Hey, I Missed This One!

Terrie Figueroa reviewed Artistically Inclined for RRT Erotic on October 25th and it took the detective work of my co-writer to notice it. Good review, too! Instead of the more common "star" system, RRT uses a more descriptive tag. In this case the story is rated "Multiple O's- Oh baby, I'd go back for more!". Now that's music to an aspiring pornster's ears there.

The review is not extensive, being part of what RRT calls their "Nibbles" but it is still nice to know that the work was appreciated and enjoyed by the reviewer. You can read the full test of what Terrie had to say here. She enjoyed the finish and she notes that she felt the sexual tension immediately.

Artistically Inclined is available from Venus Press for the incredibly affordable price of $3.98!

Happy Holidays!

No matter how you choose to celebrate...whether you are lifting a glass with family, herding children around the couch while playing basketball with wrapping paper balls and a trash bag hoop, warming your feet before a Yule log, lighting candles or just smiling while you think of absent loved ones...


I wish you all the peace and love in the world. May this day be one of light and laughter, and may your troubles recede into the background for a few hours.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A Sale! A Sale!

Coming Christmas Eve !!!

It's Christmas eve...everything is finally wrapped, the bicycle is put together and the tree is decorated...the kids are snuggled up and dreaming desperately of morning. But you have to wait until you're sure their asleep and you've got time on your hands...why not snuggle up with a treat for your intelligence and your libido?

Or it's Christmas day...the kids are outside riding their bikes or deep into the Playstation 3 zone. Dinner is done and you just want to escape. The glass of wine or Hot Chocolate and Peppermint Schnapps is helping...but you want to find yourself on the beach in San Diego, or visiting Easter Island, or having a bedroom picnic...

Good News then. Phaze is having a sale! December 24th and 25th, got to the Phaze bookstore and enter the code SANTA50 and you'll get 50% off!!!!!!

If those days are just too crazy? But you still want to start the new year with a bang? From December 26th to the 30th, you can get 25% off by entering the code SANTA25!

So this Christmas, take a little time to treat yourself...and save while you're at it!

An Update of Sorts...

Just to let all y'all know what's going on out here in the southwest corner.

Alessia and I finished the new Mandy and Bruce adventure that will be the climax and key selling point for Artifactual, The Erotique Collection. The title of the new story is Closing Arguments and it is the longest and most complicated story in the Erotique universe so far. We introduce a couple new characters and explore in more depth some of the things about the museum and it's artifacts, things that really had not been touched on since Alessia wrote Erotique.

No exotic locations this time...except Philly. To some that is exotic. But lots of twists and turns and some very natural and realistic growth from the characters. I think that if you have enjoyed any of the earlier adventures you will love this. Plus you get all of the stories in one book.

I'm now writing a piece for a spring anthology for Phaze, my first piece for them solo. I admit I'm still going to Alessia for plenty of advice and support, but all the writing is mine this time around. I'll be interested to see how my Phaze audience reacts to solo Will.

Candace Gilmer is giving away a new version of the first Alessia & Will story as part of her Useless Movie Knowledge Holiday Edition, so check that out. The link to her blog is on the right over there and you can navigate to her web site from there.

Many of you are aware that I am a huge Charger and Padre fan. Actually, I write for both teams under a different name. Both have already had division championship seasons and the Chargers are still going, so that is also taking up my limited writing time.

Finally, I really do intend to finish not only many of my WIP short stories, but the novel that continually preys on the edges of my mind. I'll let you know when that happens.

Just in case I don't post again before Monday, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. Happy Hannukah to those already celebrating. A Blessed Yule or a Joyous Kwanzaa! Or if none of those apply? Well, how about Happy New Year!

Be Naughty!
Will

San Diego Sunset Gets Four Hearts

Pam over at Love, Romances & More reviewed San Diego Sunset and enjoyed it enough to give it four hearts. It’s a great review, because Pam broke the story down and tells what she thinks about the plot, the characters and situations. It’s wonderful to see a review that shows the effort that reviewer put into it. It’s well written and it makes me think about my own work.

Too much more of this and I’ll be reviewing the reviewer…but I was very pleased to read her opinion.

You can read Pam’s review here. I’m going to make it a point to look at more on this website and from this reviewer in particular. Thank you Pam!

"San Diego Sunset" Brightens Your Winter

Whistling winds and freezing temperatures got you down? Tired of spending more time looking for a parking spot at the mall then you spent driving to the mall? Did you walk into your home office and find your Christmas List chasing your Budget around the desktop with a baseball bat?

Take a break. Make a cup of hot chocolate, pour in a generous shot of peppermint schnapps and open the laptop by the fire. The fire will warm your toes, the schnapps your tummy and San Diego Sunset's erotic romance your heart and, well, other regions...

Here's what Annie from The Romance Studio had to say about it:

San Diego Sunset
Alessa Brio and Will Belegon
Paranormal erotic romance
Available from Phaze
ISBN: 1-59426-567-4
December 2006

San Diego Sunset is the story of two individuals who are about to be brought together by destiny. He dreams several times a week of lying on an empty warm beach, post-intimacy, with a woman, and waking just before he hears her name. On the days following the dream, he is both more creative and productive, and also more stressed. She finds the dream to intensify in vividness at the end of each month, and most especially at the year’s end. Both are determined to locate the location and to find each other.

San Diego Sunset is a fascinating short tale of two souls on a collision course with Destiny and each other. I found my heart catching in my throat as the two worked their way toward each other and then at first, passed by like two ships in the night, close but without contact. But Destiny won’t be denied.

Overall rating: 4.5 of 5
Sensuality rating: Very sensual

Reviewer: Annie
November 12, 2006

My Writing Partner...

...is running the Phaze Romance blog for the day. She is promoting our new release San Diego Sunset, which will be available from Phaze starting Sunday for the low Promotional price of only two dollars.

Currently the discussion has been primarily about dreams, their nature and how people treat them in their lives. Please click the link above if you want to join in the dialouge. Also, she used a picture I took from Sunset Cliffs here in San Diego on her first post of the day, so if you would like to view it (and possibly even compliment the photographer *hint,hint,wink,wink,nudge,nudge*)please give 'er a look.

Whispers Media Is Up & Running

So after a long wait I finally get a chance to hear what the gang over at Whispers Media has been up to...and it's quite a trip, actually.

Basically, what this company is doing is pushing erotic audio past it's grass roots beginnings and into a world of higher production values, superior voice talent and *ahem* excellent writing.

