On October 25^th of this year, I went in for total knee replacement surgery. It’s been a long time coming. In fact, the surgeon told me I probably should have had it done ten years ago. While I don’t think he’s wrong, precisely, I didn’t want to rush into anything. I was doing “all the things:” physical therapy, working out three times a week with a trainer, twice a week yoga, mindfulness meditation, pain management training, and I have lost about forty pounds in the last year. In September, my husband and I went on a work trip to San Francisco, and it became glaringly obvious that the status quo could not continue. So, I called the surgeon, and we scheduled it as soon as possible.

You’d think that would be it, right? I mean, major surgery is, well, major surgery. I met with my Human Resources team and my department head to schedule my time out of the office. Would I need medical leave? No, I would just take two weeks off, so it was done on “PTO,” or “paid time off.” I’d scheduled the week of American Thanksgiving as vacation for my family, and I “gave” that back – since I’d be out from October 25^th ’til November 8^th. And then I settled down to prepare.

What I didn’t realize, is that I was, in fact, embarking on a roller coaster.

Our annual Founders Retreat for Writer Zen Garden is the last full weekend in September. This year, we met in picturesque Park City, Utah, at a ski resort. It was, in a word, amazing. The condo we rented was enormous, with a full kitchen and huge living/dining room with a large table to seat all of us. We cooked, we wrote, and something magical happened: Dear Reader, I got my writing mojo back. I wrote more in the month of September than I’ve written in the last eight years combined. It’s felt like one long, dark slog through the Mines of Moria: first the 2016 election debacle, then the publishing world imploded (which, to be fair, had already started by then), the pandemic, the riots, the wildfires, (one of which, the Bolt Creek Fire, was within fifteen miles of our home), and the rise of fascism around the world. All of it meant that my well was bone dry. Sure, I’d try to write, and I kept up my avid journaling practice. But Story?

Nothing.

It’s immensely painful beyond words for a writer to go dry. I’ve met people who will airily assure me they don’t “believe” in writer’s block. My friend, I wish you the peace of your naivete. It happens, and it happens to the best of us. And it’s like bleeding to death with nothing coming out.

So to say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. It’s as though a part of me that had been amputated, suddenly grew back. Things started to heat up: I met some new friends through the NaNoWriMo Seattle Discord server and started writing “word sprints” with them (a word sprint is where you show up and do timed writing for, say, fifteen minutes).

When I settled in to prepare for my knee surgery, Dear Reader, I thought everything was going to be easy-peasy: I was writing again, I could take two weeks off to recover, what could go wrong?

I did not schedule any time to prepare. I worked until October 24^th, and surgery was October 25^th. That was my first mistake.

Then, the week before surgery on October 16^th, my beloved eleven-year-old cat Nadya had a stroke at 07:30 while I was on a video call with my therapist. She told me, “don’t catastrophize,” which is good advice but I knew what I knew. My husband was out with the dogs and our housemate, his brother and a retired emergency veterinary technician, was asleep. I waited for my husband to get back and my appointment to be done (which was the longest fifteen minutes of my life, let me tell you). My husband woke up his brother, and he examined Nadya, and gave us his advice.

Get her to the vet immediately and tell them it’s a thrombus. It’s not a saddle thrombus, which affects both hind legs; he said in his opinion it was a thrombus (i.e. a blood clot) that lodged in her right front leg, cutting off sensation and nerve impulses to her right leg. We got in the car and raced to the vet. I told my husband to call them first, to make sure they were open and that we were coming, and they told us the bad news: take her to the emergency hospital in Lynnwood, an hour’s drive, because they have the scanning equipment we’d need.

We got there and got her seen by the emergency techs right away. We came back home, and I naively thought I’d be able to pick her up again.

The cardiologist said that she was in early-stage heart failure. My brother-in-law and his partner, also an emergency vet tech, said they’ve seen exactly one cat survive this scenario and that cat died within three months, because once they throw one clot, it’s inevitable they’ll throw another. The treatment is unpleasant and consists of either subcutaneous medication (i.e. stabbing my cat with a needle) or oral meds (shoving a pill or, more likely, multiple pills down her throat on a daily basis), or both.

