Seattle and Western Washington are known for rain. I called my Seattle-based series Rain City Tales. After about nine months of rain, however, the summer switch gets flicked on, and we enter our drought. It usually goes from about July 6th into mid-September. During that time, we get dry and hot, increasingly so in the last few years. With that dryness comes the potential for fire. This year, Western Washington didn’t have many fires, and the offshore winds kept the smoke from Oregon and Idaho fires blowing away from us. British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, have also seen some fires, a large one devastating a third of the historic town of Jasper and burning large swaths of the Jasper National Forest. Each time these fires flare and ravage the land and communities in their path, my thoughts are drawn to the brave firefighters who battle these blazes, flinging themselves into danger and, at times, paying the ultimate price to save others.
This year, I published two books featuring firefighters, wanting to honor the brave work they do. The first, Throuple Honey, highlights a smoke jumper who lost his husband in a fast-moving fire in a national forest. Shane Ward didn’t have all his gear when he jumped into a fire zone with his husband Corder Mitchell. Corder sacrificed himself for Shane, and now Shane must pick up the pieces and move on. He leaves the profession and takes up beekeeping across the mountains from Seattle. The couple he works for, Emmett Simpson and Dante Scarletti, run a farm outside of Wenatchee, Washington. They’ve been in a slump with their relationship for months. Shane’s arrival sparks a rekindling of their relationship and a further bonding with the grieving fireman as they help him heal from his staggering loss.
The second book, Blaze of Cortez, is the eighth installment of the Rain City Tales. It is a standalone story within the series, though characters from other books come in and out. In Ray Cortez’s experience, everyone leaves, including his family and his relationships. He doesn’t let anyone in, his heart having been broken too many times. When Ray returns to Seattle after fourteen years, he finds his coworker, fireman Leif Ramsey, to be a danger to his protective barriers. Leif isn’t out to his family or his workmates, and Ray won’t date a closeted man. The two are drawn together, and Leif takes a risk for Ray’s affections, but a fire at Ray’s estranged family’s home threatens to burn away the fledgling relationship he’s started with Leif.
To find out more about me and my writing, please hop over to Delilah’s Collections for my Get-To-Know-The-Author post. Throuple Honey and Blaze of Cortez are available on Amazon and Kobo.
Excerpt from Throuple Honey:
Love is like honey—you might get stung, but the rewards are sweet, and they stick to you.
He should’ve checked his gear. Should’ve made sure.
Shane Ward scanned his smoke-filled surroundings, hoping for a cave or somewhere else they could hide from the fast-approaching wildfire. The jump earlier that morning had promised a challenge, and Corder Mitchell, the man Shane had been married to for the better part of a decade, had thrilled at the chance to battle this two-thousand-acre blaze in the Mount Rainier National Forest. Their Lake City fire chief had been reluctant to let them both go on such a dangerous summer job, but Corder had been insistent, assuring the chief nothing bad would happen. Though Shane knew his husband couldn’t promise their safety, Corder’s two loves, firefighting and the outdoors, had merged on this assignment.
The tinder-dry conditions provided ample fuel, and the stiff, hot wind blowing against his back had doubled the size of the mid-August fire in less than two hours. The sun tried to penetrate the thick layer of brown smoke, only succeeding in casting an eerie, orange glow around them, punctuated by the light of blazing trees. Even through his mask, Shane could smell burnt wood.
Surrounded by the approaching flames, Shane tried to find a way out. Their carefully planned escape route had closed with a sudden and unexpected shift in the wind. Visibility worsened with more thick smoke choking the forest.
A trickle of sweat ran down his forehead. Heat blasted at his back from the approaching blaze. He focused on Corder. “See anything we can use?”
Corder shook his head, covered in his protective gear. “Got your shelter?”
Shane nodded, not wanting to tell Corder that he’d left it behind at base camp. There had to be a way out, and if there wasn’t, he didn’t want Corder doing something stupid because of his mistake. Loud cracks and bangs behind them reverberated through the trees, and Shane chanced a glance backward. A tall cedar had erupted in a geyser of flame, its sap exploding and breaking off significant pieces of the trunk.
“We gotta move.” Corder grabbed Shane’s gloved hand, and they took off running.
Spying a better vantage point, Shane tugged at his husband. “Over there. A clearing.”
With another nod, Corder changed their direction and made for the break in the trees. Tall, dry grass met their feet when they cleared the canopy.
“Shit, this’ll make things worse.” Corder glanced back. “It’s gaining on us.”
Tapping his gloved hand on Corder’s shoulder, Shane nodded at the burning trees on the other side of the clearing with dread. “It’s coming from all sides.”
“Time for the shelters.” Corder yanked the packet from his gear and extended the metallic shelter. He paused, glancing back. “Hurry up. It’s almost on us.”
Shane hesitated but finally had to confess his predicament. “I didn’t check everything this morning in the rush to get on the chopper.”
Corder went still. “You don’t have your shelter?”
Shaking his head, he pointed at Corder’s. “Lie down, face into the ground, and I’ll cover you up. No use in both of us dying.”
“No fucking way. It was my idea to do this job.” He shoved at Shane, trying to push him down. “Besides, I have a second one inside my pack.”
Reluctantly, Shane lowered himself to the ground. “How do you have two?” He glanced past Corder. The fire had almost reached them.
“Hurry up,” Corder said, nodding at the ground. “I need to get you covered up and get mine set up over there.” He pointed toward the edge of the clearing where a section of the grass had either been tamped down or eaten by something.
Unable to clearly see his husband through the helmet, he couldn’t read any expression under the tinted visor. He lay face-down on the ground.
“I love you, Shane.” Corder threw the shelter over him.
About Brent
Though writing most of his life, Brent came to romance in 2012. With the support of his husband and his two romance novelist cousins, Brent embarked on a writing career. He’s loving the journey, finding inspiration and a story everywhere he goes, whether it be staring out the window at the local coffee shop, tucked in a booth at his favorite pub, driving through each of the fifty US states, or riding the train to explore the world. Keep up with Brent and his stories on his website, Facebook, and Instagram.
