De-blog

I'm posting as part of  Rainbow Snippets , which is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation. At the tail end of December, I said I'd try to post more regularly to Rainbow Snippets, but then a spider chomped me, and there was just so much life happening. So, more realistically, I'm going to aim to get in at least one post a month. * * * * * Last time, I posted from  To Be Sure , which is a novella from the Hiding Behind The Couch series. I'm not posting from it today, because I have a (kind of) new release available (on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited) that incorporates  To Be Sure  and Red Hot Christmas — the novella I'm snipping from. I'll come back to that after the snippet, because the context for my choice is actually a conversation on a thread on the Rainbow Snippets page, where I mentioned that Andy (from the

I haven’t posted a Rainbow Snippet in such a long time, but I’m going to do my best to change that in the coming year and get back to posting regularly. About Rainbow Snippets Rainbow Snippets  is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!). In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag. Today’s Rainbow Snippet I’m posting from  To Be Sure , which is contemporary LGBT+ fiction with romantic elements, featuring two older women (aged 70+): Saorla Tierney, a bisexual woman from Derry, The North of Ireland, and her l

I haven’t posted to  Rainbow Snippets  in such a long time—busy life, in short—but I decided to join in today to celebrate Trans Awareness Week. I’ll be honest: there are very few trans characters in my stories, and for no good reason, but I’ve become aware of it over the past couple of years, and I’m working on changing that. :) Anyway, here’s a snippet from The Making of Us featuring Jazz—one of the officers of (MC) Jesse’s university’s LGBT+ society. * * * * * Most of the members identified as gay or lesbian; there were a couple of trans students—Jazz being the only one I knew well, because we’d been at Weight Watchers together the previous year. I’d lost six kilos, and I was pretty sure I’d put them all back on again in a matter of weeks. Jazz had lost around twenty kilos and kept the weight off, and she looked amazing. Well, she’d looked amazing before, but now, she was more confident and less self-conscious, and she got to wear clothes that accentuated her curves. Toni

Another Snippet from No Filter - a  Checking Him Out / Hiding Behind The Couch crossover (the first being Hiding Out ), featuring Matty (CHO) and Libby (HBTC). Brief background: Libby and Matty first met in  Hiding Out , when Libby was fifteen and Matty was an undergrad dance student. No Filter   is a year later; it’s a very early work in progress, and it’s a friendship story, not a romance. This snippet is from Matty’s point of view. Noah is Matty’s SO. “Pew.” “Huh?” “Pew, pew!” Noah peered over the top of my phone and held up his apple. “Want me to put it on top of my head?” I grinned. “Yeah. I can boomerang it.” I turned the banana side on and got ready to launch. “Maybe not.” Taking a huge bite out of the apple, Noah went back to reading off my phone. * * * * * Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommen

Snippet #2 from No Filter - another Checking Him Out / Hiding Behind The Couch crossover (the first being Hiding Out ), featuring Matty (CHO) and Libby (HBTC). I should say deliberate  cross-over, as today, I realised I’d accidentally (or maybe not?) put characters from both series in exactly the same place at the same time—even though they live 250 miles apart—although they don’t interact. I wonder if they even noticed each other? Hmm. (For those who are curious, it was in  The WAG and The Scoundrel and The Making Of Us ) Brief background: Libby and Matty first met in  Hiding Out , when Libby was fifteen and Matty was an undergrad dance student. No Filter   is a year later; it’s a very early work in progress, and it’s a friendship story, not a romance. Now I’ve figured out where it fits in the timeline of both series, I sort of know what I’m doing. Possibly. This snippet is from Matty’s point of view. Noah is Matty’s SO. “Did you want me?” A banana appeared right in f

Brief explanation: I’ve switched back to snipping from The Making Of Us for a couple of weeks, as the book is out on Tuesday June 20th. :) Preorder Links: Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] You can read previous snippets  here . The Making Of Us  is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. ‘Sarah’ (referred to in this snippet) is the uni LGBT+ society president. I’ve edited to keep it free of major spoilers. Here’s the snippet: “That’s what I meant before,” Leigh said. “You’re not what Sarah thinks queer looks like.” “That’s ridiculous.” I meant Sarah’s attitude, not what Leigh was saying, because now they’d spelled it out for me, I could see for myself. “I’m too introverted for this,” I joked. Kind of joked. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life sharing personal information with strangers who didn’t need to know. “Yep.” Leigh turned in their seat

