Happy 2011

Happy Holidays!

I've gone to a few Christmas shows this year, which have all been entertaining, but this past weekend, on Saturday the 18th, I went to the Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus's show, Comfort and Joy. It was truly an amazing show. In particular God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was breathtaking. They are all beautiful talented men. During the show the chorus's Executive Director came out and spoke about it being a historic day as DADT had been repealed. The shouts and applause heard in that theater Saturday were very satisfying.

If you are ever in Los Angeles during one of their three performances a year, you won't be sorry if you attend one.

And so...this is going to be my last entry of 2010. I'll likely appear to wish everyone a Happy 2011, but otherwise, I will be back posting on January 3, 2011.

I wish everyone a wonder filled and safe Christmas and new year. May you read some amazing books in the days left before January.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Shawn

Viva Las Christmas (Kevin's Family Christmas)

“Stop fidgeting.”

Kevin Bennett immediately stopped playing with the window on his economy car. They’d chosen to leave the Maserati at home, though Michael had insisted on driving, which was more than fine with him. He crossed his arms over his chest and allowed himself a tiny pout.

“You shouldn’t sulk either, sweetheart. It’s Christmas Eve Eve.”

He eyed Michael through a lock of black hair. “Otherwise known as December 23rd.”

“Yes, technically,” Michael said, cheerfully.

He turned to look out at the brown hills and cars speeding past them on the freeway. Just ahead of them, the Las Vegas skyline loomed.

“I still think we should have gone to Northern California to see your family for Christmas. Or stayed home and had our own Christmas, like last year.”

His husband nodded. “Last year was fantastic, I agree. We’ll have a more private celebration for New Year’s. But as part of the human race, Kev, we sometimes have to put our own preferences aside to please others. You said yourself your father hadn’t asked to see you in years.”

Me and my big mouth.

“Well, maybe that was a good thing.” Kevin sighed.

He had been surprised when he’d received first an email and then an actual phone call from his father asking him to come to Vegas for Christmas. Something about making amends for all their lost time. Unfortunately he’d said something about it to Michael and here they were almost to Vegas.

“I saw your face, sweetheart. You wanted to come.” Michael reached over and patted Kevin’s leg. “It’s going to be all right. If we feel uncomfortable, we’ll go home. It’s only five hours or so.”

“And if I changed my mind since then? Can’t we turn around and go back now?”

“Give it a chance. For me, if not your dad.”

Crap, when Michael put it that way, what else could he do? He slunk down in the seat. “Okay.”

Michael glanced at him briefly, smiling. “There’s my beautiful boy.”

“Don’t lay it on too thick,” Kevin said with a snort. And speaking of laying it on, it was time to retouch his lip gloss. He reached into his jeans pocket and took out the cherry colored and flavored gloss. Pulling the visor down to expose the mirror, Kevin layered a generous amount with the sponge applicator.

“Trying to put so much on they won’t kiss you?”

“Kiss me? Oh, babe, trust me, the old man won’t want to kiss me. Don’t you remember him from when we were kids? Not exactly warm and fuzzy.”

Michael shrugged. “People change. And what about this woman he lives with now? Lulu?”

“I don’t even know her. She better not kiss me.”

His husband chuckled. “Well, that leaves all your kisses for me then.”

Kevin’s stomach gurgled sourly as Michael exited the freeway. That meant they were almost there. Great.

When they had finished exiting, instead of continuing down the street, Michael pulled into the driveway of a small strip mall and stopped the car.

“What?” he asked, confused.

Michael grabbed his hands and squeezed. “You’re so pale. Sweetheart, it’s going to be all right. You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Kevin bit his lip. “It’s just…everything with my dad has never managed to live up to what I want it to be, you know?”

“I know. And if it truly is horrible, I promise, you just have to say the word and we’ll go home. But you might be really sorry if you don’t at least try.”

“Ok, I’m trying.”

“Yes, you are, and I love you for it.” Michael leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “Shall we?”

* * *

His father lived in senior apartments off of Tropicana Boulevard. Michael followed the directions Kevin’s dad had given them and pulled into a visitor parking space directly in front apartment B.

Blowing out a breath, Kevin opened the car door and got out. He tried to remind himself he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Right.

