Monday, July 26, 2021

July Heat - now available!

 

July 26, 2021

July Heat is now available! It's finally uploaded to Amazon and ready to go! I'm very pleased to have this one finished and "out the door," although I was sad to say 'see ya later' to the characters. The best thing about creating a fictional community is going back and visiting with previous characters, bringing them forward into new stories with a mix of old and new friends. It's a good bet Drew and Morgan, Mick and Logan, and Memphis and Jake will pop up again when I revisit Centerville. But first I'm heading west to the Bar RC Ranch to visit Regan and Wythe.

Until then, here's a bit about July Heat.

Enjoy!

KC

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

July Heat
Book 3 in the Centerville Muscle series

Drew Bernard’s life was shattered in a single, breathless moment. His one action made reconciliation with his family impossible. He can’t change it, but he’s determined to move his life forward and not be defined by a single, horrific moment. When a friend reaches out to him with the offer of a place to stay and a temporary job, Drew makes the move to Centerville.

Morgan Osborne made choices for the benefit of his son, but now the child is a grown man and determined to sever all ties with him – except for the monetary ones. When an unsuspecting Drew witnesses a particularly heated exchange, Morgan makes his apologies and ends up asking Drew to go out with him. 

Drew is drawn to Morgan, but he’s afraid to trust his heart. His vision of his new life never included someone like Morgan, someone who would need to know the truth. 

EXCERPT:

All clean and shiny, I hoped to snap a quick nap before my dinner date. I expected a call or text from Morgan to let me know what time he’d pick me up. I didn’t anticipate a knock on the door. I pulled on a pair of faded blue jean shorts and opened the front door to find Morgan standing there.

He looked me over, his gaze going up and down and back up again. He finally looked me in the eye. “Wow. You have the nicest…eyes.”

I laughed in spite of myself. “It wasn’t my baby blues you were looking at, Osborne. I know what you’re really interested in.”

“Can’t get much by you. Hey. Your eyes are brown.” He narrowed his eyes and gave me a fake glare. “Okay. I get the joke. I, um, was driving by…on my way home… and I saw your car. Is six too early for tonight?”

“How’d you know it was my car?”

He grinned and flicked his thumb over his shoulder toward the driveway. “Pfft. Mick Ambrose wouldn’t own something like that, that’s how. And it has a Virginia license plate.”

I laughed. “Fair enough. So where are we going tonight?”

“There’s this little authentic Greek place over in Easton I like. It’s very casual, but the atmosphere is great, and the food is even better.”

“Cool. I’d invite you in--”

“No. No, I don’t want to put you on the spot like that.”

We stared at each other for a moment, but neither of us spoke. Whatever Logan thought about the man it was obvious Morgan knew and wouldn’t cross some imaginary line. The problem was I didn’t want Morgan to drive away now that he was here.

I rolled the dice. “We could start the evening early.”

I swear the man’s ears pricked up like a collie. “I’ll just wait in the truck while you get dressed.”

With that, he was down the steps, nimble as a mountain goat and twice as fast. I scratched my chin. I’d wanted to trim the beard but that might take too long.

It was a good thing I’d already decided what to wear. I dressed in record time and slowed down long enough to quickly run the trimmer over my face. In less than ten minutes I’d made myself presentable, sent Logan a text, and was out the door and into Morgan’s pickup, the one with Osborne Mechanical, Inc. emblazoned in big gold letters on the doors. 

I fastened the seat belt. “What’s first on our list?”

“Did you have lunch?”

“Yep, and even if I didn’t, it’s too close to our dinner time to eat. Or are you trying to fatten me up for some nefarious purpose?”

He slowed for a stop sign, made a right turn, and accelerated. “My purposes are all legal and above board. Our first stop is at my place so I can freshen up. I didn’t expect you’d suggest we spend the afternoon together.”

I shivered as a sudden vision of us naked on a bed and bathed in sunlight flashed through my mind. It had been a long time since I entertained thoughts of having sex again.

“What’s wrong, brown eyes? You already regretting coming out to play?”

“Not at all.” I glanced at the large brick and stone houses, set well back from the street behind mature oaks and maples. “Swanky neighborhood.”

“It used to be, back in my grandparent’s day. Now it’s gone middle-class.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Not at all. That was a poor choice of words. I guess it would be more politically correct to say we now have a lot of diversity on the street, but still good families.”

