It's a Playlist Party at the Gazette!

Nick loved the early mornings at the gazette for the quiet, non-judgmental space where he could indulge in the less macho songs on his playlist without anyone being the wiser.  Ziva was good with his wide and somewhat irregular musical preferences, but with her pregnancy, the rest of his family and hers had begun to “pop in” whenever they damn well pleased.  Their surprise visits made it impossible for him to move and groove like he wanted too.

That left him with his office, early enough so his staff would couldn’t read him the riot act if they caught him singing into one of the many rulers from his drawer like he was now.

“Hoooot August nights…” Nick jumped to his desk, crooning the whole time. “Pack up the baby’s, grab the old lady’s…” Squatting, he reached out a hand to his invisible audience, attempting to improve on the last time he’d sung the song some three minutes ago. “Everyone knows Bother Love’s show.”

“HALLELUJAH!”

“Brother’s” He sang out, only vaguely aware the previous hallelujah wasn’t coming from the iPod or his head.

“HALLELUJAH!”

This time the ruckus sunk into his brain and he could feel his phone vibrating madly in his pocket.  A sick feeling built in his chest making him certain he didn’t want to look at the offensive bit of tech or open his office door, but he manned up and pulled the phone anyway.  The text warned him this day was about to go downhill fast.

ZIVA: HEY, NICKY DIAMOND, DID YOU FORGET TO SET YOUR ALARM?

He had.

ZIVA: NO WORRIES, I LOVE YOU!

Thank Lupa.

ZIVA: OPEN THE DOOR, MATE.

He really didn’t want too.

Nick jumped down from the desk, not at all ready to face the embarrassment beyond his door, but knowing that ripping off the band aid quick was preferable to a slow burn and continual jabs.  With his hand on the knob and a deep breath he flung the door wide and was mortified to find every employee he had smiling at him.  When Penny stepped forward he knew it was going to get rough.

“So…Brother Love, we have a little something for you.” She handed him a sparkly new 12 inch microphone.  When the sea of employees parted, there sat a high tech karaoke machine and Neil Diamond’s greatest hits on top. “This is from all of us, Chief. Use it with good health.  And if you keep it in the bull pen, then the rest of us can, perhaps, join you in a chorus or two?”

“Yeah,” Ralph, who was finally waking up and less grumpy, called out.  “We’re getting real good with the Hallelujah’s out here.”

A round of the joyous shouts went out, followed by whoops and hollers.  He’d misjudged his crew and was determined to make amends.  The karaoke machine had a slot for a USB so he could get a new iPod and attach it.  Link it to iTunes and let the entire group pick out their own songs to download and sing.  They were family after all and he could easily afford it.

“Jamie, go lock the front doors,” he called out to the little red wolf. “Then come back and we’ll all give this awesome gift a go.  Work can wait for an hour of so.”

Eight hours later, everyone was leaving for the day, no work down, but they were all both wiped out and jazzed from a day of robust enjoyment.

Nick’s Top Ten Playlist
10. Rock’N Roll Train by AC/DC
 9. Suck My Kiss by Red Hot Chili Peppers
 8. Poker Face by Lady Gaga
 7. The Futures so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades by Timbuk 3
 6. Draw the Line by Aerosmith
 5. Squealer by AC/DC
 4. Holly Holy by Neil Diamond
 3. Give It Away by Red Hot Chili Peppers
 2. Dirty Deed’s Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC
 1. Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show by Neil Diamond

~~~

 So here's Nick's playlist...maybe Ziva's will show up next week.  :)  If you'd like to know about anyone else's in Talbot's Peak, leave us a comment and we'll get them to divulge the info...somehow.  

Have a great weekend!

Serena

Friday Smiles!

Happy Friday, Ya'll!

I feel like a kindergartener stand up for show and tell...a HUGE smile on my face and my pretty, pretty picture on display!  In this case it's the new cover to my recently sold, second book in the Northwood Jags series, erotic novel!

Huh.  See now I have a picture of that in my head and I really need to edit that first line!  Let's try this...

I feel like a kindergartener Jamie, at the erotic book club, standing up for show and tell...a HUGE smile on my face and my pretty, pretty picture on display! 

Yeah, that works better.  What?  Oh, erotic book club, you didn't know Talbot's Peak had one of those?  Yep, they sure do.  It's held in a back room at Java Joes.  Marissa relegated them there when Mistress P decided to learn Photoshop and took great joy in producing explicit book covers.  She's been missing Burgess something fierce.

Anyway, no, Penny did not produce my book cover.  That came from the wonderful Liquid Silver Books art dept.!  Didn't they do an awesome job! 

The Submission is set to release on 1/27/14...check out the blurb below.  I'm still working on edits so an excerpt will come at a later date.  :)

Blurb: Two is better than one.  Most would agree with that statement, but not full-blooded shifter LeAnn Turone.  To accept her need for multiple partners means facing a lifetime in a one-sided triad.  She’s better off denying her heritage even if that means walking away from two of the most delectable alpha males she’s ever met.

Rick Taylor and Trent Warren each think they’ve found their mate in LeAnn, but a midnight meeting deep in the woods proves them wrong.   Not only do they both long to connect to the sexy, but skittish, female they also find themselves attracted to one another.

Each member of this triad must free themselves from the fear of the future and submit to the greater power of love.
~~~

Stay warm, wallow in your own special brand of wickedness and have a wonderful weekend!  

