Random Musings

She had a body to die for, and a gun up to the task.

Is This Cool or What? I am Elated! And Very Honored.

Calliope

  A Publication of The Writers' Specialized Interest Group (SIG) of American Mensa, Ltd.

From The Fiction Editor

sreditor@clearwire.net

Congratulations!

April 2, 2011

David Kentner

5424 Rt. 20 W

Freeport, IL 61032

Dear David,

It is my pleasure to announce that you have won FIRST PLACE in Calliope’s Eighteenth Annual Fiction Contest.   You will soon receive a check for $75, a certificate suitable for framing, a one-year subscription, and other premiums from Calliope’s warehouse of goodies.

Your story, “The Caretaker,” will appear in the Summer 2011 issue of Calliope; I will be sending you a proof copy of the story via email for your review and approval before we go to press.  We’ll also need an updated bio to go with the story. 

 Again, congratulations—and a big thank you for your ongoing support and promotion of Calliope. 

Warm regards,

Sandy Raschke

Born to Please - GA Hauser

Blurb for Born to Please:

Twenty-nine year old charismatic, Cary ‘Colt’ St. John, felt almost too confident in himself even before he graduated law school and began working for an LA law firm. Acting out his sexual fantasies as a powerful dom in nightclubs was near perfection. Until he grew bored with that as well. He yearned ‘fresh meat’, someone he could train. The repetitive ‘acting subs’ in the same scenarios he played each night no longer excited him.

Straight, masculine, twenty-four year old Ashton Lake, had been through much in his troubled teens. But he was trying to hold down a steady job, stay off drugs and stick to his support meetings.

When Colt lingers one night at his office, he discovers the shy janitor, already submissive to his assertive gaze. Colt knew he had found the perfect slave. He only had to groom him.

What neither Colt nor Ashton could have predicted was the connection that bonded them. Soon Colt had to wonder, who was serving whom? The scorching heat that was created between them convinced both men, they were born to please- each other.

Visit GA at: www.authorgahauser.com 

Buy this book at:  http://www.amazon.com/Born-to-Please-ebook/dp/B004FN1QWE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1302723433&sr=1-1

 

Sample Chapter Born to Please:

The halls were dim as the night drew near and only security spotlights lit his way. He was about to use his key to get into the offices when he found the door unlocked. He pushed it back and looked around. No one was at their desk, but he did hear noises.

Walking to his office to drop off his briefcase, Colt noticed a young man in a blue jumpsuit emptying trash pails.

When the man heard Colt behind him in the hall, he looked over his shoulder at him.

Colt stopped in his tracks.

Bright blue eyes met his stare. Colt’s mouth watered as he inspected the man, estimating him to be in his early to mid-twenties, closely cropped brown hair showing off a tattoo on the back of his neck and a sleek build.

The man didn’t seem quite as mesmerized as Colt and went back to cleaning.

Colt continued on his way to his office and removed the paperwork from his briefcase to lock in a file cabinet. That done, he stood in the stillness of his work space to listen. His cock twitched as he heard the sound of this man, the janitor, cleaning.

No other noise came to his senses. Colt knew he and this man were alone.

He snuck back, watching. Leaning into the room, Colt inhaled. The scent of a man and either musky cologne or deodorant made his skin rise in goose flesh. Delicious.

The man spun with a start, very shy to Colt’s predatory gaze.

“Am I in your office? I’m sorry.”

“No. You’re not.” Colt entered the room, staring at the tattoos running down this man’s right forearm.

The man appeared nervous as he replaced the trash can under the desk and used a cloth to dust the computer and shelves.

“Are you new?” Colt asked, intrigued.

“No. I’ve been here nearly a year.”

“Really?” Colt feigned surprise and extended his hand. “Funny I’ve never met you before. I’m Cary St. John, but everyone calls me Colt.”

The man went a deep shade of crimson and wiped his palm off on his jumpsuit. He mumbled his name.

Colt gripped his hand, leaned in closer and asked, “Sorry? I missed your name.”

“Ashton. Ashton Lake.” The man didn’t look directly into Colt’s eyes.

“Ashton,” Colt said as he took a deep inhale of him. “Nice name.” He knew Ashton wanted to get his hand back, but he held it longer, because he wanted to. “So nice to finally meet the man who is responsible for keeping our place so clean.”

