Accountability

This has been a long time coming, this blog post. And, no, I'm not going to tout off like I did when I was posting last year. This is going to be a much more down to earth post. Well, I guess, just more to the point. So, I'll get to it.

The first half of this year has been crazy. A lot of things happened, and it got in the way of writing. Now, I won't get into the specifics of it all because that is a novel in itself (don't worry, it'll be written), but it put me in a state of mind that left me disconnected from the creative part of me.

So, what did I do? Well, I did the very trite thing many people do when things aren't looking so good. I drank. Now, it wasn't a lot, compared to the amount others would be drinking when they were unhappy, but for me it was a lot. I binge drank, bro. I thought I was having fun, but it was a cover up for my unhappiness. Crazy, thinking about it now, I was a writer not writing and was drinking because of it.

Things did turn around. The situation I had put myself in seemed to work itself out (as in the chaos finally stopped) and I started to think in a more stable and positive manner, but I kept drinking. Then came a night where I drank like a fish and stayed up until 6:30 in the morning. At that point, it was time to call it quits on drinking. Since then, I've been working steadily on writing and editing drafts I wrote over a year ago.

Here's what I'm getting at, my drinking problem removed accountability for my problems. This is nothing new, I'm sure, many people do this. But I realized I didn't want to be apart of that group. I was better than that. And, before that night where I had gotten smashed and done stupid shit and was up long enough to see the sun come up, I was just starting to think in a more creative manner.

Now, since I've stayed away from alcohol, I've been in a state of creative euphoria for over a month now. All I want to do is write or work on writing, and it's such a great feeling to be back. And I'm never going to touch alcohol again, like weed. Yes, I used to smoke pot, too, but that was a while ago. But, like alcohol, I decided I needed to be productive with myself and dumped it. Excuse me for being blunt but, fuck getting intoxicated or messed up. I ain't got time for that.

This is all just from my standpoint. This is what I need to do to remain in a creative and productive state. Drinking, or getting high, got to a point where I didn't feel good anymore. It was a waste, I was a waste when in that state. I'm five years away from thirty, I have great stories to tell, why am I wasting it by getting drunk and partying? That wasn't me.



I'll end it with a song that helped me reconsider where I was in life and the direction I was heading. Love you all and thanks for reading!

When the Writing is Good

Okay, so here I am again. No, it's not Monday, but I did mention this would be a sporadic blog. Plus, it's better to shake things up. Who wants a damned routine anyway, right? I know us writers love to be in a routine, it's how we are taught to exist. I know I said something similar in a blog post over the summer (have you noticed I'm double backing on a lot of things I've said yet?) on how routines work for a lot of folks and the comfort of familiarity has many, many positives. Nevertheless, it can be dangerous if we allow that routine to become a rut. And that, ladies and gentlemen, can totally kill any kind of creativity, no matter how skilled your talent has become.

Anywho, I'm not going to yark up the same old material I've yarked up in the summer (diggin' that word yet?). You've read a blog post about the four greatest sins writers are told, you've read how writing has to be done in your own decisive manner, because we are vessels of creativity and we must find our best ways to channel that creativity. Now, I want to talk about taking the next step in your writing.

Let me start simply by saying anyone can write (shocker I know), and while I believe the independent publishing business (self-publishing) has allowed many folks to get their material out and promote it and get all the funds back from the sales and that's totally awesome. However, this kind of freedom has allowed a lot of mediocre writing to be published. The writing industry is a competitive field, and I think the self publishing business has become more of an escape goat from the regular (yet somehow intimidating) publishing industry.

A lot of folks write, and even more folks want to be writers, and I see a lot of folks who give up on going the old fashioned route because they get turned down or because it's "too hard". You must not do this! There are tons of writers, and you have to ask yourself (perhaps while looking in the mirror), "what is it that makes me stand out from the other writers?"

If you dig long enough, you will find it's the drive to become the best you can be.

With this comes a simpler understanding about yourself I think a lot of folks miss--because they've accepted the writing field as too difficult or challenging to make any kind of money from--and it's dedication. You might think that anticlimactic, but hear me out because when I talk about dedication, I don't mean sitting down and writing everyday, I don't even mean making sure yours edit are done. When I talk about dedication, it's a complete immersion of thinking, believing, and then saying, "I want to be a New York Times bestselling author and I'm willing to die for it."

