Thursday, August 29, 2013

Waiting Yet Again

It's done. I've sent My World, My Game, My Love to the publisher for consideration. I have to say that I am very relieved. This story has given me a lot of headaches over the last few months and I glad that it's finished. That said, I'm happy with how it turned out. I think that it has a lot of heart and has the potential to be a great romance. Only time will tell if other people agree with me. So keep your finger crossed that my first forey into the adult romance world will be successful.

In other writing news, Journey to Xibalta is going well. I have finished the first chapter and I have to say that I am really happy with it. Right now, it's shaping up to be my longest story with my estimated word count at 75,000. I just hope that it goes easier than MWMGML;) 

The Sacrifices We Make is also coming along. I just finished what should be the final proof. I'm also working on my official bio, which I'm hoping to finish tomorrow. In addition to that, I have 15 spots confirmed on the blog tour and I'll be finalizing those dates once I get a release date. 

So all in all things are looking pretty good. Remember to keep watching my blog for updates on all three novels. Have a great weekend everyone!

~Sophie

Monday, August 26, 2013

Weekly Prompt-Back to School

Here is this week's free read! you can read the original prompt and the other responses here

New Year, New Possibilities

Lucas walked down the hallway, trying to avoid the people around him. He was looking for his locker, but it was hard to do among the all of the teenagers. He guessed this was something similar to herding cattle. But cattle didn’t need to try and find their locker in a brand-new school.

He was about halfway now the hallway when he was shoved into the long row of metal lockers. Lucas couldn’t help but groan as a sharp pain shot up his shoulder where it connected with the unforgiving metal.

“Watch where you’re going, freshman!”

Lucas looked up to see a senior smirking down at him. Judging by the letterman jacket, the guy was probably a star on the football team. Not that Lucas would know that. He never followed sports of any kind.

For a second, Lucas was afraid the football player was going to try something, but he just walked away, laughing with his friends. It was almost as if Lucas was not worth more than a passing hit. He should’ve been offended by that, but he was small and slight for his age the last thing he wanted to do is pick a fight with a football player.

Trying to shrug it off, Lucas resumed his walk down the hall, hoping this wasn’t a sign of things to come.

*********

It was. Getting pushed into the locker was just the start.

By the time Lucas found his locker, put his stuff away and found his first classroom, he was five minutes late for the start of class. His teacher was a very unforgiving man who called him a troublemaker in front of the entire class. Lucas was anything but a troublemaker, he was just a quiet kid with no friends to help him. But it didn’t matter. The taunts and the sneers started soon after that.

As Lucas sat in class, he felt the high hopes he had for the start of the school year diminish. He wanted to make some friends. Sure, he was not going to be the most popular kid in school. But all he wanted was one person that he could talk to and rely on.

By the time lunch rolled around, Lucas had given up all hope that he would ever find a companion. When he tried to find a table, backpacks materialized on ever empty chair he walked by. With so many kids in the cafeteria, Lucas ended up in the very back of the room near where all of the garbage cans were lined up. The smell was awful, but it was better than having to deal with the other kids.

Now the school was over, Lucas could at least escape the torment of this hell. He gathered up his books and walked as quickly as possible to his locker. The faster he got his books, the faster he could leave.

He had been to his locker and was about halfway out of the building when he slammed into someone, the books and folders that he had been carrying spilling out onto the floor. Lucas heard a few people snickering and his face heat up as a result. Damn, could this day get any worse?

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Lucas nodded, but refused to look up. He knew he was blushing and the last thing that he needed. Someone else laughing at him.

Lucas held his breath as saw bright green converse sneakers enter his view. Damn, they were going to pick on him anyway.

“Hey, are you sure you are okay?”

The voice sounded gentle and concerned. It could’ve been a trap, but the kindness intrigued Lucas. Cautiously, he lifted his eyes to meet the cutest boy Lucas had ever seen. He was skinny, like Lucas, but the differences ended there. Where Lucas had short blonde hair, this boy had long, floppy brown hair. His eyes were brown, where Lucas’s were blue. Even their clothes were different. The mystery boy wore black skinny jeans and a blue argyle sweater, completely opposite Lucas’s loose jeans and clean T-shirt.

But the thing that really made Lucas’s heart skip a beat was the genuine look of concern in his eyes. This boy really cared about his well-being for whatever reason. It shouldn’t have, but it made a few tears come to his eyes. He tried to duck his head, to hide them, but it was no use.

“Oh. You’re not okay? Can you get up?”

Lucas nodded.

“Okay. Come on. Let’s get you up.”

The other boy stood up and offered his hand to Lucas, who took it with little hesitation. Once he was up, the other boy bent down and picked up all of Lucas’s books and papers off the floor. Lucas thought about helping, but he was so shocked someone would help him, he found himself unable to move.