We made the decision to let her go and drove over that night after work.

Afterward, we came home and I went back to preparing for surgery, and trying to relax because relaxation is critical to good outcomes.

At 0430 the morning of surgery, my old man cat Boria fell down behind the dryer and got hung up in the wires for the dryer and the septic tank alarm. We’re not sure if he fell asleep on the dryer and fell off, or if he just got confused and climbed back there, or what. We got him out and my brother-in-law and his partner tended to him for the next two days. Meanwhile, I went in for surgery on Wednesday as planned.

Boria died in my husband’s arms on Friday, October 27^th.

Dear Reader, may you never go through back-to-back events like this.

I had planned to give you the news that Six Geese Laid, our holiday story set in the universe of the Chicagoland Shifters, is available at your favorite eBook seller. I even have it halfway uploaded onto Amazon but didn’t quite get it finished in time to get my guest post over to Delilah. I will, and my goal is to get it done by this weekend for you so you have something new to read before the holidays (our longtime fans will know this is the audio story that the talented Vance Bastien read for us on the WROTE podcast, and this is the long-awaited eBook version). And I also can tell you that Rachel Wilder and I are hard at work on our newest book series, the first of which is called, for right now at least, As the Crow Flies and is about crow and raven shifters and the trouble they get into.

I’m still doing all that, but I’m moving a bit slower than I planned. But the good news out of all of this is that I AM moving, at long last. Nadya and Boria are with me in spirit, keeping me company as I get back onto the page. And like Peggy Carter in the Marvel series, we’ve decided that I will be the bionic battle granny to my newest grandchild, who we will get to meet in June of 2024.

Talk about ups and downs, Dear Reader. My heart is sad, and glad, and grateful.

Best wishes,

Noony

Resources

• National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo: https://nanowrimo.org/
• My NaNo: https://nanowrimo.org/participants/a-catherine-noon
• Park City, Utah: Then Best Ski Resorts: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g57097-zff8-Park_City_Utah-Hotels.html
• Knee Replacement Surgery: https://www.prolianceorthopedicassociates.com/services/knee-replacement

“My own experience has taught me this: if you wait for the perfect moment when all is safe and assured it may never arrive.”
~ Maurice Chevalier

acatherinenoon.com | noonandwilder.com | writerzengarden.com | knoontimeknitting.com

UPDATE: The winner is…Sara D!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for inviting me to visit you.  I’m happy to share my new erotic BDSM book, Backing Down. I have to say, this was one of the most fun books I’ve written in a while. Normally, my books are on the darker side, especially my In Their Eyes trilogy.  For this one, though, I aimed for humor.

The genesis of the book was fun.  It’s a long story, but I needed to write a rivals-to-lovers story.  I’d never done that before, having only ventured into enemies-to-lovers a couple of times and under different pen names.  Even as I agreed to write the story, the image of Master Dante came to my mind.  He’s a secondary character in my trilogy and I’ve known for a while that I wanted him to have his own story.  When I saw the word rival, I also saw a strong Domme.  Also, in the back of my mind, I knew Dante was bisexual and, eventually, would have Evan as his permanent submissive.

Okay, so I had a clear picture of my two guys in my MMF.  I just needed to figure out the woman.  I approached another friend who helps me sort plots, and she helped me create Mistress Kate.  My triad was complete.

From that point, the writing came easily.  Perhaps also because I was under a super tight deadline, and the words had to flow. Sometimes, I write best under pressure.

I hope readers enjoy my novella and bratty Evan’s antics as he tries to get what he wants more than anything in the world – two Dominants.

Thanks for hosting me today! I would love to give a $5 Amazon gift card to a commenter. Do you enjoy humor in the books you read or are you all about the angst?  Let me know and one randomly selected commenter will win!

