It’s time to share a little about Oswald and Joshua from Around Seven. This is an autumn story with lots of yellow leaves and crisp, cool air. It’s not yet nippy, but the summer warmth is gone. The river is quiet and peaceful, the trees reflecting on the surface, and then there is a huge splash as Oz falls in.
Oz is a friend of Aiden’s from the Aiden and Tristan stories and he’s come to Nortown because Aiden has asked him to work with him. Aiden is a massage therapist and Oz an acupuncturist and Aiden thought it would be good for them to work together. Oswald isn’t convinced but he has nowhere else to go.
Joshua has spent a week on Andre’s couch since he’s renovating his cabin.
Fun fact, I had no idea I’d placed a second person on Andre’s couch before someone pointed it out to me – that Once in May and Around Seven both has a guy on Andre’s couch who then leave him behind for another guy. Poor Andre LOL
Anyway, Josh is a down to earth guy who doesn’t get involved unless he has to. He listens to his friends’ problems, but he never talks about his own. The last thing he wants is people gossiping about him.
I love this story and it’s the last one I wrote that takes place in Nortown. In other Up North stories, the characters visit Nortown, but no one has lived there since Joshua. Perhaps it’s time to rectify that.
Blurb:
Oswald Sattle has been sleeping in his Toyota Camry for the last 273 days, the exact number of days since he discovered his fiancé cheating on him. Now, out of money and out of options, he’s on his way to Nortown. Aiden, an acquaintance from his past, has offered him a job opportunity he can’t turn down, no matter how much he’d like to.
Joshua Roth moved to Nortown four years ago, and he has everything he needs — a job, friends, peace and quiet. He’s not looking for a boyfriend; no one even knows he’s gay, and he’d like it to stay that way. Everything changes when he offers Oswald a place to stay, though.
Oswald looks like he wants to run away, and Josh finds himself suggesting things that will make him stay. All he wants is for Oswald to smile. Oswald doesn’t want to overstay his welcome, but nothing soothes his nerves like being with Joshua in his cabin.
How long can Oswald stay before it’s time to move on again? Can Joshua have Oswald staying with him without the whole town talking about them? Probably not, but does he care?
There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.
Bill Watterson
Another month, another 36k or so words written. Holly is doing this story, and it’s supposed to be turned in by now. It was supposed to be a short story, but things don’t always go as planned, do they? I’m now staring at a 45k long story.
A couple of weeks ago, I told my publisher I was a good way through and just needed to wrap the story up… I’ve written 19.994 words in the last seven days. The wrapping up didn’t go as easy as I believed it would 😮
Hubby has been away, so I’ve put the alarm early in the mornings as always and gone up to write, then I have juggled kids, animals, and housework, only to sit down to write in the evening again. Evenings are not my time of day, my brain shuts off sometime in the early afternoon, but I’ve written a few words at least.
And we’re still in the middle of republishing old stories. They’ll come a bit more sparsely during July and August, I think we have one story in July and two in Augusts, but I’ll be completely honest and say that titles and dates are swimming around in my head without much order at the moment.
It’s easier with Holly, there I know we have one story a month during the summer. Next month we’ll have some vampires, and in August we’ll have some shifters LOL
I’m trying to come up with a plan for the coming months, but I know my hours at my day job will increase, and it’s so hard to plan. I always want to do more than time allows, and have a very hard time accepting not being able to write as much as I did last summer. We’ll see. There will be stories, but how often and in what order, I can’t tell you at the moment.
I’m 53% done with my yearly goal, so I think I’m doing pretty well. I’ve written 133.562 words all in all 😀
Hello everyone! Holly here 😀 I’m here today to tell you about a story of mine that’s released tomorrow. As some of you might know, I write stories to celebrate certain days – all days should be celebrated. We’ll see if I ever get to write 365 (or 366 I guess so leap day is included too). I’ll try.
This all started with a song. I was walking to work early one morning and I’d put on one of those Discover Weekly lists on Spotify. On came You Say with Dori Freeman. Some lines in that song stuck with me, and I spent the entire workday thinking up a story. It’s nothing like the song, but there are little snippets that fit pretty well.
So we have Nico and Matt who have been best friends since kindergarten. Nico has been in love with Matt for years, but he can’t picture his life without him and has therefore promised himself he’ll never let Matt know in case it would ruin what they have as friends.
On his way to meet up with Matt, he’s knocked on the head and thrown in a trunk of a car. He’s then roughed up some by a group of guys who tell him he has twenty-four hours to get them the item they want. The problem is that Nico has no idea what it is they want.