Serena

Dancing with the Stars

“Which do you think goes better with this?” Paul asked, spinning around on the stage to show off his costume. Jamie hesitated to think of it as a garment, since it looked more like a series of belts just barely strung together over strategic areas. “The stilettos or the boots?”

“Boots,” Lamar said at once, “but they gotta have heels. You can’t wear leather without heels.”

“Y’can’t wear that at all,” Jamie said. “That’s Gypsy’s. She catches you in her clothes, you are one dead … just what kind’a shifter are you, anyway?”

“That’s for me to know, and Talbot’s Peak to guess,” Paul said with a wink. He spun again, and this time added a series of graceful dance steps. Not snake, Jamie figured, but dang close to in the sinuous department. “I looooove Gypsy’s closet. I’m going to move in there.”

“Talk to the lobo rojo here,” Lamar said, leaning on the back of the chair to rest his chin in Jamie’s hair. “He knows all about closets.”

“Is this what you do all day when I’m at work? Hang out at Dante’s and dress up in lady clothes?”

“I’m helping out a compadre. Paul here’s looking for a part-time gig to pick up a few extra bucks. Dante’s taking him on as a dance instructor.”

Jamie eyed the lean young man in the tight leather straps suspiciously. “What kind’a dancing?”

“Mind out of the gutter, chico. Ballroom, for the supperclub. You should see the boy in a tux.” He kissed the tips of his fingers with a loud smacking of lips. “The angels weep.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty close to that myself right now.”

“You could benefit from dance lessons,” Lamar told him. “Then we could go out. You all pretty in black tie and tails, me in that red backless number of Gypsy’s—”

“The strapless one with the sequins?” Paul said. “Hands off that. That’s mine.”

“Y’all are nuts,” Jamie proclaimed. “I don’t dance, in tails or otherwise.”

“You’re telling me,” Lamar said. “Trips over his own paws,” he confided to Paul.

“And this one?” Jamie jerked his head toward Lamar. “Wants me to string him up from the ceiling so I can use him like a stripper pole. In snake form, I reckon. He didn’t specify.”

Paul eyed Lamar with newfound interest. “Really?”

“We’re working on that,” Lamar said. “My lobo rojo’s a shy one. You don’t know the hoops I have to jump through to get the Big Bad Wolf to appear.”

“Maybe you need assistance,” Paul suggested. “Ever considered a threesome?”

“No!” Jamie barked.

“Often,” Lamar said. “Tell you what: you take dance lessons from Paul here and we can skip the threesome. And I’m wearing the backless.”

“Over my dead body.”

“That can be arranged.” Lamar and Paul both whirled, and Jamie instantly shot to his feet, when Gypsy strolled onto the dance floor. She smiled up at the stage, and at Paul. “What a lovely outfit. I’ve got one just like it.”

“Uh—”

“Relax. I just came out of a meeting with Dante. He’s impressed with your dancing, and he’s worked out a schedule for lessons. I suppose they’ll have to be in the evening.” She studied Paul carefully. “Does Mayor Link know you applied for a job here?”

“Not yet.”

“Does Hizzonor know you wear women’s clothing?” Lamar asked.

Paul grinned down at him. “Not yet.”

“Well, Dante knows you’re the Mayor’s assistant, and he doesn’t tolerate spies,” Gypsy said. “That better not be why you’re here.”

“Mayor Link doesn’t know about this. I’m here for the extra money. And to dance.” Paul did a pirouette, coming to a halt with his hand raised toward Gypsy. “Scout’s honor.”

“We’ll see.” Gypsy smiled. “You’ve got the job. If you want to keep the job, you’ll stay away from my costumes, and get out of that outfit right now, or you really will have the Big Bad Wolf on your tail.”

Paul swallowed, long and hard. “Yes, ma’am.”

Calendar Boys

“Dang it, Lamar,” Jamie said, “of all the fool things you ever talked me into, this has gotta be the foolest.”

“Chico, I haven’t even scratched the surface of all the foolish things I want to talk you into. This, however, isn’t one of them. This is for a good cause. Tell him, Bo.”

“You heard the man,” Bo Ewing said. Like Jamie, he wore a simple terrycloth robe, though his was several sizes larger than Jamie’s. Like Jamie, he was naked beneath it. “Dante’s pin-up calendar makes a ton of money for local charities every year. You want to tell the kids at the hospital they won’t be getting a new dialysis machine because you got cold – ” He eyed Jamie’s groinal region and finished with a chuckle, “Feet?”

“I get the charity bit,” Jamie snapped. “I don’t get nudie shots of men. The Talbot’s Peak gay community ain’t that big. Oughtn’t you make one of nekkid women or something?”

