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! 

Today is Drive-In Movie Day. Drive-in movies are no longer a thing. If you can find a drive-in theater, it’s a kitschy, retro thing. However, a long time ago (yes, I’m dating myself), these were very, very popular.

When I was a child, my father was an airman in the Air Force and had to work extra part-time jobs to support our family—so, not a lot of money for anything except the necessities. My mother sewed our clothes, sewed Barbie clothes (mine was the best dressed in the neighborhood!), and entertainment wasn’t something we paid for except for special occasions. We had a green station wagon to haul our family around inside. There were six of us, so we had to have the larger car.

One of my earliest memories was a trip to the drive-in. We went to see Cat Balou (released in 1965 and starring Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda). My mother popped a pillowcase of popcorn, brought drinks, and we brought sleeping bags (camping was another cheap entertainment we enjoyed). We folded down the backseat of the station wagon and rolled out the sleeping bags in case the younger kids fell asleep during the movie. We propped the speaker in Dad’s window and watched the show. I can still remember the tinny sound of that speaker, but didn’t mind. It was pure magic.

Cut away to college in the late 70s. We had a drive-in theater in our little Arkansas town, and yeah, we were still cash-strapped. I was barely in college, but had a Chevy Impala with a very roomy trunk. You paid per person rather than per car, so we loaded four or five kids into the trunk while my brother sat in the front seat with me. We had to wait until the sun went down to pop the trunk and let our passengers out. If you can imagine a bunch of teenagers, giggling like mad, farting and moaning, it was hilarious for my brother and me, but we loved going to the drive-in with friends.

The most memorable experience was when I took my sister (Elle James) to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the drive-in. And now, you can imagine what happened. In the middle of the most stressful scene, where we were already sinking in our seats due to the horror on the screen, someone at the back of the drive-in revved up a chainsaw. You never saw cars fly out of a place so fast. We were right there with them, screaming and laughing. Needless to say, we missed the end of the movie.

That drive-in theater closed years ago. It couldn’t compete with the large, multi-screen theaters, and I’m sure there were fewer and fewer folks willing to endure the mosquitoes in a hot humid summer. I miss it, though. I wish there was one nearby so I could share that experience with our kids now.

So, those are my stories. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, let me know whether you’ve ever been to a drive-in movie. Share your experience. Or if you haven’t, what was your most unusual movie theater experience?

Hello, Delilah!  Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the latest charity project I’m involved with!  This is my fourth year involved in the Love is All project, and the eighth edition of this great series.

When Xio Axelrod invited me three years ago, I was so honored. I was a newbie queer author, but my first book had been noticed by someone who knew someone and an offer was extended.  I can still remember getting the message inviting me to be part of Volume 5.  The rest, for me, is history. I fully intend to participate in every future anthology until either the franchise folds or they become tired of me (or I die, retire from writing, or… fill in the blank). In other words, I’m completely committed to this. We’ve raised thousands of dollars for various LGBTQ charities, and this year we’re going to raise even more!

So…my story…

I’m doing two anthologies this month.  One is a wedding anthology, and one is this one.  I took ‘gay wedding’ to Plot Whisperer, and we had a blast plotting out an enemies-to-lovers brothers of the brides romcom romp.  Basically, the two guys don’t get along, but their sisters are in love and getting married. So, the brothers, both standing up for their beloved sisters, agree to bury the hatchet for as long as it takes for their sisters to wed. Only…things aren’t quite that simple.  Now, the anthology that the story appears in comes out later this month (drop by this blog later in the month for those details).

Great! I had my story plotted.

Plot Whisperer and I communicate what is early morning for me and late evening for her.  That just works (because she’s literally on the other side of the globe).  I went off to work, and she went to bed.

Or so I thought.

About ten minutes later, she came back and said, “Please write me a lesbian wedding short story.”

Huh.

Of course!  While the brothers are getting up their shenanigans, I had another story to tell!  Let me tell you, writing two short stories that take place at the same time was much, much, much harder than I thought it might be.  I managed — but with lots of note taking and some rewriting, stops and starts as I tried to figure out which story needed to be written first.  Truthfully, at this point I think they were pretty much written at the same time, and I can’t even say which hit the end first.

I had approached Xio and asked if she had a preference for a sapphic or gay story for Love is All.  She said she’d love to read the sapphic wedding short story, so I was happy to give that to her. The New Romance Café was thrilled with my gay brothers of the brides’ story, and I was just so relieved I pulled it off.