That's it.

It can't be that easy can it? Certainly not, I've been rejected hundreds of times, I haven't made a living doing this, etc, etc.

Then you haven't dedicated yourself enough, and more importantly, you don't believe in yourself. And I know, a lot of folks flare up and say they do believe in themselves, but do they really? When the cards are down, and you are facing a whirlwind of troubles (money, doubt, relationship problems, etc), do you have the guts to push and become the best you can be? Will you keep on doing your craft as long as you can breathe and are able bodied?

If you dedicate yourself, you believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, you become confident. When you are confident, you know you will get to where you want to be and everything will be fine as long as you pursue your goal. And when you've realized this, and feel the accomplishment is coming, you understand having a plan B is pointless.

So many writers have a plan B because writing doesn't make money (or so we are told), and having a plan B is an essential part of our life as a writer. And you will be encouraged by others to have a plan B because people will think and maybe even say, Writer? Why in God's name would you want to write? There isn't any money in that.

But you must understand, if you have a plan B, it's because you believe plan A won't work. You are operating from a mindset that your main goal in life (successful author) might not come to fruition and you focus on plan B instead of working towards plan A. You must toss away with plan B. So what if you fail? What is the worst that could happen? Embarrassment? Injured pride? Wouldn't you rather go about your life knowing what you shot for didn't work out instead of wondering what if? But even more importantly, what if plan A worked? What if you wrote a novel that sold and landed the number one spot on the New York Times list?

How does that make you feel?

So you push forward, through the ups and the downs. You drive yourself to work hard on your writing, because you don't have anything to fall back on. Plan A must work, and you give everything you have to become that number one author. And as time goes on, you will notice your writing takes a turn. The words will not just form sentences, but segments of poetry, words that aren't really words, but meaning, something that carries its own merit, something that lives and breathes on its own long after the creator has passed on.

I wanted very much to be a person of value and I had to ask myself how this could be possible if there were not something like a soul or like a spirit that is in the life of a person and which could endure any misfortune or disfigurement and yet be no less for it. If one were to be a person of value that value could not be a condition subject to hazards of fortune. It had to be a quality that could not change. No matter what. Long before morning I knew that what I was seeking to discover was a thing I'd always known. That all courage was a form of constancy. That it was always himself that the coward abandoned first. After this all other betrayals came easily. -- Cormac McCarthy "All the Pretty Horses"

***

When you read another author's work, someone who has written and sold books for a long time, you will notice a way the words flow, a way they connect and simply sing. They are words you can read aloud and they roll off the tongue and taste like honey. Here are other examples.

***

It was a very sweet kiss. It was very friendly and comfortably warm and it tasted like apricots and fresh apples and as water tastes when you rise at night and walk into a dark, warm summer kitchen and drink from a cool tin cup. -- Ray Bradbury "Hopscotch"

Standing in the yard now, knuckles aching, he could hear it too. Old MacDonald had a farm. And everything was hunky-dory on it. You farmed and tilled and reaped and sowed and everything was just fucking great. Everyone got along, even the chickens and the cows, and no one needed to talk about anything, because nothing bad ever happened and nobody had any secrets because secrets were for bad people, people who climbed in cars that smelled of apples with strange men and disappeared for four days, only to come back home and find everyone they'd known had disappeared, too, been replaced with smiley-faced look-alikes who'd do just about anything but listen to you. -- Dennis Lehane "Mystic River"

The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a tellar but for want of an understanding ear. -- Stephen King "The Body"

***

These guys have made it because they dedicated themselves to making their writing the best it can be, and because they simply love what they do. They would write these stories regardless of whether or not they were paid.


And that is how you must go. You write because you want to share your work, you want to give people a moment's reprieve from this world and enlighten them with something that resonates and stays with them.

Dedicate yourself to your writing. Make it as amazing as it can be and be willing to die for your work. Be willing to believe you can make it in writing no matter what others say or the doubts that race through your mind late at night. Relax the mind and go forward. Writing is a feeling gig anyway, why dilute it by over thinking? Forget plan B because it distracts from plan A. And push, always push. If you do all these things, and you know and feel that you will make it to the top, you will become what you seek.

Time. Truth. Heart.

J.G.A.

