I’ve finally released my first book in two years – Secrets. And this time around I’m offering up the first 20 pages to read for free. So, here you go. Enjoy.
I have finally finished my next novel and submitted it to a publisher (which shall not be named until a contract is signed;) ). I admit it’s taken me a very long time to write this one. In fact, I think it actually took 2 years! Life got in the way and well, there you go. I think through the editing this thing to death, I’ve become a much better writer and learned a lot. The main characters, in my mind, look like the pictures. Of course, I have yet to draw them:)
The theme of this book is addiction. I don’t usually say too much about my personal life, because, well, it’s personal. However, addiction is something I’ve become all too familiar with and I think it shows in this book. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to write it? I don’t know… But it seems to me like this disease is everywhere you look nowadays. I don’t know anyone who has not been affected by it in some way. It’s such a shame to watch someone you love slowly kill themselves with drugs and/or alcohol. The pain it inflicts on relationships is far reaching and the manner in which it destroys families changes people forever. I, myself, am a member of Al Anon and have been for eight years. There are references to it in this book. I don’t know, but maybe some of the people who read it will recognize the telltale sign of the bond of the addicted and the codependent.
Above all, this book is a fantasy of what all of us afflicted with this disease wish for. Because I always write a happy ending. Even in addiction, people can get better. There is always hope.
Announcing:
Secrets
Yaoi, M/M Contemporary Romance
Blurb:
Logan only wanted one thing in his life, Christian, his childhood friend. But a stolen kiss on graduation night broke Logan’s heart and destroyed the special friendship they shared. Now four years later, Logan returns to his family in Santa Cruz, after graduating from Stanford, on the verge of a new life to find Christian on a treacherous, lonely path of booze and drugs, a victim of painful family secrets. Only Logan’s love and acceptance can save Christian. Only Logan can unlock all the tormenting secrets. But to do so, means Logan has to face his own past and once again expose his heart to the man who broke it.
Unedited Excerpt:
As Logan walked behind Christian onto cream-colored sand, warm now with the sweatshirt, he took in the waves, crashing to shore like white ink splattered across a black canvas. Twinkling lights from restaurants and shops on the pier speckled the fog off to the distant right.
As he walked, two plaid wool blankets slung over his forearm swung in the breeze. He took in Christian from behind, his tall, slender body walking with easy strides through the sand, his black hair dancing on his head and the twelve-pack swinging from one hand. And Christian’s ass wrapped up in jeans and bordered perfectly by black leather, enough to send him over the edge. He forced his eyes to look at anything else, but Christian.
Christian halted and set the twelve-pack in the sand, only a few feet from the line where the sand turned wet from the last full tide. “Here’s a good spot.”
“Yep.” He placed a blanket in the sand and sat down on it with his legs folded in front of him.
Christian sat beside Logan, his legs sprawled out. “Want a beer?”
“Sure, why not.” His heart pounded as if a wild beast ran laps in his chest. Calm yourself. The only thing that was going to happen was a nice talk about how he didn’t mean what happened and they should just be friends. He rubbed his sweaty palms together and focused on the waves, the soothing rhythm of their rise and fall. His gaze caught Christian pulling beers out of the twelve pack. Randy and his mother were right, Christian did drink a lot. “You going to tell me what this is all about now?”
“Sure.” Christian twisted off the cap of a beer bottle, handed it to Logan and opened one for himself. “So you think I’m a dick, huh?”
Stunned, his gaze flicked to Christian’s face, studying his expression. “I said sometimes. Not all the time.”
Christian looked out to sea and took a gulp of beer. “I don’t suppose I blame you.”
He gulped a good portion of his beer down. Right about now, he needed it. “Yeah, blowing me off after that stunt you pulled on the porch the other night was a dick move for sure.” He studied Christian’s reaction.
Christian continued looking out to sea and drinking his beer for what seemed like an eternity. A silent tenseness permeated the air around him. As he finished the beer, he flung the empty bottle out into the water.
“Dude, that’s littering.” He chuckled, attempting to break the tension.
Christian whirled around to Logan, putting himself within inches of Logan’s face and body. Tears glittered in his eyes. “I’m sorry.” His lower lip trembled. He opened his mouth as if to speak again, but turned back around to open another beer.
His voice caught in his throat. He gulped hard. That was not what he expected. “Christian?” He inched up to Christian’s back and held his hand up over Christian’s shoulder, hovering for a moment before setting it down on black leather. “What’s going on here?”
“I, I don’t know.” Christian kept his back to Logan. “I h-had all these, these things I wanted to say to you. B-but now I, I can’t say them.” Tilting his head back, he chugged another beer down.
“Damn it.” Logan rose enough to grab Christian’s beer and take it from him. “Stop drinking.” As he held the half-empty bottle in his hand, Christian lunged at him, throwing the bottle from his hand and pinning him down to the blanket. The weight of Christian’s muscled body fell over his chest. Christian’s warm lips devoured his in a heated kiss.
For a moment, he lost himself in Christian’s advances, in the velvet heat of Christian’s body flush against his own, in the arousal shivering up his spine with each kiss. His brain caught up with his body. His heart was not an experiment. With a quick shove, he threw Christian off him and sat up on the blanket, panting. “What the hell are you doing?”
