UPDATE: The winner is…Sandy Kelly!
*~*~*

It’s another game day, Word Nerds! Today’s topic is romantic things couples can do together.

Solve the puzzle, then add some of your own ideas in the comments for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…flchen!
*~*~*

Have you ever read a book where a minor character just steals the scene? I love when it happens, but then I can’t seem to let that character fade into the background.

In my latest release, Jackson, that character was a skip Jackson was hunting named Chrissy Pollack. She featured in the first scene, and I had so much fun with her that I wrote her into another scene where the actual heroine grows more than a little irritated with her. I liked her ballsy attitude so much I’m still thinking about her.

Let me share some snippets from the book, so maybe you’ll get why I love her so much…

Chrissy excerpts…

#1 This is where we first meet her. Jackson tracked her into the woods where’s she partying with friends. The MBH hunters are there, too.

Suddenly, a tall figure strode into the clearing, and the men and women sitting around the fire shot to their feet. Chrissy’s gaze shot sideways, and Jackson put his knuckles in the dirt, leaning forward, ready to follow should she run.

“Name’s Cowboy,” the tall man said as he moved closer. He held out his hands. “Before you reach for any weapons, you might want to listen to what I have to say first.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Nate shouted, shoving Chrissy forward as he backed away a foot or two, his hand already sliding down his side to the scabbard strapped to his thigh.

“I’m a Fugitive Recovery Agent.”

“A what?” another man said, his thick dark eyebrows nearly meeting over his nose.

“A fucking bounty hunter,” another man said.

“I know you,” said yet another. “You’re one of those hunters out of Dead Horse.”

“Seeing as you know me,” Cowboy said, giving the man a hard smile, “you’ll know some of my friends, too. You’re gonna meet ’em all. We’ve got you surrounded.”

“The hell you do,” Nate said, backing up another foot and glancing behind him.

Chrissy darted another glance toward the side, and Jackson pushed up to his feet. The second she decided to run, he dashed into the clearing, unwilling to let her leave his sight.

Around him, coolers crashed while bodies fled in different directions. He didn’t care. The Dead Horse team could handle the rest. He wasn’t letting Chrissy go. He followed her into the darkness, catching glimpses of pale legs and a white tank, hearing her choppy breaths as she ran.

Behind him, he heard more footsteps in pursuit, but he wasn’t letting them get ahead of him. They weren’t touching his bounty.

“Don’t lose him,” a female’s voice said behind him.

Him? Were they thinking he’d lead them to Chrissy and then insert themselves between him and his quarry? “Like hell,” he muttered to himself.

Moonlight barely pierced the canopy above him, but Chrissy’s footsteps were slowing. She sounded winded and wouldn’t last much longer. He slowed his steps, ignoring the sounds behind him, all his focus on the woman ahead of him. He wanted to take her down but didn’t necessarily want to do her any harm. It was against his code to rough up a bounty even though, legally, he had more rights than cops to do so—or at least fewer consequences.

Ahead, he heard a cry and a dull thud. Likely, Chrissy had tripped and fallen. He slowed, whipped out his flashlight, and approached slowly.

She was lying on her belly, pushing up from the damp leaves and dirt, her hair looking wild with leaves and small branches sticking out around her head.

“Jesus…fuck,” she muttered breathlessly, and then her shoulders began shaking.

“Christine Pollack,” he said, keeping his voice calm as he approached, “I’m taking you to jail.” He moved the flashlight to his left hand and unsnapped his taser from his vest as he crouched a bit, ready to act but wanting to see whether she was ready to comply or would pull a weapon from a pocket of her cutoffs. He kept an ear tuned to whoever was behind him, but as long as they kept their distance and didn’t interfere, he’d ignore them.

“Why don’t you just walk away?” she said in a small, surprisingly girlish voice.

“Because I have a job to do, Chrissy,” he said, taking another step. “You blew off your date with the judge. I have to bring you in.”

“I didn’t do nothing,” she said, pushing up from the ground to her knees but not turning toward him. “I don’t deserve this.”

