I have been painting. Not every day, like I’d prefer. Some days, I’m just tired and prefer to work on my bucket list of old movies and TV shows I want to consume before…you know. I should be writing, but finding that joy has been harder while I get accustomed to new medical protocols and regaining my old vigor (it’s going to happen!).

This little piece makes me smile so much that I framed it and placed it next to my bathroom mirror so I could see it when I wash my hands or brush my teeth. I like the colors. I like the worried expressions on the fishes’ faces. Plus, I painted it fast—always a win for me. I like to see “the end” of a project, so something quick is a big win for me. Pure joy.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what brings you joy!

Happy Juneteenth!

First, today is Juneteenth—Freedom Day—celebrating the actual date of the end of slavery in the US. Learn more about this relatively new Federal Holiday here: What is Juneteenth?

My Messy Desk

I don’t have a panoramic lens on my iPhone, so I took four photos, left to right of my desktop, just to share images of the chaos. Why? Just cuz. Today, I’m going to pull everything apart to dust underneath it and, maybe, find things that might be removed to make more room for “me” rather than my little treasures. But what should I remove? Do you see the four containers that hold pens and markers and paintbrushes, including a very pretty pot a friend of mine painted and gifted to me? Should I remove the 11-year-old’s toys sitting on top of my printer? (It gives her joy to see that I value her treasures!) Maybe I can move the painkillers and the black box holding my blood pressure cuff…? Maybe I’d forget to use them if they aren’t there in my way. I guess I could move the Halls to a drawer.

Maybe I can scale back the art supplies, the crystals and fossils… But I do love holding them in my hands and meditating. Notice I’m not mentioning removing my watercolor water pot or the paint and oil pastel sticks…

See all those mechanical toys on top of the storage caddy? The superheroes dish? I pause to play with the wind-up toys. I pull a superhero to inspire me. Maybe I should remove the To List because, obviously, I’m not making use of it. The list is old! Maybe I can scale back to one paint palette rather than four, but one doesn’t always have all the colors I love to use when I get the inspiration to paint.

So, maybe I could work on the stack of paperwork and the little notebooks I have standing there. I can certainly get rid of the hand lotion and hand sanitizer…? Maybe I’d forget to use them. Excuses, excuses. So, you see my problem? I’ll move everything around to dust underneath my “stuff” (treasures!) and stack it all better, maybe.

So, question. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, what would you suggest I remove, or do you think my chaos is acceptable?

Quick Health Update

Overshare time. Last week, I had an infusion of new chemicals that are part of the new treatment I’m getting to battle my cancer. On Tuesday, I received the second part, a package of pills that arrived in a hazardous materials bag with instructions about how to handle the new Lenvima pills I have to take daily. The instructions include closing the toilet lid before I double-flush. Washing my hands after handling the pills. I talked to the pharmacy that FedEx’d the pills to me to review my current meds and supplements to make sure nothing will interact negatively.

We talked about side effects. There could be a lot. So far, I’ve only been hit with fatigue and dizziness. But I have to watch for my white blood, red blood, and hemoglobin counts to take a nosedive. There might be more pain in my feet and hands (I still have neuropathy from the chemo that ended at the end of December.) I have to watch for my skin yellowing and other signs my pancreas might be affected. And it goes on and on. They offer a 24-hour phone line to call if I have negative effects. This is serious stuff. I set an alarm to take my pills at noon each day so that I at least have the mornings to work before I get hit with the sledgehammer of muzzy fatigue. Fun stuff.

I asked whether this protocol is really forever or I might be able to get off this medicine at some point. I could tell from the way she paused and then cheerfully told me they’d adjust my meds based on my oncologist’s recommendations that this will continue until I die. Well, I’m getting my mind wrapped around that. I’m getting off this stuff, eventually, because I’m going to win this fucking battle. Period. End stop.

Hello, Delilah!  Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss my new short story in a great anthology!

Every June, I’m invited to submit a story for the charity Love is All anthology.  This year, because I’m a masochist, I signed up for a wedding anthology, Save the Date, in the same month.  LIA has no theme — you write whatever strikes your fancy.  Obviously, the wedding anthology was for…weddings.  However, the theme centered on weddings — it didn’t have to be the ceremony itself.  I got together with Plot Whisperer, and we figured out a story about two brothers standing up for their lesbian sisters.  One brother is out, loud, proud, and very brash. The other is reserved, self-possessed, in the closet, and super annoyed with the first brother.

Thus, I had my conflict — the two brothers.  Lachlan is repressed.  He’s been living a lie for years.  He was incredibly supportive when his beloved sister, Taryn, came out of the closet. He admired her.  But he didn’t have the courage to do the same.  He left for university on the other side of the country, became a lawyer, and represents some of the biggest entertainment industry folk.  But he’s not happy.  He sees Cooper, and he’s envious.