Ashton chuckled, his eyes cast down.

Colt released his hand reluctantly. “You have something. Some soot. Right there.” Colt used his index finger to wipe at a non-existent spot on Ashton’s cheek.

Ashton reacted, stepping back.

Ah…the touch of a man is unfamiliar to you. Yummy! Colt couldn’t be any more pleased. “It’s still there.” Colt licked his fingertip and went back for another touch.

Ashton retreated, wiping his own face. “I got it.”

“How often do you clean here?” Colt stared at Ashton’s crotch, trying to judge the size of his package.

“Monday through Friday. Every night.” Ashton began to wipe shelves again, but appeared paranoid and anxiety ridden.

“Really? Every night?” Colt had an erection that was throbbing in his suit slacks. “At the same time, every night?”

“Sometimes later. It just depends if I can finish other jobs first.”

“Other jobs?” Colt sat on the corner of the desk.

“I clean two other floors here. It takes me a while.”

“All alone?” Colt pouted out his lower lip.

“I can do it.”

“Well...” Colt stood. “In that case, I’m sure I’ll see you again, Ash…You mind me calling you ‘Ash’?”

Ashton shook his head, but kept busy, not looking at Colt.

“Goodnight, Ash. See you soon.”

“’Night.”

Colt licked his lips as he got a look at Ashton’s tight ass when he went back to his cleaning.

Heading to the elevator, Colt put his hand into his pocket and rubbed his stiff cock through the lining. Got you, you gorgeous motherfucker. Once you’re in my line of fire, I always strike my target.

Random Musings

New term: latte-late

Meaning: "I'm late for work because I stopped for coffee, but it's okay because I brought you one."

Random Musings

If Julius Caesar had survived his assassination, he'd still be dead.

Random Musings

Failure to plan on your part, does not an emergency on my part make.

Wraith's Forest - LJ Leger

Fairy tales and haunted woods lead us through L.J. Leger's Beauty and the Beast story of one girl with the weight of a village on her shoulders and the attention of a very unlikely soul.

Jenna is chosen for the coveted task of gathering the magical fruit to preserve the peaceful balance of the secret valley where she and many others live. During the harvest, one fruit is damaged and the task of healing the bruise falls on Jenna’s shoulders. She must enter the Wraith’s Forest, retrieve a magical blade from the specter who lives there so the valley will remain a utopia. But once she makes contact with the Wraith, her fear slowly disappears and her curiosity is aroused with more questions of why the Wraith is in the Forest and the true purpose for the harvest.

If you love Beauty and Beast type fairy tales, Wraith’s Forest is the book to read. Perfect for Young Adults!

To Buy Wraith's Forest for $.99: http://www.amazon.com/Wraiths-Forest-ebook/dp/B004VGW2M8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302298681&sr=1-1-catcorr

WRITING A BLURB IN FIVE STEPS by Amber Green

For some markets, you might be allowed only 120 words to engage the potential reader, while the most generous spaces rarely allow more than 200 words. How do you choose, allocate, and arrange these precious few words?








Start with either the SETTING or the PRIMARY PROTAGONIST.

PRIMARY PROTAGONIST


The protagonist is the person who makes the story go; he isn’t necessarily the narrator or point-of-view (POV) character. Watson is not the protagonist of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Normally, you should lay out the protagonist’s full name along with two or three words of description. Each word of the description should have the resonance and relevance of a blog’s keyword, of a library’s subject catalog, of an Amazon tag. Physical descriptions might come to mind, but should be used only to the extent the physical description hints at the story’s conflict or stakes. If you had only six words to describe Spock, would you waste one on his hair? Medusa, on the other hand, cannot be clearly imagined without mention of her hair. If you have a reason not to categorize the protagonist so completely, allocate part of his space to identifying (and characterizing) a second character in terms of his or her relationship to the protagonist. If you have a romance in which two protagonists play equal roles, the primary protagonist for the purpose of the blurb is the character who has the most to lose in the first half of the book.