Now, I've heard the occassional worry from people...the same kind of thing you always hear when something becomes successful or gets noticed. And I've heard the worry about what if the big boys notice the value of what we are doing on the ground floor of honest and realistic erotic writing. The honesty will disappear...the raw power will be diluted and all the art will go out of it...

I disagree completely. Has it worked that way in rock n' roll? Was there only ever one or two garage bands and then no one else bothered or was willing to start one? Quite the contrary. Once it becomes possible to actually have a reward for your hard efforts...

Look, I love finishing a story just for the story's sake. I love it when my characters surprise me, when I say, "Now this will happen..." and Bruce or Mandy speak up and tell me there is no way in hell they would ever do that.

But it ain't gonna kill me if I can actually pay for my internet access by selling a story or two...if I'm collecting the occassional royalty check. (Those get bigger every month BTW *grin*)

This new outfit seems like a class act and I know they went out and found some good work to lay their foundation with...firsthand. The Voice is smooth and professional (I'll leave the judgment on sexiness to the ladies and occassional open-minded gent). The cost is affordable. I just don't see many negatives here, and I see a lot of potential positives...

...and if you intend to give them a try and download an MP3 or order a CD? Yeah, how about trying Track 2 on "Just The Two Of Us" under the Blue Moon Whispers line? This um, friend of mine would love to hear your reaction to it...

Perspective

All of my troubles, all of my worries...the hopes and dreams, the moments in both sun and shadow. Today they all seem less important and yet they seem all the more vibrant. Today I cherish even my pain.

Gabrielle was with us less than three days. She was born to a dear friend half a world away. I spent hours with her, but I'll never hold her hand. She has reminded me of the importance of love and life, but I'll never kiss her cheek. At least not in this world.

Gabrielle came into the world after 25 weeks in her mothers internal embrace...not nearly enough, but there was no choice. She touched lives all over the world in this brief foray into a larger, colder climate. The measure of her impact will not be known for many years, but more than 80 people in 13 countries lit candles for her and directed their healing thoughts and prayers towards her and her mother.

She is now a permament part of our community. In the words that she inspired, in the friendships she strengthened, in the hearts she touched she will live forever.

Goodbye little warrior. You will not be forgotten.

Two Things I Want To Talk About...

...But I keep having other things to get done. How dare my life get in the way of my Blogosphere!

I want to talk about Whispers Media, a new venture I was asked to write for back in the spring. It's an exciting concept and I'm pleased to be a part of it for many reasons. The audio potential of the internet is expanding greatly and I think that the team at WM have a great concept and that it is well executed. Currently that link is only going to take you to a preview site, but they should be up and running very soon. I'll give out a little more info very soon.

The La Jolla Writers Conference was this past weekend, and it was an incredible experience for me. My co-writer came out and we both took great advice and validation out of our interactions with the powerhouse lineup of speakers & instructors. Plus, in the time we weren't spending in workshops and classes we were able to get an amazing amount of plotting and scripting done for our next Bruce & Mandy adventure, which is really going to throw some readers for a loop. I think we showed that we are not afraid to do what we think the characters and story are telling us to do, even when it seems dangerous.

More very soon!

Well, I Did Star Wars, I Have To Do Firefly...

I love this show...I'm a Browncoat alright. I became one after I bought the movie Serenity. I had the movie about a week and I hadn't watched it yet and I mentioned this to a parent of one of the kids on my little league team. This provoked a reaction of, "No, Wait!!!!" and a demand that I borrow his DVD set and watch the Firefly series first. And I'm glad I took the advice.

Figures...very typical Will Belegon to fall in love with a TV series only after it's cancelled. See, I almost never watch TV...aside from sports and the History Channel anyway. I loved Firefly so much that I went out and bought my own copy. I dearly hope that somehow Fox can be persuaded to sell the rights back to Joss Whedon or to Sci-Fi or HBO or something. It will be hard enough to reunite the cast now...the longer it goes the less chance it will work.

So, I took the personality quiz, and this is what the result was...


You are Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)
Dependable and trustworthy.
You love your significant other and
you are a tough cookie when in a conflict.


Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character am I?" quiz...

It's Strange The Way Things Affect Us

As word spread about a small plane crashing into an apartment building in New York today, I found myself rather uninterested once it seemed obvious it was an isolated incident. Not that I am uncaring about the people involved or that I didn't find the loss of life a little sad; just that it is, in the long run, a thing that has zero effect on my life...

Until I found out who was piloting the plane. Why does someone who outrightly rejects the "Cult of Celebrity" like myself still buy into it enough subconsciously that I am suddenly fascinated just because it was a MLB pitcher at the controls?

I don't want to belittle Cory Lidle or those who will be affected by this accident. It is, of course, a tragic thing for the families of those involved. Because fans do get emotionally involved with the people that play for the team they love, this does now affect thousands or even millions more than it would have otherwise. I recognize this and understand it. I felt the same thing when San Diego Padres outfielder Mike Darr was killed in a car accident during Spring Training a few years ago. I shared experiences with him...Even if I did it at the same time as 30,000 others. It was enough of a connection to make the accident "personal" to me...and Yankee fans are bound to feel the same way now.

There are obviously a lot of unanswered questions about this particular incident. I hope it was an accident, not deliberate. There are so many things that can go wrong in a small plane. Because of who it was, I'll be paying more attention then I would have otherwise. Whether because I've seen him pitch (I have) or because we share a nebulous bond as ballplayers, who knows?

Regardless, I hope that whatever does come out publicly is not something that makes the families feel worse...



...but I'll still be looking for The Onion to post a story about the Terrorist connections of George Steinbrenner and Joe Torre in the next few days.

There Are Other Things In Life...

Yes, I have have been a little slow to post anything new here for the last month or so...I admit it. But there's this thing that happens; You know, it's related to the old cliche about how every spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of...

Baseball, of course. And see, my team has been in an intense pennant race and now there are playoff games to attend and agonize over.

So relax. I'm not dead. I didn't go into hiding to avoid the DEA, who want to bust me for cough syrup because I don't like George Bush. I'm not on the run after being branded an unamerican terrorist for questioning whether a guy getting a blow job is really more dastardly than lying to start a war or letting millions of people go homeless because you're too busy to watch the Weather Channel.

And I most certainly have neither stopped nor even truly slowed the sexual calisthenics my brain goes through on a daily basis...

It's the playoffs, baby!

There are other things to think about besides sex ya know...really. Um, for a little while anyway. *wink*

TCM Reviews Liked Artistically Inclined

Robyn Ashford reviewed Artistically Inclined for TCM Reviews, and although there is no rating assigned she seems to have enjoyed the read...her final line is one that gave me a little shiver...

