Waking Up #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning friends and readers!

*raises coffee in salute* *sips* Ahh. Waking up slowly here and getting the day started. Outside my window, the dew drops sparkle on the grass. Yesterday, it was cool and rainy and I even turned the air conditioning off and opened the windows. Looks like today is bringing bad news for my electric bill! Sunny and bright, temps will probably soar back up into the nineties by noon. *shrugs* Oh well.

I've been struggling to get into a new story for The Story Orgy. We're celebrating fall and Halloween with a thematic approach, a Creature Feature as it were. I say struggling because the first few chapters of a new story are always a bit of a struggle… it's awkward writing about people you don't know. After I get through that hump, get into their heads and find out who they really are, things seem to flow much better.

So I'm battling the writer's block with great seventies rock love songs ( Feel Like Making Love) from some of my favorite bands… and seeking mummy trivia and jokes in the name of research.

Where do mummies go for a swim?

            Answer: The Dead Sea.

And watching The Walking Dead.

That's right. Five years later, I finally get with the program. I'm up to the last four episodes of season two… we've just discovered that everyone is infected and you don't have to be bitten or scratched to turn after death. Rick's killed Shane… who was getting on my nerves anyway, Dale is dead, Andrea is lost, and so am I.

I'm resisting the urge to buy all 23 volumes of the graphic novels to find out what happens because I know I'm going to run out of episodes before long. So… some things that have been bugging me since I started watching:

1.      Why do all the cars that run seem to have been made in the seventies? I mean… there's some sweet rides in that highway of lost souls… if you had your choice, wouldn't one of them be better? And more fuel efficient?

2.      That department store in Atlanta? In the middle of the business district? Surrounded by office buildings and crawling with zombies? Is it really the only one they could think of? Aren't there probably just as many useful things out in the nearest convenience store?

3.      That one bag of guns and ammo sure as hell seems to be a bottomless pit of supplies. They've divided it, passed out weapons and ammunition multiple times and yet still there's plenty to go around?

Yeah… but I can't stop watching. It's an odd kind of addiction, LOL. And it makes me wonder… what would you do? Pretty sure I've thought of more survival plans in the last week than in my entire life.

Oh… and this morning? As if we didn't have enough to worry about? I saw this Huffington Post article. Yes. That's right. We have to think now… before the glorious summer weather has faded and fall set in, about how this coming winter is going to be F*ing cold and snowy. Time to start preparing for winter. Stock up on supplies, drag the sweaters and long johns out of the back of the closet… I wasn't ready. I did not want to think about snow yet. I'll have to start buying bags of birdseed every time I go into town. Winter's always hard on our feathered friends when the ground is covered in snow and ice. 

Global warming? Meet Impending Ice Age. Play nicely together you guys.

*refills coffee mug* Okay- thanks for hanging out with me guys. I'm off to drag Izzy and Owen into danger. If you think of any cool mummy jokes, I'd love to hear them here or on my Facebook page. Have a great day!  

New Release! Dead Man's Hand Now Available #pulpfriction #mmromance #serial #malexmale

Announcing the Release of Dead Man's Hand (Jack of Spades #4) 

The latest book in the Pulp Friction 2015 Altered States Universe is now available at

AMAZON

All Romance eBooks

 Smashwords

Direct from Author via Payhip

Have you been following the tale of ghostly river boat gambler Barton Montoire and Professor Sabine Brusilov?

In this episode, Barton Montoire, the ghost of a nineteenth century riverboat gambler, is devastated and angry. His lover, physics professor Sabine, has exorcised him. Again. This time, there's no denying the professor's actions were intentional. Worse, Bart can't seem to convince their friends to aid him in his quest get Sabine to listen to his side of things.  

With his lover Bart safe from shadowy threats of eternal damnation in the "other realm," ghost hunter Sabine Brusilov is free to pursue his own risky investigation into the mysterious circlet and its connection to the shadow figure that's been tormenting the unlikely couple. With the help of his friends, he determines to take control of the situation and bring Bart home.

