Author: Ofelia Gränd

Update | Staying on Track

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Don’t get sidetracked by people who are not on track.

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It’s update time, and I have no idea what I’ve been doing. Last month, I wrote that I’d written 36k in May. In June, I wrote 16.055 words. That’s quite a lot less. I’m currently 56.6% done with my yearly goal of writing 250.000 words, so still on track, I’d say. 

July is Camp NaNo month, and I signed up to do 20k. I’m nearing the end of Holly’s September story, so to write those 20k, I need to start a new one – bummer, right? LOL. New stories are the best 😀 

I’ve written 8.465 words in four days, but now work is messing up my flow. I’ll be back by my desk on Friday morning. 

The last few days, I’ve played with the idea of cleaning up a few WIPs and get them out there. More than once, I’ve convinced myself it’s a great idea, but then when it’s time to start working, I end up writing a new story instead. 

And I know I’ve been saying this for a couple of months now, but I need to write a holiday story if I’m gonna publish one this year. That deadline is coming closer and closer. I have an idea. Maybe I’ll go with that rather than finishing old stories.  

To wrap up, I’ve written 141.508 words so far during 2021, and that leaves me at 56.6% done 😀 

How are you doing with your goals? There is no shame in tweaking them should conditions have changed. There is still half a year left, and you can achieve great things in half a year. 

Release Day | Remember Us

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Release-Day

It’s release day! I fear there will never be another year when I get to write those words as many times as I have this year LOL. Today, we have Remember Us. 

Remember Us used to be Trapped, but since there already was a book titled Trapped in the JMS Books catalogue, we changed it to avoid confusion. It gets a little confusing on my end, but I’ll get used to it 😀 

This story is not your traditional romance. William and Charlie have been together for more than forty years, they’re married, and they have a daughter. But… Growing old, we never know what’s coming, do we? 

William is suffering from dementia and he doesn’t remember Charlie anymore. Or he remembers him, but he remembers him as a young man. He remembers how they were a long time ago. 

This story is very dear to me, and it might not follow a romance arc, but there is a lot of love. A lot. 

Excerpt:

Desperately, I searched for something to say, something to make him forget about this place. My heart banged in my ears. I didn’t have the energy for any breakout attempts today. My body ached, and the weariness in my bones grew more insistent for each minute passing.

I honestly didn’t know how I’d find the energy to walk back to my flat. It wasn’t far, but I was finished. I’d had enough. Deep inside, my soul screamed at me; it said I couldn’t leave William, and I wouldn’t, but I’d had enough.

“No, I believe we come here for the apple pie.” It was Friday; there was a strong possibility there would be apple pie in the cafeteria. I watched William. His blue eyes too alert for his age—too alert for someone as confused as he was.

“Stop looking at me!”

It took me a second too long to look away.

“I said, stop looking at me! You think it’s all right for perverted old men to come here and ogle me?”

“No, of course not. I wasn’t ogling you.”

“I know what I saw.”

I sighed. The sting of the heron picking at my heart made me sink even lower. I shouldn’t have come, but there hadn’t been one day when I hadn’t. I couldn’t leave William here, but something was off with me today. If it all were to end now, I wouldn’t be sorry.

“You’re a handsome man.” I shrugged and hoped he’d drop the subject.

“I have a husband back home, and I do not intend to leave him. Ever.”

The words made me smile. I ignored the lump in my throat and tried to focus on the fact that he did love me. “He’s a lucky man.”

“He claims to be. Are you married?”

I met William’s gaze and nodded. “I am, and I love him.”

William’s lips thinned. “Then why are you here with me? You should be at home with him.”

“I would be if he was at home.”

“Where is he?”

Yeah, that’s the question, isn’t it? “He’s on a trip.”

William gasped. “He went on a trip without you? The bastard!”

“Yeah, no. He didn’t have a choice.”

“Oh, but still… It’s hard to be the one who’s left behind. When will he be back?”

I opened my mouth only to close it again. “He drops in now and then.”

“Yeah? Where is he now?”

I chuckled. “Somewhere down memory lane, I think.”

William reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, don’t worry about it.”

We sat in silence for a while. The morning show on the TV drew close to an end, and I started to long for a cup of coffee. I had no desire whatsoever to go to the cafeteria, though.

“Have you been married long?”

I glanced at William. He was watching me with a crease between his brows, clenching his jaws the way he did when he was thinking too hard.

“Forty-three years.”

He nodded, and the crease between his brows deepened. I held my breath, both fearing and hoping he would remember me.

“I’ve been married a long time, too…I think.” He rubbed his forehead, looking lost.

“Yeah? He’s a lucky man.” I patted his hand. It wasn’t often he allowed touch, but I figured since he’d squeezed my shoulder, a pat on the hand should be okay. He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. My joints protested, but I didn’t care.

“I miss him.” William blinked more rapidly. “I miss him every second of every day.”

I swallowed to prevent my throat from closing up and cursed the way my eyes started to burn. “And he misses you.”

He nodded. “I think he does.” With his free hand, he rubbed his chest. “It feels like he does. It feels as if I should be somewhere else.”

I didn’t say anything. What was there to say?

The silence grew. A soap opera started on the TV, and we sat there next to each other and held hands. Rain began to fall outside, drops fighting for room on the glass of the window.

“Do you want some coffee?” I was sure I could call on a nurse and have them bring us a cup. We never asked for it, but today I didn’t want to be around the others living here. All I wanted was to sit next to William, sip on a cup of coffee, and forget we weren’t at home.

