It’s release day!!! #PictaBook is live, isn’t it amazing?! I think it is LOL

So often when working on a book, I love my characters through the first draft. I’m fond of them through the second draft. They’re dear to me through the beta reading process. When we reach the blurb writing, I often feel a bit of distance would be good. When the edits appear in my inbox I sigh – not because of my editor, she’s great – but by now I’m already writing another story, I’m already in love with a new set of characters, and the old guys are intruding on that love affair. Then by the time of the release day, I’m mostly happy to be able to move on.

The love affair is over.

But… I still love Nix and Jules.

No blurbs, edits or proofreadings killed them.

That’s unusual.

There are a few of my books that still make me smile when I see them. It has nothing to do with sales or reviews or what other people have thought of them. They make me smile because of how I felt writing them – because I still care about the characters. Elevator Pitch is one, Banger Challenge another. They might not be the best stories I’ve written, but they’re special to me.

And now I’m adding #PictaBook to that list.

It’s a 36k contemporary gay romance story about a dyslexic carpenter and a librarian with social anxiety and a murderous cat. And it makes me laugh.

Excerpt:

Jules’ heart was throbbing in his throat as he pulled the door open and stepped into the restaurant. It was a dimly lit Indian place and Jules’ tongue got stuck to the roof of his mouth when he spotted Nix at a table in the corner.

He wore a shirt perfect for him. His intense eyes were glowing in the dark, and Jules’ steps faltered. This isn’t a date. Nix didn’t want to eat alone, and he was here to keep him company, nothing else.

“Hi.” It didn’t come out louder than a whisper, and Jules looked away before he blushed. Pulling out the chair across from Nix, he sat.

“Hi.” Nix smiled and Jules’ heart—if it was even possible—beat faster.

A short woman, dressed in a dark red sari, appeared by their table to take their orders. Jules couldn’t find his voice to answer her, but Nix rattled off a few things, and when she finally turned to him, he ordered a Masala Chai tea with an explanation of already having eaten.

Silence settled over them as she left.

“Did you have a good day?” Nix spun his glass and looked at Jules.

“It was okay. Jenny and I went out to eat.”

Nix nodded. “Were you arguing?”

Jules frowned, then he remembered the scene in the parking lot. “No, no… it was… She insulted my cat.”

Nix widened his eyes. “You have a cat?”

Jules smiled. “Yeah, Booksy. He’s great. He hates everyone, so we’re kindred spirits.”

Nix laughed, deep and low, and it sent a tingle down Jules’ spine. This was not good.

“I already knew you had a cat.” Nix grimaced. “Jenny told me that unless I knew the name of your cat, I was a stranger. But she insulted him?”

Jenny had told Nix about Booksy? “Not everyone has to like to cuddle.”

If possible Nix’s eyes widened more. “Of course not.”

Jules sighed, fully aware he sounded like a crazy person. “I don’t do well with people.”

“You do well with me.”

He grimaced. “I almost turned back twenty times on the way over here.”

Nix’s gaze softened. “But you made it.”

Jules shrugged. “Jenny wants me to meet someone.”

“I figured.”

Oh God, had she tried to get Nix to ask him out? “She didn’t put you up to this, did she?”

“No.” He laughed and shook his head. “No, this is all me.”

“She made it sound as if it was an effort to love Booksy, so I had to defend him.”

“Of course.” Nix smiled at him. “So… he’s a lovable little furball?”

“He’ll scratch your eyes out in your sleep.”

Nix laughed. “Charming.”

“He’s awesome.”

The tea arrived with some of Nix’s dishes, and along with them came the silence again. Nix took a few bites before looking at Jules. “Want to taste?”

“No.” He smiled and shook his head. “It smells good, but I’m full.”

Silence again, but it wasn’t the kind that made Jules want to scream. He studied Nix, watched the fork go in between his lips only to slide out again, and soon after he was squirming in his seat. This was not good. He shouldn’t get a hard-on from watching Nix eat.

“What happened to your date?”

Nix grimaced. “Turns out it was a booty call.”

Cold washed over Jules. “Oh, so it’s… already over?”

