Weekend Writing Warriors

Time for the Weekend Writing Warriors!

For the next couple months, I'm highlighting sentences from my Boys of the Zodiac novel, the m/m action/adventure erotic romance, Aries: Riddle Me Wicked. Museum curator Ian has been captured on a dig and dropped into a cavern where he's discovered American photographer Lucas. The two join forces and look for a way out, eventually discovering a hole near the ceiling. Lucas climbs up, but Ian is more reluctant to do so, convinced he's gone around the bend when he ultimately agrees. Lucas takes his acceptance as a compliment, which leads to...

That earned him a glance upward, through one of the thickest fringes of lashes he had ever seen. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

Ian started to reach for the wall, to try the same trek upward Lucas had taken, only to pause in mid-stretch. He still held the flashlight. The obvious question was, what was he going to do with it so he had use of both hands without losing the advantage of the light?

“Tuck it into your waistband,” Lucas suggested.

“And if it slips and falls down the leg of my trousers?”

“Wear tighter pants next time.”

To check out all the other weekend writing warriors, head over to the official website.

What I'm reading this weekend

I'm actually reading two books this weekend, but that's only because I discovered that I'd missed the last book in the series by this author, and there is no way I'm not devouring it as well.

These are books six and seven of Frank Tuttle's Markhat series. I have loved this series since the very first book came out. It's funny and fantastic, especially since I'm a hard sell on most fantasy-type stories. Tuttle reminds me a lot of Jim Butcher, to be honest, so if you like him, I would bet you'd enjoy these, too.

Expect to see a giveaway on Monday. I wholeheartedly recommend this author now, and I don't see that changing after reading these two titles.

The Week in Review

In some ways, it's been a tough week. I've been fighting pain in my head and jaw for almost two months now, and this week, went back to the doctor to try another round of antibiotics. This time, we're going to see if it's sinusitis. The pain's not gone, but I've not even half way through the run, so we'll reassess next week to see if I need to go back and maybe get a referral to an ENT specialist. Yuck. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Because of the pain, it's been tougher to concentrate on writing. I have about 5k on The Hearts of Yesteryear, but I would've wanted to be further by this point. I've had other distractions, too, though. Wednesday was my husband's birthday, and the kids had two games and two practices to take up our evenings. Add onto that all the drama happening with the Supreme Court, and my head has been in a million other places than my story. The kids go back to school next week, however, so hopefully it'll get better.

Oh! But this week over at the Amber Pax Collection blog, the authors of the Office Affairs pax that came out last Sunday have been talking about their stories. If you head over and comment on any or all of the posts, you'll have the chance to win the entire collection. The winner gets drawn on Saturday. That's five stories by some pretty great authors. Go! What do you have to lose?

Weekly weigh-in

Yesterday was my weigh-in, and it was a great one. I'm down another 2.4 pounds, for a total of 14.6 pounds in the eight weeks I've been doing this. Woo hoo!

The walking is helping tremendously. Both of my kids play ball, and they have to be at their games an hour before it starts to warm-up. In the past, I'd either drop them off and come back for the game, or sit there and read for an hour. Now, I drop them off and then do laps around the park for 45 minutes. Between those and walking the dog, I put in almost twenty miles last week. It adds up, that's for sure.

I know the loss will slow down, but I'm enjoying this stage for as long as it lasts.

Maple-mustard pork chops

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to dress up pork, and though this isn't necessarily a unique combination, the recipe turned out so good that it's definitely going into our menu rotation.

MAPLE-MUSTARD PORK CHOPS

4 6-oz pork chops (I used boneless, but bone-in will work, too)

1/2 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp pepper

Cooking spray

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp mustard (flavor is up to you, the original recipe calls for dijon but I used a sweet-hot specialty mustard that was just divine)

2 tbsp maple syrup

1. Sprinkle both sides of pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper.

2. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through, but with a slight blush in center. Remove from pan and keep warm.

3. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add butter to coat.

4. Add onions and saute until tender and translucent.

5. Add broth, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Stir in mustard, syrup, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick.

6. Return pork to pan and cook for 1 minute on each side or until thoroughly heated. Serve pork with sauce.

Weekend Writing Warriors

Time for the Weekend Writing Warriors!

For the next couple months, I'm highlighting sentences from my Boys of the Zodiac novel, Aries: Riddle Me Wicked. Last week, you met Ian, just captured after his archaeological dig was attacked. They drop him into an underground cavern to keep him contained, where he discovers he's not alone. He meets an American who doesn't seem surprised to see him at all. In fact, he knows their captor, too...

“...The man’s a thug with delusions of grandeur. He wouldn’t know a treasure if it had Jack Sparrow sitting on it with a giant X.”

Ian stared at him, unsure what to make of any of this. “What on earth are you talking about? And who are you?”

The smile never wavered. “Lucas Arpini. And I’m the man who’s going to put both of us in the record books.”

To check out all the other weekend writing warriors, head over to the official website.

What I'm reading this weekend

Thanks to the fabulous Karla Doyle, I now know where to read excerpts on Ellora's Cave site. Thanks again, Karla!

This weekend's reading, however, doesn't come from there. It comes from Total-e-bound.

Eric is a fire chief in Mesa, Arizona where he’s lived all of his life. A hunky Norse god like man, he has finally come out of the closet after twenty years of marriage. Now his wife hates him, his son won’t speak to him, a town crazy wants him fired, and there’s a rash of arson fires destroying some of the beautiful historic homes in the area. To let off steam, he’s been tempted to explore his long repressed sexuality with his son’s twenty year-old friend.

Tom, a twenty-eight year-old fire-fighter from Texas, is desperate to get away from his dad’s prejudice about his sexuality, and an unstable relationship that just recently ended. He takes a temporary position in Mesa where he sets eyes on the most gorgeous male specimen he’s ever seen in the form of the fire chief, Eric Anderson. Convinced the chief is straight, he accidentally catches him one night with a young guy, and is now determined to let the chief know he’s interested.

Eric is adamant that they can only be friends, even though he finds the sweet young Tom adorable. The pressures on Eric increase as his ex-wife becomes a suspect, and the town crazy tries to blame the arson fires on him. Will he allow himself to find real love with the sexy Tom, or will his world be destroyed by all of the city’s accusations and his family’s lack of acceptance?