"Forget the candy and the romantic candlelight dinner. Start a new Valentine’s Day tradition."

Tell me that doesn't so sound like something that belongs on those first pages of a paperback edition where the publisher is trying to convince you not to put the book back down on the shelf!

Ok, I Almost Never Take These...

...but I admit to being a complete Star Wars Junkie, and with the original trilogy having been released recently on DVD in their theatrical form ( Han would NEVER wait for that slimeball to fire first!), why not play a bit?

Chewbacca

According to our patented JawamaticTM technology, you are most like Chewbacca in personality. Chewbacca epitomises the idea of a "gentle giant" -- someone whose stature is intimidating but who is actually very kind and caring. In many ways he's very similar to Han Solo, his best friend, but he's much more comfortable with his emotions. Chewie is, in a word, sweet. (The polar opposite of Chewbacca is Darth Vader.)

Link: The Star Wars Personality Test written by MiguelSanchez on Ok Cupid

"Artistically Inclined" Released By Venus Press!

Yes gentle readers, it's true...Someone other than Phaze has been talked into the ludicrous idea of paying me. I can understand paying Alessia...but me? I guess they don't realize just how starved for attention I really am...

Fictionwise

I'm beginning to get it...this idea that I really am a pro. Things like royalty checks and having to save receipts. Going to the "Authors" page at Venus Press and seeing my name an inch below that of Piers Anthony. The latest thing to trip that little trigger? I have a page at Fictionwise dedicated to my published work.

Feels good...

Reviews Are Starting To Come In

The reviews for Amichu are starting to arrive, with first one out coming from BareBack Magazine. Natasha Brooks from Bareback gave mine and Alessia's latest 4.5 stars out of a possible five!

Some highlights from her review:

"The writing duo Alessia Brio and Will Belegon are at it again with the third edition to the series started originally by Alessia."

"This story is filled with much more action and adventure than you can ever imagine. I sat in amazement after reading the enormous amount of creativity that was put into this ebook."

"The story ... starts off on a humorous tone, but then soon introduced an action packed plot and adventure for Amanda and Bruce as they head to South America to uncover the truth about an Incan artifact that was generously donated to Erotique, (Amanda's sex toy shop and museum) by a lover of Amanda's late aunt."

"One thing that I enjoyed about this ebook was that ... I could clearly and vividly visualize the story as I read it."

"In terms of the sexual heat of the story, it was well balanced, considering how well the story was written."

"One thing that I admire about the story is that the relationship and love between Amanda and Bruce seems realistic and is displayed in the skillful use of dialog between the two characters.

"The story was outstanding."

About the only thing Natasha didn't like was something that Alessia and I intend to fix if a hoped for opportunity comes in, so I didn't find a whole lot to dislike in this. Of course, that's why I want to crow about it here!

I Must Be Getting Really Frustrated.

Those of you who know me from discussion boards or author groups will recognize how rarely I become involved in political discussions. Rather than alienate a group of people with whom I share common goals (those being the continued freedom of speech and the press and fighting the demonization of healthy sexuality), I will sit on the sidelines and just allow peoples passions free reign. Those rare times I do speak up are usually when someone just goes too far to the extreme in making a point.

Yet lately, I find myself compelled to make very public the point that disagreeing with the foreign policy of a sitting President is not an exercise in sedition.

This nation was founded in part because we did not feel that it was correct to simply do what George said without speaking our mind about it. True, that was a different George. That one had the title that this one sometimes appears to desire. Also, neither George is an isolated entity making decisions unilaterally, although the propaganda of those in opposition has portrayed it as such in both cases.

Therefore, I find it bewildering to be accused of “acting un-American” when I question the wisdom or policies of a man who STILL can’t pronounce nuclear. On the contrary, I would say that our founding fathers would find the idea that we should accept the word of a political figure as truth simply because we elected him is the thing that is un-American.

As a certain segment of our population continues the attempt to push us further toward a Fundamentalist Christian theocracy and away from being comfortable when speaking with a dissenting voice, I suspect that I will feel the urge to shoot from the hip more often.

Let me make it clear that although I most certainly did not vote for him, George W. Bush is my President. I will make my opinion of his actions known when asked and I am not shy about demonstrating my disapproval of him, but he is the democratically elected leader of the nation I love. I am not in denial, nor am I unaware of how the process works. However it is both my duty and my right to disagree with the man and other members of his political party.

So back off! Don’t call me a traitor, or a terrorist enabler, or anything else that makes sense in your twisted little neo-con minds. Don’t tell me I don’t support the troops because I don’t think they belong in the middle of someone else’s civil war. I come from a family with a strong military tradition. My father slogged through rice paddies, my brother was special forces out of Fort Bragg before he messed up his back and I have cousins in the service right now, one of whom has seen more of Baghdad than he ever wanted.

There is nothing that makes us more American then standing up and speaking our minds when we feel people in authority are in the wrong. The price of freedom is eternal viligance. Thomas Jefferson said that. The name should be familiar.

Coffee In New York

Baileys, heavy cream and froth sprinkled with cinnamon,
rejuvenating,
intoxicating cup
on a windswept August afternoon
tendril’d heat
rising steamily
over the tan and green
of the vine’d tablecloth
a summer’s feast
tripping across tongues
laughter echoing against the windows
shared memories
imposing upon the silence
time to feel
the meaning of our friendship
time to make moments
that light candles and stars.

Phaze In The City

Last Friday night, I had a reading and signing in the Big Apple.

Really. People came and listened to my poetry and prose. Stood there in the dark, listened appreciatively. Laughed at the right times. Made interesting little noises at the right times. After my turn came I returned to my table and watched several others do the same and found myself seriously impressed with them. Then I wondered if they were thinking the same thing about me. I decided that they may have been, and that was just wonderfully fulfilling.

Then at the very end I went back up and finished off the night as I had been the one to start it, only this time reading in tandem with my co-author Alessia Brio. This time I know people were affected by our words and our performance. I could hear their breathing, hear the little intakes of breath and even a muttered "oh my".

We read a scene that happens fairly early in Amichu, and it was very well recieved. Afterwards, we were asked where we would be appearing next by one of the patrons. Is there any greater compliment then for someone to come up and tell you that he enjoyed that enough that he wants to hear more and perhaps bring some others to hear it too?