Nix snorted. “I left.”

“What? No… booty?”

“Nope.”

Oh… “A rain check?”

#PictaBook in the JMS shop (20% off)

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Jules Rose leads a quiet life working as a librarian. He’s happy to spend his spare time reading books and talking to his homicidal cat. What more could he wish for? But when his cozy Friday night is shattered by a friend request on his book community app, politeness gives him little choice but to accept. Jules doesn’t want to talk to anyone, but he can’t be rude. Besides, if he had to talk about something, books is the topic he’d pick.

Phoenix Ford is dyslexic and avoids everything that has to do with the written word, but when the colleague he’s trying to impress calls him stupid, he decides to convince the other man, he’s mistaken. All he needs is the right book to make him look smart, a perfect balance between intelligent and short. And who better to ask for help than a guy who loves books so much, he labeled one boner-worthy on a book app?

When Jules finds out Phoenix never has read a book from start to finish, he’s on a mission. He will find the right book, the book that will make Phoenix fall in love — with reading. Phoenix’s plan might have been to listen to the book Jules picked for him to impress his colleague, but that was before he got to know him. Talking about books is a sure way to Jules’ heart, but is it enough for him to agree to go on a date?

It’s #PictaBook time! In the excerpt I’m sharing today, Jules is talking about a bat shifter story he’s read. Now, I’m very fond of that particular bat shifter, and if you’d like to hear a snippet from it, Angel Martinez is reading from it here.

We’re further into the story now. Nix has been fixing up his bedroom and has asked Jules to help him carry his furniture back in. They’re not dating – Jules doesn’t do dates – and they’re not a couple, but things are progressing in the romance department.

Excerpt:

Nix threw the bedding on the couch, pulled out the bed from the wall, and grabbed the mattress to flip it off the frame. “If there are dust bunnies underneath, you are not allowed to judge me.”

He looked so serious Jules had to laugh. “Out loud.”

“No, at all.”

“But how will you know what’s going on in my head?” Jules gave him a wide-eyed look.

With a growl, Nix went to get the vacuum cleaner.

“No.” Jules laughed, stopping him from plugging it in with a hand on his arm. “I was joking, Nix. I won’t judge. Booksy makes my windowsill all hairy.”

“Yes, but he’s your pet and pets shed. I live on my own. All the filth is mine.”

Jules narrowed his eyes. “How long has it been since you vacuumed?”

“You saw me vacuum.”

“Underneath the bed? There won’t be a spider farm or mice having an extended family party, right?”

“You don’t like spiders or mice?”

“I prefer mice to not be indoors, and I guess the same goes for spiders. I’m more okay with spiders than mice.”

Nix nodded. “It’s been a week since I vacuumed underneath the bed, and I’ve never had a mouse indoors. Last fall, there was a bat, though.”

“A bat?” Jules hadn’t meant to shout, but a bat was so much worse than a mouse. A bat had… wings.

“Yeah.” Nix tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know how it got here, but I’d taken a few things down from the attic so I guess it must’ve been in there and gotten down.”

Jules shuddered. “What did you do with it?”

Nix widened his eyes. “Carried it outside. What should I have done?”

“I don’t know!” Jules shuddered again, and Nix laughed.

“Not a fan of bats?”

“I read this adorable little short story about a bat shifter. I liked that bat a lot, but I think it’s my only bat-encounter I’ve enjoyed.”

Nix grinned and nodded at the foot end of the bed frame while he grabbed the headboard. “So a bat shifter?”

“Yes, super cute. I don’t know if you would like it, though. It doesn’t have any sex.” He didn’t look at Nix. He was too occupied angling the bed frame through the door to the bedroom.

“I don’t need sex.”

“No?” Jules glanced at him.

“I mean, I love sex. I’m a huge fan, but I don’t need it in everything I read.” Nix worked the headboard through the doorway, backing Jules into a corner so he could get closest to where the bed should be, and put it down.

Together, they pushed it into place, and Nix went to get the mattress, bedding, and fresh linens from the wardrobe. He made quick work of making the bed, and as Jules turned toward the door, thinking it was time for coffee, an arm snaked around his middle and pulled him down on the bed.

