open literally anything would be amazing. Geography and location be damned, this would break open algorithms across the universe. Both globally and off-planet applications would be easily accessed, and he knew this was something that could save lives.

The excitement he felt when he worked on a fascinating project was better than any sex he’d had, and he’d had some good sex. Chad was maybe an eight on the scale, which is why he’d not broken up with him already.