Ready...Set....GO! The 2014 A-Z Blog Challenge begins tomorrow!

March 31, 2014

I believe it's good to always have a plan. There's an old saying that the devil is in the details and it's often true. Details are difficult. So I like to have a plan, and above is mine for the 2014 A-Z Blog Challenge. Twenty-six blogs in twenty-six days. It's not for those scared of commitment. Check out the Survivor badges displayed on the left side of the blog. I earned those badges. No one just handed them to me.

Will I adhere to the 2014 plan? I guess you'll have to check back every day because the answer will only be found between the keys. 

KC Kendricks

website: http://www.kckendricks.com

That pesky headline news addiction meets Twitter at paper.li

March 30, 2014

I love to read the headlines. If it's weird and different (or NASCAR) it catches my attention. I wish I could break the habit, but I'd have to change the homepage my browser opens up to and you know what a hassle that is. 

Yeah, okay. You busted me. I really don't want to lose the addiction to the headlines. I might miss out on something really intellectual such as which actress/starlet went on talk television without her underwear. No, I did NOT read that article. I try to stay top shelf. Like this one about Jack Daniels whiskey. http://news.yahoo.com/jack-daniels-angers-rivals-over-tennessee-whiskey-rule-041037020.html

And then there are the cat and dogs stories. The big red S on my forehead is for sucker. I guess I get sucked in to reading about half of those stories. Add funny pet videos under this category for another time waster. 

Thanks to my buddy Brenda Williamson, I now have another outlet for feeding the beast. It's called paper.li . Paper.li is - okay I don't know what it REALLY is. It's a website that gathers articles from blogs and tweets from Twitter and creates a personalized "newspaper" just for you that you can share with the world. You set up your own paper and tell it what content to look for for you. Brenda created one and it was such fun to read I jumped on board, too. (It's likely tracking my every move, but I'm pretty harmless. Track away.) 

The KC Kendricks Media Daily. Two parts interesting stuff from around the Internet and one part promotional tool. I'm still learning the system and tweaking the search parameters - it's a work in progress, much like myself. If you follow me on Twitter, just watch the feed at http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks for the daily link. If you want to go check it out sooner, try paper.li/newsstand and then search for KC Kendricks.  You can actually subscribe if want. 

Is it going to make the headline news more fun? It might. My "paper" is more about romance and romance authors than anything else, so what's not to like about that? More romance is what we need in the world. 

KC

Mindfully doing

March 28, 2014

Is there ever a good time to be too busy? I wouldn't know. I'm always busy and to what degree hardly matters. Busy is busy in my world. I complete one task and another pops up on my list to take its place. I'm not whinging, mind you. I'd rather be busy than bored. But some days I need to step back, gather my wits, and figure out a new order for events my world. 

This morning was typical in that I arrived at work, settled at my desk with a cup of coffee, and opened my calendar. The A to Z Blogging Challenge is four days away - check. Moon Dances should be released April 5/6 - check. Sign up for My Sexy Saturday - um, no. There doesn't appear to be one this weekend. Bowling - check. Employer stuff - check, check, check, and check. Oil change - check. Price stone for driveway - check. Stop by the wine store - check. Coffee order - check. Yep, there's a lot on my list for today and what really needs to be there is a reminder to take a few deep breaths every morning. 

When I see my to-do list getting to this point I know it's time to prioritize a few things. Doing mind-lessly is very different from doing mind-fully and the latter is better. If I take on my tasks and do them mindfully, paying attention to what I'm actually doing, the result is more satisfying and my mental state more positive. Sound like psychiatric-speak? Perhaps, but I don't see it that way.

What I do know is if I pay attention to what I'm doing, even the more onerous tasks seem easier. I need to price stone for my long lane to repair the damage done this past winter. Calling the quarry is a pain in the ass because it's blatantly obvious quarry personnel as a whole don't like dealing with homeowners. I'll deal with them mindfully because the end result - a smooth surface on the lane - will be achieved more quickly than if I don't. And having a restored surface will make me happy every time I drive my Charger in and out the lane. So I'll take a deep breath and pick up the phone. 