Semester Round Up

This is it, folks. If you've kept track of me on twitter, you'll have read about my progress (struggled at best) on a video I'd been putting together. This was a five week process, getting everything in order and then finally editing all the shots into one video. Anyway, here's what my first semester at the University of Southern Indiana did to me.

Keep Writing!

J.G.A.

And So I Return

Hey folks! How's it hanging?

When I finished last week's post, I told myself I wouldn't post again unless I had something to say. I've put some thought into this post, but I can't really say (write in this case, ha!) I'm down with writing a regular blog update. However, this is finals week and things have been slow. And I've done enough studying to make my head explode. I just want to write. However, come Wednesday, I shall be home and the new writing project shall begin shortly thereafter.

Why have I posted a blog then?

Funny you ask, because I want to deconstruct more rules.

Another thing I find odd is writer folks telling other writer folks how to go about their writing. I'm going to pick on Stephen King because he recently spoke to a University about writing and said something that rubbed me the wrong way. Before I continue, it might be a good idea to reiterate that I love King's writing. I just think he's a top dog whose gotten a little too use to hearing his own voice.

Here's how I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna build a segue and we'll ride it into the main point. You okay with that? Yeah? Right on, let's roll.

King Talks About Writer-ish Stuff 

Stephen King spoke about a couple things, how he gets his ideas (not sure how he figured that out), his goals in writing, and how he channels and keeps track of his ideas. This is where King said great ideas don't come from writing them in notebooks, that truly amazing ideas stay in your head and linger until you've written it.

I don't think King's taking into consideration the daily life of a college student, or really anyone who doesn't write full time. I mean, c'mon man, college folks have class, work one or two jobs, homework, clubs and societies, perhaps a social life. Grown ups (big versions of kids) have just as much to do, with the addition of kids (small versions of grown ups). If one of the aforementioned folks comes up with an idea, how can they be expected to remember the idea? Ideas are such fleeting things, you want to capture them before they get away.

You ever hear how poets got ideas and then rushed to their study so they could write it down? My Creative Writing professor told me a story of how a certain poet (can't remember the name) got to her study late (in her fit of inspiration), but still had enough of the poem going through her head that she wrote the piece from last line to first, essentially catching the tail and dragging the poem back. Cool right?

The best ideas are the ones captured the moment they arrive and then sit. I've had fantastic ideas come from notebooks. I have this composition book given to me from a former class mate containing outlines, ideas, scene developments, and metaphorical meanings (for novels). To think I could keep track of all in my head is both erroneous and arrogant. There's just too much in my life (mostly during college time) to remember all that goes through my head creatively.

Ideas are feathers in the wind. You let it pass, you may not catch it again. And sometimes having an idea sit and percolate is the best thing for an idea to grow naturally. Perhaps the idea you originally captured takes a turn as it sits, and becomes something completely different from what you thought it would be. That is when writing gets real fun.

Ever get an idea, or an image, you like but don't know how to approach it? This doesn't mean it's a bad idea, it's just different. Write it down, then forget about it. Go watch a movie, listen to music, watch a live performance of your favorite musician (or attend), discover a new author. Then go back and look at the idea, and you'll get more ideas how to approach the concept.

Writing is a place of doing what you please. There are no rules, no matter what anyone tells you. Everyone has a method to writing (Stephen King included), and while folks will tell you how you should approach writing or how you should live your writing life, but it is up to you to decide how you will do those things. This is a subjective business, and not just writing itself, but the methods involved.

Creativity has no boundaries, it doesn't care who participates as long as the vessel writing is listening to its ideas. You, the writer, has to figure out what works for you and remember your method is unique. It is you, and no one can change it no matter what. Not some guy who's been in the business for forty years, or some cat who's sold fifty books and is considered one of the greatest writers of our time. We want to listen to them because we think if we copy their methods, we will copy their success as well.

Create your own path. Be honest, bold, ambitious, fearless, and write with love.

Can you dig it?

J.G.A.

Four Great Sins Writers Are Told

Well, well, look at this, I'm rolling up my sleeves so I can type up something on this dusty, old blog. There's a plethora of reasons to why I've stopped posting, but to read them isn't why you've stopped by. I'm posting because I've got something to say. There's a lot of bullshit in the blogging and writing world, especially the blogging world. Even when the bullshit runs out (I know, hard to believe right?), the topics become self-centered and egotistic, to which my response is, why did you write this blog when you could have edited or written a story?