As soon as he can, he calls Matt who is a cop. To keep Nico safe, Matt takes him to a cabin where the two of them spend the night while trying to figure out what to do next.
It’s a fast-paced slightly insane story. I had a great time writing it LOL.
Excerpt:
“What are you doing?”
Nico jumped as Matt appeared inside the front door.
“I told you to lock the door.”
“Like a locked door would have stopped anyone.” He should have locked the door, though. He’d been too busy pacing to remember.
Matt was balancing a small cake on the palm of his hand and held a grocery bag in the other. “Happy birthday.” He offered the cake to Nico.
Nico smiled. He’d forgotten it was his birthday. “We’re having cake?”
“Not the dinner we’d planned but better than nothing, right?” Matt grimaced. “David called while I was in the car.”
“They’ve found them?” Hope spread in Nico’s chest.
“No. Someone broke into your apartment.”
Ice filled Nico’s veins. “What?”
“I’m sorry, Nico. It’s trashed. David said it looks like they were searching for something.”
“Searching? I don’t have anything.”
Matt dropped the bag and walked up to him. He plucked the cake from his hands and put it on the kitchen island before wrapping his arms around him. Nico couldn’t relax into the embrace. Someone had been in his apartment. He couldn’t go back there.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“What did they expect? That I had The Mona Lisa hanging on my wall? It’s a shitty apartment, Matt!” He took a step back, so he could gesture with his hands. He needed to gesture.
“I know. And I don’t think they were looking for The Mona Lisa. I haven’t heard anything about it being stolen.”
“What then? My dildo collection? They’re not made of gold.”
The corner of Matt’s mouth quirked. “I didn’t know you were a collector.”
“Oh God, has David seen it? He already hates me.”
Matt crossed his arms over his chest, looking a lot like David as he did. “He doesn’t hate you.”
“He does!” Nico threw his hands in the air. “He’s always growling when I’m around, always acting as if I’m… something.”
“You are something.”
Nico glared. “He’s acting as if I’m… subpar.”
Matt shook his head. “He’s not. It’s…” He shrugged.
“What?”
“He doesn’t like the way we are.”
Nico blinked. “He’s a homophobe? Typical cops.”
Matt grinned and shook his head. “No, he’s not a homophobe. He thinks I, or you, should do something about this situation.” He pointed between them.
What situation?
“Do you want me to go check your apartment? See how bad it is?”
Nico sighed. He didn’t want Matt to leave again. Being alone in the cabin drove him out of his mind. “Yeah. Could you hide my sex toys?”
Matt laughed. “Sure. Where do you keep them?”
“Bedside drawer, where else?”
“Considering both the burglars and Amber and David have been there, I doubt it’ll do any good, but I wouldn’t mind a peek at your collection.” He winked, grabbed the bag of groceries, and moved closer to the fridge.
Nico groaned and sank down on the ratty two-seat sofa. It wasn’t a big collection, but… “I’m gonna blush next time I see David.”
Matt barked a laugh. “I doubt it’s any worse than what he already had pictured.”
Once Matt had put away the groceries, he grabbed the car keys. “I’ll be back in a few hours then. Anything you want from your apartment?”
“Clothes? I don’t know. How long are we staying here?”
Matt shrugged. “Since they’ve raided your place, they know it isn’t there. I fear they’ll come for you next.”
Blurb:
Nico Allegretti has been best friends with Matt Barnes since kindergarten. There is no one more important to Nico than Matt, and while he’s known for years Matt is the one for him, he’ll never tell him. He won’t risk ruining their friendship.
On his way to meet Matt at the restaurant, a case of mistaken identity ends with Nico in the trunk of a car. When he’s released, his kidnappers give him twenty-four hours to give them what they want. The problem is, Nico has no idea what that could be.
Not knowing what else to do, he turns to Matt, who is a cop. Together they go into hiding while looking for clues. Being kidnapped doesn’t change Nico’s resolve to not let Matt know how he feels, but hiding in a small cabin together makes it hard to ignore. Matt’s small touches and compliments must mean nothing. Had Matt felt the same, he’d let him know by now … right?
Oswald Sattle has been sleeping in his Toyota Camry for the last 273 days, the exact number of days since he discovered his fiancé cheating on him. Now, out of money and out of options, he’s on his way to Nortown. Aiden, an acquaintance from his past, has offered him a job opportunity he can’t turn down, no matter how much he’d like to.
Nico Allegretti has been best friends with Matt Barnes since kindergarten. There is no one more important to Nico than Matt, and while he’s known for years Matt is the one for him, he’ll never tell him. He won’t risk ruining their friendship.
Ofelia Grand 