I posted the next “In One Picture” blog on the Collections website, and then had to open a blank white screen for my blog. I don’t have anything to talk about today. I’ll be doing some editing, maybe take care of some administrivia, resting when my body tells me to, eating when I get hungry. Nothing ambitious for sure.

I wish everyone good health, happiness, and the love of family and friends—I say this as the 10-year-old lets out an enraged scream somewhere upstairs. I can tell a “help, I’m hurt” scream from one of her frustrated, louder screams. I’m ignoring it because mama is up there and can handle it. It’s the last week of summer for the kids. They should be chillin’ and making the most of it. Youth is wasted on the young. LOL

So, here’s a pretty blue flower for you. I looked for a calming image, something I wish I could sniff. The flowers in our yard, other than the evening primroses that bloom at the end of day, are gone for the most part, dried up by the heat. Leaves are raining down like it’s Fall because it’s so hot and dry. The one good thing is the heat is keeping the pool warm. I’ll swim after the sun is behind the trees this evening. By swim, I mean ride a pool noodle as I bob around the pool. Again, no ambition, just chillin’.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

UPDATE: The winner is…Janelle!
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The family has been so wound up with things related to me that it’s nice that the focus is back on normal things. Today was Open House for the local schools. The 15-year-old and the 10-year-old are getting their schedules and school supplies. They’re meeting the new crop of teachers they have to endure (that’s the 15-year-old’s attitude—LOL).

In past years, the 10-year-old liked for me to make her lunch every day because I’d make it interesting. She loved pulling out hummus and veggies, leftover curry from the previous night’s dinner, Indian lentil dishes she ate with naan bread or crackers, yoghurt, fruit, and all the creative things I could think of to make her lunch interesting for her. This year, she’s moving into middle school where they have choices, so she told me she might only need one of my special lunch bags a week. I guess it makes her feel more grown-up or something. I don’t know. I enjoyed spoiling her with good food. She’s not a baby anymore. 🙁

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me if you enjoy or enjoyed this time of year, getting kids ready for another school year!

UPDATE: The winner is…flchen!
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Hello Delilah!  Thank you for inviting me here today to share my new release! It comes out next week, but I wanted to give your readers a sneak peek. Love on the Clock is a new anthology I’m partaking in, and it is about…wait for it…relationships formed at work.  I have to admit I like this setting.  You can fit so many tropes into it: enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers… Okay, there are others.  But you see what I mean.

I, of course, sought the advice of my Plot Whisperer (I swear I can plot stories on my own, and I have a few coming up that will prove that).  Still, I sought help.  I needed a short story in a workplace.  Oh, and I wanted to set it in the small town I’ve created.  And it’s a gay romance.  Plot Whisperer rolled her eyes (can you see an eye roll through chat with people on opposite sides of the world? I say you can…).  We went through any number of different potential places of employment.

We settled on an architect’s office.  With…wait for it…an architect.  Then we figured he needed a coworker.  Specifically, an interior designer.  Oh, and the two had to be complete opposites.  The designer is (stereotypically) a peacock, while the architect is strait-laced.  Dresses more like a funeral director.  Doesn’t do color.  Yeah sure…but you know the designer is going to take issue with that.

Throw in a demanding client, a tight deadline, frayed nerves, and a cantankerous photocopy machine and…voila. A rom-com short story set in a workplace.

Man, did I have fun writing these two characters! In my beloved favorite town.  The story is so tight that I couldn’t include cameos. Have no fear, though.  I suspect these two will turn up again.  Anyway, I hope readers fall in love with Orlando and Knight.

Thanks, Delilah, for letting me visit!  I would love to offer a $5 Amazon GC to one lucky commenter.  Let’s talk settings!  I have to write another workplace romance later this year – where would you love to see one set it?  Random will pick the winner so go ahead and comment!

Love on the Clock

Never mix business with pleasure

This collection of CEOs, assistants, partners and consultants have forgotten Office Rule No.1.

Whether it’s passion over the printer, scandal in the stationery cupboard or loosened ties in the boardroom, these co-workers are getting hot under the collar.