“The police would beg to differ, sweetheart,” he said, keeping his voice calm and hoping it worked to calm her nerves. Sometimes, you had to talk to a skip like they were a feral animal and hope you could get in close enough to put a collar on them for their own good.

“If you’re right,” he continued, “and you did nothing, you’ll get your chance to tell the judge what really happened.” Again, he stepped closer until he was only a foot away from her.

She jerked her head to look back at him. Tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving dirty tracks. “I didn’t rob that gas station. Nate did it.”

“That’s good to know,” he said, raising his flashlight high enough that she could see his face and hands, too. “But not why I’m here. It’s about that joyride you took in the front loader.”

Her eyebrows lowered. “I only borrowed it. Just for kicks. Leonard Marx, the son of the man who owns it, was there with me, but he ran off into the woods and lied when the police asked him about it. Said I lied. He’s just afraid his old man will kick his ass.”

“Sounds like you’ll have plenty to say to the judge. But right now, I need you to lie back down and put your hands behind you. I’m taking you in.”

Her gaze flickered over him. Likely, she thought she might be able to take him. Jackson knew his appearance didn’t intimidate. His body was trim rather than weighed down with bulky muscle. His hair was long, reaching his shoulders, and his mustache and goatee made him look more like a musician or artist rather than a bounty hunter. But she’d be underestimating his strength. Most skips did.

When her gaze flicked quickly to the side, a tell, he darted that way and took her to the ground before she had a chance to rush forward more than a step. Jackson dropped his taser and his flashlight and wrestled with the woman. Whether it was adrenaline, the drugs racing around her system, or just plain meanness, he didn’t know, but she surprised him, flipping him onto his back and then punching his face.

Jackson didn’t want to strike her back, and he certainly didn’t want to give the hunters hovering in the woods around him an excuse to intercede. He was not sharing this bounty. But he had to do something to take back control without harming her.

So, he wrapped his arms around her middle, trapping her arms at her sides, and pulled her against his chest.

“What are you doing?” she growled, wriggling inside his embrace.

“Waiting for you to give up,” he said calmly, a little grin playing at the sides of his mouth, although he grimaced when she pinched his side. When she leaned back her head and opened her mouth, he knew she intended to bite whatever she could reach, so he loosened one hand and pushed her head so that her cheek was smashed against his chest.

“Argh!” she shouted, still fighting, likely still thinking she could slip free, but when she figured out she still had her legs loose, he quickly looped one calf over the backs of her knees and kept her immobile.

All she could do now was jerk and wiggle. Her body was fiery hot from her exertions, and her breaths came quicker than when she’d been running. It wouldn’t be long now.

“Shhh,” he said, “easy. You’re not going anywhere, and I’m not gonna hurt you,” he crooned.

“Think he’s gonna hug her into submission?” came a lazy drawl.

“That’s a new move,” came an even lazier drawl.

*~*~*

#2 This is after Chrissy is brought back to the campsite. She just can’t help being “Chrissy.”

“Catch that all on film, did you?” he murmured.

“We did. We’re pretty good at keeping out of the way when takedowns are underway.”

“Too bad,” he said.

“Why’s that?” she asked, blinking at him while trying to maintain her smile despite his indifference.

“Because you won’t be able to use the footage. I’m not signing a waiver.”

“Oh, but you don’t understand. We’d pay you for the rights.”

He shook his head. “Don’t care. Not signing.”

Rachel’s smile slipped. “We’d pay you for tonight’s footage, plus royalties if your clip is used for the sho—”

“Uh-huh. Not interested.”

Rachel drew a deep breath. While she’d love to have this wrapped up with a pretty bow right now, she knew when to back off. Right now, he was likely still a bit angry over the fact the Dead Horse hunters had tracked him to find their skip. Hunters could be territorial. The fact they’d followed him so easily likely stung his pride a bit. She reached into a pocket of her hiking vest and drew out a card. “If you change your mind, you can email or call me here.”

He took the card without looking at it and tucked it into a vest pocket.

She cleared her throat and gave him a pointed stare. “Do you have a card?” His dead-eye glare didn’t intimidate her. She gave him a steady look of her own.

