Blake pulled the shower curtain back and reached for his towel. For a school with as many rich kids as Graydon, you’d think they could afford more than a piece of cheap plastic for the showers. Then again, the dorms were not the housing of choice. As the ‘most affordable’ option, the majority of students who lived there didn’t qualify as the ‘well heeled.’ But the place fit his family’s budget, wasn’t far from practice and he and his roommate got along well. At least they did so far. Coming out might change that, which could weigh in favor of staying put.

So I’m a bit behind, but I’m trying.  This weekend I posted pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m hoping to get some up of Easter tomorrow.  But here are two previews from each. Click the holiday to get sent to the pictures. Thanksgiving Aunt Lorraine, Papa, me, Grandpa and Grandma     Christmas This dress is totally me.  

I apologize for not having a proper ‘Wednesday Brief’ to post, but life – better known as ‘lil q, Easter and a bit of a cold – got in the way and sapped my creativity.  I’ll do my best to resume next week and there after.  But since this is a group I belong to, I wanted to be able to promote those good souls who managed to keep with it.  Those flashers are listed as usual, at the end of this post. In addition to the Wednesday Briefs, I belong to a few author groups. One of the themes lately has been reviews. Good, bad, or just maybe not really a review at all. Different people have different positions …

If you get a chance go take a peek over on Grace’s site. She’s fabulous. Read up a bit and let her know you stopped by.

Today marks eighteen years I’ve been with Mike.  Or as I sometimes joke, eighteen long years.  We often ask each other, “When we met did you think. . . . ” I can’t say when we met I ‘knew’ we’d be together this long. That’s just being honest. Eighteen months can be forever in the gay community, so eighteen years almost doesn’t have any meaning, or didn’t at the time. But I can say I hoped we’d be together this long.

When it rains, it pours or as poor New England and the rest of the Northeast would say, when it snows, it blizzards. The Babes in Boyland blog was super nice and agreed to hold the first give away for The Last Grand Master.  Piper and MJ took pity on me and walked me through the process.  That giveaway is running until Feb. 11, 2013 at 9:00 pm Central U.S. time.  Just leave a comment to be entered. Babes in Boyland: Guest Post & Giveaway: “The Last Grand Master” by Andrew Q. Gordon

Babes in Boyland were good enough to allow me to host a book giveaway on their site.  All you need to do to win is click the link below and post a comment at the end of the post.  Be sure to leave your email.  Easy right?   Guest Post & Giveaway: “The Last Grand Master” by Andrew Q. Gordon   Ladies and gents, please welcome Andrew Gordon to the blog today! And if you’d like to be entered for your chance to win his new release, The Last Grand Master. . . .  Thanks MJ and Piper for letting me host this on your site. AQG

Since yesterday’s entry was about the culture of Nendor and much ink was spilled discussing the festivals, I thought it would be fun to show how Farrell dealt with the preparations for his union ceremony.  For the sake of better understanding the excerpt, Horgon is Miceral’s father and the First Minister of Haven – meaning he runs the day to day operations in Farrell’s name. ========================== STARING at the parchment, Farrell rubbed his eyes. “Are you sure all of this is necessary?” Horgon gave him a brief smile before nodding. “I’m afraid so. As Prince, you can’t sneak off and get joined. All this…” He waved at the papers. “…is just part of what’s involved. I’ve left the more mundane …

I suppose it is somewhat obvious that when world building, one should give the inhabitants something uniquely their own, but it wasn’t to me. Although I like to cook, I’m hardly a foodie.  To me, reading a description of what the characters are eating is boring. Generally I skip over these parts, especially if there isn’t anything unique or important in the description.  Example of important food would be Lambas bread in the Lord of the Rings or Aliantha berries in Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant Chronicles.  Thus far, Nendor doesn’t boast any such miracle food. Like any other author, I bring to the table what interests me most. I really don’t care what people eat. The fact that characters eat is …

Religion and Culture of Nendor The world was created by the seven gods and goddesses of Nendor. Siblings, they are in order of age: Honorus – Lord of the gods; Lenore – Goddess of the earth; Neldin – Lord of the underworld; Arritisa – Lady of the ocean; Khron – God of war; Seritia – Goddess of love; and Falcron – God of wisdom. Each deity has it’s own temples, clerics, and followers.  Although there is no prohibition against following more than one, most people choose a specific god or goddess to primarily worship. Of course prayers are offered to different gods or goddesses depending on the need, no matter who a person follows. The seven gods worked together to …