Brief explanation: I’m switching back to snipping from The Making Of Us for a couple of weeks, as the book is out on June 20th. :) Preorder Links: Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] You can read previous snippets  here . The cover’s also changed slightly since I last snipped. The Making Of Us  is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. In this scene, Jesse is sitting with Leigh on Leigh’s bed, and they’re having a deep conversation about Leigh’s family. Jesse’s ‘dream come true’ is in this snippet, which I posted a while back . Here’s the snippet: “My feet probably stink. Sorry.” I leaned down and sniffed the one closest to me. “They don’t,” I assured them, as what I’d dreamed of—was it only three weeks ago?—became reality without me really thinking about what I was doing. “That feels nice.” Leigh sighed and smiled, looking a bit dopey. “You realise i

I’m not supposed to be writing this, but some characters are very chatty! In fact, I wasn’t supposed to be writing (or working) at all today, but, erm, I already made a cover. :D So, here it is: snippet #1 from No Filter - another Checking Him Out / Hiding Behind The Couch crossover (the first being Hiding Out ), featuring Matty (CHO) and Libby (HBTC). Brief background: Libby and Matty first met in  Hiding Out , when Libby was fifteen and Matty was an undergrad dance student. No Filter   is a year later, and it’s a friendship story, not a romance. Now I’ve got to figure out where in the timeline of both series this falls… This snippet is from Matty’s point of view. I couldn’t believe I’d left it so long to get in touch, but we all do it—say stuff like ‘don’t be a stranger’ and make all these promises to write or call. But time flies by, and before you know it, it’s been too long, and you think ‘I must email whoever later’ and then forget about it again. Or that’s what

Brief explanation: The Making Of Us  is available to preorder! It’s currently with my editor. :) Preorder Links: Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] You can read previous snippets others here . The Making Of Us  is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us  is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. Here’s the snippet: I wasn’t in the least surprised—if they hadn’t moved first, I would have—when Leigh cupped the back of my neck and pulled me down into a long, deep kiss that rapidly reached fever heat. The soft stretchy fabric of their top bunched beneath my palms as I smoothed their back, my fingertip

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. I haven’t posted for a few weeks—been busy writing! :) I’m a couple of chapters and an epilogue from finished! Woot! But I’m a bit sad about that, too. I’m going to miss Jesse and Leigh when I’m done. Here’s the snippet: I stopped outside Leigh’s bedroom door and felt my stomach flutter at the sight. They hadn’t seen me, busy loosening off the laces in their Doc Martens. “Hey,” I said. Leigh paused and acknowledged me with a smile. “Hey.” Kicking off their boots, they beckoned for me to come in. “How are you tod

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. I wasn’t going to post this week, but I just reached 50k, so here are the six lines that took me across the threshold! Here’s the snippet: “If you don’t want to, that’s OK,” Leigh assured me doubtfully. “We could leave it for a bit, until we’re—” “I do.” I looked up and held Leigh’s gaze—until they broke it with an eye roll. “I wasn’t proposing!” they said. What could I do but kiss that cheeky grin? * * * * * Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. I was a bit stumped for a snippet today, and in the end I went with 12 short paragraphs (rather than 6 sentences—a double rainbow? ;) ). Jesse and Leigh are at the ‘tell our friends’ stage. Here’s the snippet: We were still holding hands when Matty arrived twenty minutes later and stopped a few feet away, his mouth and eyes wide open in a ‘Matty shock-horror’ face. He pointed at our joined hands. “Wh-whe-when did this happen?” I turned to Leigh. “I thought you’d told him.” “Nope. I was waiting for you.” “Really?”

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. In the snippet below, it’s the morning after Jesse and Leigh’s ‘date’, and Jesse’s reflecting on his sleepless night. The poetry relates to his university coursework. Here’s the snippet: I had too much Larkin in there, but in our seminars, we’d been exploring ‘irony and understatement’, which was surely just being ‘British’—something Philip Larkin did particularly well. I preferred Roger McGough’s dry sarcasm, largely because when I read his poems, I heard them in the voice of the narrator of Thomas and Friends , which