Anyway, seems that everyone has the life of a writer down to formula, coming out with their lists and telling us off like they're well endowed experienced mofos. You must remember, that even the most experienced writer is a bullshitter at best, readers allow them to bullshit.

Alas, in order to prove my point, I too, must revert to a list. However it shall be a short one! So, let's begin shall we? Four things SINS! writers are told, AND BELIEVE!

1.) Writing Fiction for a Living is a Long Shot: Boo hoo! Wahh! I've been writing for twenty-some years and have spoken to folks older than me and they still haven't made a living in writing. So, unless you love writing, spare yourself the heartbreak and do something else with your time.

Seriously? Really? Why would you tell aspiring authors that? This is the single greatest sin in the world of writing (Nobody loves you, nobody cares, you can't write, blah blah blah). You want to know what else is a long shot? Becoming an actor, professional athlete, musician, astronaut, lawyer, doctor, politician (one that gets elected), philosopher, astrophysicist, paleontologist, anthropologist... do I need to go on?

Let's look at the NFL for a moment shall we? What do you tell someone who wants to become a starting quarterback? Do you laugh and say, son, that's a long shot, you need something to fall back on. I mean, why not right? There's only 32 spots where a person could become a regular starting quarterback, and that job ain't secure (injury anyone?). But you know what? People dream it and they do it. Who the hell gives us the right to turn someone away from their lifelong goal?

Uh oh, I see the rotors turning in your head, your thinkin', this guy ain't got a clue, he's got his head in the clouds. Yeah, I do. Your point? Why the hell does anyone shoot for the things they dream of doing? Because they want to! Not because they hear it's a long shot. Work your ass off. Dedicate yourself to the idea of making your writing the best it can be, no matter what! You want to make in the writing business? Shoot for the cosmos! I promise, you will make it with the top dogs.

The worst thing any writer can do is listen to the "advice" of it's a long shot. Soon that advice seeps into their work, and they give up. Then they pursue something else and live unhappily because they were afraid of making that leap of faith.

"But I'm just being realistic," you say.

"Ha!" I say.

"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity." -- Will Smith
"There's no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A." -- Will Smith 

Writing is about jumping off a cliff and building your wings on the way down (coining Ray Bradbury). If you listen to the folks who say you have little chance of doing so, you either need to block them out or you might as well settle on a job at Denny's. Side note: Folks don't like their eggs overly scrambled.

2.) You Don't Have to go to College to be a Good Writer: You know, I used to say this. I read it from Stephen King and I regurgitated the quote like a good little programed human. Now I'm at the point where I'm so tired of hearing and reading it that I'm just about to literally toss my cookies.

Folks, it ain't about the piece of paper you get after four (or five or six or whatever) years. It ain't about the classes you sit in where people say, I liked this in your story because x-y-z. And I was curious as to why Melinda always wore a red dress. And why was there so much detail? I thought x character was really driven. It's about opportunity. If you go to a college that has a good arts program (including creative writing!), there will be chances to attend meetings were folks from the industry get together and you can meet and listen to them on what they're looking for in new writers. There's chances to study abroad. I'm going to the UK for a year in 2013, and the expenses (from the start!) are eighty percent covered. You want to tell me you'll get the same chance while working your Denny's job? Mmmmm, bacon!

Life enrichment is the name of the game folks. Meeting official editors, going to other countries, meeting new people, doing new things, is a huge step in bettering your writing. College makes it so much easier to do all those things. My classes haven't been a huge help (but they still have helped), and the true learning came from the one on one conversations with professors, listening to them and sharing my work. And if your work is good (which if your serious about this shit, it damn well better be!), you will receive guidance from them. No matter how hardcore you think you may be, guidance is a wonderful thing to have.

College? Not important? Think again, pappy.

3.) Writing is Hard: Hell, it ain't hard as much as it is time consuming. So many folks think they can get away with writing a story in a mere matter of hours and think they have the greatest thing since sliced bread (cliche! boooooo). Writing takes time, and creating a really good piece takes copious amounts of time. Hard? Nah. Unless you consider thinking hard work. If that's the case, you need to reconsider your place in writing (I'd like a short stack please).


