I was talking with my office buddies (Nell Iris and A.L. Lester) about 24 Dates and said it’s a miracle I manage to come up with twenty-four dates for the story since I’m the least romantic person in the world.

I had a list with date-suggestion I’d written and crossed them off as I went. I even had dates that never happened left. I said I couldn’t remember what they were since the list now was gone.  Nell told me I should’ve saved it, and I thought to myself yeah, I should have.

Then Christmas came and the pile of papers on my desk needed to if not get thrown away, then at least put in a nicer pile LOL. I ruffled through the papers, most of the sheets with something printed on one side, and me having scrawled down dates on the backside for when to post, pin, and schedule things.

And there it was! Wrinkly and with a folded corner and with hubby having written on it too and then crossed it out. It has name suggestions of characters for other stories, numbers added together than I can’t remember what they were for, and at the bottom it says:

The most fish
The biggest

Which, I guess, it’s for the date on the 12th of December.

So, Jian and Victor had twenty-four dates from December 1st to December 24th. What they didn’t have was:

• A museum date – When I wrote it down, I figured Jian would take Victor to a museum where they would see some cool things. Hubby and I went to Naturhistoriska in Gothenburg a few times when we lived on the west coast. There’s a whale hall that always has me in awe. That awe is mixed though, part of me think it’s so cool to get to see how big a blue whale really is, another part is outraged we’re making exhibitions out of dead animals.
• Concert – Jian and Victor go to Whiteport to watch a musical, so I skipped going to a concert because it felt like too much of a repeat. But I had it on the list of suggestions.
• Beach Walk – I figured they could go to the coast and stroll on the wintery beach. I miss beach walks. The sea in the wintertime is amazing. It’s amazing any time of the year, but that dark grey, raging sea crashing towards the deserted beach – it fills my soul with freedom. The wind tearing at your hair, the scent of salt in the air… *sigh* I want to go home.
• Coffee Date – They have a dessert-tasting date, so I figured going to a coffee house was a bit of a repeat. They don’t do much people watching, though, so maybe I should have included some date where they go out in public just the two of them.
• Scavenger Hunt – Let’s be honest. I was too lazy to include this one. A scavenger hunt could be a lot of fun, but I’d have to come up with the rules. Still, I could see Jian doing it for Victor LOL.
• Fake Tour Guide – I figured Jian could pretend to be a guide and show Victor around either a museum or if they went to a city where he could guide him up and down the streets talking about interesting historical facts that had happened.
• Sunset and Eggnog – Here I pictured them sitting out in the cold and watch the sun set while having eggnog, but since they have a rooftop stargazing date it felt a bit like a repeat.
• Drive-in Movie – The idea was that Jian should take help from his friends and set up a drive-in movie for Victor and him, but they’re up north, and winters are cold LOL
• Amusement Park – Normally, we go to Liseberg with the kids on Christmas. This year it’s closed, but it’s beautiful. There are lights everywhere, they have an ice skating show, Santa is there, and some years there’s been real reindeers.
• Poetry Night – The last thing on the list is poetry night. I painted a picture of a cosy pub where they held poetry readings, but I chickened out. Poetry isn’t my strong suit, I think it’s amazing, but to write a poetry night date I figured I’d have to write some poetry, and that won’t happen.

See, 24 Dates could’ve been 34 Dates…maybe LOL.

Of all the dates I wrote, my favourite (to write) was December 5th. I laughed. And it just so happens that Angel Martinez did a Friday Reading of that date over at her site, so hop on over there and listen to it!

When Victor Hill bought a house with his boyfriend, Jian Kouri it was a dream come true. But now, two years later, instead of living their happily ever after, they hardly see the other awake.

With Jian out the door before Victor gets up in the morning, and asleep on the couch nearly as soon as he walks in the door, the life Victor imagined couldn’t be further from reality. They don’t talk; they don’t touch, and Victor fears he and Jian have already drifted too far apart.

The holiday season is a time for hope, but when Victor comes home to find Jian with a plan to woo him for Christmas, is it too little, too late? The dates are great, and there are filled with Christmas fun to get Victor in the right spirit for the holiday, but are they enough for the two of them to fall in love again? Or is there just too much in their relationship that needs fixing?

books2read.com/24Dates

In the JMS shop