Cooper, for his part, adores his younger sister, Stephanie, and only wants her to be happy.  He also adores Taryn, Stephanie’s fiancée, and life would be grand.  Except for fricking Lachlan.

I had so much fun with these two — circling each other, poking each other, and eventually succumbing to the desire and lust.  Yep, they hook up.  But it’s not going to last — they live on opposite sides of the country. Lachlan’s not out.  They part after the wedding, and that appears to be it.

Now, this is a Gabbi Grey romance, so that’s not it.  But readers will just have to pick up the story to see what happens next.

And while they’re at it, nabbing Love is All Volume 8, with the story Too Much in Love to Care, to see how Taryn and Stephanie finally make it down the aisle’s pretty great, too.

Both stories are set in my Love in Mission City world, so there might be a cameo or two.

I had fun with these shorts. Let me tell you, though, that writing two stories that take place at the same time is complicated. I managed — but barely.

Okay, prize time!  I have either an ebook or audio of my latest Love in Mission City short story, Archer’s Awakening, narrated by the amazing Michael Dean.  Just let me know — enemies to lovers trope…fan or not?  This is my second, although I’ve been told the first was more like two neighbors irritated with each other.  Drop a comment and you might win!  Winner selected by Random.  Good luck!

Save the Date

The cake is ordered, the dresses are tailored, and the guests are ready—love is in the air, and it’s time to Save the Date!

From grand celebrations to intimate elopements, Save the Date is filled with heart-warming and swoon-worthy tales of love found, lost, and rediscovered on the road to happily ever after.

Perfect for readers who believe in the magic of love and the romance of weddings, this anthology is your invitation to fall in love, one story at a time.

Authors:
Kathleen Ryder
Laura M. Baird
Susan Horsnell
Sharon Michalove
Gabbi Grey
VK Holt
Clarice Jayne
Sharon Wray
Freyja Frost
Harper Michaels
Carrie DiRisio
Deaia Sanders
Michelle Moncrieff
Kristine Charles
Alexa Santi
JCC Downing

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2025savethedate
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Save-Date-Contemporary-Anthology-Collection/dp/B0F9FWFB1T
Add it to Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218652697-save-the-date

Never Thought I’d Want You by Gabbi Grey
inside Save the Date 

Cooper

I’m delighted that my sister Stephanie is marrying Taryn. Those two women were meant for each other. But I’m frustrated at having to spend time with Taryn’s boring brother, Lachlan, a snooty lawyer with a stick up his ass. The worst part? Every time I see him, I want to climb the guy like a tree, even though he’s straight.

Lachlan

I love my sister Taryn and will do anything to make her happy.  These days, that means standing by her side as she marries the love of her life. All I have to do is survive a week in Cooper’s presence. Just one small problem. We can’t keep our hands off each other. No one else knows I’m bisexual, and I’m worried my attraction for the man is going to let the cat out of the bag…

Never Thought I’d Want You is a 15k enemies-to-lovers, opposites-attract, age-gap gay romance between a by-the-book lawyer, a freespirited advertising executive, and the wedding no one will ever forget.

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile: https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey

A quick note…

Both are now in print!

My Favorite Beverage

I drink two cups every morning. I’d drink it all day long (I did when I was younger), if it didn’t keep me awake at night. I prefer black and plain, but when I’m out, a mocha is lovely. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle and tell me your favorite beverage!

SALE. SALE. SALE.

Gunn’s Mission: Team Eagle Book #3, by Delilah Devlin in the Brotherhood Protectors World, is on sale for just $1.99 for the week of June 15-21! If you haven’t read this story yet, here’s your chance to get it for a great price! This story has a very unique setting and plot—one I’m sure you haven’t read before! Polar bears, a floating island in the Arctic, a murder mystery, and a sexy, hot SEAL… Yeah, if you haven’t already read this, here’s your chance to get it for a great price!

After surviving a catastrophic helicopter accident that left him scarred and unable to continue serving on the Teams, former Navy SEAL Gunnar “Gunn” Nielson is settling into life as a Brotherhood Protector in the Yellowstone, Montana, office.

When a request from the U.S. government arrives for a protection detail for someone with extensive cold-weather experience, Gunn, born and raised in Minnesota, is tapped for the job. He soon discovers that he will be the lone protector for a group of scientists working at a research facility on a floating island in the Arctic Ocean.

After discovering that one of her team members was murdered, Facility Chief Maddie Russo is grateful for Gunn’s expertise. Thinking the murder might have been committed by someone trying to interfere with a military-sponsored study, she and Gunn have to keep her team safe as the work continues.