4.) Write What you Know: Oh boy, this is a great lie. A great, great, great lie. So great, that it should be banned from the literary world. What do we know? We think we know a lot about this, or a lot about that. But truth, we (people) ain't got shit figured out, and that's the truth. Don't believe me? Read a book, watch the news, watch people, listen to people, and then come back to this post.

Writers don't know what hell is going on in life anymore than the rest of the population. People take comfort in such fallacies because they need that comfort just to function on a day to day basis. Fiction writers (besides politicians and philosophers) are the greatest bullshitters on the planet. This goes back to what I wrote at the beginning of the blog (do you remember? been a long journey I know), writers can spin a good sentence, but it's still just malarkey (yay Biden!).

"Fiction is the truth inside the lie." -- Stephen King

We writers spend so much time barking into the wind that when the wind actually settles and we listen to the things we've been spewing, we can't stand to hear it. The same goes for anyone in the business of playing with words (I forgot rhetoricians, gasp!). Has anyone stopped yakking when they didn't know what they're yakking about? So, to the writers (politicians, rhetoricians, philosophers take a seat!), write. If you're writing a fantasy piece about a plumber and have never been one, write what your heart tells you and worry about the rest later.

So that's it, I'm getting down from my soapbox. I'll have to remember to give it back to my Mom when I get the chance.

On a completely different note, have you heard Toyota is coming out with a new Celica? The GT 86. It's a goddamn beautiful car. In the coming blogs (should there be more) you will quickly realize how much I love this new car. It's supposed to be released sometime in 2013 in the 'States.



Keep Writing!

J.G.A. 

Video Blog

You'll have to excuse my mumbly attitude. I'm pretty fried.

Dream Scape Special: Lusted in Las Vegas and Interview with Sandra Bunino

I'm happy to promote Sandra Bunino's new novella Lusted in Las Vegas. Below is a quick blurb and excerpt. Below that is a brief questionaire she was gracious enough to answer to go along with her promo. Cheers to your new release Sandra!

***

 

Lusted in Las Vegas (Erotic Romance novella)

Release Date: July 2, 2012

Publisher: Bradley Publishing

Available on Amazon

Blurb:

Lusted in Las Vegas picks up where Marooned in Miami left off while Stephanie and Jason’s sexy tryst continues in Sin City! Their chemistry is undeniable and their lust just may take a turn toward love when they return to each other’s arms. However, all is not perfect in paradise when Jason’s ex comes to town and wants what she believes is rightfully hers.

Jason’s not the only one with something to hide. Stephanie carries a secret of her own. Can she spend a carefree weekend with Jason without risking a broken heart? Or do her feelings for Jason run too deep to simply walk away?

Excerpt:

“Champagne?” Jason asked, lifting his eyebrows.

Stephanie nodded. “But give me a minute. I need to get ready for your surprise, stay right where you are.”

Stephanie sashayed into the bathroom as he popped the cork on the champagne bottle and poured two glasses. Why was his heart racing? He’d never had a problem keeping his composure with women. But from the moment he saw her in La Luna his mood changed. She melted his usual gruff personality and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“Jay.”

His eyes darted toward her voice. He sucked in his breath as his gaze skimmed up and down her body. Her long dark hair fanned across her shoulders in sharp contrast with the short white translucent baby doll negligee. Handing her a fluted glass of champagne, he hungrily surveyed her white g-string peeking through the lace. His gaze moved to her taut belly and finally up to her full breasts. There was a neat little satin bow tied in the sweet valley. Jason desperately wanted to pull the ribbon. He reached up to grab the end when Stephanie wrapped a thumb and index finger around his wrist.

“Not so fast,” she said and took a sip of champagne.

***

1.) When and why did you decide that the romance genre was for you?

I’ve always been an avid romance genre reader. Since high school, I’ve developed and written scenes based on life experiences and observations. One story kept gnawing at me so I decided to begin piecing it together. I felt great about the novel when it was complete…and had it edited. It turned out I broke just about every romance genre “rule” in the book. LOL! I learned so much from that experience. The story changed. A lot. It later became Sara’s Smile, a sweet reunion romance.

2.) When did you discover writing as a potential career choice?

I would love to note “Author” as my profession. However, my royalties don’t support my shoe habit so off to my day job I go.

3.) I've been asked this question a few times, so I'll transfer it on; why do you write?