It was great to meet so many of my fellow authors from Phaze. Robin Slick, Bianca D'Arc, Petula Caesar, Cassidy Kent and Stella Price; I so enjoyed our time together and look forward with great anticipation to meeting you again. We had a wonderful time, didn't we?

The only sad things were that our compatriot Leigh Ellwood had her flight cancelled and a special guest that I was really looking forward to meeting after years of speaking with her by phone or email had an unavoidable situation keep her from attending. But even so, it was incredibly empowering and gratifying. To be applauded for the work of my imagination in such a manner wasn't bad for the ol' male ego either.

I am so doing this again!

"Amichu" Is Finally Available!

After delays caused by circumstances beyond our control, and due in no small part to the extraordinary efforts of my partner and one of our Phaze comrades, Amichu is now available for download here.

Amichu is the third in a series of adventures involving Bruce and Mandy and is the most far-reaching in terms of location and intrigue. I feel it is a solid work and will dearly enjoy hearing the responses from our readers.

Interviewed By An Angel

Well, a Fallen Angel anyway...I recently did an interview with Serena of Fallen Angel Reviews. The interview is posted at their website, here.

Serena asked a couple of fun questions and I always enjoy the banter, but I've gotten very little feedback from my interviews don in the past and I always wonder how people feel about what I had to say.

So...A Contest! A reader of mine has given me a wonderful suggestion for promotional bookmarks to use at signings. Because of the popularity of a couple of my avatars and the association with blue jeans that has grown from that, I will soon be cutting up a pair of my jeans into bookmarks for autograph purposes.

The first person to respond via email with a subject line of "Whimsical Fallen Angel Contest" that correctly can tell me the name of the first girl I kissed and the title I relish even more than "published author" will win one of these denim keepsakes, personally autographed by yours truly.

So let's see if anyone is actually paying attention out there...

The Fog of Memory

Sometimes places and people change dramatically with the distance of time...even if they don't change at all.

Perceptions of your reality all share a piece of common ground. They are your perceptions. Based on your environment, your memories, your situation. Everything we see throgh our eyes is subject to interpretation by our own brain. The curse of the perfection-seeking artist is that he can not control the perceptions of his audience. Therefore, he can never perfectly portray any thing...not a color, not a thought, not a sound.

The same holds true for the times we share in this world. You have pleasant memories of a place for many reasons, and not all of them have anything to do with the place.

Cover Proof

We got a proof of our cover for Artistically Inclined and I really like it. No offense to my Phaze publishers/editors, but I really like the actual photo better then the computer generated illustration.

As soon as we have a release date and a final version I will let you know, announcing it both here and at my Yahoo Group.

I will be on an author chat at Phaze.com at 9 pm eastern, a little over an hour from now. If you read this and have the chance, come on over and say "Hi!". I need to start announcing these chats a couple days before hand over the mailing list...instead of an hour and a quarter before it starts.

Not So Little Things

It’s often the small moments that make the most surprising impact. A graduation or a wedding, the birth of a child…all these moments are huge and you expect them to create huge emotions.

But sometimes a small thing can generate feelings out of proportion with its apparent importance. Such a moment came to me today, and although I was expecting it due to a conversation with my co-writer, it was no less sweet.

I go to the page titled “Meet Our Authors” at Venus Press, and there I am. And about two inches above me is Piers Anthony.

It takes an awful lot to make me quote Ashton Kutcher, but still…

“DUDE! That is sweeeeeeeet!”

Who Wants To Dance?

Alessia and I got news on Monday evening that Amichu, the next adventure in the lives of Bruce and Mandy, was selected by Phaze to be a part of their upcoming Samba line of HeatSheets.

The Samba line is a series of affordable novellas tied together by being set in South America. Alessia and I really wanted to be part of this line, but at first we were coming up empty on what to do with it. When the idea of Easter Island and its disputed connections to South American civilizations came up, our block evaporated very quickly.

Not only did we come up with what we believe is our best work to date, we also ended up with one of our biggest challenges; keeping it below the 12,000 word limit on the HeatSheet format. If every scene we had originally envisioned been included, this story could have easily reached 20,000 words.

Even just including the words we actually wrote would have put us near 15,000. The editing process was very painful at points, requiring both of us to let go of things we wanted to keep. However, the result is a story that reads like it is half of its actual length, a real page-turner. Action packed in more ways then one; it races to its conclusion.

The storyline introduces two new characters and gives us a glimpse into the past behind the creation of Erotique and the colorful life of its founder, Mandy’s mysterious aunt. It also introduces a new twist to the erotic magic that Bruce and Mandy are beginning to discover running through all of human history. Not only does Amichu give you more of Bruce and Mandy, it sets the scene for many possible adventures to follow.

Amichu will be released towards the end of July and will be available through Phaze.com at the low HeatSheet price of $2.00. I will certainly let you know when it is available for download.

Muse Re-Awakened?

So, after a dry spell of way too long, I am finally starting to find something when I sit down at my keyboard again...WORDS!

Since taking on my new day-job, which I am enjoying greatly, I had been pretty dry. However, my non-fiction was still flowing all right, so I did not worry too much. I've gone through this before and always come out the other side intact.

Then Colleen died. All of a sudden I couldn't write anything. Except apologies for not writing and internet posts. It scared me a little...

Sure, it was only like two weeks. But it was the longest time I had gone without writing since I rediscovered my "voice" a few years back. So I started to wonder.

Well, in the last three days I have finished a short piece of about 1800 words and put 1000 words down on another.

Whew!

Goodbye Red.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

We Must Always Be Vigilant

One of the greatest challenges of a democratic society is to provide for protection against what John Stuart Mill called the "Tyranny of the Majority".

As with free speech, this is most difficult when you are in opposition to the will of the individual or the minority. It is always easy to defend the rights of those with whom you are in agreement. To defend against the enforcement of a position you yourself endorse requires a greater morality then that taught in water cooler discussions, family experience or under the auspices of a religious institution.

Our legally elected President has endorsed the proposal of a constitutional amendment whose ultimate goal is no less then the disengagement of a portion of the population he is charged to protect from the basic rights asserted in the very formation of the nation he now leads.

This nation was formed around the idea of certain unalienable rights. To quote a document with which the President of the United States should be greatly familiar, "Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

It is the solemn duty of the government of this nation to protect it's citizens against the power and despotism of it's own population. Regardless of the intent or moral stance of the largest portion of the people, to actively pursue the limitation of a section of this countries citizens from their right to pursue happiness in a manner that does not harm the person or livelihood of another citizen is no less than the greatest possible dereliction of duty and can be characterized at worst as treasonous.