Join us around the Romance Café water cooler to discover the latest office scuttlebutt.

Authors:
Clarice Jayne
Sharon Michalove
Keighley Bradford
Kristine Charles
Élodie Garroway
Lisabelle Chretien
Katherine Moore
Harper Michaels
Sonja Flowers
Abigail Sharpe
Toni Bolton
Francis Black
Gabbi Grey

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2024loveontheclock
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Clock-Romance-Anthology-Collection-ebook/dp/B0CLN4864V
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200569229-love-on-the-clock

The Office Hotshot by Gabbi Grey from Love on the Clock…

Orlando

I’m a go-getter. Right out of interior design school, I’ve landed a plum job in a well-regarded architecture firm, and I’m ready to help the lead architect meet his deadline. Except the man’s a jerk, strung so tight it’s a miracle he hasn’t exploded. Offering a little stress relief is practically a service to humanity. But in the dark in the copy room, Knight’s a lot more human than I thought. Now stress relief isn’t the only thing I want to give him, and I’m dreading the day I’ll have to leave.

Knight

I’m working under a tight deadline, and all I want is peace, quiet, and an assistant who doesn’t give me lip. Right now, I have none of those things. The new hire is perky, pushy, and unfairly attractive. One hot encounter in the copy room isn’t breaking my oath to never get involved with a subordinate, right? Unfortunately, that one interlude leaves me craving more. What’s so special about Orlando, that he’s making me think about breaking all my rules and asking him to stay?

This is a 15k word gay romance novella with a successful architect, a quirky younger interior designer, and a cantankerous photocopier.

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Before I get into my latest release, a bit of news…

I met with the oncologist yesterday. And yes, I have the Big C. And it’s metastatic, which means the place where it was detected isn’t where it originated. I’ll get a biopsy either this week or next then I’ll meet with the oncologist again, and we’ll set up a treatment plan. I’m not feeling all doom and gloomy. That’s not me. He’s pretty cool actually. No fluffy talk. And he’s optimistic about outcomes or at least the fact I’m not going anywhere any time soon. We’ll take it a step at a time. In the meantime, I’ll keep doing what I always do—write, edit, and have fun with the family. I still have a least another month of pool time, which is a blessing. I always feel renewed after swimming. I’m a Cancer (a positive use of that word!) and a water baby. I’d appreciate your good vibes, prayers, Reiki (you know who you are! *wink*) and well wishes. I’ll need them for when I’m not feeling my best. However, I told the family we’ll make fun where we can. If I go through chemo, I want them to find the most outrageous and funny bandanas they can. Last night, the SIL found some funny head coverings that look like porcupine hats or grass hats. He gets the assignment. 🙂

Back to the new release. This is the last of the refurbished/republished stories in the Delta Heat/Delta Fire stories. The next one I release, Ignition, will be a new story. Yay! This one, with Gage as the lead is my favorite in the series. He’s my favorite kind of hero to write—gruff, burly, and ready to fall like a ton of bricks for the right woman. I hope you pick up a copy and that you enjoy it! ~DD

Rapid Entry

Order your copy now! | Read an excerpt!

Firefighter Gage Eastwood doesn’t hesitate to race into his neighbor’s apartment to put out the fire there. Of course, some hesitation might have given him the time to realize he was buck-naked. He’s a professional, so he can overlook the fact she’s in her underwear, but after a nosy neighbor snaps some pictures of them, the fire and his naked heroics go viral.

Shy Viviana Moore is a bestselling romance author. She might write about kink, but she’s never done anything kinky. So when her hotter-than-hot savior invites her out to his sex club, La Forge, she doesn’t admit at first to her lack of actual kinky experience. Soon, she has more than enough material for a whole new series as well as some hands-on experience of her own, and Gage is wondering if she’d let him be her muse…permanently.

Note: This book was previously published.

Today’s my sexy date with the oncologist. Afterward, I might pop in for an update, but we’ll see. I’m a little nervous. No stiff upper lip here today. I didn’t sleep well, despite a nice dose of codeine. Sleep is the ultimate elixir, isn’t it?