Maddie and Gunn grow closer as the weather turns colder and the threats to the facility and its inhabitants continue.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon IT

Just a quick note about Burn: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology…

Yes, today is the deadline for submitting a story; however, I’ll begin reading those I’ve already received next week and will continue reading until around mid-July. If you still want to submit, I’ll hold the door open while I’m still reading. Click on the graphic to the left to read about submission guidelines. These are short stories! Maybe a little more than a weekend’s worth of work!

Report Card

Last week…

1. Zero editing gigs this week, which was kinda nice.
2. I did finish reading through what I have of Ignition, the last of the Delta Fire stories, and I wrote one page of new material. One page. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I haven’t written a single page since July of last year—so that’s a big deal for me!
3. I requested print covers for Ultra Strokes, volumes 1 & 2!
4. I swam every day the weather cooperated. The pool is now a lovely 88 degrees.
5. Healthwise, I had an immunotherapy treatment on Monday. They started me on a new protocol, something a little more aggressive than what I was given before. A daily pill is coming to me in the mail, so that will be an added PITA. I was fatigued for two days and suffered the indignity of diarrhea and nausea. But hey, so long as this stuff kicks the remnants of the cancer in my body in the ass, I’m good with it!
6. I’m limping toward the end of #the100dayproject. I only completed two pieces this week. The one below was fun. It started life as a Gelli-printed paper using actual flowers, then I glued it to a board, added smudges of color with Pan pastels, then highlighted with oil pastels and a little gold and black pen. I’ll be experimenting with that again!

This next week…

1. I’ll complete work on Ignition—writing new words until I get to The End.
2. I’ll upload print versions of Ultra Strokes, volumes 1 and 2.
3. I’ll re-read the stories in the We Are Dead Horse series and then plot the next stories.
4. I’ll continue painting to complete #the100dayproject. I want to finish by the end of the month.
5. I’ll hopefully have time to take pictures and reopen my Etsy shop for the summer to sell some of the bookmarks and small paintings I’ve been making!

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

1. May Into June (Contest) — This is the last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Mary Annette Anderson Smith – First African American Woman in Phi Beta Kappa (Contest) — This is the last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Celebrate Repeat Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Gabbi Grey: The Story that Happened When I Wasn’t Looking (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. It’s Drive-in Movie Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Saturday Puzzle Contest — Morning Cup of Joe — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Gabbi Grey: Did Some Say Rucking?!?! (Contest) — Win a FREE eBook!
8. Gabbi Grey: I have an addiction… (Contest–2 Winners!) — Two winners will receive a FREE audiobook!
9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: AI Software & Spaceship in Candy Land — Win an Amazon gift card!

As usual, I had no idea what sort of theme I’d use for today’s puzzle when I opened my favorite stock art site to find a photo for the puzzle. What did I see when I opened the site that wasn’t there the last time I opened their webpage? An invitation to try their AI-picture generating program!

I’m super late to the AI game. Right now, do I really want to learn something new? When I type that, I realize I sound really, really old. I’m not old and cranky and resistant to change, I think. I’m more in the style of my own mother (rest her soul), who embraced Facebook, email, and online games in her seventies. She was the most “down-with-it” woman in her art guild and wrote and distributed their on-line newsletter. When she passed, it died because no one wanted to fiddle with the website.

I can’t be tech-averse. I started writing on old manual typewriters, but very quickly fell in love with electric, and was the first on my block to own a personal computer (a Radio Shack TRS-80, “trash-80”) because I could then deep six the white out! And I could save a file—an entire document that I could come back to any time I wanted? I was in heaven. Let’s not talk about printers—okay, I have to share one story.

I remember writing/assembling/editing a large document that contained the details of our team’s inspection of a unit’s battle readiness. We did this at the post’s data center and printed out a large box of punched cards to carry to the computer and load to get the printed report (it was as thick as a manual). You did not want to load the cards out of order or, heaven forbid, scatter them on the floor, or you had to print the cards all over again. Want revisions of the document? Trash the cards you have, make the changes to the document on the computer, then print the whole box of punch cards again. But that was still so much better than what we’d had before.

Now, we’ve got this AI thing that kids are using to generate their essays for school, writers are using to generate ideas for stories, and some are even using to write their dang books!!! I feel like a luddite—someone opposed to new technologies. That all just feels like cheating. Or laziness. Or… Um, now I’m thinking I should be playing with some online AI program to catch up. Am I missing out on something wonderful? Or are we setting ourselves up to be taken over by an AI monster like the Terminator’s Skynet?

Anyway, I tried the website’s AI photo generator, typing in the first thing that popped into my mind: Spaceship in Candy Land. Today’s puzzle is that photo! Have fun!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve tried one of the online AI programs. Tell me the program you used, what you used it for, and how did you like the results?