To legistate against a single person in a manner to restrict his or her liberty due to a belief that you know better then he what is good, right or moral for him is an affront against the Constitution of this great nation and an encroachment upon the claim which drove us to cast off the yoke of English monarchy. That claim being that we are free men.

It is a betrayal to be elected to the office of the highest single position of power over a nation of free men and then to wilt in the face of public outcry and endorse a limitation of the liberty of the populace with whom you are charged with protecting. Were it but a single person standing against us all, if his claim did no harm to another individual it would be the duty of the President to champion his cause and rally to his defense. Instead, our President has consulted the polls and decided to throw the christians to the lions for the entertainment of the masses.

I will end by once again quoting On Liberty by John Stuart Mill.

"the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil, in case he do otherwise. To justify that, the conduct from which it is desired to deter him must be calculated to produce evil to someone else. "

Mr. President, I call upon you to rethink your position and assume the true duties of the office to which you were elected. Show me the truth of your morality.

"Switch" Continues To Review Well

More reviews have been posted about my first release with Alessia Brio and the opinion continues to be positive! So far the harshest criticism has been that the reviewer felt it was too much of a playful romp and wanted more characterization and plot. *insert evil laugh here* Yes, I so hate to delve into the inner workings of my characters...

From Leola Brooks review at Eternal Night :

"This is highly entertaining story with delightful verbal interplay between Amanda and Bruce as well as a sizzling script for a very unusual, very hot picnic."

From Enchanted Ramblings :

"The two different perspectives from the male and female author worked well, and I would like to see something lengthier ... from this writing duo, as they have a great style."

All in all, I'd have to say I'm pretty pleased...and highly anticipating the release of Artistically Inclined from Venus Press.

It's Been A While Huh?

Sorry about the long gap here...wasn't really deliberate. Just got caught up in quote "real life" unquote.

My co-writer and I finished the sequel to Switch. I started a new job last week, one I like much better then the old one. It has much better hours and no weekends so I can still coach little league.

But my writing has slowed tremendously. I am telling myself it is just the new schedule and the adjustments I am having to make for that...and that I don't have that extra hour in the morning anymore. Besides, it is only the fiction. My sportswriting is still going strong.

I think I just need to get comfy...

"Switch" Has It's First Review

Shay over at Sensual Reads has given Switch it's first review, and I think she might have thought we did okay...

"For Amanda and Bruce, their time seemed to be spent with the operations of Erotique, a famous sex toy shop and museum. They never seemed to have time for one another. But with a shared kiss at the office, and a little pet and play, they made the time. A mattress picnic in their new apartment was the perfect plan. Along with a new toy to test.

"With the storm brewing outside, and the very pleasurable toy in place, Amanda and Bruce become lost in one another. When the power surges, that becomes the game. They have somehow switched bodies, and soon learn just what it takes to make the other burn. And they are both surprised at what they discover.

"Okay, I have to say WOW! Switch is one hot read that will have your temperature rising, and the play between the two laugh out loud funny. I now have a new outlook on just what my man may be feeling. And I will never look at nipple clamps or grapes the same way again. This duo of authors have a short but sweetly electrifying hot hit on their hands. Bravo! My smile will be in place every time the lightening strikes."

Guest Hosting Gig Thursday, April 27th

On Thursday, my co-writer Alessia Brio and I will be guest hosts for the Phaze Romance Blog.

We have plans to announce a little contest to reward those of you who shelled out the two bucks to actually buy a copy of Switch. After that, we really don't know what we will do. But I sure would like to have someone pop over there and play.

How about it? Want to come out and play?

It's Today! It's Today! It's Today!

"...But it's always today, George..."

Ok, please forgive the father of two for a Stuart Little reference. But it really is today. Today is the day that I can finally tell someone that I'm a published author. Because the easy question with the hard answer was, "Well, where can I buy your book?"




Yep, it's out! It's in the store and for half the the price of a Venti double mocha half decaf extra hot with a twist at Star-Schmucks you can now download your very own copy of Switch, guaranteed to start your blood rushing to places that wake you up. Only $2.00! Get yours now so that when Alberto Gonzales sends me to prison for corrupting innocent 36 year old bisexual meteorologists by introducing them to alternative jewelry, you can tell all your friends that you knew me when I was only a small boil on the ass of the Republican party instead of a threat to world moral conformity.

A Moment In Fatherhood.

Since I have time on my hands due to my unemployment, I have been doing something people have suggested I do for years. I have been helping coach my son's Little League team. My son has a love for the game similar to his father's and idolizes Trevor Hoffman of the Padres. He is his teams best pitcher, but in the league he is in as an eight year old, each pitcher is only allowed two innings. The team has come to expect two quick scoreless innings when he is pitching. This morning, it got a little challenging, and I had a chance to see how my boy would respond to adversity.

In his first inning, he struck out the first two batters. The next batter hit a weak pop fly to second. My son literally starts walking towards the dugout. Being Little League, the ball was, of course, dropped. Very frustrated, he walked the next batter.

Next batter hits a ground ball to second. The second baseman makes up for his drop of the fly ball by fielding it cleanly, trying to tag the runner going by, then turning to throw to first with plenty of time left. Unfortunately, the first baseman is standing there watching the second baseman, ten feet from first base. Everybody is safe.

My son gets more frustrated, goes to a 3-0 count on next hitter, then steps off the mound after finally hearing me yelling at him to do so. Takes a couple deep breaths, settles down, throws two strikes. On the full count the ball is hit to center field. Luckily, the right kid is there.

The one who always listens to the coaches and is our best athlete. The one who catches line drives galore in practice. The one who always uses two hands. The one who puts his glove up and has the ball go right in and out because for the first time any of us can remember he only used one hand. Two runs score.

My son puts his hat over his face. I know he is trying not to cry.

His focus gone, he throws eight straight balls, walking in a run. One of the other coaches goes to the mound to talk to him, because I am afraid to say anything for fear that I will just put more pressure on him.

Coach tells him to relax, to forget about the bases being loaded and to just stare at his catcher. He strikes out their best hitter on three pitches.

My son comes into the dugout, throws his hat, throws his glove and starts crying. I sit next to him and tell him to knock it off, why is he crying? He tells me he is crying because he walked in a run. (Proud Daddy moment. He is not blaming others, but focusing on what he could have done better.)

We talk about how things should have been, about how his job is to throw strikes and about how he can not control what happens behind him. He calms down, talks his catcher into going behind the dugout and throwing for a bit while his team bats.