EXCERPT:

The smell of old books…of centuries-old paper, aromatic ink, and ancient leather hung heavy in the air of the archive. The door closed behind him, locking him in with the most arcane media library inexistence. Shelves lined the climate controlled room. Archive quality acid free boxes lined the bottom row, sealed tubes protected maps, charts, and scrolls more ancient than freedom were stored in large bins. The rest…books…fat, thin, tall, small…were crammed into every shelf in a sort of general organization. Sabine pulled on a pair of latex gloves from a box on a table near the door.

“Where to start today?” Sabine had been working his way through the shelf labeled Daemonolgy for the past week. Before that he’d read through the section on Spiritulus. He strolled the shelves, looking for inspiration. “Thaumaturgy? Alchemy? Mirandus?”

Mirandus? Translating the Latin quickly, he came up with something. “Wonderful? Marvelous?” On impulse, he selected two volumes from the shelf, one a pedestrian-looking thing with a cloth cover less than an inch thick, and the other a heavy tome with an odd, leather cover that smelled of must and something… “Good a place to start as any.”

Placing the two books on the small table, he drew out a chair and seated himself. The slender volume proved to be a book on fairies. Useless. He pushed it aside and opened the thicker book with the thin leathery covering. Surprisingly, it was handwritten. The first page was inscribed in a fairly childish hand with the words, Cassius, his booke.

The following pages were written in Latin, with small drawings and numerous lists. “A book of lists?” Pulling a notebook and pencil from his pocket, Sabine selected a list at random and began the laborious process of translating. He referred occasionally to his iPhone for words that he didn’t recall.

“Unbelievable.” He stared at the results. “It looks like…”

He pushed the paper away and picked up his phone. “Laurent?”

“Sabine! It’s good to hear from you.”

“Uh…are you wearing your pants?”

The husky chuckle down the line might once have stirred his senses. But it seemed Laurent was learning the fine art of directing his sexual energies at specific targets. Either that or the distance added some protection. “I am fully clothed, but willing to rectify that situation, if it suits you.”

“No…er… What do you think of this?” He drew in a calming breath. When had his heart begun to hammer like that? “A pinch of dried birch bark, powdered fine. The milk of the spiky yellow flower, root of garlic, crushed. In a stone bowl, grind to a paste with acid of grape. Apply to affliction and cover.”

“You have a wart problem?”

“It’s a spell?” Had he really stumbled upon a spell book?

“More like an herbal cure, but… Where are you?”

Blinking, Sabine flipped a few pages deeper into the book. The lists grew longer, the accompanied script more voluminous. “Moonshadows, why?”

“I just popped into your place… Can’t say as I like what you’ve done with the place. I take it poker is elsewhere this week?”

“No. I’m hoping that poker will be right there. So this is an herbal remedy? How would I tell a spell book if I saw one?” Like Laurent would know. Was it really a spell that he needed?

“As opposed to someone’s great-grandma’s recipe book? Well, they might have an odor of sulfur. Haha. Just kidding. But generally a spell book is personal to the witch or mage it belongs to. Depends on what they practiced…how they learned… Why? What have you found? If it’s at Moonshadows, it’s probably just junk. Now, if you’ve a hankering to see a real spell book… Come on down to my place on the bayou and I can show you a page or two rumored to be written in Marie Laveau’s own hand.”

“Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen? Is this the punchline to another joke?”

“No. Really. You’ve heard the story of Handsome Jack?”

“That’s just a song and a lot more recent than the 1800s.”

“Well, some songs have their basis in urban legend, and some legends have their basis in fact.”

“Are you saying—”

“I’m not saying that an incubus seduced a voodoo queen in exchange for a fortune in Confederate gold… Because we don’t kiss and tell, but…I do have a few pages of a genuine spell book if you want to take a look at one for comparison. If you can’t come out to the bayou, I’ll bring them to poker.”

The line went dead, and Sabine sat lost in thought for a minute. His friend had a more colorful past than he’d expected. The spell book would definitely be interesting to see.

He returned his attention to the book in front of him, strangely unwilling to give up on it just yet. Turning to a clean page in his notebook, he re-opened the Latin dictionary on his phone and went back to work. Flipping forward more, he stopped again on a page with a strange illustration of a leaf and a platter. Shivering, he touched the drawing of the platter with one fingertip. It was familiar. Using the photo search option on his phone, he was able to identify the leaf as belonging to the yew tree. Interesting. The tree of the dead. This might be worth the time. He turned from the illustration to the text. The language had changed, as had the handwriting. The letters were more mature, but the words unrecognizable. He typed the first word into Google translator then hit detect language.

