Pure self-indulgence, maybe?

Yeah, maybe. Heh.

So. Today, I’m going to talk about my run. See, I broke my foot back at the end of June. Before that, I was running almost four miles. Not bad. Then I fell off my bike at the beach, spent a week hobbling around knowing I’d done some damage but not wanting to go to an out of network provider, then went to the doc as soon as I got home and found out I had an avulsion fracture of one of the small bones in the midfoot. Fine. So I wore a Cam boot for six weeks. After I got out of it, I got re-xrayed and got the go-ahead to start running again (slooowly) after I’d been out of the boot a couple of weeks.  Fast forward to now, about six weeks post-boot. I’m back up to 3.16 miles, averaging 12:20 minutes per mile with some faster splits in the middle, where the route’s flatter. I won’t win any races with that time, but then again I never won any races anyhow. I’m happy with it

Right now I’m planning a 5K next month, and hoping to do my first half-marathon next fall. Keep your fingers crossed…

Anyway, I found this link on Twitter this morning via one of Neil Gaiman’s tweets and had to share. Click here to read the article.

It’s not great because of yet another person (people, in this case) accusing J.K. Rowling of stealing ideas, which in and of itself is kind of ridiculous, as is pointed out in the article. It’s great because of the excerpts from the poor guy’s book. Check this out:

In Willy’s laboratory, Wizard Cricket demonstrated how a mixture’ of grounded nicket paste and paleberry juice applied gently on the eyebrows of an Aussie guinea pig would bring a marked change of appearance. Willy suffered the mixture and clumsily knocked the contents of the texture into the berry juice paste and ! The guinea pig became a winking wongo – a wonderful little chap, a cousin to the Dutch Tree Squirrels.

OMG! It reads like a Monty Python sketch, y’all! Seriously, can’t you just hear Eric Idle’s voice there? LOLOL!

Anyway, I just had to share that. TOO funny. Since this poor writer died a long time ago, I like to think that he — being an author himself, albeit not as skilled as J.K. — would have better sense than his relatives and not try to follow those dollar signs. I kind of hate that his family is trying to use him for their own profit like this.

Can I just say right here that I heart Sacha Baron Cohen with a mad passion? You gotta love a guy who will put his life on the line for comedy

 Instructions for voting are on Erin’s website, here. Everyone who votes will be entered into a drawing for a copy of the winning title. Stop by and place your vote for Fireflies! You KNOW it’s the best

On Sunday 2/22 and Monday 2/23, the Romance Novel TV blog will be posting an interview with myself and seven other authors of gay romance: JL Langley, Josh Lanyon, Jet Mykles, K.A. Mitchell, Jamie Craig (who is actually TWO awesome authors!), Chris Owen, and LB Gregg (a.k.a. the loverly and delightful LisaBea of the Nose In A Book blog). Our awesome interviewer, Marisa, asked us some wonderfully insightful questions, which we all had a blast answering in discussion format. We are all of us a bunch of motor-mouths evidently, which is why the six questions are being posted over two days *g* 

An excerpt from Where The Heart Is will be posted in the “books” section of the Romance Novel TV website, and Marisa will be holding a drawing for a free download of the book. I believe all the other authors involved are also giving away copies of ebooks or even print books, so be sure to stop by for some awesome excerpts, a fascinating interview and a chance to win some great books!

Sigh. Is difficult, keeping it clean for the kidlets who might wander by.

I Do

This is an anthology of m/m and f/f short stories by some of today’s best authors of gay and lesbian fiction. ALL profits from the sale of this anthology go to the Lambda Legal Defense to fight Prop 8.

I Do is available in ebook and paperback formats. Pick up your copy today and help fight for marriage equality!

ETA: Ally does not have a story in this antho. But I’ve read several of the authors who DO have stories in it, and believe me, they are GOOD. I’ll definitely be getting my own copy of this book!

 Click here to download the book in PDF. Click here for a list of all Samhain’s free ebooks. Keep reading for a blurb and a teeny snippet

 Blurb: Matt’s a disaster in the kitchen. But a chef like Chris can make dessert out of anything. All it takes is a little chocolate and a lot of imagination.

 Excerpt:

 The third time Matt scorched the chocolate, he threw the whole damn pot in the sink and swore he’d never try to cook again.

Just like the last two times, the vow only lasted long enough for him to remember why he’d decided to do this in the first place. With a sigh, he scraped the ruined chocolate sauce into the garbage disposal and opened the dessert section of Chris’s cookbook. Maybe he couldn’t make Chris’s favorite, but surely to God he could find something he was capable of cooking.

“Matt? What are you doing in there?”

Shit. Untying Chris’s apron from around his waist, Matt threw it aside. “Nothing, babe! Go back to sleep.”

No answer. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Chris had been sick as a dog for the last week and half with a vicious strain of the flu. He’d barely been able to get out of bed. Matt had done okay at taking care of him, except when it came to cooking. He’d always been useless in the kitchen, but it had never bothered him until now. Preparing meals for a professional chef was pretty daunting, even if said chef couldn’t eat anything but soup and crackers.