SETTING


These lines orient the reader to the reality of the story--to be specific, the reality of the first half of the book. If the reality shifts halfway through that first half, such would happen if the primary protagonist were shipped off to school or enlisted in the military, focus on the second of those realities. Ten to twenty words is necessary and sufficient; at least two of them should be keywords. You can then spend another ten to fifteen words to show how the primary protagonist fits into that reality. Think in terms of sentence fragments instead of sentences, so that you can rearrange them more easily. Choose details carefully to create a mood--which must echo the mood of the story itself--and remember to include keywords. You might combine these bits of sentences with those used for the primary protagonist, but for your first draft, keep the setting in a separate paragraph until you’re satisfied with it.






SECOND CHARACTER

After having introduced the primary protagonist and the setting, you can describe a second major character. If the second character has POV scenes, and if you have room, introduce him much like the first. If not, give him much less attention. Either way, focus exclusively on details that reflect on his relationship to the primary protagonist or to the primary conflict of the story. A second character is not an essential part of every blurb.






COUNTERFORCE AND STAKES


What is the primary protagonist up against? What happens if he fails? If your story has an actual villain as the antagonist, she deserves almost (but not quite) the same level of introduction as the protagonist. If the protagonist got four key words, the villain gets three. An antagonistic force, though, should only be described to the extent you can do so in vivid, concrete terms. One trick here is to focus on the counterforce that the characters actively face in the first half of the book. Do no more than allude to what they must contend with after reaching what they thought would be their goal, after their reality and goals shift in the middle of the book. Whether to focus on the primary protagonist or on the characters as a pair (or group) in this section is a delicate choice; whichever you choose, make the same choice for the counterforce and for the stakes. Sometimes you can leave the stakes implicit, but more often the consequences of failure make your strongest hook. Ending your blurb with a yes-or-no question risks insulting and alienating the potential reader. If the answer is obvious, strike the question.






EDIT


Highlight your keywords. No more than twelve words should separate any keyword from the next. If you count more, you need to reword, rearrange, or trim out the excess wordage. Echoing a keyword more than once is good, but if you repeat a keyword, make sure the second appearance of the word adds or clarifies a connotation not apparent in the first usage. Do the mood, tone, and vocabulary reflect the essence of the story? If not, reword. Now, count your words. If you’re over your limit but love the blurb as it is, save a copy for use elsewhere (like a loop chat) and cut ruthlessly until you reach your limit. If you’re under your word limit but within 20% of it, such as when you have 164 words and a 200-word limit, you're fine--don’t puff the blurb just to come closer to the size limit.

Sleep on it. Come back to your blurb on a different day, if at all possible. Shorten the sentences where you can. A sentence with multiple commas probably needs trimming or breaking up. Read the blurb out loud. Is the focus where you want it? Does the tone strongly echo your story’s tone? Does the last line entice the potential reader to head for the checkout? Trim and reword and rearrange until the answers are all yes. Then call it good.

Visit Amber: http://www.shapeshiftersinlust.com/

Turncoat (Turner & Turner) - Amber Green

Nine months ago, Ken Turner and his lover, FBI agent Turner "Turn" Scott, handed in enough evidence to bring federal charges against KT's stepfather, but Father escaped to Mexico.

When Mexicans kidnap Turn, KT desperately smuggles himself across the country to seek help from a man out of Turn's past. A man whose photo Turn still cherishes. A man who, KT finds, has crossed the border and now contends with KT's stepfather and other drug lords for leadership of their cartel.

To survive, the drug lords must know which parts of their networks have been compromised. Turner Scott has that information. One of the drug lords has Turn. Another has KT. The third knows KT might be Turner Scott's only weakness.

But Turn himself doesn't know whether his hunger for justice is stronger than his taboo love for KT.

Buy this book at: http://www.amazon.com/Turncoat-Turner-ebook/dp/B004V1H9A8/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1301941287&sr=1-12

Visit Amber at: http://www.shapeshiftersinlust.com/

Grand Opening of the It's Raining Men blog

Today is the official opening of the blog It's Raining Men. Stop by, say hello, and learn about what's coming with this site dedicated to gay men.
"Our Mission: To offer the gay male community and those that identify with it, quality, entertaining, gay content. To break down barriers and create new opportunities through our words and work."


Over the next few weeks they will be giving away copies of many works of gay fiction.
This is also a site with daily posts by many gifted and talented writers.


Check it out at:
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/