He returns to the mound for his second inning. I am nervous as hell for him.

He strikes out the side.

VERY Proud Daddy moment.

I Can Feel You Shiver With Antici.....

Well, okay...actually I'm the one shivering with anticipation. My first real honest published work is due for release soon, maybe as soon as Thursday. They have not given us a schedule for which of the Surge novellas will be released on the first day, but the first couple will be out April 20th.

I will, of course, trumpet it here and through my yahoo group when Switch is available for download.

Baseball's Back!

My one true obsession besides sex is baseball. I like other sports, even love them. I have a lightning bolt tatooed on my right arm fer crissakes. But baseball is the one that really holds my attention.

I love it at least partially because I know it so well. Baseball is never boring to me because I see so much that the more casual fan misses. Not that I want to come off elitist or anything, but I did play the game for a long time and I tend to think and watch a game like I am still playing. I think about what pitch I would throw next, I look at an outfielder and think that he is out of position a pitch or two before a ball that should have been caught drops in for a Texas Leaguer. I love the game in person because on television I can't see the things that really intrigue me.

So I might be a little bit of a baseball snob, in the same way a person that really knows wine will be unwilling to drink something that the rest of us think is fine, or the way I just can't pick up an issue of Penthouse Letters because I know that there is so much better erotica out there on the web for free and if I am gonna spend money on smut I can read something by Gwen Masters or Leigh Ellwood or Colleen Thomas and get way more bang for my buck.

Imagine That...

So I pulled out my bass tonight...first time I've had it out of it's case in at least five years and I'm sure it's been ten since it was plugged into an amp. I walked it a little bit, played a couple of simple riffs; a little Stray Cat Strut, some Ozzy, a little Deep Purple, Queen's Another One Bites the Dust. I was just playing around with some friends after their three year old went into an air guitar routine. I was thinking about something Kat Dixon said to me a couple weeks ago, about how happy she was to know that I had played. Something I don't think she said, just implied...that once you have a love for music, it will always lurk under the surface. You might not sit at a piano or pick up your guitar for ten years, but it will still be like renewing a love affair when you do.

Now I have a desire to try writing a song again. Imagine that...

So If You Didn't Take The Bait...

Let me stand up on a roof top and shout...

"I'm published!!!!!"

I am now part of the Phaze Publishing family. A novella co-written by myself and Alessia Brio has been purchased by Phaze and I signed my contract yesterday. "Switch" will be released by Phaze as one of their Heatsheets and will be available only in e-format at first, but Alessia and I have discussed the feeling that we may not be finished with these characters and it is possible their story will continue. It is not improbable that we may one day collect those stories and place them in an anthology or novel.

Follow the Link on my sidebar to "Artistically Inclined" for more on the co-authored works of Will Belegon and Alessia Brio.

Watch This Space

Yeah, yeah....I hear you. Watch what? Lazy bastard hasn't posted anything in a week. Probably sitting around, drowning his sorrows in Glenlivet and Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream.

But I really have been doing some things. Things I couldn't do before. I went to my kids little league game and watched him pitch two shoutout innings and hit a double down the first base line with the bases loaded. I gave in to every little request my daughter had for a whole day, whether it was "Daddy, read me a book" or "Daddy, can I have some of your ice cream?" (There is no greater love one can show another then being willing to share your Ben & Jerry's)

I've done the laundry and the majority of the housework. I don't fold clothes much, because Her Highness just refolds them, since obviously that sloppy job could not possibly have been my final fold, right?

Oh, *blush*...and I have indulged in way too much XBox and Playstation. Me, a grown-ass man and all even. But I admit it...I'm hooked on Knights of the Old Republic and Gun.

I had a job interview today. Must have gone ok from their point of view because they said it was going to have to be quick, a half-hour or so, and I was in the interview for 68 minutes. I don't know that the job they are seeking to fill is one that fits with my qualifications though, nor am I sure they are willing to pay me a wage to do that job that I will agree to do it for...so, where was I?

Oh, right. Watch This Space. Well, not this one really. Over to the right there is a link to a blog dedicated to the combined efforts of myself and Alessia Brio, a blog titled Artistically Inclined. Watch That Space.

Returning From A Dream World

It’s easy for things to seem so perfect in a sort time span. Things are forgiven in the name of a temporary peace that would be seen with much harsher eyes if their consequences were not so easily painted over with the watercolors of a weekend.

Rudeness is rare, touchiness is temporary and offenses are only fleeting. The laughter is legendary. All the stories are new; nothing and no one is boring yet. I know all of this. I am aware of the appeal of the escape.

So why idealize this last weekend?

Because this was no cruise, or dude ranch special we bid on over E-Bay. No thrown together conglomerate of diverse personalities on a corporate retreat or over-the-hill gang of ex-jocks playing practice games with minor stars from World Series one-shots. Our common interests were deeper, and we still have a community to share when we get to our places of orgin. Sure, it comes with an “ignore” function. But we will see each other again.

Some of us already have done this. Already we scheme for the next gathering. Already we are planning the next set of memories. The loyalty is the difference in this band of adventurers, the reason but also the riddle.

The quick camaraderie is not the thing. That is a function of shared vocabulary and common questions. What moves us beyond our shared interest, into loyalty and love?

I think it is because we all have had to do one thing. In order to write you have to be willing to share. Every story, every poem is a small part of us we have let loose to share with the world at large. We are vulnerable. The anonymity of the internet, illusionary as it may be, is our one protection. In coming together face-to-face we have abandoned our protection and stand before one another, naked in a way those in our stories rarely are.

We have been brave enough to face rejection and ridicule and have been accepted as who we are. We have passed the test. Now and forever, those I took it with will be bound to me and I to them.

We are a family, and anywhere two of us are together, there is a home.

Friendships Are Not Physical

The most curious friendships of my life have been started in these last three years. I have people dear to my heart that I have never embraced and the ones with whom I wondered if I ever would and yet have are now even more precious to me.

How do we measure friendship? It is a question with overtones of both longing and danger, but one we embark upon so early. We start to call others our best friends so early. Only as we age do we think to put measures even upon that, narrowing down to bestest, or oldest, or most devoted. In the beginning, we just love those that love us back.

Least you think I am climbing upon my polyamorous soapbox, I will point out that it is also in those times that we are often our most cruel, our most selfish and most thoughtless. I am not advocating a point of view that youth always knows best. However, there is justification here in saying that the limits we place are a learned behavior.