But for the record, I won't need a deep breath before I stop at my local wine shack. I'll save that until I'm inside since they also now sell gourmet coffees. I expect to do quite a bit of mindful shopping when I get there this afternoon. After all, I'm buying moments to savor with the people I care about. I hope I'm never too busy for that. 

KC
http://www.kckendricks.com 


PS. That's not my calendar. I found a .jpg on the Internet after I screwed up taking a photo of mine. I wasn't mindful enough of the lighting.

7/5/14 PSS. Moon Dances is now available at http://www.amberquill.com/store/p/1943-Moon-Dances.aspx

Quiet Sunday Morning

March 23, 2014

Spring has arrived and I've learned something very important - I'm not as young as I used to be! Okay, I'm not that old, either, but yesterday drove home the fact this winter just past was hard in more ways than one. 

I'm blessed to have a beautiful little corner of the world to care for but with that blessing comes work. Yard work. Yesterday was the first day we could comfortably get outside and begin the season-long task of keeping our yard neat and tidy. It was time to pick up sticks. After, of course, I checked out the crocus. It's finally blooming. 

We were fortunate to make it through the winter without major tree damage. We had good rain last summer so I guess that the trees sucked up enough moisture and weren't quite as brittle as in years past. One large branch which had died several years ago did finally fall to ground, but other than that, we had only small stuff to gather and toss in the burn ring. My partner and I both enjoyed being out in the sun but wished for a less breezy day. We'll have to burn the brush pile some other day, preferably a drizzly one. 

The trouble hit this morning when I rolled out of bed. I'm stiff in places I've never been stiff before and this will not do. I've contemplated taking a basic yoga class and now may be the time. Or at the very least I should stream in a basic routine on my HDX tablet and stretch more. My work ethic won't suffer that much if I take time to stretch every day. And maybe it could stand to suffer since my work ethic is why I'm stiff this morning. Too much computer time and not enough me time. 

Thankfully, I've been moving around this morning and the muscle stiffness has worked out. My dear old dog is still limping a bit and I'll be more careful the next time we work in the yard that he doesn't follow us so closely. Winter has taken a toll on him, too. 

I'm into my second cup of coffee and the quiet of the house is fading. My partner is awake. I hear him groaning. I bet he's stiff, too. I should be kind and not mention to him he's getting older and I know how hard the yard work is on him. I should sympathize with him. I should do a lot of things but I'm not going to confess I was stiff and sore this morning. 

Truth is, it's too good of an opportunity to pass. As soon as he has his coffee and is safely ensconced in his recliner, I'm going to pounce and remind him he's not as young as he used to be. 

KC

Give Me One Night on the Seductive Studs & Sirens blog hop

March 22, 2014


I'm changing it up this week and visiting the Seductive Studs and Sirens weekly blog hop. No particular reason other than too much routine can be, well, too much. This week I have a short excerpt from Give Me One Night. 

Enjoy!

_*_*_*_

My quarry stood at the bar, sipping what appeared to be a soda. I stepped into the whirling yellow disco lights, planted my feet, squared my shoulders, put my hands on my hips, and waited for him to spot me. It didn’t take long.

He looked me up and down, a slow, lazy appraisal that focused my attention on his face. Then he smiled and lowered his eyelids with a slight nod of his head.

In that instant I knew something about him there are no flowery or romantic words for—only gut instinct. He wanted me to fuck him.

My body responded to the knowledge. Arousal snapped through me, sending shivers down my spine.

My nipples, sensitive as any girl’s, tingled to the point the fabric of my sweater rubbing against them became deliciously painful. My cock swelled to its full seven-and-three-quarter-inch glory in a single pounding heartbeat.

I’d fuck him until he was limp as a rag doll in less time than that if I could get my hands on him.

_*_*_*_

For a longer excerpt, please visit my website here.

Give Me One Night is now available at 
Amazon, iTunes/Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and other online booksellers. re.