“We’ve got one of those, too.” Dante himself entered just in time to catch, and answer, Jamie’s question. A long-legged, barrel-chested stranger in a Stetson followed him in. “The male calendar outsells it three to one, every single year.” He winked at Bo and the other man. “There’s a lot of randy shes in Talbot’s Peak.”

Lamar elbowed Jamie. “Told you.”

“And I told you,” Dante said to Lamar, “you can’t be in the women’s calendar. We’ve still got some uptight folks who’d burn my bar if they realized they were looking at a man.”

“Chillax, jefe. I’m moral support for the shy boy here. Also prop. One way or another, I’m getting into the calendar.”

“Not if you keep holding up production,” Mr. Ed, the photographer, said with an annoyed sniff. He was a slender, horse-faced man with a long blond ponytail. “You ready, son?”

“As he’ll ever be,” Lamar said, and shifted into his boa form.

“Dang foolishness,” Jamie muttered. “I ought’a be behind the camera, not in front of it.”

“You’re the one agreed to it,” Bo said with a grin and no sympathy. “By the way, where’s Porker? Don’t tell me he chickened out.”

“I’m afraid so,” Dante said. “Fortunately Dash here agreed to stand in. Exit biker, enter cowboy. I don’t think the ladies will mind.”

“Are you going to pose or not?” Ed said to Jamie.

“I’m gettin’ there,” Jamie said. Like diving into a pond, he told himself. You jump in all at once, it ain’t so bad. He loosened the robe and let it fall before stepping in front of the camera. Lamar slithered up his leg and wrapped around his torso, with one thick coil strategically draped across Jamie’s sinful bits. His forked tongue licked the curve of Jamie’s ear.
“Quit it,” Jamie mumbled. “How y’all want me?”

“Relax,” Ed instructed. “There’s good stiff and bad stiff. You’re giving me bad stiff.” He handed Jamie an apple. “Have fun with it.”

Sure, have a blast showing himself off like a side of beef with Lamar hanging all over him. It’s for the kids, he kept telling himself, and struck what he hoped was a provocative pose.

“Atta boy, Jamie,” Bo called encouragement. “You’re a natural. Didn’t we do this shot last year?”

“Gypsy as Eve? Yes, I remember. She’s pairing with Sergei this year.”

“I’m guessing he’ll be tiger. I can’t imagine him naked. Oh wait, yes I can. Terrific, now I can’t get that picture out of my head. Somebody describe their last date or something.”

“I was with a zebra last night,” Ed announced. “They bite, and in the most interesting places. Happy? Good. Now be quiet. I’m trying to create magic here.”

He took several shots of “Adam and the Serpent” before he pronounced himself satisfied. Jamie snatched up his robe and yanked it on with Lamar still wrapped around him. The snake’s head poked out of the robe’s V neckline. Jamie idly rubbed it with a finger.

“Who wants to go next?” Ed said. “Come on, boys. Time is money.”

“I’ll go,” Dash offered. “I got some things to pick up in town, then I need to get back to work.” He stripped off his shirt, revealing a tanned chest just made for porn shoots. He stepped in front of the camera.

“Hey!” Jamie said. “How come he gets to keep his pants on?”

“’Cause I got a jealous lady at home,” Dash replied easily. He repositioned his Stetson at a rakish angle. “Wish I had a horse to pose with. Make this a helluva shot.”

“That can be arranged,” Ed said. He was practically drooling. “You. ‘Adam.’ Did you say you’re a photographer?”

Jamie stepped up to the camera and pronounced himself familiar with the type. Ed shed his clothes in a blink and shifted into a shiny-coated palomino, far handsomer than his human form. Jamie tossed Dash the apple and started shooting, with Dante, Bo and a once-again human Lamar looking over his shoulder. Jamie ignored them all, totally focused on his creative vision.

“Oohh, nice,” Ed said upon regaining human shape. “Look at that lighting! Son, you’re a natural. Ever done these types of shots before?”

“Uhhhh … ”

“Just with me,” Lamar spoke up. “I got one on me. Wanna see?”

“I’d rather see your portfolio.” Ed recovered his slacks from the chair where he’d tossed them and fished a business card out of his pocket. “If you’d like a job, or just freelance work, I can use a talented helper. Anyone can snap a photo. You’ve got an artist’s eye.”

Jamie glanced around uneasily at the half-naked and naked men in the studio, which now included Ed. “I dunno. You do a lot of this?”

“As much as I can get,” Ed said with a horsy grin. “Sadly, most of it’s simple formal portraits. Luckily for my tastes, there are those who like to do erotic shots for their mates. Men and women. Best of both worlds.”

“He’ll do it,” Lamar said, clapping Jamie on the shoulder. “You can shoot the covers for my novels.”

“You write gay porn.”

“Exactamento.”

“Give me a call,” Ed said. “We’ll talk. Now, who’s up next?”

“Guess that’s me.” Bo let his robe drop and stood in all his bighorn glory. He tossed a football from hand to hand. “How do you want me to hold it?”