“Here you go,” the boy said, handing everything he had picked up to Lucas.

“Uh…thanks,” Lucas stammered out.

“So what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I guess. Just a bad day.”

“Yeah, high school will do that to you. You’re a freshman, right?”

Lucas nodded.

“No friends?”

“No. I’ve never been very well-liked.”

“I don’t see why. You seem nice to me.”

“You’ve only known me for two minutes.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t go running from the school’s resident gay kid. That says something.”

Lucas was shocked. “You’re gay?!”

“Wow. You really are new here. Yes, I’m gay. Does that bother you?”

“No, of course not. In fact, I…”

Lucas tapered off, unable to continue. He had just met this boy. No matter how nice he seemed, admitting that he had been thinking about his sexual orientation lately would not be smart.

But the boy seemed to know anyway. “It’s okay. I get it. Listen, a bunch of us are going to grab some pizza. You can come if you want.”

“Oh. I couldn’t intrude like that.”

“It’s not intruding if I invite you. Besides, I think you’ll like them. We’re all kind of unpopular and have had a lot of days like the one I’m sure you just had. You’ll fit right in.”

“Thank you.” Lucas felt his face heat up again, even as he said it. That just sounded so pathetic.

“No problem. My name is Jimmy, by the way.”

“I’m Lucas.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The two teens shook hands, although, it was short-lived as Jimmy flung an arm around Lucas’s shoulders and started to lead him towards the exit.

Lucas felt a smile appear on his face for the first time that day. Maybe this high school thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

A New Story!

Hello all!

I have exciting news to share. Today, I started work on my brand-new novel. My latest work is called Journey to Xibalta. It's a YA M/M science-fiction story. I'm planning this to be the first of a series. The basic story revolves around a group of Earthlings who survive after our world is destroyed by a nuclear holocaust and their quest to find a new home. I've finished plotting it out and I am hoping to start the writing soon. This novel is going to be written around a lot of other things, including the blog tour for Sacrifices, the final draft for MWMGML and a short story or two, so it may take a while to finish. Nevertheless, I'm really excited about this one. Don't forget to check its progress on the side bar and in my writing updates.

Have a nice Friday everyone!

~Sophie

Monday, August 19, 2013

Weekly Prompt-Nicknames

Here is this week's free read. Check out the original post and the other responses here

What’s in a Name?

“Do you know what I just realized?”

I look up from my dinner plate, full of steaming steak, fluffy mashed potatoes and perfectly cooked honey-glazed carrots, to stare at my boyfriend. His thin fingers are playing with his fork, pushing his mashed potatoes into some sort of mountain. Light blue eyes are staring at me from across the table, waiting for me to respond.

“What’s that, babe?”

“Right there. You call me babe, hon, sweetie and all kinds of other things.”

“Do you want me to stop? I mean, I’ll admit it will be a little weird calling you Kevin, but I’ll try.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. You call me all kinds of pet names and I love it, but I just call you Johnny. Don’t you want me to call you something different?”

I stare at my love from across the table in mild surprise. Leave it to Kevin to find something like this to keep him from eating dinner. He’s always so worried about the little things.

“No, babe. It doesn’t bother me. Should it?”

“I don’t know. You always make me feel so good when you call me ‘babe’ and I want that for you.”

“Babe, have you ever thought that maybe you don’t need to call me ‘babe’ to make me feel good?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, no one else calls me Johnny. Most of the guys at the hospital call me either John or Doctor. My friends and family all call me John or Jonathan. So the nickname that you gave me is like a pet name, because you’re the only one who calls me that.”

A spark of understanding flashing in those blue eyes. “Oh. So I guess that you don’t want me to start call you honey-pie.”

I burst out laughing at the absurdity of his statement. “Of course not.”

“Hey! I think honey-pie is a good pet name.”

“You’re the only one.”

Kevin sticks his tongue out at me, which of course, causes me to retaliate. We try to mock glare at each other, but soon we’re laughing over the whole thing.

“Feel better,” I ask as our laughter dies down.

“Yeah,” he says wiping a happy tear from the corner of his eye. “I just wanted to know how much I love you.”

“Babe, I already know that. I don’t need you to start calling me honey-pie or snookums or anything else your mind can come out with. Johnny is fine.”

“Ok, if you’re sure.”


“I’m sure,” I say with finality. “After all, what’s really in a name anyway?” 