Nothing. Damn.

Sighing, he continued paging through the book, pausing as he noted a section once more in Latin. The facing page listed several items, but it was the illustration that caught his attention. An oblong platter, a tripod, a circlet, and again the yew leaves. The pieces were so familiar. A chill crept over him, skin crawling as his heart hammered in excitement.

The title at the top of the facing page reinforced his hopes. Summonitori spirituum. Summoner of spirits. This might be what he was looking for. If he could recall the spirits of the dead from the afterlife…he could bring Bart home. “When the time is right.” For now, he needed to learn what this creature of darkness wanted, and…it was beginning to look like what it wanted was passage into the human world. Summoner. He made a note to scan the book for other uses of the word.

Picking up his pencil, Sabine began translating again.

Pick up your copy today and get haunted… seduced… captivated by the romance that is Altered States.

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013XZ611A

ARE https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-deadman039shandjackofspades4-1872229-145.html

SW https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/569222

Payhip https://payhip.com/b/qBUZ

Summer Music #inspiration #writingmood #rockon

From my earliest teen-age days… music and summer have gone hand in hand. I remember sitting on the bed, sunlight pouring through the open windows in the middle of my sibling’s room, trying to tune in local radio stations so we could sing along with The Steve Miller Band, Foreigner and The
Eagles. That's where we found out about Elvis's death... and John Lennon's.

On a transistor radio.

Yeah.

That’s love of music born in between static, chatty dj’s and endless commercials.

Summer calls forth the urge to listen to certain songs… for the feelings they evoke freedom, joy, romance. Remember Grease? Summer is all about the love affair you think is going to end when fall rolls around- it's hot, it's sexy, it's achingly short and intense.

Some of my favorite summer songs…

The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy

Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet

Saturday in the Park - Chicago

Rock Lobster - B=52’s

Summer Breeze- Seals and Croft

3 Places I’d Rather Be Than Chained to a Computer #writingisajob #retreat #allworkandnoplay

Good morning friends and readers… *sips coffee* Thanks for stopping by today. Grab yourself a cup of java and hang out for a while. We’ve had more than our fair share of rain this summer, but at last the sun has come out and everything is bright, blue and beautiful.

So naturally, now that it’s lovely here in the Illinois countryside, wanderlust sets in and I find myself staring out the windows at the blue sky and the fluffy clouds… the deep green of the surrounding forest… and wishing I could be out there instead of in here, chained to a desk.

I look at the blank pages of a half dozen manuscripts that should be written, that are due to the editor, that will actually pay my bills, and instead of black and white I see golden sand and frothy waves, sweeping vistas of grass and wild flowers, rough hewn brick and crumbling towers.

Wanderlust. When I boil it all down, I come to three places I’d love to be writing right now that aren’t my kitchen, much as I love my little kitchen office.

Where? Lying on a lounger on a white sandy beach… somewhere in South Carolina, like this…

Or sitting on a deck staring out at forest… like this…

Or down on the deck of a gently rocking boat… like this ...

What about you? If you could run away from home and write anywhere you wanted… Where would you go?

Ooops! Busted. Running off to write now!

Keep Up with all the news- Join My Face Book group #mmromance #keepintouch

Hello friends!

Just thought I'd take a quick moment to invite you all Crawl in Bed with me. *gasps* I mean, to join my Face Book Group. It's become increasingly difficult with Face Book to reach readers via the Author Page I set up. Some kind of pay per view system seems to be in place. I wouldn't mind paying, but even when I paid to promote posts, it seemed like the people genuinely interested in my work weren't the ones FB was targeting.

I pondered for a while, but finally established a Face Book Group. It's where I plan to do most of my posting in the coming year, host a few contests, and goof off in general. The blog will still be here, and hopefully be seeing a bit more action than we managed this year, but…

Please click over to Face Book and join if you're inclined to communicate on a more personal level. You can hear my favorite music, see what I'm reading, and working on…and share your own faves as well.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/crawlinbedwithlee/

See you there! 