Michael came around from the other side and grabbed his hand. The pain in his chest loosened a little. Really, he could face anything as long as he had Michael’s love. He even managed a smile, weak though it was.

The door opened as soon as they approached, as though someone had been watching out the tiny living room window, waiting for them. His father stood there.

Kevin hadn’t seen Robert Flaherty for a number of years now. Since his parents’ divorce. Once in a while he’d hear from him or about him, but he hadn’t seen him. So, for a moment, all he could do was stare. More than his mother, Kevin resembled his father. The same eyes, same shape of the nose, same full lips. It was almost like looking into the mirror at one’s future self, he supposed. His father was dressed simply in khaki slacks and a blue buttoned-down shirt. Though his hair was white, it was full, which Kevin hoped meant the same would be for him when he got older.

“Don’t just stand there, boy, give me a hug,” his father said from the doorway.

“What?”

“A hug. For your old man?”

Since those were the last words he expected out of the old guy, Kevin stood rooted to the spot. He might have stood there until New Year’s, but Michael’s hand rested on his shoulder, propelling him forward.

His father enveloped him in a big, squeeze-the-stuffing out of him bear hug. Kevin wondered if his ribs would pop.

“Don’t keep the boy out there on the front doorstep, Bobby, let him inside,” a woman’s voice came from somewhere behind them.

At last his father loosened his death grip on him, and Kevin looked at the woman. She was tall and thin with perfectly coiffed white hair with…pink streaks. She grinned at him.

“Hi, there, darling. You must be Kevin. “

It was on the tip of his tongue to say, oh, no, he wasn’t. But before he could, his father had a grip on his arm and was yanking him toward the woman.

“That’s right. This is my boy. And this is Lulu.”

Lulu got a hold of him and plastered a big wet kiss on his lips. Kevin hoped he managed to keep the grimace off his face. “My real name’s Diane. Lulu was my stage name.”

“Stage name?”

“I was a Las Vegas show girl once upon a time, darling.” She looked past Kevin. “Oh. Oh, my. Aren’t you a looker?”

Kevin looked back at Michael who looked entirely too amused, the bastard. “Yes, that’s Michael, my husband.”

Lulu looked delighted and ushered them all inside the apartment. “So, that makes you Bobby’s son-in-law, doesn’t it?”

Michael smiled. “I suppose it does.”

“Then I’m your mother-in-law.”

“What?” Kevin asked.

She batted her lashes. “Your daddy made an honest woman out of me. That makes me your momma.”

“Er.” Kevin didn’t know really what to say to that. His head was swimming. Lulu was chattering away asking them about drinks and whatnot. Kevin noticed an a big artificial Christmas tree in the middle of the living room heavily decorated and blinking with multi-colored lights.

“That’s a pre-lit tree,” Lulu advised when she saw him studying it. “Got it from QVC.”

“Hmm. Nice.” He saw an ornament with a Santa holding a bingo card, another that was a royal flush hand of cards, and yet another with a slot machine.

“Where’s your luggage?” his father asked expectantly.

“In the car, for when we go to the hotel,” Michael explained.

Lulu and Kevin’s father squealed as one.

“Oh, no, darling, there’s no hotel. You’re staying with us. We’ve set up a room just for you. This is a two bedroom so we can have guests.” Lulu was more animated and bouncy then him, which was saying a lot, Kevin supposed.

She ushered them down a short hall to two bedrooms and a bathroom. “This is your bedroom, boys. Look, I’ve put a Christmas quilt on it.”

And she certainly had. The quilt had a picture of a snowy village and above the village Santa in his sleigh with his reindeer. But what really caught his eye was that on the night stand next to the double bed was a small bottle of lube and a package of condoms.

Ack.

Seeing where his gaze was, Lulu clapped her hands. “See, we thought of everything! There’s no need to go to a hotel.”

Michael chuckled. “Apparently not.”

Kevin elbowed him in the ribs. This was so not funny and they were so not having sex with his dad and Lulu in the bedroom next door.

“Now,” Lulu said, “let’s get your stuff out of your car. Have you finished your shopping? Cause, if you haven’t we can all go over to the mall off the strip. In fact, even if you have finished, you can come with us anyway. Michael, do you mind driving?”

“No, Lulu, that’s fine.”