I hope people enjoy Stephanie and Taryn’s story.  Epic proposal through to a fun romp through wedding festivities.  All the while, the brides are trying to figure up what their brothers are up to.

Never fear — Cooper and Lachlan’s story is coming soon!

I had a blast.  I hope readers have just as much fun reading the stories.  And we’re also raising money for a worthwhile cause, which makes things all the sweeter for me.

Thanks for hosting me, Delilah. And for letting me share my story!  As a thank you, I would love to give away a $5 Amazon GC to one lucky winner.  I’d love to hear — have a cute wedding story? Safe for work, of course! I have a friend who has a story about wayward cows on the road.  I don’t have anything that entertaining, but I’d love to hear your story.  Random will select one commenter to win. Good luck!

Love is All

This limited-edition anthology features fifteen swoon-worthy novellas and short stories by award-winning and bestselling authors, including A.D. Ellis, Carrie Ann Ryan, Connor Peterson, Gabbi Grey, Jodi Payne, J.R. Gray, Lee Blair, M.A. Wardell, Piper Malone, R.L. Merrill, Skylar M. Cates & Rinda Elliott, Sophia Soames, Susan Scott Shelley & Chantal Mer, Tara Conrad, and Xio Axelrod.

All proceeds from the anthology will benefit an organization dedicated to defending LGBTQIA+ rights.

Love Is All: Volume 8 is only available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/LIAV8
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Love-All-8-Xio-Axelrod-ebook/dp/B0F8VTG8JP
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-is-all-xio-axelrod/1147487039
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/love-is-all-volume-8
Apple:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/love-is-all-volume-8/id6745848319
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234243118-love-is-all

Bios for the authors

Xio Axelrod

Xio Axelrod is a USA Today bestselling author of different flavours of contemporary romance. She also writes what she likes to call strange, twisted tales. Xio grew up in the music industry and began recording at a young age. When she isn’t writing stories, she can be found in the studio, writing songs, or performing on international stages (under a different, no-so-secret name). She lives in Philadelphia with one full-time husband and several part-time cats.

Chantal Mer

Chantal Mer never set out to write books. Yet here she is, and she’s having a blast. Happily ever afters for everyone make her heart sing.

​When she’s not writing, Chantal can be found walking her adorable dog, going to musical theater with her daughter, observing the night sky with her husband and his telescope, and learning about the latest advances in video games with her son. Give her a book and a glass of wine and she’s in her happy place. Chantal lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, two teens, her sweet pup, Miss Toffee and her big orange tabby, Simba.

JR Grey

Gray is a cynical Chicago native, who drinks coffee all day, barely sleeps, and is a little too fashion obsessed. He writes romance sprinkled with kink, and hot as hell, dark and angsty characters because everyone deserves a happily ever after. Gray uses He/Him pronouns.

Jodi Payne

Jodi Payne takes herself way too seriously and has been known to randomly break out in song. Her queer MCs are imperfect but genuine, stubborn but likable, often kinky, and frequently their own worst enemies. They are characters you can’t help but fall in love with while they stumble along the path to their happily ever after. For those looking to get on her good side, Jodi’s addictions include lattes, a nice cabernet and tequila any way you pour it.

Lee Blair

Lee Blair is a queer author and screenwriter from Oregon who writes low-angst, LGBTQIA2S+ contemporary romance full of sweet, steam, fun, and laughs. She’s constantly amused by the antics of her two ginger cats, spends too much time daydreaming about her next trip to Scotland, and considers starting hobbies its own hobby. Much like buying books and reading books are separate hobbies.

Piper Malone

Piper Malone’s award-winning novels enchant readers with heartfelt, authentic romances. Her stories include a cast of unforgettable characters in a variety of romantic pairings. With snappy one-liners and witty banter, Piper wants her readers to laugh, swoon, and enjoy a well-deserved vacation.

Gabbi Grey

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.

Susan Scott Shelley

USA TODAY bestselling author Susan Scott Shelley writes romance with heat and heart that celebrates love without limits. She enjoys watching hockey, training for her next run, reading romance novels, and binging episodes of her favorite British TV shows. A city girl who likes being out in nature as often as possible, she has yet to meet a plant she hasn’t wanted to take home and she really wants a pet crow.