“Hey!” Jules slapped the arm, but not hard. Nix chuckled and nuzzled his neck.

“So tell me about the bat shifter.” Nix stretched out on his back, pulling Jules along with him. With a groan, Jules stretched out too. His muscles ached more than he’d realized.

“It’s a short story, it wouldn’t take you more than an hour tops to listen to.”

“And what’s it about.”

“A bear and a bat walked into an elevator.” Jules widened his eyes, which had Nix laughing. This was great. Too bad Booksy was all alone at home.

#PictaBook in the JMS shop (20% off)

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Jules Rose leads a quiet life working as a librarian. He’s happy to spend his spare time reading books and talking to his homicidal cat. What more could he wish for? But when his cozy Friday night is shattered by a friend request on his book community app, politeness gives him little choice but to accept. Jules doesn’t want to talk to anyone, but he can’t be rude. Besides, if he had to talk about something, books is the topic he’d pick.

Phoenix Ford is dyslexic and avoids everything that has to do with the written word, but when the colleague he’s trying to impress calls him stupid, he decides to convince the other man, he’s mistaken. All he needs is the right book to make him look smart, a perfect balance between intelligent and short. And who better to ask for help than a guy who loves books so much, he labeled one boner-worthy on a book app?

When Jules finds out Phoenix never has read a book from start to finish, he’s on a mission. He will find the right book, the book that will make Phoenix fall in love — with reading. Phoenix’s plan might have been to listen to the book Jules picked for him to impress his colleague, but that was before he got to know him. Talking about books is a sure way to Jules’ heart, but is it enough for him to agree to go on a date?

We’re continuing the countdown toward release day! I’m so excited, #PictaBook is one of my favourite stories.

The snippet I planned to share today is rather long. Jules and Nix are having coffee, but Nix did something that has Jules ready to bolt. He does that a lot – both of them LOL. Nix says things he shouldn’t, and Jules hides from everything and everyone.

Anyway, Jules had told Nix he spent the night with a book and a glass of red, and to prevent Jules from scurrying off, Nix asks what he read.

Excerpt:

Nix sensed Jules withdrawing and muttered a mental curse. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t do anything. Everything with Jules would have to be at a glacial pace or he’d figure out Nix’s plan and bolt.

“Come, have a seat.” He gestured at the same chair Jules had occupied when they’d had tea—though Jules hadn’t taken more than a sip or two of his before running home to Booksy. He poured coffee into their cups and placed the bear claws on a plate in the middle of the table.

“Thanks.” Jules was avoiding eye contact, and Nix cursed himself all over again. Why had he gone and kissed him? Jules was nothing like the guys he hooked up with in the night clubs or bars. He wasn’t like Kyle who had a phone book filled with booty-call contacts.

“What did you read last night?”

“Huh?” Jules’ eyes were wide and panicky.

“You had a glass of wine and read.”

“Oh, yes, this book about a wizard detective who accidentally calls a werewolf ghost to him.”

Nix blinked. “There are books with werewolf ghosts?”

“You can find anything you want.” Jules grinned, some of the panic ebbing away. “Which is why I keep asking you what you want to read.”

“I’m still reading the lumberjacks. I’m at the one with the Easter egg now.” It was the story Jules had dubbed boner worthy in the hashtags, and Nix had finally gotten through the two books in the series leading up to it.

“Oh.” Jules’ grin had a wicked edge to it, and heat shot through Nix, making his cock harden despite him trying to halt it. “So is lingerie a fetish you like?”

“Fetish?” Nix’s heart sped up. It was a fetish book? Jules read fetish books?

The chuckle had tingles dancing on Nix’s skin. “As far as kinks go, it’s innocent. But I read this medical fetish—”

“No!” Nix shuddered, which had Jules laughing.

“No? I’m not into it either, but the book was… interesting.”

Oh, God… Nix swallowed and reached for his coffee. “Do you read many… of those kinds of books?”

