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So I have some news. Really fun news! Next week, on February 4th, the Jester Show will have some friends of mine as guests. These guests are the authors of the I Do anthology published by MLR Press in support of marriage equality. All of the proceeds of this book go to Lambda Legal to help fight Prop 8 here in California.

The author who spearheaded this book is Alex Beecroft who is female and British. The editor (who’s been bugging me to write something for MLR’s ghost anthology) is Kris Jacen and the publisher is Laura Baumbach (whom I’ve heard will remember that I said I could write a M/M ghost story).

This idea was spawed on author Z. A. Maxfield’s Yahoo group when they were talking about ways to promote the book and I mentioned Jester. The authors got excited so I emailed Jester and he said he would love to have them on! So next Wednesday at 7 pm Pacific time, the authors of the I Do anthology will be on the Jester Show talking about the book, writing, marriage equality, and Prop 8. Please come to the show to support the cause… or Jester. Cause he’s just that cute and fun.

Now, before I end this post, I need to kiss a little BPR butt and post some cowboys. And just to be fair to the men, I need to post a cowgirl. Cause ya know, Karl and Marty pointed out that I’m usually pretty good about posting hotties of both sexes. Can’t disappoint my friends.

Whew! That’s pretty hot for a Friday, eh? I hope BPR likes the Marcus on a Friday one!

I have a quick update about my writing. The last contract I got will be my first book released. Sunday’s Child: The Wise Guy doesn’t have any throbbing vampire cock in it, but there is a black cat named Rambo, a klutzy witch named Brenna, and an almost mage named Randall Wise. It will be released by Noble Romance on February 22. On March 5, Book One and Two of the Tales of the Darkworld will be released by Pink Petal Books. Shifting Winds and Hot Water are part of the PPB Presents Shifters series. These are dragon shifter books. Hot Water features Karl, Gooster (Corey), and Vahid.

I’ve started work on What You Wish For, which features Hilly as a writer of Twilight-like novels. On top of that, I’ve begun the plot for my twisted version of Rapunzel which features a red headed heroine named Beck or Becks, Hellohahanarf to you and me. Marty the fairy godfather appears in both What You Wish For and the Rapunzel story since both are Twisted Tales. I’d like a Dave character someday, but I’m not sure I can come with a vehicle to accurately portray his awesomeness. I’m still pondering ideas there. Your ideas are certainly welcome as well!

That’s it for me until Monday, unless I have some spectacular news of some kind to come back and write about. I’ll have another round of my hot Marcus Monday for you then. Also, you can post what my Blogiversary date is in comments until the last minute (Pacific time) of January to be entered in a drawing for a lovely Sex Toy t-shirt or coffee mug! Have a simply yummy weekend darlins’!

I’m a total doofus. I missed my blogiversary. What a moron. LOL Everyone who posts the date of my blogiversary in comments will have their name go into a drawing for a Sex Toy item from the RottNRoll Cafepress store.

On the writing front, I finished first round edits on both Shifting Winds and Hot Water. I’m still waiting to receive The Wise Guy edits. Meanwhile, I’m writing a 6K story about demons and hellhounds for an anthology. No sex. No romance. It’s just kind of an odd Twilight Zone-ish story. What they call a “dark tale”. I also am committed to writing a 20K male/male ghost story to submit to MLR Press for their ghost anthology. That’s not due until August though.

Speaking of MLR Press they have this awesome book out called I Do which supports marriage equality. This book’s proceeds go to Lambda Legal to help fight Prop 8. I’ll have another announcement about this book and a special promo event by Wednesday.

I had another Nikki Sixx dream. You may recall that I occasionally have very weird vivid dreams with him in them. I think I’ll save the tale for another day though. It was an odd jumble of me, Nikki, his daughter, my daughter, Tommy Lee and a tornado. Weird stuff.

I need a really nice Marcus this week since I’m not writing any sex or romance. A real sizzler of a photo. What do you think of this one?

Meh. Maybe I shoulda posted the cowboy looking one. LOL At any rate, hope you have a great Monday! Don’t forget to post the date of my blogiversary in comments for a chance to win a prize!

Edits for Shifting Winds are about done. My editor sent the manuscript to me, I made changes, was really happy with how it came out, and sent it back to her. Now, it’s a waiting game. Will she like the changes? Will she want more? Will she send it back to me for more fixing? One of the things I fixed was a line the heroine thinks while she’s trying to free the hero’s dick from his jeans… she was mentally praising whoever invented the button fly.