Anyway, there’s fun stuff happening over on the Collections website. Be sure to follow the link and enter to win. Ava’s story was the first one I read when going through submissions when I said, “Hell, yeah! I have to have it!” It’s that good. Funny, sexy, and just the kind of alien invasion story I adore.

This past week was basically all about keeping things together. Soldiering on. The busier I am, the stronger and more positive I feel. Lots happened last week, and this next week will be another rollercoaster.

Report Card

Last week…

1. I celebrated and promoted the release of Secret Identities anthology! I hope you all picked up your copies! There’s something for everyone inside that volume!
2. I worked on edits for one author.
3. I revamped my release schedule so that my book, Built Like Mack, is pushed off to September. Sorry, I know some of you were looking forward to it, but I’m not in the headspace at the moment.
4. I swam every day for the first part of the week. The next two items describe why that happened…
5. I went to the doctor for abdominal pain on Monday, thinking maybe it was my gallbladder or appendix. I wish. I was sent for a CT scan immediately and afterward was scheduled right away to see an oncologist.
6. My daughter and the girls returned from their vacation in Virginia with the flu and promptly gave me the bug, too.

This next week…

1. I see the oncologist on Monday. I’m sure he’ll schedule a biopsy and we’ll go from there. I hate waiting. That’s the worst part. I like action, solve it, figure out what I have to fight. Or maybe, it’s something other than cancer (I can hope).
2. I will finish editing one author’s manuscript and begin editing the next one in line.
3. I’ll work on finishing the next Delta Fire novella, Ignition. I only have a couple of chapters to write, and I think I can get through it while I wait for whatever procedures I will be going through.
4. I’ll continue swimming and trying to watch what I eat, although I am finding it hard not to want to eat my favorite things!
5. I’ll continue working on some small art projects while I declutter my art room.

Open Contests

On the Delilah’s Collections website!

1. GETTING TO KNOW N.J. WALTERS (CONTEST) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. GETTING TO KNOW M. JAYNE (CONTEST) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. GETTING TO KNOW GABBI GREY (CONTEST) — Last Day to enter! Win a FREE book!
4. In One Picture: Michal Scott’s “My Heavenly Phantom” (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!

Here, on this site!

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: While the cat’s away… — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. July into August (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Gabbi Grey: What a Difference Seven Years Makes (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Cecilia Tan: A Recipe for Steamy, Steamy Steampunk (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Cottagecore Aesthetic/Trad Wife…? — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Linda Rhoden!
*~*~*

If you hang out on TikTok or Instagram, you have to have seen the latest fashion/lifestyle trend: Trad Wifes. Don’t know what those are? They are influencers who have rich husbands so they can cosplay a country-farm lifestyle—but fashionably. If they are mucking out horse stalls, they’re wearing white linen dresses. If they have a Sunday dinner for the fam, it’s served outside with crystal wine glasses, and the family looks perfect. Believe me, I’m not knocking the aesthetic—it’s lovely, but I do have to wonder whether the husband is demanding fresh-from-scratch meals and a wife who can’t work because she has to maintain all the perfection. To me, it’s weird.

The 10-year-old loves the fashion and would love to mimic them, but then she watches their outdoor table settings and says, “Ew. First fly and I’m outta there.”

If they have chickens, ducks, and geese, who cleans up after them? They stink! We know! You’ll be wearing red-neck fashion—blue jean cutoffs, a wifebeater, and muck boots to clean out the coop.

Their yards and pastures are all so perfect, there is no way on God’s green earth, they are maintaining it all themselves.

Anyway, I am feeling a little grouchy. I have my appointment with the oncologist on Monday, and this morning, I woke up with the flu-like symptoms my daughter and the girls brought back with them from Virginia—fever, muscle aches, more nausea. I’m waiting for the vomiting. Oh, joy.

For the chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve been following these Trad Wifes, living this cottagecore aesthetic, and which ones you enjoy.