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. In the snippet below, Leigh has taken Jesse to see a friend perform at an open-mic night. Sorry it’s eight sentences, not six. :( It needed the last paragraph for a sense of context. Here’s the snippet: Once I was settled in the corner, Leigh slid—more scooted—along the seat, and I got a waft of that citrusy smell again. I switched to breathing through my nose, getting high on the mix of that smell, the dizziness of slightly hyperventilating and Leigh being just a few inches away. They giggled, and I shrugged to ask why

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. Here’s the snippet: When I thought back to the first time I saw Leigh and felt the tug of attraction—OK, full-on crush—and Matty told me Leigh wasn’t a girl, I did have to consider what that meant, but not because I’d thought Leigh was a girl. All I knew then was what I knew now; I was head over heels, and Leigh being queer—the word they said fitted them best—was irrelevant to that feeling, other than pushing me to reconsider who I was myself. Well, I was the same old Jesse Thomas I’d always been. I was male. I’d never

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. Here’s the snippet: I liked piercings. They were fun, and if I’d been slimmer, or less bothered about not being slimmer, I’d have probably got my eyebrow pierced, although…maybe it would draw attention away from the rest of me. I couldn’t recall if Leigh had piercings when I first met them. I was kind of overwhelmed, and everything had gone a bit hazy and soft focus. Whether Leigh had them or not, I’d still feel the same, but the nose stud was definitely recent. Would the one on their lip make kissing more difficult? * * * * * Rainbow Snippets

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . Progress is slow, but I'm making some, at least. The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse (Noah’s best friend) and Leigh (Noah and Matty’s new housemate). The story is first-person, from Jesse’s perspective. Here’s the snippet: All through school, people had told me I was a good friend. By ‘people’, I mean ‘girls’, and by ‘good friend’, they meant ‘not boyfriend material’. I didn’t really mind that much. The number of mates I had who hit on girls just because they could, it made me feel a bit sleazy on their behalf. They liked the girl, sure, and I don’t think—I hope they didn’t—force themselves on anyone, but they’d go too far, too quickly and without getting to know each other. I don’t know, maybe spending my teens perpetually ‘in the friend

Brief explanation: I finished writing Reunions on Wednesday. Phew! It finished up at 237,000 words, and you can read the final snippet (posted on WIPpet Wednesday ) here: http://deb248211.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/wippet-wednesday-reunions-josh-and-sean.html . Reunions is available to preorder and will be published on 19th April, 2017. So…this is the very first snippet from The Making Of Us ! This is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse (Noah’s best friend) and Leigh (Noah and Matty’s new housemate). So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Jesse. :) Here’s the snippet: Some days, I wake up thinking… so what? I’m a fatty. Get over it. I put on my Big and Tall jeans—impossibly enormous, with an invisible diamond section in the crotch so they don’t split—and stride out with pride, shoulders back, ready to take

Brief explanation: This is another snippet from Reunions (Hiding Behind The Couch Season Seven), which is currently a little under 230k, and I’m on the home straight! Woot! I decided to go with six short paragraphs rather than six sentences, because I’d have had to make it seven sentences, and I felt the number was more important (the colours of the Pride flag) than the briefness of the snippet. In this snippet, George is meeting Gabby—an art therapist and fellow student of Josh’s from their undergraduate days—for the first time, with a view to commencing art therapy to treat his dissociative attacks. Josh has just offered to make drinks in order to give George and Gabby time to chat. Zara Lederman (mentioned in the snippet) is a psychotherapist/art therapist who lives and works in George and Josh’s local town, and she rubs George up the wrong way, so he’s come to this introductory meeting with some reluctance. Here’s the snippet: “Be right back.” George followed Josh’s

Brief explanation: This is another snippet from Reunions (Hiding Behind The Couch Season Seven), which is currently a little under 220k. I have no defence; I write long stories. I was only writing a novella. ;) This snippet is another scene with George and Josh, or, at least, it should be. They are having lunch at a restaurant with Vincent, a local jeweller, and Josh is in the toilet/restroom. Thus, this conversation is between George and Vincent. This may give some insight into Josh’s odd behaviour in last week’s Rainbow Snippet . Or not. Here’s the snippet: George trained his eyes on the toilet door. “Why d’you think he helped you find your father?” “Because we are friends. Why else?” “That’s not how Josh sees it. Although he doesn’t see it for what it really is, either.” “I am not sure I understand.” “You have feelings for him.” George slowly turned back, once again fixing his gaze on Vincent, who looked like he’d been slapped in the face. “My soufflé has collaps