I have to admit that I love a pair of button fly jeans on a man. Sure, it makes for easy access, but almost better than that, most men just look too hot in them.  Button fly jeans are the male equivalent of a push up bra. I see those flys and my mouth waters. *sigh* I know. TMI.

Writing erotica, the button fly has become stock in trade for me.  The funny thing is, I’ve started noticing them more when I’m out and about (not that I get out much).  I guess what it boils down to is that working as a writer has made me more aware of certain things. I’m always looking at things with an inspirational eye now. Can I use it or a variation of it? What does it say to me? At my age, it’s kinda nice to look at the world with new eyes.

I’ve been looking at writing with new eyes too. Last week I took on the job of submissions editor for Freya’s Bower and Wild Child Publishing. WOW. The stuff that gets sent to them, that people think is publishable? Amazing. Lately, I’ve been a little political on the topic of books that are not up to snuff being touted on review sites as the best thing since sliced bread, only because everyone loves the author, not for her writing but because she’s such a nice, sweet lady.  So all the reviews and the awards thingys with open polls, have all been revealed to me as a popularity contest. Not unlike politics. Yeah, I don’t do politics, even on the eve of the inauguration.

However, I can see that if I want even a modicum of success, I’m going to have to start currying favor with all of you to try to get you to buy my books and vote for me and all that political handshaking kinda bullshit. We’ll see how popular I get. I’m not good at begging or ass kissing, something I think I revealed in a post early last year.

Speaking of last year, I need to check my dates… I might have missed my Blogiversary! YIKES! I’ll check on that and get back to you. LOL I AM planning a giveaway or contest of some kind.

Three things left on my Monday agenda… First, let’s have a Marcus! Since we were talking jeans I thought it best to have a Marcus in jeans photo today. The girl in the bikini is just an added benefit for the het guys out there.

Second, I’d like to say thanks to Dave, for letting me use his Hawaii photos in a book trailer for author A.J. Llewellyn. A.J. was thrilled at the beauty of Dave’s photos. As for me, I appreciated Dave’s generosity. I’m definitely donating to the building of the Dave Monument!

And last but not least, I bought Jester a book.  I admit I was trying to curry favor. I think it worked too, but I can’t talk about it yet. The book is called I Do and it’s an anthology of same sex stories in support of Marriage Equality. The proceeds from the book go to Lambda Legal to help fight Prop 8. If you like to read these kinds of stories, or even if you don’t, but you’d like to support the cause, buy the book please. You can give it away to someone who does like to read same sex stories.

That’s it for me for this Monday. I’ve gotta check on my Blogiversary date which sadly may have already passed. DOH! Have a great Monday!

So I’m in deadline hell. I have to have this manuscript done by this coming weekend. I’m at 23K words and 30K is my target. I made some real progress this past weekend, but if Wednesday through Saturday had been like Sunday… well, this thing would be done. I’m not sure why this story has been difficult. I’m going to have to look at that once it is complete and sent to my editor.

Today, I’m playing hooky from hell. I have some other things I need to do after work, so the manuscript will have to wait. I have to reprogram the scoring program for my horse racing residency. Ugh. I do it once a year and I never remember how, so it takes a little time and some serious concentration.

Really, I think I was playing hooky from my deadline all along and that’s how it became hell. Funny how procrastination can bite you in the ass in the end. And this is such a tight deadline that I wonder what will happen if my editor doesn’t like this story. I mean, sure I can rework it, but will I really have the time? Probably not, which means I’d have to take a day off work to do it.  Working a full time job can really be a bitch when you write too.

Okay, enough of my bitching about hell. I need a little heaven this Monday, and I know you have all come to expect a Marcus from me. I’m in a needy Marcus mood because Jen was teasing me yesterday with the prospect of an Alaric post at the Bar. Since Marcus is the face of Alaric, I got shivery at the thought of a post…  I love his arms and chest and he’s kinda famous for them, but truly, he looks good in clothes too.

It’s back to work for me today after being off since Wednesday. Month end and year end await me. And of course, I can’t play hooky from hell much longer! If you’re a writer, look for a post on inspiration over at Lex Valentine’s blog this week. The post will feature one of Justin’s photos and will also give some info on his fundraiser. Have a great Monday!