TBT: Budding Hopes

MLR Press put out a submission call a couple weeks ago that has my brain awhirl. As soon as I have a little room in my schedule, I'm going to write something for it. It'll be nice to work with them again. It's a great family, incredibly supportive of all of their authors.

Budding Hopes was the last story I had come out at MLR, three years ago for Valentine's Day. It's a romantic little ditty set in 1950s Baltimore about a flower shop employee and the doctor who visits him every week.

For eight months, Dr. Mark Vance has been visiting Sheehan's Nursery to buy flowers for his mother's grave, and every week, Hal Sheehan slips an extra lily into the bunch. Mark would love nothing more than to get to know the gentle giant better, but in 1954 Baltimore, a man just doesn't ask another man out. His fears are compounded when a visit the day before Valentine's casts doubts on Hal's intentions. Maybe he really was meant to live a life of secrets. Or maybe he just needs the holiday to discover the best secret of them all.

The excerpt at the publisher site is the opening of the story. Honestly, I adore this romantic story. The time period was fraught with fear and still rife with possibility, and the potential of Mark and Hal still gives my hope a flutter. At some point, I'd really like to write a follow-up and see how they are doing.

Check it out at MLR!

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to my SSS! I had a short story come out at MLR on Friday for Valentine's Day, so this month, I'm spotlighting that. It's called Budding Hopes, and it's an m/m set in 1954 Baltimore. For this final six, I'm sharing their second kiss.

Their second kiss mimicked the first—the barest of touches, the hot rush of breath—but Hal added to it with the faint sweep of his tongue, tickling at the corner of Mark’s mouth. The sound Mark made could only be a whimper, the most primal, base response of a man about to receive what he desperately needed. In this case, it was Hal, and the knowledge that all the lusts that had driven Mark for years were on the cusp of satisfaction.

“I’ve thought about that,” Hal murmured. He still cupped Mark’s nape, forming the words along his mouth so Mark could feel them as well as hear. “I always used to worry you’d say something I missed because I was too busy staring at your mouth to listen.”

To check out all the other six sentence contributions, head over to the official website.

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to my SSS! I had a short story come out at MLR on Friday for Valentine's Day, so this month, I'm spotlighting that. It's called Budding Hopes, and it's an m/m set in 1954 Baltimore. At dinner, Mark has asked Hal if he'd ever consider leaving the shop. Hal explains how it's what he's always wanted to do.

“Not to a four-year-old. Dad would get home at the end of the day, and no matter how hard he’d scrubbed his hands at the shop, there was always dirt under his nails. Plus, he smelled like all the plants. Getting a hug at bedtime was like getting hugged by the outdoors.” His smile grew wistful. “I loved it.”

To check out all the other six sentence contributions, head over to the official website.

New Release - Budding Hopes

In celebration of Valentine's Day, MLR released 16 stories last Friday, including one of mine. Budding Hopes is the story of a young doctor in 1954 Baltimore, who has developed somewhat of a crush on the shy, buff florist's son who has been slipping an extra flower into those he takes to his mother's grave every weekend.

For eight months, Dr. Mark Vance has been visiting Sheehan's Nursery to buy flowers for his mother's grave, and every week, Hal Sheehan slips an extra lily into the bunch. Mark would love nothing more than to get to know the gentle giant better, but in 1954 Baltimore, a man just doesn't ask another man out. His fears are compounded when a visit the day before Valentine's casts doubts on Hal's intentions. Maybe he really was meant to live a life of secrets. Or maybe he just needs the holiday to discover the best secret of them all.

Check it out!

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to my SSS! I had a short story come out at MLR on Friday for Valentine's Day, so this month, I'm spotlighting that. It's called Budding Hopes, and it's an m/m set in 1954 Baltimore. Last week, Hal tracked Mark down to give him the extra flower for his mother's grave when he missed him at the store. This happens almost immediately afterward.

His legs were wobbly, and his heart threatened to explode, but he’d spent the morning trying to convince both himself and a ghost that he could turn his back on everything he was. He’d had a miserable afternoon as a result. Hal had taken a risk by looking for him. Didn’t he owe Hal the same strength? He cleared this throat. “If I wanted to buy you dinner Monday night, as a thank you for the flower and the thoughtfulness…you’d be free?”

To check out all the other six sentence contributions, head over to the official website.

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to my SSS! I have a short story coming out at MLR for Valentine's Day, so this month, I'm spotlighting that. It's called "Budding Hopes," and it's an m/m set in 1954 Baltimore. Dr. Mark Vance has been going to Sheehan's Nursery for the past eight months to buy flowers for his mother's grave, and every week, Hal Sheehan slips an extra lily into the bunch. When Hal misses him at the store one week, he tracks Mark down later that night to give him the extra flower.

Inside weren’t just some pretty petals that would flutter apart and die without the proper care. This was more fragile, more valuable than anything he could have imagined. It felt like hope. Hal had gone out of his way to seek Mark out, to make good on the unspoken promise they’d made to each other all those months ago, the first time Mark had opened the wrapped lilies and found one too many. Mark had returned to the shop the following week, wondering whether or not to say anything, lingering longer when Hal asked how his visit had gone, but he’d walked out without having mentioned a word of it. At the graveyard, he’d discovered the added flower again, and again the week after that.

To check out all the other six sentence contributions, head over to the official website.