Category: Bloggy Stuff

Deep Breathe In. *grins*

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff16 Comments

spider_web_001There are times in my life when everything gets a bit too loud. It feels like pressure up against the inside of my temples. Too much stimulation. Too much colour. Too much noise. Usually it’s too much pulling from too many people in so many directions.

Today was one of those days. Well, to be honest, the past five days have been like a spiderweb nightmare of yank and pull.

It’s not a bad thing once I realize it. Because that’s when to take a step back, take a deep breath and remember what’s at the centre of it all. Or at least find a centre.

We were kind of half-laughing yesterday about how I seem to get pinged for solving life’s problems by all manner of people. Which is hilarious because I can’t even really solve my life problems. I frequently misplace my Kindle so there you go…why would you look to me for answers on anything.

Today, someone was on their computer with a web browser open and asked me… how do you google [item]?

My reply was… “Really? Dude.”

We have that kind of relationship. I can tease that way. She just had a severe brain fart and was looking for a life preserver.

I think the hardest thing to do is to get stuck on “receive”, taking more and more things in until you’re full… kind of overcooked and done. I reached that this afternoon. I literally* felt something in my head pop. It wasn’t any one thing. I’d just reached that point. Which is silly. Because I’m better at management my silly brain than that.

So this afternoon, I’m going to take a breath, maybe a nap, but definitely a breather. What about all of you? What’s the centre-ritual or things you do to get that reboot?

Austin and Kentucky Coffee Meet and Greet. Ish. Feb 13th and Feb Dunno Yet.

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff6 Comments

Okay… as an aside to signings, cons and all of that nonsense *grins* …

Let’s talk coffee.

AUSTIN people.  Let me know if you’re coming by.
Saturday, Feb 13th at 10 am to 12 pm
Bennu Coffee
2001 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Austin, TX 78702

Lexington, Kentucky
Anyone still interested? Can you all do a weekday late afternoon? Early evening?

Ink and Shadows now out on Audiobook!

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff, Good News6 Comments

51CRmdDC1yL._SL300_Link to Audible! Greg Tremblay narrating.

Kismet Andreas lives in fear of the shadows.

For the young tattoo artist, the shadows hold more than darkness. He is certain of his insanity because the dark holds creatures and crawling things only he can see – monsters who hunt out the weak to eat their minds and souls, leaving behind only empty husks and despair.

And if there’s one thing Kismet fears more than being hunted – it’s the madness left in its wake.

The shadowy Veil is Mal’s home. As Pestilence, he is the youngest – and most inexperienced – of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, immortal manifestations resurrected to serve – and cull – mankind. Invisible to all but the dead and insane, the Four exist between the Veil and the mortal world, bound to their nearly eternal fate. Feared by other immortals, the Horsemen live in near solitude, but Mal longs to know more than death, war and famine.

Mal longs to be…more human. To interact with someone other than lunatics or the deceased.

When Kismet rescues Mal from a shadowy attack, Pestilence is suddenly thrust into a vicious war – where mankind is the prize, and the only one who has faith in Mal is the human the other Horsemen believe is destined to die.

 

Dishing Some Dirt(y)

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff, Good News27 Comments

DH_date_announcement
So there we have it.

The official release date for Dirty Heart, the final book in the Cole McGinnis series.

A little over two months and I will be closing the door to the first “house” I’ve built.  The book is pretty much done, going through the final stages of the production process. The cover and blurb are set. ARCs haven’t gone out yet but I’ll be doing that closer to the release date, along with a firm caveat not to post spoilers.

I’m assuming you all don’t want spoilers.

When I started this series, I knew I’d eventually reach this point. Did take a bit of a side trip with Down and Dirty because well, it seemed like you all wanted Bobby and Ichi’s relationship written down but here we go… the end.

Is it bittersweet? In a lot of ways, yes. But in one HUGE way, no. See, there won’t be that secret any more. That underlying question. I knew I was going to be answering the why did Ben shoot them and now, a few years later… it’s time to let that secret go.

And time for Cole… and Jae… to move on with their lives. Just…off the page.

For a while. But you never know when a leather-wearing granny dom is going to need some help.

Gutted…

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff10 Comments

Jesus.

Lemmy and now, David Bowie.

I’m not even sure how to process the loss of two musical talents, while so diverse, had such an impact on my life.

And of course, David as the Goblin King.

Can’t even.

Ah, the rains….

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff

We’ve been having some serious rains. And today, hail. Small hail. Nothing too serious but enough to go… look, hail! It was clear for a little bit but it’s back to grey and sleepy weather.

Making soup tonight for dinner. Well from turkey and chicken carcasses with some veggies I’ll roast when I get home. Including really nice turnips.

Turnips are tricky here in SoCal. Sometimes they get very old and people try to sell them. Turnips should not be wrinkled. I wish we got good parsnips but we don’t. Not here.

Today is a miso soup and tea kind of day. But alas, I have to finish this book. SOOOOON! Maybe. *grins* But I do know how it will end.