Now that Chris was on the mend and getting his appetite back, Matt was bound and damned determined to make him the sweets he’d been craving ever since he first got sick. Matt figured it was the least he could do, since Chris had been forced to skip the baking he normally loved to do for Christmas.

The scuff of slippers on wood jolted Matt out of his thoughts. He whipped around just in time to see Chris shuffle through the archway from the living room, yawning and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. His blue terrycloth robe hung open over his pajamas, a couple day’s worth of stubble shadowed his jaw and his black hair stuck up all over the place. Matt thought he looked adorable. 

“Hey, Chris.” Shoving the chocolate-coated saucepan deeper into the sink and thus out of sight, Matt jogged up to Chris and wrapped his arms around Chris’s shoulders. “What’re you doing out of bed?”

Chris arched one dark eyebrow. “I came down to see what all the noise was about.”

“Oh.” Matt winced. “Oops. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.” Chris slipped his hands under Matt’s Christmas sweater. His palms still felt too hot against Matt’s bare skin, even though his fever was way down today. “I’m feeling much better now. I fail to understand why you want me to stay in bed.”

Matt flashed his most evil grin, the one that always made Chris’s green eyes glaze with lust. “Same reason I want you in bed the rest of the time, babe.”

Laughing, Chris leaned forward and pecked Matt on the lips. “My darling, you are the horniest person I’ve ever known.”

“Yeah, other than you.” Matt returned the kiss, along with extra tongue. “Which is why you married me, I guess.”

Chris smiled, his eyes shining. “One of many reasons.”

Matt’s chest went tight. Every time he thought of his and Chris’s handfasting ceremony that past summer, he got choked up.

Sentimental, that’s me.

It didn’t bug him any. He’d never been one to deny what he felt. Luckily, Chris had always liked that about him.

~*~*~*~*~

Prop 8 and God – A challenge to author Rick Warren

There’s been a lot of talk about “God’s will” and the upcoming vote on California’s Proposition 8.

The latest to invoke God in trying to get the measure passed is Rick Warren, a televangelist and bestselling author.

I’m an author too, so Warren’s words got my attention. They sent me on a mission to look for other times in history when arguments like this have been used.

Warren said, “This is not a political issue, it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about. There is no doubt where we should stand on this issue.”

Warren is telling his followers to vote yes on 8, which would eliminate the current right of same sex couples to marry in California. Warren is joined by the Mormon Church, which has poured millions of dollars from out of state into an advertising campaign aimed at changing our law.

There’s a great deal of historical precedent for passing laws to remove the marriage rights of minority groups. As you prepare to vote on Prop 8, I thought it would be interesting to share with you some past examples. Just as Warren has done, all of these past marriage bans claimed to be following God’s will.

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” –Judge Leon Bazile, Caroline County Virginia, 1959, in his ruling that sentenced Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter Loving to one year in prison for marrying in violation of segregation laws. Mildred was part African-American. Richard was white.

“It is my conviction that the fundamental trouble with the people of the United States is that they have gotten too far away from Almighty God.” –U.S. President Warren G. Harding. He signed into law The Cable Act of 1922, which revoked the citizenship of any American woman who married an Asian.

“Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.” –Adolf Hitler on September 5, 1935 when he signed the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, which prevented any subjects of Germany or related heritage from marrying Jews.

Ultimately, all of these acts of discrimination and hate were seen for what they really were. They no longer exist. But for a time they were the law of the land: Asians, African-Americans, women, and Jews restricted from marriage.

So as you enter the voting booth this Tuesday, ask yourself one simple question. Which side of history do you want to be on?

I urge you to vote NO on Proposition 8.

Kemble Scott, Author, California

http://www.kemblescott.com

An Inner Darkness

An Inner Darkness, the fifth (and final?) book in my Bay City Paranormal Investigations series, is now available from Samhain Publishing!

All hell’s about to break loose. Literally.

After more than a year as a couple—and plenty of bumps along the road—Sam Raintree and Dr. Bo Broussard are finally settling into life together. Bo has come to terms with his sexuality, their business is thriving, and Sam has begun to accept his role as a step-parent of sorts to Bo’s sons, Sean and Adrian. The only real dark spot is Bo’s ex-wife, Janine.

When eleven-year-old Adrian begins exhibiting signs of psychokinesis—the same ability which allows Sam to manipulate interdimensional portals—the friction between Sam, Bo and Janine escalates. Sam and Bo have reason to believe Adrian’s raw, uncontrolled talent poses a danger to him and those around him. Janine, however, believes Sam and Bo are encouraging dangerous delusions on Adrian’s part. Common ground is nonexistent, anger and hard words ever-present.

Caught in the middle of the conflict and burdened with an ability he can’t yet control, Adrian is soon pushed beyond his limits. With Adrian’s mind—and the lives of everyone around him—hanging in the balance, Sam and Bo race against time to save both boys and keep an otherworldly horror from breaking free.

(Warning: This book contains graphic language, explicit male/male sex, family drama and scary monsters.)

Read an explicit excerpt on my website.

Read a clean excerpt and buy the book here!

And if you want to see Sam and Bo get kinky, check out my Halloween short story on the Fiction With Friction blog *g*