Welcome Spring Fling Blog Hoppers!
You know the drill—hop around to a bunch of cool blogs, leave comments, maybe win a prize!
Grand Prize is a $50 Amazon Gift Card!
My prize is a $10 Amazon Gift Card. For a shot at it, all you have to do is answer my question. The hop runs through the 20th and I’ll let Random.org choose the winner on Monday, April 21st.
Enter for the Grand Prize using the Rafflecopter link at the end of my post.
Good luck, Manlove lovers!
I realized, as I pondered what to blog about for this hop, that a lot of my stories are set in the Spring. It’s not my favorite season (that’s Autumn :)), but I do love it when the weather starts warming up and the flowers start blooming. I spend a lot of dough on allergy meds in Spring, but I love it anyway.
Since I’m buried under deadlines of all kinds (and couldn’t think of anything more entertaining) I’ll leave you with a couple of Spring excerpts–one I haven’t shared yet from my Love’s Landscapes story. This will be the last one, I swear! 🙂
In Curious Sustenance, Ross and Miles meet in the winter, but they get to the good part in Spring.
Ross passed twin trees on either side of the walk—thick trunks supporting neat umbrellas loaded with pink buds—and up the two sets of steps to the porch—red brick, and wood painted to match the blue trim. The door opened before he could knock, and he was invited in by the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen—bar none. Miles wore faded jeans and a T-shirt with a tree on it. And he was barefoot. That struck Ross as endearingly vulnerable and intimate.
Better Than New
, the story I wrote for this year’s Don’t Read in the Closet event, also takes place in the spring. Here’s an excerpt I haven’t shared before. It’s still one step short of finished, so any errors are all my fault.
My hero, Theo, is at a volunteer meeting—sorry, no plot points or juicy bits. I’m saving those for Jenna and the official release day! The “I” is Theo. 🙂
“Okay, now that we’re all here,” Hil grinned and patted my shoulder, “nobody’s leaving until all shifts are covered. And I mean nobody.”
“I’ll take one during the parade.” I pumped coffee into the heavy snow leopard mug. Sharon sat opposite me; she slid the cinnamon-sugar shaker across the table. It stopped right in front of me and she grinned. Her grin said either she’d figured out Ben was the guy I liked, or she noticed how high-schooler looked at me. Maybe both. “Thanks.”
“Okay, one down, three of the nasty slots left to fill before—”
A chorus of snickers rose around the table.
“You guys are horrible!”
We talked about who was going to be stuck inside the fences manning booths with me during the Pride Parade. Everyone had an excuse, so it took the next two hours to cut through all the crap. High-schooler’s mom arrived about an hour into it, and she grabbed a coffee and a muffin and sat down with her Ereader to wait. Nobody messed with Hil’s meetings—some people get what they want because they want it.
I’d done my part, but wasn’t in any hurry to try and get out of there. If enough people had the evening free, we might even end up going in on dinner and playing board games until Ben kicked us out. That would be worth sitting through a meeting of any length, especially since I missed the check-in. Hil, aside from being fabulous and the darling of every non-profit serving the rainbow in the Portland Metro Area, was the proud owner of a wild and overactive imagination. At the beginning of every meeting we all had to introduce ourselves, state our orientation and preferred pronoun, and then answer a question. The orientation and pronoun were optional but the questions, never, and even though I haven’t figured out how, they reveal far too much about what’s going on inside my head on any given first Tuesday of the month. The last one was, “What texture are you today?”
Thanks for reading!
If you’d like to catch up with Theo (and Ben), you can find more excerpts here.
Now for the question. Answer this for a chance at a $10 Amazon Gift Card:
What texture are YOU today?
Don’t forget to enter the Grand Prize drawing: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Click here to go back to the linky list and hop on!
Charley Descoteaux 
Thanks for the chance to win–Loved the details in both excerpts (and I love parades). Today I am in cotton.
I’m so excited for the LL event to start posting stories..thanks for the nibble! Texture…hmmm, Denim. Thanks for the chance to win 🙂 raynman1979 at yahoo dot com
Thanks for the giveaway. I love blog hops, they are fun and I find lots of new authors and books.
I’m in a lace kind of mood today. 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway. Love reading all the excerpts and finding new authors.
Texture would have to leather.
diamer13@yahoo.com
Thanks for the giveaway and the excerpts! Regarding texture, something smooth and silky like cherry wood.
natalija(dot)shkomare(at)gmail(dot)com
I think today I’m feeling a bit like bubble wrap. And thanks for the giveaway!
rochella DOT duijs AT hotmail DOT com
texture? pretty soft today! like a favorite pillow case.
Thanks for playing along, everyone! I love all the textures–you guys are so creative. 😀
hmmmm…I think something light and fluffy…a cloud sounds right
leetee2007@hotmail.com
I am in light mixed cotton today. 🙂
My texture today is like fine silk.
rockybatt@gmail.com
Today I’m in the mood for a little comfort so cotton =)
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
I feel like cotton soft today.
mythic021@gmail.com
I am feeling like I’m silk today! Thanks for sharing and hope you get your edits all done!
amybowens34@yahoo.com
cashmere
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
I liked the one comment on bubble wrap…. that’s my texture too
Loved the excerpt. I think I’m a little cottony today. Thank you for the giveaway.
marsh10(at)netzero(dot)com
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I’m kind of flannel…need a little warmth and insulation, plus I could listen to some ’90s grunge right about now…
vitajex(at)Aol(Dot)com
I think my texture today is tweed. When I think of tweed I always think that it’s an introspective fabric that seems to be bumpy.(Having ups and downs). Yep, that’s me today in a nutshell. Thanks so much participating in the Hop. I love that this gives us the readers a chance to find new authors to enjoy. laurah2727@yahoo.com
Texture something warm and snuggly wool that has been knitted into a warm blanket.
ShirleyAnn@speakman40.freeserve.co.uk
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Thanks for the giveaway. I love blog hops, they are fun and I find lots of new authors and books. and i am in cotton today
parisfan_ca@yahoo.com
It’s been one of those days, so I’m going with rough and uneven… something like sandpaper.
Always fun and hot, Charley!
Thanks for the chance. Today I am cotton.
I am feeling like satin today 🙂 Thank you for the chance to enter wendynjason04@gmail.com
Today, black top pavement, it’s been a rough couple of days….
Thank you for being part of the blog hop fellow allergy medicine user 😉
Shannon F
sabai30705(at)yahoo(dot)com
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Thanks for the entertaining snippets! Unfortunately, today I am gritty, kind of like broken up concrete. (Hurt my back on Friday).
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Thanks for sharing your snippets and hosting the giveaway. Fingers crossed to win.
I started today cotton-y. Now I am feeling like corduroy.
skeeterlee63 @ gmail.com