NaNoWriMo Winner

Winner-1500x500

Guess who won!!! I actually won yesterday, but I wanted to post about the Black Friday Sale then, and two blog posts in one day seemed a bit much.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done NaNo, and it isn’t the first time I’ve won NaNo, but it’s the first I haven’t freaked out about doing it.

I’ve never written as much as I have this year, and much of it is due to the pandemic, of course. I haven’t been working as much as I normally do which has given me more time.

But it’s also because of my morning office crew. Every morning when I’m not working, I put the alarm at 05:40 – I do when I work too – put on the coffee maker, fire up the computer, and meet up with my writing buddies. For three hours, we write. We have good mornings, and we have not so good morning, but the words add up.

NaNobujoI’m not saying I write 50k every month – I don’t, but I’ve written 52756 words in 22 days. I have 6 days with a 0-word count.

December will be an editing marathon, I’m afraid. That’s my least favourite part about writing – editing. And I almost feel sorry for my beta readers. In a few weeks, they’ll drown in stories again. I seem to create piles LOL

Black Friday Sale at JMS Books

Black Friday It’s Black Friday! I can’t believe we’re soon in December. I bet some of you think this has been the longest year ever, but for me, time flies.

But, whether you think time stands still of flies by, you might want something to read. Today and tomorrow, there’s a big sale over at JMS Books – 60% off on all ebooks, including pre-orders, and paperbacks are $8.

My books on sale are:

  • 2020 Top Ten Gay Romance (Turning Wood)
  • 24 Dates
  • Banger Challenge
  • Black Bird
  • Crazy Joe
  • Cup o’ Sugar
  • Elevator Pitch
  • Jaeger’s Lost and Found
  • Legendary Loves (Pine Tree Mary)
  • Nine Stones
  • Pine Tree Mary
  • Quinny, Focus!
  • Soul Eater
  • Turning Wood
  • When Skies Are Gray

You’ll find them all here. Christmas-Books-Black-Friday

Up North | 24 Dates

Christmas-Evergreen

It’s time for Christmas once again! I fear this year will be quite different from how it normally is, at least here. The government is already telling us not to make any big Christmas plans, and that there likely will be travel bans.

I guess we’ll have to stay at home and read instead.

Today, I thought I’d do a little introduction of the characters – Victor and Jian – in 24 Dates. Filling out the character cards I’ve done for all the Up North characters, I realised I haven’t said how old they are.

Victor thinks one of his colleagues is a few years older than him, around forty. So I guess Victor and Jian are around thirty-five LOL

Unlike the other Up North stories, we’re starting with an established couple. Victor and Jian have been together for years. Two years ago, they bought a house and moved to Northfield, but it made Jian’s commute longer. He leaves early in the morning and isn’t home until late in the evening, and they hardly see each other awake anymore.

Something has to change.

While Victor mostly walks around and feels sorry for himself, Jian sets out to save their relationship, and he does so by planning 24 dates, starting on December 1st and going all the way up till the 24th.

Now, what qualifies as a date? The opinions about that might differ.

Jian-Kouri Victor-Hilll


24datesWhen 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?

Pre-order in the JMS shop (20% off)

books2read.com/24Dates