“Pushy much?” Chrissy said from her seat on a camp stool.

When Rachel glanced down at her, the woman gave her a toothy grin. “Don’t think he’s interested.”

Rachel felt heat fill her cheeks.

“At least I’ll have his faithful attention all the way to jail,” the woman said, giving Rachel a wink.

There were many things Rachel could’ve said, but she wasn’t getting into a pissing match with a woman who, an hour ago, had been crying on the forest floor with twigs in her hair.

*~*~*

#3 The last one I’ll share, although I haven’t shared ALL of Chrissy’s antics, is after her attempted escape from Jackson’s custody. Rachel has finagled her way into the front seat of his SUV using some pretty underhanded tactics. Chrissy is restrained in the back seat. 

Rachel had an epic headache.

It didn’t help that Chrissy sat in the back seat singing Chris Isaak’s “Baby did a bad bad thing” from the moment they left the rest stop. The fact that the woman’s voice was really pretty good irritated her even more.

Good Lord, what had she done? She’d blackmailed a man into signing a contract. Okay, so he hadn’t actually signed it yet, but she had him by the shorthairs. Fuck. She was a professional showrunner. What would the network say if they got wind of this? She’d be toast. She’d never ever work again.

She drew a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. As soon as they got rid of the demon in the backseat, she’d apologize to Jackson. As much as she wanted his footage, she wasn’t this person.

Why had she done it? Why had it given her such a rush?

“Baby did a bad bad—”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, aiming a glare over her shoulder at the woman whose cuffs were attached to a chain in the floorboard. “Got another song?”

When Chrissy began “Sweet but Psycho” by Ava Max, Rachel groaned.

Beside her, Jackson’s lips pursed.

Was he laughing at her?

*~*~*

Chrissy even managed to get a mention in the last chapter of the book—again, because I couldn’t let her go.

My question to you is whether Chrissy deserves her own Dead Horse or MBH story? Answer for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift certificate! If you’ve read Jackson, do you have any suggestions for what she might get up to?

July is here, and that means 2023 has passed the halfway mark. For many people, July marks the beginning of the fiscal year. It wasn’t until I began this article that I realized the federal government fiscal year begins October 1 and ends September 30. Maybe I did know this but never paid it any attention or gave it thought because I’m so used to working with how the state measures the fiscal year which is July 1 to June 30. In any case, despite when the fiscal year is acknowledged, July marks the beginning of the third quarter for many others (using January as the starting month). Thus, I thought goal-setting would be an appropriate topic.

1. Just because July has begun doesn’t mean goals can’t be set. It’s never too late to set goals.
2. Writing goals on paper, in an electronic document, and/or on a vision board helps to make them more “real” and easier to remember. However, documenting them isn’t enough. They need to be kept in a place that can be either easily seen, viewed daily, or both.
3. Clearly define what it is that you want to achieve. Having a goal to be happy is fine but often too vague to be achieved. What specifically would make you happy? Does that entail traveling, getting a new job, or both, or neither? Ambiguous goals should be specified in order to develop an effective plan of how to achieve them. Think of it this way. If a person is always disappointed at the birthday gifts he/she receives, how will he/she ever be given gifts he/she wants if she doesn’t tell others what he/she likes and desires?
4. Don’t be afraid to change, modify, or alter goals. Life is a series of ongoing events, and sometimes adjustments are needed. In her youth, an associate had dreams and a goal of having a large, fairytale wedding. As she aged and her loved ones passed away, her desire for an extravagant wedding dwindled. Her revised wedding goal is to have a pretty dress for an intimate or private ceremony and to have a fun honeymoon. She’s not to the point of eloping in Vegas, but she’s far removed from the 200+ guest list.
5. & 6. The next suggestion actually is in two parts or can be viewed in more than one way, and that is to set goals that are measurable and the goals need to be realistic. One reason why people fail to reach their goals is because they do not feel they are making any progress. Here’s an example.