He let go of my hand as if I’d burned him.

“Who are you?”

Blurb:

rememberus

Charlie Wilkins had everything he wanted—a husband, a daughter, a house that was his home. He still has his husband, but William has forgotten who he is. He still has his daughter, but the roles have switched, and Ann is now the one taking care of them. 
 
There is only one thing Charlie wants, and that is to spend the rest of his days with William by his side. But William is living in a nursing home, and Charlie is living…somewhere. Ann says she will fix it; she’ll make sure they’ll get to live together again. Charlie hopes she will before William either escapes or figures out Charlie has left him in someone else’s care. He promised William they’d stay together till death did them part, and he meant it, but what was he to do when he no longer could take care of William? 

Buy links:

Contemporary Gay Romance: 12,055 words

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/RememberUs

Fridays at Ofelia’s | A Roll of the Dice

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 1 Comment

Guest-Post

Today, fellow JMS Books writer, Ellie Thomas, is on a visit. Welcome, Ellie!

Thank you so much, Ofelia, for letting me be your guest today! I’m Ellie Thomas and I write Historical Gay Romance. In this blog, I’m chatting about my latest story with JMS Books, released on July 10th. It’s a Hot Flash entitled A Roll of the Dice.

It can be uncanny how inspiration comes out of the blue from an unexpected source. The idea for this tale started when watching an excellent three-part tv documentary on the story of Welsh art – of all things! I do love writing about that period of history, and so when the programme focused on artists of that time, including the landscape artist Richard Wilson (1713-82), who was unfamiliar to me, I was not only fascinated but it got my imagination whirring.

In the same way, my main character Joshua has Jones as a surname in honour of the Welsh artist Thomas Jones (1742-1803). Like his namesake, Joshua studies in London under the great Richard Wilson. While writing about Joshua’s experiences, I couldn’t resist including a real-life humorous anecdote about students misbehaving in class which Thomas Jones had recorded in his diaries.

So, as I had sketched in the artistic backdrop for my story, my next task was to devise my characters. When the story started unfolding in my mind, I happened to come across an article on influential black composers and musicians in Europe in the eighteenth century, including the Chevalier de St. Georges (1745-1799) who was dubbed ‘The Black Mozart’. This inspired me to make Joshua both an aspiring artist and a man of colour.

Many artists at that time, including Richard Wilson and Thomas Jones, were drawn to London to make their names in artistic circles, so that city seemed the ideal setting. Since the Royal Academy of Art in London was based in a coffee house in those very early days, that got me thinking about the St. James’ Palace area, lined with exclusive masculine gambling and drinking clubs which were a core of political power and influence at the time. These qualities embody the character of Frank, Joshua’s love interest, who moves easily amongst influential diplomatic circles. As Joshua funds his daytime art studies by working as a waiter in a gambling club by night, this seemed an ideal meeting point for my couple. In such an intensely male, hot-house situation, I could easily imagine how a spark of mutual attraction could flare into romance.

Blurb:

arollofthedice

Joshua Jones is in London to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. As a young black man from a modest background, he works hard to pay for his painting classes, both as a fencing master’s assistant, then as a waiter in an exclusive gaming club, which his uncle manages.

During the London Season when the club as at its busiest, the last thing Joshua expects is to find romance. But when mesmerising older man, Frank Bartlett, is determined to seduce him, how can he resist? Joshua now finds he has another problem. How can he stop himself falling for the object of his desire?

Extract:

As they sat by the fireplace, Joshua looked around him with interest, noting the shelves of books and the writing desk piled high with correspondence. Pouring them both a glass of wine, Frank sat back and smiled at Joshua’s observation. 

“Does my home meet with your approval?” Frank asked.

Joshua grinned. “I was expecting more of a palace,” he replied, which make Frank laugh, revealing that strong column of his throat that made Joshua catch his breath.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Frank said, smiling.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I was disappointed,” Joshua said with a tinge of flirtation, knowing he was playing with fire. Frank glanced at him with a knowing flickering glimmer that set Joshua’s pulses racing. He was achingly aware that the consideration and snatched conversations of previous evenings would escalate in this intimate setting.

“If you are in the mood,” Frank said silkily, reaching for a pack of cards and moving a nearby side table between them, “I thought we might play a game.”

Joshua almost blurted out that he did not gamble, when he suddenly realised that the stakes were far riskier, or rather risqué, than money. “Pick a card,” Frank invited him. Breathlessly, Joshua did so and putting it down on the table, he saw he had selected the Ten of Hearts. Frank followed suit, placing down the Two of Spades. “I lose,” he said, smiling as he shrugged off his coat.

Joshua’s eyes widened. “I think I like this game,” he said, picking the next card. As it was his turn to select a lower card, he chose to remove his neckcloth as slowly as possible, his adversary glued to his every movement. Then Frank lost his waistcoat, his large body visible under his linen shirt which made Joshua’s mouth go dry. He gulped his wine before picking the next card. They chose an equal number and in accord, both removed their shirts. Joshua could not take his eyes from that massive chest and brawny torso and Frank seemed equally breathless at the sight of Joshua’s lithe and sinewy brown body.

“Perhaps we should take this into the bedroom?” Frank suggested, rising and holding out his hand. Joshua followed willingly and as soon as the bedroom door was shut behind them, they were in each other’s arms.

Buy link:

JMS Books 

Bio:

Ellie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader especially about anything historical. She mainly writes historical gay romance.
Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.

https://elliethomasromance.wordpress.com/