Backing Down

Master Dante

As the manager of Club Kink, Vancouver’s premier BDSM club, I have access to all the submissives I could desire. I never switch, but two years ago, a hot encounter with Mistress Kate blurred some of my boundaries, and left me rethinking my true desires. Now, Kate’s back, and I don’t think the heat between us is just competitiveness between two Doms. I have other ideas, and I’m willing to pull out all the stops to make them a reality.

Kate

Two years ago, I had the best night of my life. And the worst. I’ve recovered my self-esteem and my reputation, but I haven’t been able to forget Master Dante. Now we both have our sights set on the same submissive. May the best Dominant win, right? Well, I intend to come out on top this time—no matter the consequences.

Evan

I’ve been a happy submissive for five years. Lately, I’ve watched Master Dante and Mistress Kate around the club, and noticed how aware they are of each other. I admit it, I’m greedy. I want both. I want them together. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to have them—in the bedroom and in the dungeon. With Christmas just around the corner, and with me being a very good boy, maybe I’ll get what I want.

Links:
Universal link:  https://books2read.com/BackingDown
Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLL395M4

About the Author

Even though Gabbi Black is a firm believer in happy endings, she makes her characters work for it in every romance she writes, no matter what the genre. From contemporary to BDSM, they are penned early in the morning in her home in beautiful British Columbia while her trusty ChinPoo dog keeps her company. She also writes gay romances as Gabbi Grey.

Personal links:
Website:   https://gabbiblack.com/
Newsletter sign-up:  https://sendfox.com/gabbi
Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/2763198834
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbiblack/
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/Author-Gabbi-Black-106666354460589/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GabbiAuthor

UPDATE: The winners are…Laura, Stephanie, and ButtonsMom!
*~*~*

I’ve written a ton of short stories over the years, and every now and then, I bundle them together into a box set/anthology. So far, I have Strokes, Strokes, Volume 2, Strokes, Volume 3, and Ultra Strokes. As you might guess from the titles, these aren’t vanilla stories, so be warned!

The first three are seven-story collections, meant to give you a week’s worth of nighttime fun. Ultra is a compilation of my favorites, plus a couple of ones not already seen in the other anthologies. If you happen to love short stories, be sure to visit my short story page: Short Stories. Some of these stories have appeared in Cleis Press anthologies, some in my own “Collection” anthologies. Two (or was it three?) were featured in Penthouse magazine. I’ve published 51 stories in all, and three more are on the way when I have time. It’s time, I think, to do another seven-story bundle. I have plenty to fill it with ones not already bundled. Two more, actually. *sigh* I wish there were more hours in the day.

In the meantime, check out the volumes. Check out the short story page to read excerpts. Or just head straight to the bottom of this blog and answer my question for a chance to win! Happy Tuesday, by the way!

Strokes

From National Bestselling Author, Delilah Devlin, comes a naughty collection of seven bedtime stories for a week’s worth of nighttime reading pleasure — a little “som-som” to inspire sexy dreams or a one-handed orgasm, or to be read to a partner and enjoyed together.

Witness one woman’s desperate attempt to seduce her busy husband in “Lily’s Last Stand”. In “Nip ‘n’ Tuck” follow a shy seamstress’s adventures with an online suitor that doesn’t go quite as planned. Dive into “Dreaming by the Sea” where a woman with a mysterious past is surprised by a lover who strides naked from the ocean to claim her. An adventurous Victorian nurse learns the pleasures of steam-driven technology in “Dr.Mullaley’s Cure”. A New York commuter shares lustful daydreams with another subway passenger in “The Morning Ride”.  A woman finds the limits of her inhibitions tested in a one-night stand in “All About Me”. In “The Obedient Wife”, find out what really happened between The Beauty and the Beast. Hint: It’s not your children’s fairytale!

Contest

Comment for a chance to win your choice of a download of one of my Strokes volumes, your choice! Tell me whether you’re a fan of short stories and whether you’d like to see more sexy compilations like this one! I’ll choose three lucky winners!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
*~*~*

Now, here’s a holiday anyone can get behind, right? Because, hey, you can make your nachos however you want.