Jules’ grin was pure evil, and Nix didn’t know what to do. He was used to him being shy and uncertain, but books didn’t make him shy or uncertain. He knew books.

“Nah…” He chuckled. “I have phases. Right now, I’m reading a lot of werewolf books, don’t ask me why. Big growly men with an urge to mate apparently do it for me.”

Nix couldn’t breathe. He was a big, growly man, and he had an urge to tackle Jules to the floor and have his way with him… though it probably wasn’t what Jules envisioned.

“Werewolves, huh?”

“Yes.” Jules curled his fingers around his cup. “I have phases of vampires, aliens, and whatever else you can think of too. I feel an alien coming on. The last few days I’ve been scrolling sci-fi books.”

“I thought sci-fi was… boring space stuff.”

Jules wasn’t laughing, and yet Nix suspected he was laughing at him, not in a way to make him feel inferior, but he was having a laugh.

“Babe, I can get you anything you want.” Jules wiggled his eyebrows, and Nix burst out laughing. God, how he wanted to kiss him again.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm.” Jules nodded, a grin tugging at his mouth.

“Anything?”

“Name it, and I’ll find you a book.”

He wished he could. “I don’t know what I like.”

Jules cracked his knuckles. “Oh, the possibilities. I get to deprave you through books. It’s a dream come true.”

“Pervert.”

Jules laughed, a normal laugh with no wickedness. “Seriously, though. I’ll do my best to find anything you want. Do you want to try some sci-fi after you’ve read the lingerie kink?”

Lingerie kink? He was reading lingerie kink? His fingers itched to reach for his phone. He’d only bought the book and set it up, hadn’t listened to more than the first page. The main character had been into town and bought chocolate pralines for his boyfriend, but was eating them because he was nervous about something. Ah… now Nix understood why he was nervous.

“I read a story a while back with a human having a restaurant in space, and there he met a cat alien.”

“A cat alien?”

“The options are limitless, Nix.”

“I’m beginning to see that.”

Jules grabbed his phone, tapped on the screen a few times, and handed it over to Nix. The picture of his review showed a cat alien: a humanoid, muscled guy with a tail and whiskers. Under the picture, Nix read: #MMRomance #SciFi #AlienLove #OppositesAttract #DualPOV #ShortAndSweet #PurrForMeBabe #Soulmate

“Not boner worthy?” Nix glanced up from the phone.

“It’s pretty hot, some sexual tension, but they never hook up.”

“They don’t? They’re soulmates, but don’t get it on?”

Jules shrugged. “There are some bad guys getting in the way. They kiss.”

Nix frowned. “But no lovemaking.”

“No, but there’s ice cream.”

He smiled and shook his head. “You can’t compare ice cream to sex.”

“No?” Jules gave him a confused look. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m more of a chocolate guy myself, but you can’t fault a man for wanting his ice cream.”

Nix smiled and shook his head as he brought the cup to his lips again. Books—it wasn’t news, but he had to remember it: whenever he did something to make Jules want to run away, he’d ask about books.

#PictaBook in the JMS shop (20% off)

---

Jules Rose leads a quiet life working as a librarian. He’s happy to spend his spare time reading books and talking to his homicidal cat. What more could he wish for? But when his cozy Friday night is shattered by a friend request on his book community app, politeness gives him little choice but to accept. Jules doesn’t want to talk to anyone, but he can’t be rude. Besides, if he had to talk about something, books is the topic he’d pick.

Phoenix Ford is dyslexic and avoids everything that has to do with the written word, but when the colleague he’s trying to impress calls him stupid, he decides to convince the other man, he’s mistaken. All he needs is the right book to make him look smart, a perfect balance between intelligent and short. And who better to ask for help than a guy who loves books so much, he labeled one boner-worthy on a book app?

When Jules finds out Phoenix never has read a book from start to finish, he’s on a mission. He will find the right book, the book that will make Phoenix fall in love — with reading. Phoenix’s plan might have been to listen to the book Jules picked for him to impress his colleague, but that was before he got to know him. Talking about books is a sure way to Jules’ heart, but is it enough for him to agree to go on a date?