KC Kendricks
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Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted - new this weekend!

**UPDATE**  Bored Stroked and Blueprinted is now on sale**

March 15, 2014






The My Sexy Saturday blog hop is doing double duty for me this weekend. Depending on what time you arrive here at Between the Keys, my latest book, Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted is about to go on sale or just did go on sale at Amber Allure. Yea!! 

My first car was a 1969 Camaro that we restored after it was stolen. When Amber Allure put out the call for a PAX based on the theme of our guys meeting in a garage, I tossed my wrench on top of the pile. And being a little motorhead from back in the day, what else could I title the story except Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted? 

Here are seven sexy paragraphs from my [about-to-be] new release. I hope you enjoy it. 
= = = = = =

He sighed. “I’m not a good risk, Mick. I might wake up tomorrow and decide Warren County is no longer my home.”

Who hadn’t thought of chucking it all and walking away? I had, many times. No one was immune to the lure of a fresh start free of the baggage of family, ex-lovers and mountains of mistakes. It was more difficult to stay put and re-invent oneself, and some people didn’t have the strength for it. Some had been beaten down too much by circumstances. I couldn’t say that to him for fear he’d realize I knew about him, and judged him, which I didn’t.

“So sell me the car today. I’ll pay cash.”

Very slowly, Logan turned his head and looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “Seriously? You really need to learn how to cruise a guy because, friend, you suck at it.”

“Who says I’m cruising you?”

“That hand sneaking up my thigh.”

I stopped and patted his leg. “I notice you didn’t tell me to quit.”

= = = = = =

To read an excerpt please visit my website here. There's also a picture of my 1969 Camaro there.

The buy link will be 
http://www.amberquill.com/store/p/1935-Bored-Stroked-And-Blueprinted.aspx 
so you'll have to check it to see if the book is "live."

= = = = = =

Want to visit all the participants of the My Sexy Saturday blog hop? Use the linky list below.

KC Kendricks
http://www.kckendricks.com
http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks  (see the feed on the side of the blog to follow)
http://www.facebook.com/kckendricks (see the badge on the side of the blog)

Open Roads for this My Sexy Saturday

March 8, 2014

Welcome to week #39 of My Sexy Saturday.

There's a line in a Joe Cocker song that goes something like "point me east and let me go." I'm sort of like that only east isn't a very good direction for a Marylander. West, south and north are far better. Head east from here and in a few hours you hit the surf and you're done.

Open Roads sprang into being when a couple of ideas blended together. The big questions to building the story were what would happen if you met the right person far from home? Would you stay? Would you walk away? Would you risk your heart for a handful of perfect days? I think the answers worked very well in Open Roads.

*_*_*_*

His gray gaze held my hazel one captive as I held out my hand to him. “Tyler Phillips, owner-operator.”

Strong fingers closed around mine, holding my hand a moment too long for politeness. “Noel Springs, stranded motorist.” Awareness arced between us, that recognition so many people call “gaydar.” I called it something else—lightning. Noel Springs was gay and he liked what he saw. He let go of my hand as I motioned at the ratty sofa that took up the east wall of the room. It was slated for replacement in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, but it was only June.

“Have a seat, Noel. While your engine cools, I need to finish up a job in the garage.”

“It might take a while for that to happen, Tyler.” He looked me up and down again, a slow, lazy perusal that made my heart beat a little faster. It also brought out my attitude.

I shifted my weight, a subtle movement that let my hips go forward. He noticed, so I tossed him a little tease at him. “Like what you see?”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Yeah. I do. It’s a shame, too, because home is nowhere near here.”

“The universe does enjoy playing its little games with people.” I smiled again, nodded, then walked away before I got stupid with him. A little flirtation was fine, but I didn’t trick with my customers.

_*_*_*_*_

Open Roads - book two in the Men of Marionville series
available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other online booksellers.

For links to other sellers, please visit http://www.kckendricks.com/OpenRoads.html

KC Kendricks
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