I once worked with a young man (I’ll call him Eddie, but of course, that isn’t his real name) who engaged in self-injurious behavior in the form of striking his head with either his hands or nearby objects. The policy of the place where I was employed was that any incidences or forms of self-harm were unacceptable. That wasn’t an unreasonable policy to have. However, the method of measurement was one of the huge issues. As a result of this policy, Eddie had been written a behavior modification goal of having zero incidents of self-injury each month. Here’s the problem. Read the rest of this entry »

I pulled this card, and my stomach dropped. This does not augur well for me.

Just looking at the card, I can see danger. There’s Jason (you know, of Jason of the Argonauts fame) and his girlfriend, the sorceress, Medea. He’s facing the dragon that has captured the Golden Fleece, Jason’s goal in this particular trial. It does not look good for him. For me. To win his prize, he must be brave, be quick on his feet, and he MUST slay that damn dragon.

How does this relate to my situation? Well… I finished and published a book last week. During the days that followed, I had a very difficult time keeping my attention on my work plan/schedule. I wanted to piddle and rest. So, I’ve fallen behind on my editing schedule, and the only way to conquer “the beast” now, is to dedicate myself to the task, and power through. Whether I have the stamina is the real question.

Let me take a quick look at the book that goes with my cards, The Mythic Tarot…

Yup. This isn’t good. This next week will be a “time of struggle” where I have to “battle with the dragon” and push aside “mundane” activities as they begin to go wrong and “make compromises” to get the job done. F**k.

Now, I have to ignore the family and sequester myself in my “mole hole” to work. I probably will have to sacrifice some sleep. A lot of sleep.

Do you have any words of encouragement? When you find yourself in a deep, dark hole of your own making, how do you dig yourself out?

Open Contests

1. The Final Countdown — and a Big Fish (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Happy Pandemonium Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle Contest: A Pretty View & Claim to Fame — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

Today’s puzzle is a picture I took on a recent hike with my family. The trail is only a mile long, taking us from a street in town into the forest to a high bluff overlooking the Ouachita River. (Ouachita is pronounced WASH-it-tah around here. 🙂 ) That river is where our family loves to make our annual floating-the-river adventure.

The bluff is called the DeSoto Bluff, named after the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who led an expedition through these parts in 1541-2. It’s our local claim to fame unless you count the 1997 F4 tornado that swept through Arkadelphia and flattened 60 city blocks.

Mostly, Arkadelphia is a quiet little town with a great high school football team and two universities. We have two rivers (the Ouachita and the Caddo), so this area is dubbed the Twin Rivers. And I don’t know why I’m giving you a mini-tour because all I wanted to do was share my photo.

So, here it is. Yes, you have to solve the puzzle to see it! Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, tell me about some obscure claim-to-fame your area is known for!

UPDATE: The winner is…Stephanie!
*~*~*

Yes! It’s a holiday! Another of those weird ones I like to highlight because don’t we need more reasons to celebrate? It celebrates the mayhem and chaos in our everyday lives. Something we usually hate, but today, we can revel in it!

Looking around my life, I can find plenty of chaos. I could take a daily picture of my desk, but the pictures I’m sharing today are much more fun. Our family decided to take the dive into raising our own chickens for their eggs—and what an adventure that has been!

Of course, my daughter went shopping for cute little chicks and came home with ducks and guinea fowl, too! Since then, we’ve added geese.

The guinea fowl have proven to be our “chaos agents.” Here’s the “best” picture I have of the raucous pair. They were much younger. They don’t stand ever stand still (my dd says it’s like they have ADHD).

This is what they sound like! They are very loud.

 

We didn’t know it at the time, but they are excellent little guards for the chickens. They are very vocal and scare off hawks and snakes and anything else that might try to enter the chickens’ yard.

Here’s a recent picture.

And because we’re on the topic of our birds, here are some more adorable pics.

 

Can’t forget our geese and ducks.

 

Here’s our first egg!

Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, share about some chaos agent or chaotic event in your life.

SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Deadline: November 15, 2023

SECRET IDENTITIES is open to all authors.

Editor/Author Delilah Devlin is looking for stories for a romantic erotica anthology tentatively entitled SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY.