Come Visit with Havan Fellows! #mmromance #malexmale #authorstuff

Hello everyone, welcome to my second home, it’s a pleasure to see ya’ll again. *winks* For the newbies out there—hey hey!—

Havan! Don't grope the readers!

Um…why not? Fine, hello newbies, my name is Havan Fellows. I’m an author currently published in the M/M romance genre and loving every minute of it. Seriously, I couldn’t find anyone who would listen to my babble on a regular basis so why not type it up and send it off to all of you to enjoy…my family and friends thank you for taking the bullet on this one. lmao

No need checking the blog address you’re on…it’s true you came to visit Lee Brazil and got me instead. I’ll take the lucky tally mark on this one. But you see, Lee is kinda to blame for me being here…

Oh naturally. You couldn't blame Will, could you?

I didn’t mean here as in your blog (which btw, Lee hasn’t found any locks that will keep me out yet). No, I mean here, here…in this delectable genre writing the tenacious men I do.

Not only that…but Lee had a big hand in the series I’m about to tell you about, also.

*blushes* I think you're giving me way too much credit on both counts.

He’s so modest, isn’t it cute? ;)

So…wanna hear a little tale about how I almost published a book called Geoff’s Fuzzy…or even worse, Fuzzy’s Geoff? Have a seat, enjoy some coffee and goodies, Lee always has the best baked yummies…

If you can get to them before Havan eats them all!

Back away from the cookies…I’ll share the muffins, but these bad boys are mine. Now where was I? Oh yeah…long ago, on a computer far far away (seriously, the computer is now thousands of miles from where I am)…

*whispers* Don’t worry Lee, I won’t mention the handcuffs…or the French cutie that said I could keep you…or the Crown Royal (it was Crown, right?)

It was Johnny Walker Black and so much for keeping secrets!

Hey, you never called sacred.  Orgies!

Where? Are we invited?

Oh yes we are.

Soooooo, Lee and I write with a group of amazing authors called the Story Orgy. We post weekly snippets (they’ve kinda morphed into full-fledged chapters instead of snippets lmao) on Mondays based on some sort of prompt—be it a phrase, picture, item, etc…

Well, this is where Synchronous Seductions came from. First I wrote Harlan’s Ryde…and the feedback from that was so great that people wanted Ritchie’s story, and Emery’s Ritches was written.

Do you see a trend with the titles? That’s important…Lee helped me think them up and I thought the idea of making titles out of the two main characters’ names was so clever.

Until I hit a roadblock.

After Emery’s Ritches…people met Fuzzy and Geoff and wanted their story. Um…Fuzzy’s Geoff? Oh hell no I wasn’t gonna name a book that, but what did that leave me? Um, Geoff’s Fuzzy…

*shakes head*

I know, it was bad. What was I supposed to do? I was freaking out, I couldn’t change the format of the title, that would’ve killed me. And in comes Lee! *yay!!*

After he was done laughing at the Geoff’s Fuzzy idea *eyes* and we bounced a few other ideas off each other…he came to my rescue (oh he should be used to doing that by now lmao) and realized I hadn’t ever actually told Fuzzy’s real name yet…

(because no, his real name isn’t Fuzzy…really?)

But Lee was all like, “You should name him Theodore, so it could be shortened to Teddy and bam(!!) that’s where Fuzzy could’ve originated from…so call it Geoff’s Teddy?”

*angels sing*

You think I’m exaggerating…but ask any author, coming up with the perfect title is damn near orgasmic!

I can't really say as that's how I remember it… but sure. Geoff's Teddy is a terrific book J Rom Com at its best.

*hip bumps* so how do you remember it?

And Geoff’s Teddy ended up being the third and final installment in my Synchronous Seductions series, now available all in one great hot bundle.

Synchronous Seductions

Complete series including: Harlan’s Ryde, Emery’s Ritches & Geoff’s Teddy

Release date: July 20, 2015

Blurb:

Seven years ago one of them made a mistake.

That mistake will change six lives forever.

Today.

Ryder made a mistake Harlan can't forgive. Will Ryder cross a line no man should cross to obtain a second chance?