Sunday, August 18, 2013

A Small Setback

For everyone who was wondering what ever happened to Culture Shock, I thought that I would update you. I just received word that it will not be accepted for publication at this point. I'm a little disappointed, but life will go on. I might hang onto it, change it around and try again. Or I might just put it here as a free read later in the year. I haven't decided. As for short stories, I'm 0 for 2 right now. Not the best start. But I have a few ideas for a couple more, so I'm going to keep going with the shorts for now. That might change if my novels take off, but we will see. For now, I'm just going to focus on MWMGML. I still want to get that to the publisher for consideration by the end of the month. Hopefully, that will go better.

Have a great week everyone!

~Sophie

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Getting There

So many things are getting closer and closer. It's really exciting. I'm starting to plan out my blog tour for Sacrifices. It's looking to be a quite extensive tour with some really exciting topics. In the process, I've met some really awesome authors online. They've been really welcoming and I want to thank them for that. As for the novel itself, I'm still waiting on a release date, but we're getting closer. Yeah!

MWMGML is also getting closer to completion. This project has been a lot harder for me than Sacrifices. Most of the middle has been completely rewritten and for a long time I wasn't sure I liked it. I've had quite a few moments on this one when I just wanted to take the book, throw it out the window and never look at it again. But it is slowly growing on me. I should only need another week or two before it is ready to send in. I still have a few reservations, but I'm starting to feel proud if it. And besides, what's the worse that can happen? They reject it. Life will go on. Right now, I think that I just need to finish it before I change my mind.

In other news, since MWMGML is almost done, I've started to look ahead to other projects. I may take a small break to write some short stories and do marketing for Sacrifices, but I have decided on my next novel. I don't have a title yet, but I think that it is going to be a YA sci-fi series. It will probably be old school sci-fi that likens back to Bradbury and Sterling, since I've always loved them. I'm still working on the details, but I''m excited. Look for more on that to come!

Sophie

Monday, August 12, 2013

Weekly Prompt-Earthquake

Here is this week's free read. You can check out the original prompt and the other responses here


A Pile of Rubble


Gone. Everything was just gone.

Kicking a piece of rubble out of my way, I continued to walk down my street. Or what was left of it. Every house on the street was in ruins, trees and their limbs everywhere. The emergency crews had finally broken down and allowed us to go to our houses to see if there was anything left. We were warned ahead of time that it was bad, but I never thought that it would be this bad. At least Jimmy and the kids were spared from seeing this.

As I walked farther down the street, I thought about how Jimmy was going to handle this. We had already been through so much in our life together. Growing up in the South, we had both had to deal with homophobia after coming out in high school. Sure, the hatred around us brought us closer together, but it still stung. We continued to face bouts of homophobia through college and grad school. It started to diminish after undergraduate school, but it was still there.

I know it is something that still scares, Jimmy. He is still afraid someone is going to hurt him or me because we are gay. In fact, that was one of the reasons he never wanted to have kids. He didn’t want to be hurt. It took me three years to convince him that it would be fine. That we would make sure of it. I know that he still didn’t believe me when we started the adoption process. He just went along with it because I wanted to. Of course, his heart melted when we first got our son.

Things started to look up after that. We got our two kids, a boy and a girl. Jimmy’s job as a producer was looking better and better. There was even talk that his new show might be up for an Emmy this year. My marketing firm was safely in the black. And, best of all, the homophobic comments all but ended once we got to Los Angeles. It was amazing.

And then this. I knew that earthquakes were common in this area, but I never imagined that one would devastate us. Everything that Jimmy and I worked so hard for. Destroyed.

Finally, I stood in front of the house Jimmy and I worked so hard to create. It was in shambles. I had a hard time even calling it a house any more. It was just a pile of debris and rumble. I let tears running down my face as I looked at the pile. There was nothing left here. All of the mementos that I had built up over the years. Some of those things were irreplaceable. But now they were lost forever.

Knowing that there was nothing that I could do, I turned away and headed back up the street. As I walked, I tried to think on the bright side. I tried to think about how Jimmy and our kids were safe at a hotel. Nothing had happened to them in the earthquake. That was really I could ask for. As long as I had them, we could rebuild. They were the most important things in my life. And as long as I had them, we would be okay.


At least that is what I tried to tell myself as I walked through the devastation. But somehow, as much as I loved my family, in that moment it didn’t seem like enough. I knew one day it would be. One day we would put our lives back together. But right now, it seems as broken as the house that Jimmy and I built together. 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Writing Update

Hello all!
     I thought that I would give you an update on my writing before I head back to work tomorrow. First of all, MYMLMG has undergone a name change. It is not My World, My Game, My Love or MWMGML for short. It is a small change, but I like it better this way. Other than that, MYMGML is progressing. I have just finished by second draft. It was the longest second draft I've ever had to write. Most of my stories are done on the first draft, but this one didn't go that way. I had to change most of the middle part of the novel. Because of all the changes, I am still not quite sure how I feel about this book. So I am going to put it away for a week and see how I feel then.
      In the meantime, I am going to start working on the blog tour for Sacrifices. I am still not sure when that is coming out, but I want to start lining things up. I have some ideas for posts and I want to tweak them as I go.
        The only other project that I have going is Culture Shock. That story is still in limbo, but I should be hearing in a week or so. *fingers crossed*
      I think that is it with me. What about everyone else?

