Gah. My head hurts. Yes, I’m sick. Tonsilitis I’m sure. I’ve had it umpteen times in my life so I sorta know it. Fever = massive headache. So, I’m gonna drop a Marcus on you, promise to come back and post by New Year’s Eve, and go back to bed.
After all these years, he’s still cover material. Yum!
Hope your Christmas was all you hoped it would be!
Today, I have a Tuesday Tune and then I’m gonna get all personal on you.
When people ask me what my favorite Christmas song is, I usually offer up the old carols. The songs I sang in accapella choir. The Boar’s Head Carol, the Coventry Carol, the Holly & the Ivy, Carol of the Bells… you know the stuff. The very old non-commercial stuff. I could tell you all about the Coventry Carol and Lady Godiva and some other stuff, but MEH. No one cares anymore. Everyone likes modern music. Madonna doing Santa Baby. That Mariah Carey song. Aaron Neville.
Don’t get me wrong. I like some of ‘em too. Bing Crosby and David Bowie doing the Little Drummer Boy. But the truth of the matter is that in some ways I am a child of the 80’s still. The band that rose to such huge prominence and to this day retains as much respect for their politics as their music holds a place in my heart with their Christmas song.
Last year, I cried for hours. I just wanted Rott. I was so lonely without him. I was worried about him too up in the Sierras in the cold. I wanted things to be like they used to be. Of course, stupid me was thinking back several years instead of just one or two years. Our first Christmas together in Huntington Beach. The year we were homeless and he brought a tree to the motel on Christmas Eve. I missed just holding him and having him hold me. Last year felt so much like my first Christmas without my parents that I got a little drunk. Couldn’t take the pain.
This year he’s home and all the joy and love that I thought would be there isn’t. It’s been replaced by wariness, caution, fear, trust issues, and a host of the most painful emotions I’ve ever experienced. I’m beset with loss and the man is right there. Things may not be hopeless but at the moment my limboland is painful and painfully barren. I’m not alone like last year, but the loss of so many of my hopes has left me feeling raw and even more lonely than I was last year.
I laughed at myself a few days ago about getting what you wish for. All I could wish for last year was to have him home with me where I knew he was safe and where I could show him that I loved him. This year… I know he’s safe at least. And when he smiles, I can see it. And I know that all this churning emotion at least tells me that I am still alive inside this shell.
And even if we can’t yet cross the chasm between us, and may never be able to, I have those places I can go to in my heart where I can still feel the heat of those memories we made together. In my mind, Christmas will always be about that night we struggled to decorate a tree that filled a little room and how we laid together in the dark, holding hands, listening to midnight mass on the TV as the lights blinked on that dried out tree.
Sometimes, the best Christmas’s are the ones in your heart.
It’s a mad rush week for me. Lots to do at the office if I want to take off Christmas Eve. I need to do four days work in about two and a half days. Gonna be pushing myself hard and getting really tired. But come Christmas Eve morning, when I get up at my usual time after all, but get to sit at my desk in my pajamas, drinking coffee and licking whipped cream… it will be worth it. I might even have to do a little work at home that morning to finish up, but it will still be worth it. Ahhh. Nothing like working in your jammies. 
I’m off to the post office today at lunch so some of you will be getting a manila envelope in your mailbox from me. Probably not in time for Christmas but Vista Print and Createspace conspired against me this year and stuff didn’t come very quickly.
However, for those of you who like Christmas stories, head on over to Pink Petal Books where you will find two free Christmas stories from me and two $1.89 Christmas stories. Warning! Christmas Catch is M/M. The free Antaeus Christmas story will be my Christmas Eve gift to you all. I’m mad rushing to finish that story right now.
Now I must rush off to work, leaving you with the inevitable but beautiful Marcus on this last Monday before Christmas. I shoulda Photoshopped him a Santa hat. This photo gets a lot bigger so make sure you click him.
Wishing you a happy Monday and in case I don’t get back here tomorrow and Christmas Eve like I’m planning… have a wonderful Christmas! MUAH!
I made one. Yes, indeedy. Took last year’s and changed it. The credits at the end are a list of what I am thankful for this year. Make sure you watch it all.
Now, didn’t I promise you some feminine hotness? So here’s sorta how I see my three Tales heroines.
Shifting Winds
heroine: Elysia Granville, actress Naomi Watts
Hot Water
heroine: Eden Antaeus, actress Sofia Vergara
Ride the Lightning
heroine: Emily Carrington, actress Natasha Henstridge
And there you have it! A look at sorta how the heroes and heroines of the Tales series appear to me. None of the photos do justice to the image in my head really. Immortals are all so much more perfect than humans and have that preternatural attractiveness that a human could never have. Meh. It’s one of the reasons I like my world so much. Even a woman like Emily who has more elegance than beauty comes of as extraordinarily gorgeous because of her dragon-ness.
Hope you all have a great Tuesday! Happy Holidays!
I was left blinking in a bit of shock at the annual company Christmas party on Saturday night. No, it’s not about who showed up with whom, although there was a bit of that kinda shock rippling through the room. I got into a little discussion with my friend Liz (the one I jokingly call the “Evil” HR Manager after Catbert) and one of the VPs. A female VP. Who is reading Tales of the Darkworld Volume One.