Ritchie won't admit he's heartbroken. Emery won't accept less than all of Ritchie's affection. How will arrogant Emery win snarky Ritchie for his own?

Fuzzy is an unsatisfied ladies' man. Geoff's a bear-loving man who satisfies. Problem? Convincing a straight man that satisfaction might be just around the bend.

Warning: This book is chock full of domineering men who don’t like to take no for an answer. If arrogant alpha men make your heart beat faster and other places tingle, this is the book for you.

172 pages

Categories: M/M Romance, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Humor, Contemporary, RomCom

Cover Artist: Allison Cassatta

EXCERPT 

3

“Seven years, Ryde. You can’t just walk in here after seven fucking years and expect everything to be hunky-dory between us. Should we stroll into the kitchen and I’ll whip us up some of those banana pecan pancakes you love and we can laugh about old times over coffee?”

The sly smile Ryde gave Harlan made his skin tingle in an oh-so-good way, which ironically enough, wasn’t oh-so-good.

“So you remember my favorite breakfast, huh? That’s a start.” Ryde looked around the room again and nodded his head toward the hallway leading to the kitchen. “This way?” And off he went again, like he owned the place.

Okay, get through a quick howdy doody with him, and then send him on his way. You can’t go through this again; you can’t rely on something that never was there. It’s not fair of his damn still spectacular ass to come into your home and put you through hell again. Think of all the failed relationships thanks to this guy, think of all the walls you erected in his honor around your heart. Now here he is, six feet of mouthwatering, dunk-him-in-milk-and-eat-him-up goodness, and you are still the geek with a collection of gag gift pocket protectors. Get rid of him now.

Unfortunately, the only thing Harlan’s body wanted disappeared into the kitchen. Har had a brain and he had a mouth; the problem was that when they didn’t agree, neither of them worked properly. Apparently there was no getting the boys together today, either.

So the rambling started, and before he had his mandatory two cups of coffee. Not good. “If you think for one minute I’m making you pancakes, you have another think coming. I don’t even have any nuts for them, and if I did, I wouldn’t let you have them!” He winced and his eyes widened. Did he just say that? Aloud? To Ryde? Oh hell, he needed Ryde’s inhaler right about now.

You can find Synchronous Seductions here:

Amazon

All Romance e-books

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

About the author:

I annoy, love, respect, scare, seduce, hurt, anger, infatuate, frustrate, flatter, envy, amuse and tolerate everyone. I just do it better in writing thanks to a little thing called…edits.

Okay no, seriously…I'm a simpleminded person who enjoys the escape from real life through a book. I write with the group Story Orgy and hope to continue doing so for a long time. I also am privileged to be with the Pulp Friction writers, creating intermingling books in a world all our own.

I recently took the drastic step of quitting my EDJ (evil day job) and am now living in the gorgeous desert in Arizona making a go at this writing stuff full time…and I can’t see me regretting this decision ever.

Just like every other red-blooded human—I get a little bouncy when I get mail (any kind too…email, comments, private messages…you wanna do it, do it with me *winks*). So feel free to drop me a line—whether it's on my blog, twitter, PInterest, or you track me down on FaceBook or Google +…it's easy to catch someone who wants to be caught. 

I specialize in writing boyxboy though I read almost everything...and I fancy myself as slightly funny every once in a while. :)

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/HavanFellowsauthor

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crawlinbedwithlee/

Pulp Friction Love FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/369329926547263/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HavanFellows

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/havanfellows/

Blog: http://havanshawthaven.blogspot.com

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/HavanFellows

Tour Dates & Stops:
27-Jul

The Novel Approach

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My

28-Jul

Lee Brazil

MM Good Book Reviews

29-Jul

Amanda C. Stone

Divine Magazine

30-Jul

Inked Rainbow Reads

31-Jul

Bayou Book Junkie

Jessie G. Books

3-Aug

Happily Ever Chapter

Christy Loves 2 Read

4-Aug

Love Bytes

Molly Lolly

5-Aug

Hearts on Fire

Parker Williams

6-Aug

Velvet Panic

Prism Book Alliance

7-Aug

BFD Book Blog

Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews

Cathy Brockman Romances

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