A Visit to Interview Roulette

I answer these burning questions on Kim Fielding's Interview Roulette:

1. What's your favorite appliance?
2. What's your perfect day, time-wise?
3. You've just met an alien from a planet where there's no such thing as fiction writing. Explain to the alien why humans read made-up stories.
4. What's one event in your life or on your travels that you wish you'd caught on film?
5. In your opinion, what should be the Seven Deadly Sins?
6. One of your characters has just been arrested and calls you to bail him out. Who is it and what did he get busted for?
7. What's your theme song?

I also pimp Short Order, the last of the Foothills Pride books.

What's Release Day Like for This Author?

What's it like for an author on release day? I don't know about the others, but I tell what my experience is at Drops of Ink.

Who Should Play Fen and John in Short Order?

I answer that and other burning questions at Stories That Make You Smile today.

Who do you think would be good at playing the two lead men in the story? (Think cute short men! No beefy hunks need apply. Sorry, Armie Hammer!)

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

One of the most frequently asked questions that authors get is where we get our ideas.

I answer that question as it pertains to me in the Dreamspinner blog today.

So if you're wondering where I got the ideas on which Short Order is based, go to the blog piece to find out.

Wonderful Review from Love Bytes for Short Order

Thank you so much, Dan at Love Bytes, for your support of the series and of the last book in it, Short Order

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Short Order Coming December 13

Dreamspinner Press will publish Short Order, the last of the Foothills Pride series on December 13. It’s #8 in the series and a holiday story involving a recent University of California/Davis graduate and a sous chef in Stone Acres, California.

When recent horticulture graduate Dr. Fenton Miller arrives in Stone Acres, California, he thinks his only concern is which job offer to accept after spending the holidays working at his cousin’s plant nursery. But after he rents a room from another shorter-than-average man, sous-chef John Barton, Fen falls in lust.

While he’s attracted to Fen, John’s got bigger concerns when two men from his past arrive in town and pressure him to return to San Francisco. Although John tries to stop Fen from getting involved, Fen realizes his lover is in trouble and is determined to protect him.

As the holidays get closer and Fen makes his own enemy, the joy of the season gets lost in the ill will around them. To ensure love triumphs, Fen and John must stand tall to show that short, dark, and handsome is a recipe for love.

Preorder information to come in November.

Short Order Won't Release in 2016

Short Order, a holiday-themed story in the Foothills Pride series, won't release this holiday season, but will be published in December 2017.

I'm not sure how this will reorder the series at this time, but when I find out, I'll reveal it.

Here's how I envision Blue Cottage, the Stone Acres residence that is the main site in Short Order. The photo was taken by my daughter when we visited her in Vermont last year.

What About the Audio Book?

I've selected a narrator for my book/s, but because he's backed up with narrating jobs (yea, him!), he won't be able to start on WHAT'S IN A NAME? for a while. So the audio won't be available until December or January when SHORT ORDER will be released. I'm hoping it might be available during the holidays. We'll see.

Contract News

I signed a contract with Dreamspinner Press this evening for SHORT ORDER, #6 of the Foothills Pride series.

Short Order is the story of Dr. Fen Miller, whose cousin Beth owns Stone Acres' plant nursery with her wife Kate. Fen moves to town for the Christmas holidays and meets John Barton, Adam de Leon's sous chef at the Silver Star restaurant.

The story explores whether two shorter than average gay men can prove short, dark, and handsome are a winning combination.

For more information about the series or to order the books:

Dreamspinner Press Author Page 

ALL books are discounted at Dreamspinner from AUGUST 4-7

Amazon Author Page

Tired, Coughing, But Writing

After going to Orlando with many other Dreamspinner authors at the beginning of March, I got the airplane cold when I got back. Ugh.

Since I work better under deadline--I started off writing for metropolitan daily newspapers right out of college--I was so happy to get to talk to Lynn, one of the DSP founders, and set up a deadline for the books I'm writing on spec.

We decided I'd send in the 6th Foothills Pride series (Short Order) on May 1. Then I'd turn in my addition to the States of Love novella series (tentatively titled Big Red Love) by May 15.

Before then, edits on the 5th Foothills Pride story (Relative Best) begin April 7.

All of this sounded easily doable in Orlando at the beginning of March. Then I flew home to California.

The plane ride to Florida was a flying can of cold germs as was the flight back. I was sitting in an incubator and breathing in lungful after lungful of contaminated air.

Having a lower than average immune system, I came down with a cold March 10
. Though it started off looking like it might be benign, this cold has worked itself into being a contender. I'm sleeping in the recliner in the family room and taking a doctor-prescribed Sudafed with codeine so that I can sleep.

So instead of writing during a coherent block of time, I'm now writing by fits and starts--in between naps, coughing fits, and trips to the bathroom.

When I dreamed of becoming a fulltime writer and getting my work published someday, as I graded essays and reviewed books, I never imagined being a fulltime writer would be like this. My lack of imagination in this astounds me!

Going Home

After a wonderful weekend visit with our daughter and son-in-law, we're wending our way back home from lovely Eugene, Oregon.  Fortunately, we brought our Northern California sunny, warm weather with us, so we had two beautiful days to enjoy.

I even had time to resolve a place in the holiday short story, Blame It on the Fruitcake, that was bothering both the editors and me.  And I got a little bit written on Short Order, the fifth Foothills Pride book.

All in all a great weekend with great people.