~Sophie

Monday, August 5, 2013

Weekly Prompt-Sunsets

Here is this week's free read. You can check out the original post and the responses here.



Perfection Under the Setting Sun



“So when are you going to tell me what you are planning?”

“Never.”

I turned and stared at my new husband. Lucas is dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit that he got specifically for our honeymoon. I had not seen it before now, but it was beautiful. His blonde hair was perfectly styled and his baby blue eyes were smiling at me. Most days I still have a hard time believing that this gorgeous hunk with bulging muscles and a perfect physique was actually interested in me. I was just a scrawny nobody with stringy brown hair and coke-bottle glasses. What had I ever done to attract a former professional model? I still had no idea, but here he was. Mine forever.

Now we were on our honeymoon after marrying in our home state of California. It was a long road to get here, but now I couldn’t be happier. We had been vacationing in an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica for the last four days. We had three left before we had to go home and already I knew that I never wanted to leave. It had been a perfect trip so far. We had done a couple of activities around the resort, water sports and the like, but mostly we just stayed inside. Lucas ordered us a room with a private pool and a butler who brought us food and other essentials. I lost track of the number of times we had sex in the last four days, but that did not make it any less magical.

“Hey,” Lucas said, coming up behind me and putting his arms around my waist. “What are you thinking about, Hal?”

“The last four days.”

“It has been a great vacation so far, hasn’t it?”

“The best,” I said turning to give him a kiss.

Lucas accepted the kiss and returned it in earnest. Our making out was progressing towards the point of no return when Lucas suddenly pulled back.

“Come on,” Lucas said breathlessly.

“What,” I ask. “I thought that we were going to…”

“As much as I would love to take you right now, I have plans for you. Now let’s go.”

Lucas held his hand out to me, but I didn’t take it. Instead, I turned back towards the mirror to make sure that my suit looked okay.

“You look perfect,” Lucas said as he kissed my cheek.

I gave my husband a dubious look. I have never thought that I looked all that good, no matter what I was wearing. Call it self-esteem issues. But how could I not having a model as a husband? He was so amazing and I was not.

“Come on,” Lucas said, taking my hand and dragging me away from the mirror.

My husband led me out of our room and down the hall. I thought about trying to ask where we were going, but I knew better. Lucas never said anything before he was ready. Together we walked across the complex hand-in-hand. There were a few kisses and soft words exchanged, but nothing that would lead us into X-rated territory. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Eventually, we ended up at one of the restaurants inside the main building. The maitre-d’ was very professional as he found our reservation and led us to the back of the restaurant. I figured that Lucas had gotten us a private table. So I was shocked when we were led out of the restaurant all together.

Lucas and I were taken down a stone pathway from the hustle of the restaurant, towards a narrow strip of the resort’s private beach. There were candles lighting the way as the natural light stared to fade. It was quite lovely, but I was still very confused. And very hungry.

I was going to ask what was going on when the maitre d’ turned the corner. There was a stone platform that sat on the very edge of the beach. But that was not what took my breath away. The way that the platform was situated allowed for a perfect view of the beach. I could see the yellow sand and the clear blue water from where I was standing. And hovering above it all was the beginning of a beautiful sunset.

And if the view was not enough, right in the middle of the platform was a table for two, a white tablecloth gently waving in the night air. The table was beautifully decorated with white candlesticks and a small bouquet of flowers.

I turned to see the maitre d’ gone and my husband standing there with a single red rose and a stunning smile.

“Welcome to your special dinner, baby.”

“You did all of this for me?”

“Of course I did. I know that you do not think so, but you are deserving of this and so much more. You are the most amazing man that I have ever met and I couldn’t be happier to have you in my life. One day, I hope that you will see you as I see you. But in the meantime, I will just give you everything.”

Without another thought, I pull my man into my arms and give him a deep passionate kiss. Lucas kisses me back before taking my hand and leading me to the far edge of the platform, past our table. From the view, we have an uninterrupted view of the beauty before us. The colors in the sky are magnificent. We stand there together for a time, holding each other close.

“Thank you for this,” I said, turning into his strong chest a little more.

“You are welcome. Here’s to many more sunsets.”


I tilted my head up and gave Lucas another kiss. My husband was right. There were a lot more sunsets ahead of us. And I could not have been more thrilled.