Swampy Crocs

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff5 Comments

I’ve turned my brain to goo. That’s the problem with power writing through a week and a half. Your brain…goo.

There’s also a point where you don’t even really know what you’re writing any more. Sure you can go back and read it and it makes sense but as you’re in the middle of it? Not a fucking clue.

I’ve reached that point in the swamp. When you know there’s a shit ton of soggy land behind me and even more ahead… but soon! SOON THERE WILL BE DRY LAND!

And nope, that’s a crocodile.

Because words have teeth.

I normally have a loose idea… or a detailed chapter list of the scenes… to go buy. But every once in a while, something happens and the brain twists, turning the story around. I had a moment of that yesterday and after writing this thread down to its end, I sat back and went…huh. Well, fuck… works but… fuck.

Writing’s kinda like that. Could be crocodile. Planned for one. Turns out to be log. Then surprise crocodile a few feet later.

But the end of the swamp IS near. Or at least within my grasp. Soon, my pretties, soon.

OH and Kai 2 has a title. *grins*

 

Joe Cosentino on His Latest Release, Drama Muscle (A Nicky and Noah Mystery)

On By Rhys FordIn Bloggy Stuff, Guest Blog1 Comment

WHY I WROTE THE NICKY AND NOAH MYSTERIES
Book Two: Drama Muscle, published by Lethe Press
by Joe Cosentino

Don’t you love bodybuilders? Who doesn’t? I have always been fascinated with them. The concept of eating protein every two hours, lifting weights for three hours a day, shaving every body part, spray tanning, and posing in tiny gold trunks is amazing to me. Not to mention the amazing muscles. What dedication! After watching a bodybuilding competition on television (guilty as charged), I noticed the link between bodybuilding and theatre. So I realized the second Nicky and Noah mystery would take place in the Bodybuilding Department at Treemeadow College.

If you haven’t read Drama Queen (and you should!), the Nicky and Noah mysteries are set in an Edwardian style university founded originally by a gay couple (Tree and Meadow) whose name the university bears: Treemeadow College. It is a gay cozy mystery comedy series, meaning the setting is warm and cozy, the clues and murders (and laughs) come fast and furious, there are enough plot twists and turns and a surprise ending to keep the pages turning, and at the center is a touching gay romance between Associate Professor of Directing Nicky Abbondanza (the amateur sleuth whose heart is as big as his manhood) and Assistant Professor of Acting gorgeous Noah Oliver. Along the way, Nicky and Noah fall in love, as I’ve heard the readers fall in love with them.

For most of my life I’ve read cozy mystery novels. Though full of murder and mayhem, they always made me smile, challenged my brain, and relaxed me. What could be better than a brain-teasing puzzle taking place in a comfortable environment with lots of gay people? Like an Agatha Christie novel, the mystery is the central focus with red herrings and inversions leading to a satisfying conclusion. As in an Armistead Maupin novel, the characters are wacky, surprising, and endearing.

In the first novel, it is winter, so white snow, cherry wood mantels surrounding blazing fireplaces, and hot chocolate are in abundance. In the second book, it is fall, so gorgeous leaves of amber, violet, and scarlet blanket the campus. The third book (Drama Cruise not yet published) takes us on cruise to Alaska for sights of glaciers and whales while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship. In each book Nicky and Noah eavesdrop, seduce, role play, and finally trap the murderer, as pandemonium, hilarity, and true love ensue for a happily ever after ending—until the next book.

Reviewers called Drama Queen “hysterically funny farce,” “Murder She Wrote meets Hart to Hart meets The Hardy Boys,” “a captivating whodunit,” and “the funniest book of the year.” Who am I to argue? In Drama Queen college theatre professors were dropping like stage curtains and amateur sleuths/college theatre professors Nicky and Noah had to use their theatre skills, including impersonating other people, to figure out whodunit. When the ebook reached #18 on the Amazon bestsellers list in its category and the paperback and audiobook (with all twenty-four roles played by Michael Gilboe) sold like tickets to Phantom of the Opera after the Tony Awards, it was time for another Nicky and Noah mystery.

In the current novel, Drama Muscle, Nicky and Noah don their gay Holmes and Watson personas again to find out who is murdering musclemen in the Physical Education Department. Since I work out every day (yet see very little results!) and am enamored of the real bodybuilders who are so big they don’t even need to iron their shirts, Drama Muscle holds a special place in my heart. In the novel Nicky is directing bodybuilding students in Treemeadow College’s annual Bodybuilding competition on campus. Bodybuilding students and faculty drop faster than barbells until Nicky figures out the identity of the murderer, as well as Noah’s secret revolving around Van Granite, one of the bodybuilding professors. Noah’s hysterically funny parents visit from Wisconsin and are drawn into the action, and Nicky and Noah reach a milestone by the end of the novel.

As a college professor/department head, I have always been aware that colleges are rife with mystery, romance, and humor. It is my joy and pleasure to share these stories with you. So take your front row seat. The curtain is going up on young bodybuilders at Treemeadow College. Lights (and weights) up! And let me know what you think at http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com!

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