She smiled brightly at them, and both she and his father looked so damn happy they were there, a little ice chunk melted from Kevin’s heart. Maybe this wouldn’t be the ordeal he thought it would be.

As they made their way back to the living room, Michael and Lulu went out to the car for their stuff, but his dad held him back.

“Son, I just wanted to say, I’m really glad you’re here.” His father’s gaze was downcast. “I…I wasn’t sure you would want to come. That’s why I sent the email note first, but Lulu said I should call and ask you.”

“I’m glad you did, Dad,” Kevin said softly. And he meant it, too.

His father raised his gaze and in the depths of his eyes, so like his own, Kevin saw hope. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Maybe you and Lulu can come see us next year in California.”

His father nodded. “I’d really like that. I’d like us to spend more time together. I know I should have tried before, but—”

“Don’t worry about the past, Dad,” he interrupted. “Let’s worry about now. Okay?”

His dad swallowed. “Yeah. Thank you, Kevin. It means a lot to me. To both of us to have you and Michael here for Christmas.”

Kevin got choked up and couldn’t respond. He was saved by the arrival of a very noisy and boisterous Lulu and Michael, who, surprisingly…er maybe not…were singing Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

Great, now his husband had a pal.

Michael came to him and hugged him. “Everything good, sweetheart?”

Kevin smiled and kissed him with cherry-glossed lips. “Everything’s fantastic.”

“Merry Christmas,” Michael answered.

“And God Bless Us Everyone,” Lulu declared, then laughed. “I just love A Christmas Carol, don’t you? We’ll have to watch that later after shopping.”

And she kept chattering away and no one seemed to mind.

Updates

Updates are going here today since I’ve been posting free holiday stories on normal update days.


I’ve been working on Accidentally His again lately. I hope to have it completed by the middle of January, if not before. I should have another story related to this one but with different heroes later in 2011.

I’d like to turn my attention to Galaxy’s Heart, Sutter’s Bay 3, once Accidentally His is finished. If I can get that story done by the end of February or earlier, that should still give me plenty of time to work on my “Postcards From Paradise” story I volunteered for at AQ. My paradise vacation story will be in Ireland though. That’s paradise to me.

Once that is done, I have to look to my other obligated story, which is a ghost story. Yes, you can hear the enthusiasm, can’t you? Just how do you get a HEA when one of your heroes has been dead for hundreds of years? Beats me, too. But I shall try.

As you can see, this is already taking up the first six months of 2011. Sigh. And there is a story I really want to get to. Ah, well, I’ll get to it and several others before 2011 is finished, I am sure.

Speaking of free stories, Kevin’s latest free story, Viva Las Christmas, will be posted on Monday, December 20th, if it kills me. Might. At this point I am looking at one long part but I may be forced to split it into two. I’ll try not to make it too many parts though.

Once that free story is finished posting, I will be posting a best wishes for the holiday season blog and probably taking the remainder of 2010 off, with the blog returning January 03, 2011 (in time for a contest for my first release, Pulling Apart).

Wednesday Musings

As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.


-- Donald E. Westlake


Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

-- Hamilton Wright Mabie


Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

-- Oren Arnold


Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

-- Calvin Coolidge


Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

-- Laura Ingalls Wilder


The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Wishing you happiness.

-- Helen Keller


This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!

-- D.M. Dellinger

Sunday Eye Candy

The Naughty Ones Winner - Kaytee

I used the List Randomizer

There were 11 items in your list. Here they are in random order:


Kaytee

Zach

Nikyta

Arzu

Lily

Sidda

Maggie

Rachel

Drew

Jason

Chris

Kaytee, please email me your email address. I only have pdf so I hope that is okay.

Wednesday Musings

Will you love me in December as you do in May,
Will you love me in the good old fashioned way?
When my hair has all turned gray,
Will you kiss me then and say,
That you love me in December as you do in May?

-James Walker



How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?

-Dr. Seuss



How like a winter hath my absence been. From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen, What old December's bareness everywhere!

-William Shakespeare



A Merry Christmas this December - To a lot of folks I don't remember

-Anonymous Toast

Shall we liken Christmas to the web in a loom? There are many weavers, who work into the pattern the experience of their lives. When one generation goes, another comes to take up the weft where it has been dropped. The pattern changes as the mind changes, yet never begins quite anew. At first, we are not sure that we discern the pattern, but at last we see that, unknown to the weavers themselves, something has taken shape before our eyes, and that they have made something very beautiful, something which compels our understanding.