Why write a short story for this collection? Well, it’s certainly not about making a lot of money, so why do it at all? I’ve said this before, many times, but here are my thoughts…

Writing a short story for a call for submissions is a chance to flex your writing muscle! It can be a chance to experiment with a genre you’ve never written. If you’ve never written a story in first person but don’t want to begin by writing an entire novel using it, start short! For myself, I’ve written stories in new genres or with fresh themes that ended up being so much fun to write they’ve spawned entire series.

You have a deadline! I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping my butt in the chair without one!

It’s a promotional opportunity! If selected, you’ll be joined by 12-15 other authors for the launch, sharing your audiences and, hopefully, picking up new readers along the way. Having your story in the collection is another chance to be “seen.”

And remember, you retain the rights to your story, so you can republish it for individual sale or give it away to attract subscribers to your newsletter. You might even decide there’s more story to tell and expand your short story into a novel.

Here’s what I’m looking for…

SECRET IDENTITIES: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY will include stories that satisfy the reader who craves stories about mysterious, enigmatic men. Perhaps, they’re the new next-door neighbor with a mysterious past that finds him just as he’s meeting a woman he doesn’t want to leave. Maybe he’s an alien from a far-away galaxy looking for his fated mate. Could he be a spy setting up surveillance on another suspected spy? An assassin scouting his target who discovers his handlers lied about the reasons for targeting a particular individual he’s intrigued by? Is he a werewolf living in the human world? Yes! So many ways to go.

SECRET IDENTITIES will seek stories with varied settings here on earth—present, past, or future—or on another planet or moon in this solar system or in a galaxy far, far, away.  Heroes and heroines might be more than human—supernatural creatures or even aliens and cyborgs.

I’m open to any subgenre of erotic romance you want to write. I’ll accept contemporary, historical, science fiction, or paranormal stories, and I won’t be picky about whether the stories are hetero, LGBT, ménage… Basically, you, the author, can go anywhere your imagination takes you so long as 1) the story is a romance, and 2) you have a bad boy somewhere on the pages!

The anthology will be sold at a low price—my intent is exposure for you and your writing. The more readers reached, the better! You will retain the rights to your story so that, at a later date, you can republish your stories individually.

I’m seeking hot and inventive stories from authors with unique voices, and above all, I’m looking to be seduced by tales filled with vivid imagery and passion.

Published authors with an established world may use that setting for their original short story.

This is erotic romance, so don’t hold back on the heat. Stories can be vanilla or filled with kink but don’t miss describing the romantic connection between strong-willed individuals learning to trust and love one another. A deep sensuality should linger in every word. Keep in mind that there must be a romantic element with a happy-for-now or happy-ever-after ending. Strong plots, engaging characters, and unique twists are the ultimate goal. Please, no reprints. I want original stories.

How to submit: Prepare your 2,500 to 5,500 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12-point, black font, Word document (.doc or .docx) OR rich text format (.rtf), with pages numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing; do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). U.S. grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.

In your document at the top left of the first page, include your legal name (and pseudonym, if applicable), mailing address, email address, and a 50-words or less biography, written in the third person, and send to bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories. I will try to respond no later than February 28, 2024, with decisions.

Payment will be USD 25.00 ninety days after publication at the end of that month.

Who is Delilah Devlin?

Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance and erotic romance. She has published over two hundred stories in multiple genres and lengths and has been published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Entangled, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Kindle, Montlake, Penthouse, Running Press, and Samhain Publishing.

Her short stories have appeared in multiple Cleis Press collections, including Lesbian Cowboys, Girl Crush, Fairy Tale Lust, Lesbian Lust, Passion, Lesbian Cops, Dream Lover, Carnal Machines, Best Erotic Romance (2012), Suite Encounters, Girl Fever, Girls Who Score, Duty and Desire, Best Lesbian Romance of 2013, and On Fire. For Cleis Press, she edited Girls Who Bite, She Shifters, Cowboy Lust, Smokin’ Hot Firemen, High Octane Heroes, Cowboy Heat, Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors, and Sex Objects.

She has also edited Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance, Rogues: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Blue Collar: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Cowboys: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.

Direct any questions regarding your story or the submission process to Delilah at bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com.