This is a great question and one that I’m not sure I can provide a definitive answer. I love to tell stories and it’s great to have an outlet for my wondering mind. I enjoy providing a little “brain vacation” for the reader. My books are short feel-good nuggets that offer a fun escape from reality for a couple of hours.

4.) As readers and fan base get to enjoy the continuation of familiar characters in Lusted in Las Vegas, what details can you give on any future projects, if any?

I’m very excited about my next project: The Satin Rose Experience series. The introductory story was published in Evernight Publishing’s Keyboards and Kink Anthology last month. I just signed a contract with Evernight for Book One in the series, Mia’s Submission, to be released later this summer. The series is based on an exclusive BDSM club residing on the twentieth floor of a posh New York City hotel. Each book will involve a different Satin Rose Experience (SRE) suite.

The series is not hard core BDSM though. I like to refer to it as “BDSM-lite”. The stories are really about the dynamic and relationship growth of the couple featured in that particular book.

5.) What can readers expect from returning characters Jason and Stephanie? Other than a steamy good time?

Jason and Stephanie gave into lust in Marooned in Miami. Lusted in Las Vegas readers can expect a lust to love story. Passion runs deep in this novella and readers will see a vulnerable and romantic side to Jason.

6.) What was your favorite aspect of writing this story?

I enjoyed planning and writing the setting, which is based on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s one of my favorite spots and the perfect weekend getaway. Jason’s villa is tucked in a little oasis right behind The Castillo Hotel and Casino (think The Bellagio). The villa has a private lagoon equipped with a grotto. There’s action and conflict in Lusted which is so much fun to write.

7.) Some writers expose themselves to certain material (movies and reading alike) when writing a particular project, did you follow this pattern or did you simply write the material as you saw it?

I wrote part of Lusted in Las Vegas in Arizona. Being in the desert helped me with the scene where Jason takes Stephanie to the Grand Canyon for dinner in his helicopter. Yes, Jason Royce is well equipped. J

8.) How did it feel returning to familiar characters? Was like returning to family?

It really was like getting together with old friends. I love this couple and it was bittersweet to end their story, but I’m thrilled with the way it ended up.

9.) When it comes to the language of erotic romance, what in your opinion makes a good sensual story? Do you impose the senses? If so, what senses do you enjoy using?

I think it’s important to use all of the senses when writing fiction, especially erotic romance. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples from Lusted in Las Vegas:

Here’s a scene when they first see each other in Las Vegas:

       Her heart raced at the thought of seeing Jason again. But as quickly as the panic set in, it dissolved the moment she sensed a presence from behind. His warm hand caressed the bare skin low on her back sending sparks from his touch to the nape of her neck. The vibration of a husky voice rumbled from her ear to the tips of her toes.

       “Stef.”

       With a flick of her foot against the bar, she swiveled in her chair to meet Jason’s gaze. God, it was good to see him. Masculinity exuded from his rock hard body under a perfectly tailored black suit. His dark skin and features made him look almost dangerous, but his eyes sparkled as they seared into her flesh. Taking a deep breath, she instantly relaxed. She had been anxious to see Jason, but all doubts melted as he stood before her.

And this scene takes place on a terrace high above famous fountains of The Castillo:

         Stephanie instinctively leaned into the warmth of his palm on the bare small of her back. A sigh escaped her lips as his hand slipped inside the fabric of her dress and ventured lower until his fingertips brushed the top of her ass. The lights on the terrace dimmed and music began to play. A flash of light from the water below signaled a single long spray from the middle of the lake. It multiplied and set off a continuous line of water in the air that moved forward and back with the music. As the water danced in the air, the music’s volume increased. Stephanie placed both hands on the railing. He moved behind her and ran his fingers up the planes of her back and down both of her arms. Continuing his assault of warm kisses down her neck and between her shoulder blades, the tip of his tongue followed the trail back up her neck and stopped at her ear. Stephanie gasped and leaned into his body for support. His arms provided the stability she needed to remain standing.

10.) Did you have a favorite word or phrase when writing this story?

I do but I’m not giving it away! I will give you a hint…

Stephanie has a love for very fitted and very low backless dresses. She likes to tease Jason with a certain fact. He always replies: “Damn, I knew it!”

Thank you for having me on your blog, Jake. It’s always a pleasure to visit!