UPDATE: The winner is…Kerry Jo!
*~*~*

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!

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!

UPDATE: The winner is…Jeanine Lesperance!
*~*~*

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? 

UPDATE: All five commenters are winners!
*~*~*

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me here to share my new release! Archer’s Awakening is a short story in my Love in Mission City world. As of just a few days ago, the audio, narrated by Michael Dean, has been released into the world. (Well, available for purchase on Audible, at least.)

My addiction? Audiobooks. Seems pretty tame. Not smoking, drinking, gambling, or pot (which is legal in Canada, thank you). Nope, I love audiobooks. I have a membership with Audible, I pick up Chirp books on sale, and I look over Kobo promos all the time. I try to be judicious in what I buy, but I wasn’t always that way, and so I have thousands of audiobooks I have yet to listen to. I’ll never get through them all. I’m also on a review team where I get free gay romance audios in exchange for writing honest reviews. That team has introduced me to authors of whom I’ve become big fans.

So what’s the problem? (Aside from having more listening pleasure than I’ll ever get to?) Audio is expensive. Now, I’m a HUGE fan of libraries.  I think they’re wonderful places — especially for those with fewer resources. More than half of my ebooks and more than half of my audiobooks are available to libraries around the world. Now, for most library systems, a member of the public has to request my book(s). I’ll tell you, I love it when readers do that. I treasure every library checkout. Generally, it pays less than if someone buys my book outright, but just knowing someone out there thought enough of my book to find it means everything.

Quickly — why aren’t all of my audiobooks available for libraries? Audible offers authors a choice: higher royalties and review codes, or lower royalties and the ability to sell elsewhere. Uh…  Yeah. Just like with Kindle Unlimited (authors can only be with Amazon if they want their books in KU), authors face, frankly, an unfair choice. There’s a sweet spot — be with Audible exclusively until sales wane. Then, pull the books, take the lower royalty, and move your books to a wider distribution. That said, some authors whose sales never wane or who dread the process of going wide, find that daunting. I get it. It’s a lot of work.

And when I say wide, I mean wide. I’m in every market I’m able to access. Chirp, Kobo, Kobo Plus, Google Play, Apple, Everand, Overdrive, B&N, Bookmate, Audiobooks.com, Spotify, Hoopla, Storytel, etc. (You can be forgiven if you’ve never heard of Storytel — I hadn’t either.  Turns out my gay romances are very popular in Scandinavia — Sweden in particular).  Some of these places require outright purchases, while others are subscription-based. Again, I get to see my books being listened to. And more than half of my ebooks are in many of the same retailers, so feel free to search and, where appropriate, request.

All that said, I’m going to be honest and say I’ve lost money putting so many of my books in audio. I’m a firm believer in accessibility, so listening helps readers who can’t process the written word (poor eyesight, physical impairment, reading issues, amongst others). I also believe in flesh-and-blood narrators.  It’s super tempting to use Virtual Voice or any of the other AI narration tools which are vastly less expensive — but I prefer actual people to perform my books. I’ve worked with Michael Ferraiuolo, Michael Dean, and Robert Hatchett. All have been amazing. And I hope to work with some of my favorite female narrators in the future.

Okay, so that’s all things audio. I go through publishing them in fits and spurts, and I’m in a production phase right now where I’m putting out a whole pile in a short period of time. This year I’m focusing on two series: my books in the multi-author Friend of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue, and my Love in Mission City series. I’m getting positive reviews for all the books, so I know I’m on the right track. I also chose to put my recent YA book, Didn’t See You Coming on audio, and I have to say, Michael Ferraiuolo nailed the performance.

Thanks, Delilah, for hosting me! I hope this gives your readers an insight into the audio sales process. I’d love to give a prize to a lucky commenter. I’ll happily give an audio copy of Rayne Check to one commenter and Didn’t See You Coming to another. If you have that audio, I can offer up something else. If you don’t do audio, I’m happy to give copies of one of my books. So let me know — have you made the leap to audio? What might attract you to choose one book over another? Drop a comment in and Random will pick a winner!

Archer’s Awakening

Archer

I’ve spent the last fifteen years becoming the most sought-after divorce attorney in Vancouver. I use every hidden fact and every psychological trick to protect my clients and get the best settlements possible. I have a wait-list for my services a mile long.

Ironically, I didn’t see my own divorce coming. My wife cheated on me, and now I’m alone. As long as I’m rebuilding my life, this is the time to explore the bisexual side I’ve shelved since college. And hell yeah, I do like men, but the idea of one-night stands leaves me feeling empty. Might the right person still be out there for me? Should I go back to dating women?

I just don’t know.

Archer’s Awakening is a 10k steamy gay romance short story about a man on the precipice of a new life yet struggling to leave his old life behind.

Links:
Audible:  https://www.audible.com/pd/Archers-Awakening-Audiobook/B0FC32Y86R
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Archers-Awakening-Mission-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B0DZ3NQNY1
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/archer-s-awakening
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/archers-awakening-gabbi-grey/1147281840
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/archers-awakening/id6744618670
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gabbi_Grey_Archer_s_Awakening?id=uYFVEQAAQBAJ&gl=US
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1747321
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/ArchersAwakening

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

UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy!
*~*~*

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me here to share my new release! Hot Rucking Canadian is the second book in the Rucked by You series, and I’m hoping readers will love it!

I know — you’re thinking rucking? If you’re a rugby fan, then you’re familiar with the term. I wasn’t. In fact, I knew almost nothing about the sport. Did something like my ignorance stop me from signing up to join this multi-author themed series? Of course not! I love challenges. Immersing myself in rugby enough to learn the game was fun! I especially loved the limited series on Prime – All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks.