I’ll admit to having a little case of the jitters over her reading my book. After all, the vampires own a cemetery! She’s one of my bosses. I kinda worried whether I’d said or done something that she might not like. So when she said, “You know, I’ve been reading your book…” I kinda felt like a deer in headlights. But her question to me was, “Are any of the characters based on real people? Because that hero sounds pretty hot.”
Whew! Felt like I dodged a bullet there. And I did say that some characters in the series share characteristics or names with people I know. But not Declan Antaeus. So I thought today in honor of her question I would show everyone who I envisioned in my head when I was writing my heroes. I know it’s a Marcus Monday but a plethora of hotness to replace him should be okay for one measly Monday, right? Okay, here goes.
(The images are clickable so you can drool over the full size image if you want.)
Shifting Winds
hero: Declan Antaeus, actor Victor Webster
Hot Water
hero: Colin Granville, model Will Chalker
Fire Season
hero: Holden Antaeus, model Andre Coelho
Fire Season
hero: Garret Renquist, model Rafael Lazzini
Ride the Lightning
hero: Vahid Delrey, actor Antonio Cupo
Other male characters (some of whom have appeared in the series thus far) who haven’t had their own book yet:
Book Five – Common Ground
hero: Marius Granville, actor Daniel Craig
Book Six – Sunstroked
hero: Corey Green, actor Forbes March
Book Six – Sunstroked
hero: Seth Dylan, model Marco Dapper
Book Eight – Thunder and Myth
hero: Ruan MacCallan, actor Paul Walker
Book Ten – Force Majeur
hero: Sean Antaeus, actor/model Julian Fantechi
Some characters aren’t really visualized in my head yet as far as appearance. The enigmatic Alfred Stone for one. Al is special so I’ve been giving him a lot of thought. Eventually, I will hit on his “look” and find a face to match it.
So that’s it from me this Monday. I’m all recovered from the Christmas party, the rain seems to have stopped here, and I’m looking forward to sending out holiday cards and a few gifts this week. Just waiting for the Fedex guy to bring me a box today. Sorry for a lack of Marcus, but I think I’ll try to post the female characters tomorrow with my video Holiday Card in place of a Tuesday Tune.
Have a great Monday!
It’s a Tuesday Tune for the holidays. I love Soundgarden so this has been one of my fave Christmas songs ever since I first heard it.
Last night was a special Jester Show featuring Dave2 of Blogography. They talked about a lot of interesting stuff from iPhone apps and politics to touching up supermodels and cruise ships. Iron-Fist (Vahid) called in as did Snackiepoo (Hilly) and me. My very short convo with them at the end of the show was about Throbbing Vampire Cock, my favorite Davetoon of all time.
If you didn’t get a chance to listen in to the show live, check out the podcast above. Fans of Ride the Lightning will get to hear the real Vahid and Dave speak! Yes, they both sound incredibly sexy as does Jester who has the best laugh in the world. Jester Shows are never to be missed. They are so much fun!
Have a great Tuesday!
Today, I get to play the Rain Game. Yes, the rain has finally hit SoCal. And I have a shredded wiper blade and bent wiper arm. So Rott gets to take me to work in the SUV, put the Intrepid in the garage, and change the blades. Or he can just take me to work every day that it rains. Makes no difference to me. The SUV is a lot nicer than the Dodge that’s for sure. Strangely enough, Rott does like the Dodge. He swears it saved his life once cause it has so much power. Men are sometimes easily pleased.
I’ve had several things I’ve been working on this past weekend. I completed a website for author Regina Carlysle, bought some sim game credits so I can breed over my multiple stakes winner Smooth Belief, did some promo for Ride the Lightning, bought promo items, and just about finished Christmas in Hell. I wuz bizzy!
I can’t wait to get my hands on the promo stuff. If you want a holiday card from me (well, Lex really) email me with your snail mail addy. Either lex at lexvalentine dot com or winter at winterheart dot com. I’ll be sending out Ride the Lightning magnets and Mating/Runaways book cards too. I never knew being an author meant getting to know the USPS personnel so well.
Tonight is a new Jester Show with Dave2. I can hardly wait! I love Jester and his show is always hugely entertaining. It’s even more entertaining when Dave is on. They are an unbeatable combo. If you get the chance, you should definitely tune in. Just be careful about eating and drinking while listening. *wink*
Before I head out to play the Rain Game (aka musical cars in the rain) I need to post my regular Monday Marcus. I have to admit to having looked a lot of naked cowboys lately. Marcus is not much of a cowboy sadly. But I needed inspiration while writing Christmas in Hell and naked cowboy cock seemed to do the trick. So to make up for my lack of loyalty I’m posting a Marcus photo I’ve posted before, but always looks good!
I think this is about as close as I’m gonna get to a Marcus cowboy look. LOL Still it’s a nice looking horse and a gorgeous Marcus. What more do I need on a Monday?
All of you have a great day and take it easy out there in the winter weather!