• You can choose your favorite meat (I love seasoned crumbled beef, steak fajita, or shrimp!).
• Choose your favorite chips (I love restaurant-style tortilla chips).
• Choose your favorite cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar).
• Whole beans or refried beans (I love Ranch-style and refried beans).
• Choose your garnish (I love tomato, onion, lettuce, cilantro, avocado, and black olives).
• Choose your topping (I love sour cream, salsa, and a squeeze of lime).

It’s 3:30 AM (yes, insomnia again), and now I’m hungry.

I love the mix of flavors. I pile my plate high—it’s all the veg, right? When I’m scraping the plate, I somehow still feel virtuous because I’ve included every food group. 🙂

So, for a chance to win a download of your choice of one of my stories, tell me your favorite nacho combination!

Sunday Tarot

This is one I’ve never pulled before—The Chariot.

If I haven’t said it before, I love this tarot deck. The art on each card gives great clues as to its divination qualities. Whoever conceived it did a wonderful job. Back to The Chariot…

I pull a Sunday card before I begin re-jiggering my work plan for the week. It’s more of a meditative step rather than a call-to-action sort of thing. I like doing my own interpretation of the card then refer to the book to see how well I did, but I’ve come to trust my own interpretation because the book’s interpretations are very ambiguous—as they should be. The author didn’t know who would pull the card, what history they would bring, what issues they’d be facing. All those things “color” the interpretation. Blah-blah-blah. I’m talking too much. I know.

So, the card. I’m dithering because I don’t like this card. Look at the background first. It looks like the red sand dunes I saw first-hand in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Barren. Dry. Unforgiving. Look at the sky. There are clouds and at the center is a very dark cloud, close to the ground. A coming storm. Yikes.

Then let’s look at the man driving the chariot. That’s Ares, God of War. His mother Hera, the Queen of the Gods, didn’t use a male seed to conceive him, so he has no father, although Zeus was his father figure. It’s always been interesting to me that the God of War came solely from a woman. Depicted in this card, his horses are galloping; he looks resolute. He’s heading into battle.

What does that mean for me? I hope I’m not heading into battle whether real or metaphorical. How can I apply this to my task today? Will I be battling myself or distractions? I’m in the midst of the NaNoWriMo challenge, and so far, so good, I’m making my daily page counts. My story, Little Green Dreams, is coming along nicely, I think. The only battle I can foresee is illness that keeps me from my task, distractions from the family, maybe a power outage that prevents me from writing. I can’t imagine why this card is the one to reflect this week’s challenges.

Now, to the book’s interpretation. The Mythic Tarot says: “[The Chariot] augurs conflict and struggle which can result in a strong personality. One may come face to face not only with aggression in others, but with one’s own competitive and aggressive drives.”

Hmmm.

Open Contests

1. Gabbi Grey: Trying It Short! Rise — Out now! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. A Reminder & the Saturday Puzzle-Contest! — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Hallie Quinn Brown – Inspirational Elocutionist and Hands-On Historian (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Gabbi Grey: Tying stories together (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. October into November (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Let’s Chat! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Story Cubes: Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!

The winner is…Cara!

And yes, the figure is Frank Poole from 2001: A Space Odyssey!
*~*~*

Yesterday, I received my latest Funko Pop! figurine. Yes, I collect these, too. (Yes, I’m that big of a nerd!) But I only collect figures that mean something to me. So, who could this little guy be? Play along with me…

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me the name of the movie the picture represents, and if you want to go a step farther, tell me which character in the movie is represented by my new Pop! figurine!

UPDATE: The winner is…Deborah Brown!
*~*~*

I bought this little brainstorming tool years ago at some writers’ conference. “Story Cubes” is a brainstorming game. You roll the dice and whatever pictures appear face-up are the ones you use to riff off a story.

Now, I’d like you to tell me a story based on what you see on the cubes. Do any of these symbols tell you anything? You can pick some of the images or use all of them. Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Have fun with this! Don’t overthink! Here’s the roll…