Intense. Really freaking intense. I became a fan even as I winced every time a player took a hit. I thought football was violent! Well, football is violent.  But rugby has many of the same hits — just without the padding. Ouch. And plenty of concussions, injuries, and just general chaos.  I loved it.

Now, the All Blacks have a special spot in my heart. I’m half Kiwi (I’m adopted, but my bio dad is from New Zealand). I’m only starting to connect with the NZ side of my family as I met my dad three years ago and have been sporadically corresponding with an aunt back there. Every time I see my dad now, I get a taste of the accent.

Okay — so I’d watched the series. I’d learned about the game. Now…I needed a story. I had some ideas, and I turned to my plot whisperer, and together we banged out what I thought was a really good story about a rebar guy and a rugby player for the fictional Vancouver Orcas team. (Because, of course, I had to set the story in Canada! After all, we have a growing rugby fandom and two amazing national teams.)

Badarse and Marshmallow (you have to read to find out about the nicknames) are polar opposites. Their worlds are never supposed to intersect. Except one night at a gay bar and…yeah. Hookup.

Only Badarse slips out before morning and figures he’ll never see Mallow again. But wouldn’t you know it, there’s the guy on the television screen.

Badarse is intrigued. The one man he’s met who he can’t forget.

I thought this was a cute story — opposites attract, age gap, sports, and gay romance. Something a bit different for me. I’m hoping readers will pick up and fall in love with this novella — with Travis and Isaiah.  There might even be a trip to New Zealand packed in there somewhere.

And…because I enjoyed writing this book so much, I just had to write a second one. That will be book 8 in the series, and I’ll be back to chat about it closer to the publication deadline. I invite readers to check out all of the books in the series. Great romances, all of them.

Thank you, Delilah, for inviting me to visit today. As a thank you to one of your readers, I would love to gift a copy of Hot Rucking Canadian. Just leave a comment — what’s your favorite sport to read about in romance? Or what’s one you haven’t seen that you’d love to see more of? One commentor, selected by Random, will win. Good luck!

Hot Rucking Canadian 

Travis

After a hard day’s work at my construction job, I decide to head to a gay bar to hook up. Then the man of my dreams walks in—tall, dark, handsome, and totally built. Sounds like a fairy tale. And maybe it is. We have one unforgettable night, then I steal away in the night, because I don’t do repeats. But when I see him on television the next day, I realize I haven’t had my fill of the sexy rugby player. He might not want to see me again, after I ditched him, but I have to try.

Isaiah

Waking up alone after a night of spectacular sex isn’t the end of the world. I shouldn’t feel lonely. After all, I’ve got my squad—my best friends on and off the pitch. I’ve also got my mom, whom I love, and my dad’s family back in New Zealand. I’m playing pro rugby for adoring fans in Vancouver, my dream come true. Having one hookup leave me without so much as thanks and goodbye shouldn’t hurt. But when he reappears at a game, I’m in big trouble. No one ever made me want them like this, after just one night. If I let Travis into my life again, am I just courting heartbreak the next time he walks away?

Hot Rucking Canadian is a 26k novella about a rugby fullback who embraces life, a grumpy construction worker who always sees the worst in life, and the love story that spans across an ocean.

Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Rucking-Canadian-Rucked-You-ebook/dp/B0F7XTX7ZC
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/Rucking
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/233337608-hot-rucking-canadian

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

I could use a little nudging to get stuff done, y’all. I’m enjoying the sun and the pool a little too much. I have work to do. ~DD

Report Card

Last week…

1. I didn’t accomplish much of anything. I had the entire week, without any editing gigs going on, and I did zero writing.
2. I did read through what I have of Ignition, the last of the Delta Fire stories, to refamiliarize myself with the story and come up with ideas about how to finish it. (BTW, I still don’t know how I’m going to finish it. 🙁 )
3. I swam every day the weather cooperated. The pool is now a lovely 85 degrees. I’m not gasping when I sink beneath the surface. I’m getting my exercise in!
4. Healthwise, I got a blood draw at the hospital in preparation for next Monday’s immunotherapy appointment. My cancer antigen test continues to show improvement. At my worst, the CA-125 level was at 1100. Last Thursday’s test was a lovely, normal 15.
5. The #the100dayproject challenge ended for everyone else. I honestly thought about ending my participation, too, but I only have 20 pieces to go, so yesterday, I restarted, and this is what I painted. (I love using the real coffee, watercolor paint…the colors, the scent…)

This next week…

1. I’ll restart work on Ignition—writing new words. Lord, I hope this is the last time I will say that.
2. I’ll continue painting to complete #the100dayproject.
3. 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. Gabbi Grey: When Life Delivers Lemons… (Contest) — This is the last day to enter! Win TWO BOXED SETS of stories!
2. Clear My Bookshelf Giveaway! — This one ends soon! Win a SIGNED BOOK!
3. Gabbi Grey: Five Years! (Contest, plus F*R*E*E Read) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book, and get your FREE read!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Lost in Space — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. May Into June (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Mary Annette Anderson Smith – First African American Woman in Phi Beta Kappa (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Celebrate Repeat Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Gabbi Grey: The Story that Happened When I Wasn’t Looking (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. It’s Drive-in Movie Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
10. Saturday Puzzle Contest — Morning Cup of Joe — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Elaine Swinney!
*~*~*

I’ve been up since about 4:30 AM. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I created a watercolor of a cup of coffee with steam rising from the cup. Looks like a tree trunk. LOL

Anyway, I’m posting this quickly because I have to shower. We’re going Flea Market shopping this morning! One of my favorite things to do! I hope I find some treasures!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle to see what I painted, then comment on any plans, big or small, that you have for today! Happy Saturday!