Hi Ivy, pull up a chir and chose your poison, er drink and cookie...
Hello All!
It's August,
as I'm sure you're all aware. People love to talk about the date and the time
of year and how fast it's going. I'm not getting down on this habit. I think we
all talk about it because the year always does seem to pass quite rapidly. One
minute you're packing up your Christmas lights and putting away your stuffed
toys that only get to see the light of day in the month that starts with a
"D", and the next minute you're hauling them out again thinking,
"Didn't I just do this?"
For the last
two years, Christmas has visited me in summer. When it arrived, I didn't haul
out the tree or put out my Grandmother's decorations made of dried starfish,
large sea anemones, and seahorses (Seahorses that were pets; pets that she dried
and put Christmas hats on. Yes, I'm serious.). How I celebrated when Christmas
came around in the hot months was to write holiday stories. Last year,
Breathless Press put out a call for holiday stories and I didn't notice or get
the call until late August. The stories were due at the end of August and for six
days I went crazy and got a story up and ready. Happily Baby, You're Cold Inside was accepted and all my hard work, albeit
last minute work, paid off.
This year, I
found out in April that Breathless Press was once again looking for submissions
for holiday stories and they needed them by the end of July. I tossed the idea
around in my head for a while and by mid-July with nothing to show for my
internal musings, I decided that I would not be writing a story this year. I
just didn't have the time or the energy. However, Christmas had other ideas.
On July,
24th the festive spirit slipped into my fingers and I started to write. I was
happy with what I had produced and really got cracking on my story the next
day. I became consumed and absorbed in my work and no matter how much my back
hurt and my hands ached, I continued to write. As the deadline loomed Christmas
became intoxicating and much to my delight, I finished my story in just four
and a half days.
Christmas and
I toasted to my completed manuscript on the evening of July, 31st and with tip
of the stocking, the holiday bid me farewell until December.
I've no idea
whether or not this story will even be accepted. It's very different than my
other stories in that it isn't as…ahem…explicit as my other work and it is has
a full on, no holds barred "Happily Ever After" which I usually don't
do. Most of the time the HEA won't quite fit and the best I can do is
"Happily Ever Maybe". But I think it happened this time because I
needed to write something happier and more uplifting than I normally allow
myself.
Life is
funny and sad and the years do go by very, very fast. Celebrate when you can
and with those you love the most. Christmas in July or Halloween in March, the
calendar is a guideline, but when to celebrate with your favourite holiday is
up to you.
Thank-you to
Raven for hosting me today and Merry/Happy Christmas!
Ivy
And now,
just for kicks, here's an excerpt from the story I just submitted. Hopefully it
will be picked up, but if not, I really, really enjoyed writing it!
***
From the waiting to see
if it will be accepted for publishing, "Secret Christmas Gifts".
"Tim, sorry to interrupt, but I've brought round the new guy!
Thought you two should meet right away since your paths will cross come January
when you start on the William's Project. I'll let you get acquainted and see
you both at lunch!" Terry shook the new guy's hand again before heading
out of Tim's office.
The very handsome man turned back to Tim and gave him a generous smile.
Tim smiled back him. He felt ridiculously shy and had to force himself to not
stare at this incredible specimen of a man, but it was difficult. He was tall,
dark and handsome. Everything that Tim felt he was not. How did anyone get so
lucky?
"Are you alright Tim? Am I interrupting after all?" Tim looked
up into his blue eyes. Then, not wanting to appear to cowling at this man's
feet, he stood up and stammered out, "No, no! You're not interrupting and
welcome aboard! Good to meet you—ow!"
"It's Bob actually," the man with all the height said with a
touch of humor, "but you can call me whatever makes you comfortable."
He held out his hand for Tim to shake.
Tim nodded a few times willing the pain in his upper thigh to subside.
"Yes hello, Bob. I'm Tim." He placed his much smaller hand into Bob's
large one. Bob grasped it and shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you
Tim." he said as though he actually meant it.
Tim raised himself to his full
height, which unfortunately seemed to be about six inches shorter than Bob and
gave him his best smile. "Sorry about that. Just ran into my desk. It's
always jumping in my way."
"Yes, you sure did. Are you alright?"
Tim nodded and continued to shake Bob's hand. "Yes, good, good. I'm
really good." There was an awkward moment of silence until Bob said,
"Well Tim, as much as I'm enjoying this, the heartiest handshake I've had
in a good long while, perhaps you could release me from your firm grasp?"
Tim looked down. He'd not really realized they'd still been shaking
hands.
"Oh, sorry about that! The pain in my leg. More distracting than I
thought I suppose!" He finally let go and much to his surprised added,
"I don’t have a firm grasp. It was all you, Bob!" He leaned over his
desk and gave the bigger man a playful tap on the shoulder.
"No, no. I know a good hand shake when I feel one. You've got great
hands, Tim. I'm sure they make a lot of people happy." Then he winked at
him. Tim was taken aback. This, to date, had been the strangest exchange he'd
ever had with man and he couldn't remember if a man had ever winked at him.
Were they flirting?
Tim returned his mind to the office and the man in front of his desk.
"Thank-you, Bob. That's kind of you to say so. My wife, she likes my
hands, or well she used to." Tim sat down in his chair, wincing at his
words. What was he doing?
"Sorry?" Bob asked, taking the seat in front of Tim's desk.
"Nothing! That was inappropriate of me to say!"
"No, no. Go on. I'm a strong believer of not keeping things in.
Clearly you've got a situation on your mind. I'm a good listener Tim."
The look of concern and sincerity on Bob's face was enough to get Tim
rolling. After all, if he was going to find a man by tomorrow evening to have
sex with him in front of his wife, he couldn't be coy. Bob was turning into the
most likely man for the job. Might as well dive in head first!
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Good luck Ivy! I hope the story is acceppted!!
ReplyDeleteDee x
Thanks very much Dee! And thanks Raven for having me on your blog!
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