Tara Conrad

Tara Conrad is the author behind dark, seductive love stories that burn with passion and power. Her novels dive deep into the shadows of desire, blending emotional intensity with morally gray characters, high-stakes drama, and gripping plots that refuse to let go. Known for her hauntingly beautiful prose and unforgettable love stories, Tara crafts romances where obsession, betrayal, and devotion collide, leaving readers breathless from the first page to the last.

Tara’s married to her soulmate and Dominant, George. They are about to celebrate their 30th anniversary and are more in love today than yesterday. George encouraged Tara to start writing, and with each passing day, she’s more thankful for his insistence that she tell her stories and his partnership on this journey. There’s no one else in this world she’d ever want by her side. He is her happily ever after.

A.D. Ellis

A.D. Ellis is an Indiana girl, born and raised. She spends much of her time in central Indiana as a teacher in the inner city of Indianapolis, being a mom to two amazing teens, and wondering how she and her husband of nearly two decades haven’t driven each other insane yet. A lot of her time is also devoted to phone call avoidance and her hatred of cooking.
She loves chocolate, wine, pizza, and naps along with reading and writing romance. These loves don’t leave much time for housework, much to the chagrin of her husband. Who would pick cleaning the house over a nap or a good book? She uses any extra time to increase her fluency in sarcasm.
A.D. uses she/they pronouns.

R.L. Merrill

Whether she’s writing contemporary romance featuring quirky, queer, and relatable characters or diving deep into the supernatural to give readers a shiver, R.L. Merrill loves creating compelling stories that will stay with readers long after closing the book. Ro writes inclusive romance for the Happily Ever After collective, contributes paranormal hilarity to Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Universe, and pens horror-inspired tales and music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net. A mom, wife, daughter, and former educator, you can find her rocking out in her Bronco with Great Dane pup Velma, being terrorized by feline twins Dracula and Frankenstein, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more…

Skylar M. Cates

Skylar M. Cates loves a good romance. She is happy to drink coffee, curl up with a good book, and not move all day. Her novels feature strong and passionate men. Skylar loves to craft stories where realistic characters are challenged with emotional situations. Although lately the laundry room is the farthest place she has visited, Skylar loves to chat with folks from all around the globe.

Sophia Soames

Sophia Soames is a Scandinavian, UK-based, author of contemporary MM romance. She writes stories of everyday people with kids and families living real life fairytales.

Carrie Ann Ryan

Carrie Ann Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary, paranormal, and young adult romance. Her works include the Montgomery Ink, Talon Pack, Promise Me, and Elements of Five series, which have sold millions of books worldwide. She’s the winner of a RT Book of the Year and a Prism Award in her genres. She started writing while in graduate school for her advanced degree in chemistry and hasn’t stopped since. Carrie Ann has written over one hundred novels and novellas with more in the works. When she’s not losing herself in her emotional and action-packed worlds, she’s reading as much as she can while wrangling her clowder of cats who have more followers than she does.

Connor Peterson

Connor Peterson is a USA Today bestselling author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and dark, paranormal romance, local to the Philadelphia, PA area. The madman behind Deathspell and Temptation in Neon, Connor has also contributed to the story cycle Red Phone Box – published by Ghostwoods Books – and the anthology Nocturnal Embers – published by Crimson Melodies Publishing. He is also an active participant in the Philadelphia writing community,

MA Wardell

Writing as M.A. Wardell, Lambda Literary Award nominee Matt writes spicy queer rom-coms.​
​
His goal is to tell adult gay love stories with a diverse representation of flawed and damaged characters who find healing through love.
​
Matt loves rom-coms and has always wished for better representation, so he’s writing the stories he wishes existed. The queer men in his stories are flawed and messy. Helping them find their HEA is Matt’s passion.

Rinda Elliott

I write in many genres, always with a love story in the mix. That love story can be M/F, M/M, M/M/F and more. I tend to read more M/M than anything else, so that’s what I mostly write. I’m also an AVID reader, collector of music, and love cozy games!

While all of my books are romantic and sexy, most lean toward erotic. For adult books that are just sexy, there are my Beri O’Dell books and if you’re looking for sweeter, but still sexy, there’s the young adult trilogy I wrote for Harlequin Teen. All of the others? Expect some heat because I love it. I also love unusual stories and credit growing up in a family of curious life-lovers who moved all over the country. Books and movies full of fantasy, science fiction and romance kept us amused, especially in some of the stranger places. For years, I tried to separate my darker side with my humorous and romantic one. I published short fiction, but things really started happening when I gave in and mixed it up. I have several ongoing series, both contemporary romantic suspense and paranormal. You can find out about them in the links above and to the right. When not lost in fiction, I love making wine, collecting music, gaming and spending time with my husband and two children.