Is one any less a friend because the hugs have been delivered via keyboard? Because the shoulder for crying was supporting a telephone as well as a confidant? Is one any less a lover because the memory of the kisses is imagined or faded by time?

We are limited in those we can interact with on a fleshly basis by many means…time, distance, expense. The customs of our cultures or the cruel chalice of circumstance. As I am on this journey to visit with friends whose refusal to accept those limitations is so very manifest in all our shared lives, I wonder at the arrogance of someone who can attempt to imagine that these friendships are any less real. In my time of need they have given more courageous comfort than any would dare demand. I will be embracing two couples whose very existence is due to their refusal to accept these barriers.

It is said there are no new frontiers…clearly the cliché does not apply as equally to emotion as it does to geography.

Random Thoughts From 20000 Feet

They say the only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys. Makes sense to me. Certainly this toy was costly, and not just in dollars. Just as certainly, it is a toy. Oh, I’ll call it a tool and write it off my taxes. But there is really no reason I could not have written this in a more traditional notebook and typed it in later. This is not essential, just a convenience.

A convenience that cost me four times what I paid for my first car. Of course, I’m old enough and from a background where a first car was something you bought from someone who knew it was just about to die. Then you and your buddies got together with Dad’s tools and started working on it. No computers in a 1972 Datsun. We started easy and changed the oil. Then the sparkplugs. Pretty soon we learned how to do a valve job. We spent ten hours to accomplish what a pro would have finished in fifteen minutes.

But that was the fun of it. We laughed and sweated, bloodied knuckles and talked about girls that would have been happy to talk to us if we just would have given them the same consideration we gave a straight-six or a v-8. We snuck into the old man’s beer and he pretended not to notice.

I don’t know for sure that this is not still a part of Americana. Certainly the part about the girls is. Maybe 16 year olds know more about the internet now than internal combustion, but knowing how to make a webpage is in some ways similar to knowing how to rebuild a carburetor. I’m pretty sure my son will consider girls just as much a mystery as his old man did. I’m pretty sure that I’ll pretend not to notice the occasional missing beer.

One thing that does seem to be missing a little in this new age of blogs and boards though is the image of a bunch of kids sitting around the garage. I know that the learning part of it, the sharing experiences, is still there. And I’ve come to know that the electronic barriers can be overcome easily enough. This trip is part of it. I’m pretty sure that my kids will have a wider base of knowledge to work off at 16. Certainly today’s internet means that some of the things about girls will be less of a mystery.

But I’ll still let myself believe that they are missing something. It is the prerogative of each generation to believe that it was their youth that was the real good old days.

It's Odd The Way Life Works

So...The change I never wanted is now forced upon me. Where I go from here is a complete unknown. Somebody had to take a fall. I understand that, and I understand why it was me. I could probably rail at windmills and get some sort of twisted satisfaction out of it, but not any real change. This is the way it is going to be. I must move forward, must bend my head and push against the wind. Perhaps I've been doing that for awhile now. Certainly the last 9 weeks have been more about a struggle to remain in place then they have forward progress. Maybe this is not the beginning of a wind-impeded walk but the end of one.

In the morning, my life will begin again. My children will need to go to school, I will want a cup of coffee and I will still need to prepare for my tax appointment. The only change is that I won't have anywhere I need to be at 9:45 a.m.

I Took A Chance Today...

Many of us revel in the anonymity of the internet, myself included. After all, that's not my real name up there. With the shield of privacy, we can say things we would never say under other circumstances.

I parted that veil a bit today. I've done it before, sure. But only with people I've known better. And I did it not just today, but also about ten days ago with someone else. I can't help but have some nerves about it. Both of the women I've taken this chance with in the last couple weeks are fairly unknown entities to me. I have a feeling that I can trust both of them, but that's all. It's just a feeling. How often have you been wrong with those instincts? With me, it has been often enough that I should know better.

Sure, I can plead male idiocy...I mean, they are both attractive young women and I'm a little older. In truth, both are young enough to literally be my daughter. And it's not like I'm trying to manipulate either of them. Oh, I flirt. But I think they both know that I'm not the kind of guy who would ever be comfortable in the aggressive asshole role.

Both of them know me professionally. That puts me at risk. I don't work in an atmosphere that encourages that kind of personal connection. So why did I do such a foolish thing?

I'm not trying to play games. But I admit to having an appreciation for both of them. Simply put, any man at any age post-puberty would be thrilled with receiving their attention. So why did I take it to the next step?

*sigh* I have no idea.

The Oak Tree Meeting

She and I were together for years. We shared a first kiss and a first slow dance, and always assumed we would be together forever in the way that small town first loves always do. Then the unthinkable happened. They moved.

Her grandparents stayed on the family farm, but Laura went to Chicago with her father. We called each other constantly, but the distance was just too great, and our plans to go to college together fizzled. Then she got married and I went through two divorces and the only times I thought of Laura anymore were when an old John Hughes movie would be found via channel surfing. Then I would remember my first love.

All that changed when I got a letter with familiar handwriting. I don’t know how she tracked me down in Paris. Nobody back home knew where I had gone, and with both my parents long dead I could not see how she could find me. But she had.

The letter was only a note really. “Meet me at the old oak tree on a moonlit summer night.” No signature or return address. Not that I needed them. I knew what she meant. There was an oak tree halfway between our two family farms where Laura and I had shared many an adolescent thrill. A moonlit summer night could only mean one date. Among other things, Laura and I shared a birthday, July 12. Two months from now.

I picked up the phone to call the airline.

I sat on the porch and wondered if it were moments like this that made people write books about time travel. I felt twenty years younger. I was half expecting Dad to walk out on the porch and start talking about the Cubs game. I had never understood what it was that would not let me sell the house. At least, not until now. I think I finally got it. As long as I still owned the house, I had a place to retreat to if things went wrong. In all the years since mom died, I had never come back. But the point was that I could have.

I thought I was going to have to bury ol’ man Kelly after talking to him on the phone the other day. He reacted like he had heard a ghost. I suppose ten years of getting a check to keep the house up but never talking to me had thrown him off. When I told him I was coming home he had said to give him a couple of days and everything would be ready. He was as good as his word. Everything looked like I had just left the week before. There was even beer in the fridge. I promised myself I would remember it come Christmas time.

The sun dipped towards the horizon. Soon the crickets would begin their chorus, and a few hours after that I had a meeting to attend. One that was wracking my nerves and turning my insides to jelly. I couldn’t understand it. I had sat at tables where there were a couple hundred million under discussion without feeling this way. Of course, in those games I was usually playing with house money. Not so tonight.