- Earl W. Count, 4,000 Years of Christmas


I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

- Oliver Herford

Contests

1) In celebration of their 100th release on January 1st, Silver Publishing is giving away a Kindle to one lucky winner! For more information on the contest, please visit...
http://silverpublishing.info/contest

The above contest doesn't actually start until December 10, 2010
 
2) Don't forget to enter to win The Naughty Ones available from Silver on December 12, 2010. Please make a comment on December 03, 2010's post. So far there are only 6 entries there so your chances are pretty decent.
 
3) Double your chances by entering an additional contest through Chris's Stumbling Over Chaos site:
The Naughty Ones.

The Naughty Ones Contest

The most awesome Chris will be hosting a contest to win The Naughty Ones on Stumbling Over Chaos (love those kitties). That contest starts December 06 and runs until December 13, the day after the release. I wanted to give people a week to enter there and Chris cooly agreed.

But I am feeling in a jolly mood, so I am also going to have a contest here on the blog which starts...now. Double your chances by entering both, lol.

This one goes from now until Friday, December 10, 2010.

The Naughty Ones will be released by Silver Publishing on Sunday, December 12, 2010. To enter, leave a comment.

Young Christmas Elf, Christian, is thinking of leaving the North Pole after this Christmas due to his unrequited love for his best friend, Alistair. But before he can make a decision on his future, he finds himself in trouble with the dark-haired sexy, Head Elf, Gabriel. Trouble comes in the form of having to be the Head Elf's assistant for the season, but after a kiss under the mistletoe, their relationship takes a naughty turn and by Christmas, Christian only has eyes and love for Gabriel. Will the Head Elf return his feelings?

November Best Sellers from Amber Quill

November 2010


Best Sellers!


1. Tensaw Blues

- T. D. McKinney & Terry Wylis

(Gay / Contemporary)

2. What You Don't Confess

- KC Kendricks

(Gay / Contemporary)

3. Once Upon A Secret

- Christiane France

(Gay / Contemporary)

4. (Boys Of The Zodiac)

Scorpio: The Heart To Help

- Jamie Craig

(Gay / Contemporary)
5. Runes Of Revelation

- Deirdre O'Dare

(Gay / Dark Fantasy)

6. (Boys Of The Zodiac)

Sagittarius: Mr. November

- Pepper Espinoza

(Gay / Contemporary)

7. Out On The Net

- Rick R. Reed

(Gay / Contemporary)

8. Manfred's Curse

- Shawn Lane

(Gay / Shapeshifter)

9. Island Heat

- A. J. Llewellyn & D. J. Manly

(Gay / Contemporary)

10. Tough Guy

- Bryl R. Tyne

(Gay / Western)


Manfred and I squeaked in there at #8.

Congrats to my fellow AQ authors who made the list.

Thursday Updates

So, this is December now so I am scheduling when you can expect my free stories. Or at least some of them. lol.

I will post the first installment of Last Christmas on Monday, December 6, 2010. At this point I am still working on the story so I am not sure how many installments it will be. I'll probably be posting the story on Mondays and Thursdays so be sure to stop in for those days. This is a brand new couple I have never written before so you won't have to read anything prior to them to read this story. The names are A.J. Porter and Carter Thorne.

I'm planning on posting Kevin's little Christmas story the week of December 20, 2010 so you Kevin groupies can look forward to that.

I was reviewing my releases for 2010 and I managed 10 releases for the year (including The Naughty Ones, releasing on December 12, 2010). Should be interesting to see how many I can manage for 2011. I've already managed to schedule two, one in January and one in February. This is ahead of 2010 since my first release wasn't until March (and yes this did make me breakout in hives).

Oh and the release date for Pulling Apart has moved up two weeks to January 09, 2011.

Also, Chris @ Stumbling Over Chaos will be hosting a contest for me for The Naughty Ones, beginning on December 06th, I believe.

Anyway, I am also on the lookout for pictures of hot guys that look Christmasy or Holidayish. So, if anyone knows of some or has seen some, drop me an email at authorshawnlane@gmail.com.