“Too Much in Love to Care” inside Love is All by Gabbi Grey

Stephanie

I’ve been in love with Taryn from the moment she climbed out of her tow truck to rescue me and my broken-down car. She’s strong, fearless, and damn beautiful to boot. I have the rings, she said yes, now all I need is to get her to the altar. But our respective brothers, Cooper and Lachlan, seem determined to wreck our wedding.

Taryn

Helping stranded motorists is my superpower, and rescuing Stephanie turned my world upside down. Loving her is the easiest thing in the world. Managing to get married while our brothers fight like cats and dogs is a whole other thing. I can’t decide if I want to elope, or to lock the guys in a bathroom together till they learn how to get along. It’s worse than a six-car pileup, trying to make this wedding and this blended family work out. So will we manage to merge our families seamlessly or are our brothers destined to be enemies forever?

“Too Much in Love to Care” is a 10k short story about a classic engagement, crazy wedding planning, two headstrong brothers, and a lesbian wedding to remember.

I’m posting late. My nothing day started with me waking up later than usual. Then I awoke and remembered I’d promised my brother I’d visit him, his wife, and MIL for coffee this morning. We gossiped and caught up on family news, then my dd and I walked back across the street and I remembered, “Oh yeah, I’m supposed to have a blood draw today.” So off to the hospital we went.

When I got back, it was lunchtime, and the 20-year-old made ceviche. Lord, I love ceviche. Salad on a hard corn tortilla. After that, I checked the weather and realized it was the perfect time according to the weather forecast to swim because clouds were moving in. So, the 11-year-old and I jumped into the pool.

Now, I’m finally sitting at the desk, the day already mostly gone, and I am making spaghetti and meatballs in another hour, so really, what can I hope to accomplish? Nada. Not a dang thing. I’m wondering if I should fill the next hour instead with an episode of Psych or Lost in Space…

Oh yeah, tomorrow’s my dd’s birthday, and I haven’t wrapped her gifts. So, maybe I should do that instead.

I wonder if I have adult ADHD because my brain is just jumping from one thing to the next and the last thing I want to do is sit at this computer today.

How’s your day been? Has yours been as “nothing” as mine?

Ready for another silly holiday?

Ready for another silly holiday? See how I did that? LOL

Today is Repeat Day. It’s an actual thing. And I can so get behind it.

Don’t like getting up in the morning? Go back to sleep and get up again.

Want to annoy a spam caller? Repeat everything they say to you.

Watch Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow.

See how easy this is? Have fun with it. I think I’ll repeat every silly thing the girls say today, just to see if they catch on. Maybe they’ll just think I’ve finally lost my mind!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me how you plan to celebrate this day! Have fun with this!

May

Work-related:

1. I completed 4 editing projects for other authors in May!
2. I found new artwork for a previously published anthology of erotic short stories, Ultra Strokes, Vol. 1. I recovered it and reuploaded it.
3. I compiled my second volume of erotic short stories, Ultra Strokes, Vol. 2, and published it! It’s my first release of the year! Progress, finally!

Health-related:

1. I finally went to the optometrist since I’m far enough away from chemotherapy that I don’t think my eyesight is going to further degrade any time soon. I have new glasses, and the screen is no longer blurry!
2. I fought a second UTI and have completed another round of antibiotics. I feel great!

Happiness-related: 

1. I continued my participation in #the100dayproject. Here are a few small pieces I completed:

June

 

For work-related, I plan:

1. To finish writing Ignition! No excuses! This will complete the Delta Fire series, my erotic firefighter stories. The pre-order will be set up this week, and the book will be out by the end of the month!
2. To begin work on Built Like Mack, the next story in my We are Dead Horse series.
3. To await the arrival of two editing projects around mid-month. Not having any at the moment is fine with me. Again, I have nothing to get in the way of my writing mojo, other than me.

For health-related, I plan:

1. To continue to focus on recovery! Rest when I need to, and some light exercise—housework and swimming.
2. To endure another immunotherapy session this month (I tolerate it so much better than chemo!) and a wellness checkup with my general practitioner.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To spend time with the family during this summer break. We have plans for fun meals, movies, flea market shopping, and lots and lots of swimming.
2. To complete #the100dayproject and create more art.

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in June…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!