I sat the empty beer bottle down and let the porch swing creak as it swung. Some things may not change, but I no longer believed people were one of them. I wondered if as much had changed about her as I felt had about me. The suit I was wearing cost three times as much as my first car had. I had toyed with the idea of buying some boots and slipping back into my adolescent uniform of jeans and tee shirt but discarded it. Despite the venue, I didn't feel like this meeting was going to be about our past.

So, this was sitting on my hard drive. One of those forgotten beginnings. Should I continue it? I've quite forgotten who I intended Laura to be, and where the piece was going. It could be interesting to see where it ends...

I know there was a time

I lived

without your love

but did the morning air

taste so cold?

Did the coffee

so black with bitterness

linger involuntarily on my lips?

Did the sun always shine so strong,

sparkling jewel-drops

against the gray metal hood?

Was I always able

to hear the spider

walk across it’s web?

Was the silk noose

‘round my neck

always this tight?

I know there was a time

when I lived

without your love

but I can't remember it.

special thanks to Honey and Alessia on this one. Both are wonderfully constant sounding boards and helpers, and Honey especially helped me work through this particular piece while Alessia gave me the support I have become spoiled by...

Do You Thrive On Adversity?

We all either know someone like this or are someone like this. The person that always seems to be at their best when things are at their worst. The person Kipling was talking about when he said, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs..." They can be quarterbacks or race car drivers or simply the woman in the office down the hall that knows how to kick the copy machine just so. At times, people have described me as one of these.

That would seem like a good thing, right? But I wonder if there are trade offs for this ability, which I admit I sometimes seem to have.

For one thing, the fact that I don't panic is often misinterpreted as not caring. I do care, and often I care deeply. The outward facade of calm is exactly that; a facade. Underneath, I'm just as upset as anyone and sooner or later it has to be released. I'm not able to choose when either. So when what could have been a simple comment comes out towing a trailer of contempt and anger a week later, I end up paying a price for my momentary calm.

Then there is the issue of normal everyday maintenence. While I agree that I am good when the pressure is on, I seem to be remarkably adept at both procrastination and at missing simple things when the pressure is not on. This has the added effect of creating pressure because then things have to get done in a hurry that could have been done at a more leisurely pace.

The Appeal of Confidence

Of all the things that can affect the way people see us, the one I feel has the most impact has nothing to do with our appearance.

I had a short visit with someone I know through work yesterday. This young lady is extremely attractive anyway, but yesterday she was absolutely stunning. Now, I admit to being biased...Like I just said, I already find her attractive so I am more susceptible to being stunned. But there was something more there.

Being the curious person I am, I wondered what was different. I tried to discover by making comments about her hair, even her makeup. (Tell me girls, when's the last time a straight forty year old man asked you if you were wearing a new color of lipstick?) Unable to determine anything I finally just told her I thought she looked great and wanted to know what was different. At first she just mentioned putting a bit of a curl in her hair, but then she leaned in and confided something else.

Note: Don't ask what it was, fools. I said she "confided". She said it under her breath at a volume for my ears alone. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you.

What I will say is that it was something that would make any person feel like they were desirable.

Did you ever wonder why you go through times where you just can't find someone and then as soon as you get in a relationship, everybody wants you? There is no correlation between the way you look on the outside. You didn't suddenly lose inches off your waist. Your hair didn't get more body. Your shoulders didn't broaden, your complexion didn't clear, you didn't gain a cup size overnight.

But the energy that you're projecting is radically different. You know you're worthwhile, because there is someone new in your life telling you so. That is terribly empowering.

The same thing can happen with other factors. Anything that affects how you feel about yourself can change how others feel about you. A promotion at work, being on a winning ballclub, a new car, even getting compliments about your writing (hint, hint!)

Jack Palance, the legendary tough guy actor who is best known to my generation as "Curly" in the City Slickers movies, did a series of commercials that ended with the tagline, "Confidence is very sexy, don't ya think?"

Yes, I do.

That Pesky Commandment

While I'm not a hardcore ten commandments guy, they are generally decent guidelines...and I usually follow them pretty well. No killing, not much stealing, ya know...

But I just can't seem to follow one of them...and it's not "Thou shalt not commit adultery".

Its that coveting thing...especially "Thou shalt not covet another man's wife." Covet means want, right?

Yeah...I ain't doing too good at that one. By my count I coveted at least three other men's wife big time yesterday. Already got a head start today too...

Hope I get get a condo with a balcony over the lake of fire, 'cause Hell definitely looks to be my address at this rate....

Monday Morning After Super Sunday

...and I'm off work...and I didn't even party hard. Seems almost a waste. Where was the Monday following Super Bowl as an off day back when a Super Bowl party would have meant a lot more than a few beers and a little smoke? Back when there was no way I would have been home by nine pm? In short, when I could have used it?

Today should be quite mild...I'll get a few things done, hopefully to include some writing. I'll have to get a flat tire fixed, as I was gifted with that this morning when I went out to my truck...

But overall, I'm gonna be mellow today...no drives longer then 5 minutes, no scurrying about...gonna sit and drink coffee, do a load of laundry and yawn and stretch a lot. Maybe if I get real ambitious I'll go buy a DVD....Corpse Bride is out...

Ok, Why Not?

But I don't expect I'll be too active. I have enough going on already, and way too many things unfinished as is.

As a writer, chief among those unfinished items are stories, of course. The writings I have let go for public ridicule can be found at Literotica. If you find it on a pay site, I didn't authorize it and please let me know. So far the only people who have been paid much for my pornographic prose are people who didn't write it.

At a quick count in my head, I have four unfinished short stories and a half-done novella. Sooner or later they will get done. I just need that bitch of a muse to get her ass back here from that beach in Jamaica. She like to tease me by pretending she's coming home, then deserts me a paragraph into the story.

Currently I have 15 stories and 47 poems posted at Literotica on my Bio; there's a few more that were cowritten with other authors that are hanging around other pages. I'm sure I'll get to them as time goes on.

Want a start? Hell, just choose one...the categories are all scattered anyway...ok, fine. Then read my latest. It's a co-authored piece, and it's not on my Bio page, but under my co-author, Alessia Brio. Alessia actually gets paid for this stuff, but not this story. At least, not yet. The story is Artistically Inclined and I think it's pretty decent. But I'm biased. Anyway, if you do read it, please vote and give feedback to us if you would, even if it's just "loved it" or "hated it". Feedback is as precious as ink in this business. Hell, more so thanks to the computer. What writer uses ink anymore?