Well it rocked around finally! My release, my first proper publication with the fab Wilde City Press went live today - 'Always Have, Always Will' can now be yours. So i wanted to do a quick intro for the book and hope that it get's everyone interested and invested. So here goes.
BLURB:
Imagine losing everything you ever loved in the blink of an eye. For Clayton Palmer, that terrible fate has just become a reality as he buries his lover, Gregg, after a brief and futile battle with cancer. Now, in the house in which they shared their love for all those years, Clay’s own life is slowly fading. In a war with his ailing body, Clay reminisces over the life they shared. Knowing time is running out, memories of their joy and sadness come to him; vignettes forming a road map back to the man he always loved; always has and always will.
EXCERPT:
He sighed deeply, moving further into the cold room, searching and daring something to be out of place. Clay’s eyes landed on a bottle of whisky that seemed to grin at him from beside the stove. It was a portent and wanted to be drunk, so he grabbed a crystal glass from a nearby cupboard and filled it up with the amber liquid, his clumsy movements sloshing the liquor over the side of the glass. He didn’t clean it up. He didn’t need to.
Swallowing was harder than he thought it would be, so Clay assumed he was getting further along. Still the alcohol burned on its way down his closing throat, a wash of relaxation punctuating his thoughts as he looked around the kitchen for the final time. He said a prayer, though this time not to God. This time he prayed to Gregg, knowing in his heart that his lover was listening. He prayed for peace, but the words never formed. It was a prayer of will, and he projected it as he cleared the last of his drink.
He slammed the glass against the marble surface of the counter, the loud crescendo at complete odds with the eerie silence that permeated the house. The stark sound only served to illustrate how cavernous the house had become, how alone he truly was. He turned to leave the room, knowing in his mind that peace, like his former life, didn’t live there anymore.
****
There was something I forgot to say.
I’d spent the better part of seventy-two hours as a permanent fixture in a slightly more comfortable chair in the waiting room. Un-showered and unmoving, my diet had consisted only of vending machine snacks and tepid, miniature cups of Nescafe from the coin-operated machine in the nurses’ lounge, the bitter brew the only thing drawing a line between me and a restful night’s sleep. Sinking down into the chair, I tucked one foot underneath me, my tired knee groaning as I folded myself further into the toxic vinyl cushioning. Every muscle was aching, my age finally starting to betray me, each click of my hip or crack of my knee just another obtuse reminder that it was all disappearing. But my years were not what I was mourning.
I pulled my arms around me, in part to stave off the bitter breeze of the air conditioning causing my skin to prick into gooseflesh every time it whispered through the metal grate at the top of the adjacent wall. When people say they are ‘holding it together’, the concept had previously been lost on me. I tensed the muscles in my arms, pulling my body in on itself. That was all that was keeping me together, like if I were to relax, my heart might fall out of my chest, and land on the shining tiles of the floor beneath me.
So yeah, that's what you have to look forward to. Oh, and one more thing...
GIVEAWAY!!!!!
Leave a comment in the comments section below for a chance to win a free copy of the novella. I'll be announcing the winner next wednesday, so you have one week to share and get your chance to pick up a free copy.
Extra special thanks go out to Lisa Horan, Tina Adamski and Sammy Goode, who were my cheerleaders when this was just an idea in my brain. To Geoff who gave me this chance, and Ethan who made my day with a new contract today (HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO ME!!!). To Val for putting up with my nagging and the abundance of the words "as" and "if" :P To Adrian for all your amazing design work and for creating this beauty that I can keep and read over and over and over. And to everyone reading, it means the world the to me that you are supporting me and I am eternally grateful to every single one of you.
Lots of love
BJ xxx
BLURB:
Imagine losing everything you ever loved in the blink of an eye. For Clayton Palmer, that terrible fate has just become a reality as he buries his lover, Gregg, after a brief and futile battle with cancer. Now, in the house in which they shared their love for all those years, Clay’s own life is slowly fading. In a war with his ailing body, Clay reminisces over the life they shared. Knowing time is running out, memories of their joy and sadness come to him; vignettes forming a road map back to the man he always loved; always has and always will.
EXCERPT:
He sighed deeply, moving further into the cold room, searching and daring something to be out of place. Clay’s eyes landed on a bottle of whisky that seemed to grin at him from beside the stove. It was a portent and wanted to be drunk, so he grabbed a crystal glass from a nearby cupboard and filled it up with the amber liquid, his clumsy movements sloshing the liquor over the side of the glass. He didn’t clean it up. He didn’t need to.
Swallowing was harder than he thought it would be, so Clay assumed he was getting further along. Still the alcohol burned on its way down his closing throat, a wash of relaxation punctuating his thoughts as he looked around the kitchen for the final time. He said a prayer, though this time not to God. This time he prayed to Gregg, knowing in his heart that his lover was listening. He prayed for peace, but the words never formed. It was a prayer of will, and he projected it as he cleared the last of his drink.
He slammed the glass against the marble surface of the counter, the loud crescendo at complete odds with the eerie silence that permeated the house. The stark sound only served to illustrate how cavernous the house had become, how alone he truly was. He turned to leave the room, knowing in his mind that peace, like his former life, didn’t live there anymore.
****
There was something I forgot to say.
I’d spent the better part of seventy-two hours as a permanent fixture in a slightly more comfortable chair in the waiting room. Un-showered and unmoving, my diet had consisted only of vending machine snacks and tepid, miniature cups of Nescafe from the coin-operated machine in the nurses’ lounge, the bitter brew the only thing drawing a line between me and a restful night’s sleep. Sinking down into the chair, I tucked one foot underneath me, my tired knee groaning as I folded myself further into the toxic vinyl cushioning. Every muscle was aching, my age finally starting to betray me, each click of my hip or crack of my knee just another obtuse reminder that it was all disappearing. But my years were not what I was mourning.
I pulled my arms around me, in part to stave off the bitter breeze of the air conditioning causing my skin to prick into gooseflesh every time it whispered through the metal grate at the top of the adjacent wall. When people say they are ‘holding it together’, the concept had previously been lost on me. I tensed the muscles in my arms, pulling my body in on itself. That was all that was keeping me together, like if I were to relax, my heart might fall out of my chest, and land on the shining tiles of the floor beneath me.
So yeah, that's what you have to look forward to. Oh, and one more thing...
GIVEAWAY!!!!!
Leave a comment in the comments section below for a chance to win a free copy of the novella. I'll be announcing the winner next wednesday, so you have one week to share and get your chance to pick up a free copy.
Extra special thanks go out to Lisa Horan, Tina Adamski and Sammy Goode, who were my cheerleaders when this was just an idea in my brain. To Geoff who gave me this chance, and Ethan who made my day with a new contract today (HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO ME!!!). To Val for putting up with my nagging and the abundance of the words "as" and "if" :P To Adrian for all your amazing design work and for creating this beauty that I can keep and read over and over and over. And to everyone reading, it means the world the to me that you are supporting me and I am eternally grateful to every single one of you.
Lots of love
BJ xxx