More Soon:)
Christie
After enduring a crashed hard drive which totally wiped out all of my data, including the first version of this book, I have finally rewritten the second book in the In Life and Blood series. I just received a release date of May 1, 2011 from my publisher. I’m now frantically working on the cover;) Anyhow, this book is about Sebastian and is told from his point of view. I had lots of fun researching Dacian (Ancient Romanian) life, finding slang words in Romanian and translating little bits of English into Romanian. For instance, did you know that a really big insult in Romanian is to basically tell someone to go back up in their mother’s womb where they came from? And they apparently talk about the penis a lot when swearing, LOL. Like, pula mea, which they use like an English speaking person would use as “fuck”, and literally means, “my cock”.
Anyhow, here’s the blurb:
With his one true love, Julian, at his side and a new son to look after, Sebastian’s grief-stricken past comes out of hiding to find him. As Julian and Nikolai struggle to understand what vampire life should be and strive to live a normal life, Sebastian fights with his demons to allow the freedoms they deserve. But with the queen’s band of chevaliers not quite under control and shadows lurking in the night, Sebastian’s fears escalate. Can Sebastian find the courage to let go and at the same time give Julian and Nikolai the protection they desperately need?
On with the sneak peak (unedited) :
“Sebastian!”
His shoulder jerked backward. Julian came into focus through wet eyes.
“Oh my God, what’s happened?” Julian, in a sweatshirt and jeans, threw his arms around Sebastian and held him tight. “Talk to me.”
Sniffling, he wrapped his arms around his lover. “My angel, you are here and not dead.”
“What? Of course not.” Julian kissed the side of Sebastian’s head.
He left the door open. Anger fluttered up his spine. He shoved Julian away. Glaring at his lover, he said, “What the hell were you thinking leaving the door open like that?” He swiped at the wetness on his face.
Julian’s eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
Nikolai raced from the edge of the wall toward his bedroom.
“You left the house wide open. Anyone could have gotten in here. Anyone.” He placed his hands on his hips.
“B-but we were just, just outside. I was showing Nikolai an owl and—“
“Never, ever leave the house like that. And don’t ever go outside without my permission.” He pointed at Julian.
Anger spread over Julian’s face. He gritted his teeth. “Don’t you tell me what to do. If I want to go outside I will. My days of being imprisoned are over.”
Stunned, he took a step back and placed his fingertips on his forehead. “Uh, I’m, I’m sorry, Julian. I didn’t mean it that way.” His anger morphed into relief. He looked around the room a moment. “I was afraid something happened to you both.”
Julian’s stance relaxed. “No, it didn’t. We were just looking at a damn owl in the tree out back.” He looked down at his feet and back up at Sebastian. “Nikolai was all excited about it.” He studied Sebastian. “Sebastian, you were crying when I walked in. I don’t ever think I’ve seen you cry before. What’s going on?”
He turned around and looked at the black and stainless gas stove, hiding a new wave of embarrassment and guilt as best he could. “It’s just that the situation, the door being open like that, reminded me of how I found my mother’s corpse all those years ago.” Solid hands gripped his shoulders and turned him around. He gazed down into his lover’s beautiful, blue-grey eyes.
Wisps of long, chestnut-colored hair surrounded Julian’s face and spilled out over the dark sweatshirt covering his shoulders. “I’m so sorry. Tell me about it.”
He shut his eyes a second and shook his head. “It’s all right now. You are safe.”
A hurt look spread over Julian’s face. “But we’re One now, you and I. I want to know what happened to you. I want to know all about you.”
He let out a long exhale. I must tell Julian something for my behavior. “It was during the Hun wars. I found the door to our home open. It was obvious that there had been a struggle. I found her on the floor, a terrible wound in her head. I was a newly made vampire and I tried to save her with my blood, but I couldn’t.” Remorse wound around his heart again. And so I drank her blood instead. He took in a ragged breath of air.
“I feel it, Sebastian. I feel how much this saddens you still.” Wrapping his arms around Sebastian, Julian pulled him in close. “I love you and I promise nothing like that will ever happen to me. I’ll be careful. I can protect myself. Especially when it comes to Caesar.”
“No, you can’t.” He breathed in Julian’s musky scent, all clover and spice, relishing in his embrace. “He is far more dangerous than we thought.”
“Why do you say that?” Julian’s lips found Sebastian’s, placing a lingering kiss over them.
A prick of alarm raced inside him. Stupid, do not say such things. “No reason in particular. I just want you to keep your guard up until this whole incident with your old coven is resolved.”
Julian released Sebastian and stepped back. “You know I will. And now I have my sword back in case the Templars need me.” He smiled at Sebastian.
He’d make sure that would never happen. “So you found it at the door?”
“I sure did.” Julian twisted and came back around to face Sebastian. “I think we scared the crap out of Nikolai.”
Relief rained down on Sebastian and a wide grin spread over his face. “I think you’re right. It was our first fight, my angel.”
“And I’m sure it won’t be the last.” Julian let out a short chuckle. “Let’s go and find him.”