I glanced sideways at him. I suspected he’d come of age in a time when words were just words and not considered a social judgment.

“Good families with money?”

“Well, Drew, here’s the thing. The local historical society has its talons deep into this little enclave, so yeah. You have to have some money to abide by their dictates as to what you can do with the property you own.”

He turned left and we passed through a set of wrought iron gates flanked by simple square fieldstone pillars. A mortared fieldstone fence, about six feet in height, was built along an east-west line and I suspected the wall surrounded the entire property. The paved driveway curved gently to the left and the massive stone house came into view.

The center section of the house was two stories tall and flanked by wings on either side. I guessed it was built in the nineteenth century and had been added to over the years. I must have been thinking loudly.

“My great-great-grandfather built this place in the mid-eighteen-sixties. It’ll be Jason’s someday, not that he’ll appreciate the history of the place or his family.”

“Is having someone to pass this legacy on to why you married and had Jason?” Fuck. I put my hand on his knee. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate of me.”

Morgan didn’t respond as he pulled the truck in behind the house and backed it into a spot with practiced ease. I started to panic that I’d offended him. My question bordered on why he’d tried to deny being gay, and the whys of it weren’t any of my business. I was on the verge of apologizing when he patted my hand.

“It’s okay. The answer to that is yes.”

It hadn’t been that simple and I knew it. 

_*_*_*_*_*_*_

July Heat
Book 3 in the Centerville Muscle series
 
Available at
iTunes/Apple - https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1577295214
Rakuten/Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/july-heat-1
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/july-heat-kc-kendricks/1139875152
 
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B65X52H
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B65X52H
Amazon CA - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09B65X52H
Amazon AU - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09B65X52H
 
Universal link to all sellers
other than Amazon - https://books2read.com/u/mvoKK6




Sunday, July 25, 2021

July Heat - the promo card is done!

July 25, 2021

The path to getting a book published is never linear, at least not for me. Maybe a photograph will inspire me to a new story. Maybe it'll be the notion of the writer that a sequel to a story would be fun. 

What comes first, the story or the cover? 

It's never good for me to say it's this way or it's that way. I never know. The July Heat cover idea came in the middle of writing the story. Creating it took to about three-quarters of the way through the story. And now the little promo cards I like to do took until yesterday, after July Heat has been uploaded to a few vendors, something I need to check on. Once the smaller vendors are live, I need to upload it at Amazon. It'll all come together. 

That's what I say about the promo cards - it'll come together. (Read that "I'll get a good idea one of these days.") And so I did and now it's done. Now here's a bit of promo.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_


ABOUT JULY HEAT

Drew Bernard’s life was shattered in a single, breathless moment. His one action made reconciliation with his family impossible. He can’t change it, but he’s determined to move his life forward and not be defined by a single, horrific moment. When a friend reaches out to him with the offer of a place to stay and a temporary job, Drew makes the move to Centerville.

Morgan Osborne made choices for the benefit of his son, but now the child is a grown man and determined to sever all ties with him – except for the monetary ones. When an unsuspecting Drew witnesses a particularly heated exchange, Morgan makes his apologies and ends up asking Drew to go out with him. 

Drew is drawn to Morgan, but he’s afraid to trust his heart. His vision of his new life never included someone like Morgan, someone who would need to know the truth. 

 _*_*_*_*_*_*_

 KC Kendricks

Social media links:
Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com
My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com
Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: KC Kendricks Between the Keys


Saturday, July 24, 2021

A new BTK record is set!

July 24, 2021


Yesterday, a new record was set here at Between the Keys - 1072 views in one day. WOW! My thanks to everyone who stopped by!

I could have missed this. Checking the stats isn't something I do on a regular basis. Yes, I've blogged about the stats before, just as a curiosity, but I think it's important to remember that the stats don't tell the whole story. 

While I'm delighted that so many found their way here, and hopefully read a few posts, I know that doesn't translate to book sales. I've been in this game too long to believe that and I do, in fact, know better. Blogging at Between the Keys is fifty percent book related and fifty percent whatever the hell I'm in the mood for. And this morning I thought I'd share that BTK got a lot of views yesterday. 

Interesting, at least to me. 

KC Kendricks

Monday, July 19, 2021

And now for some updating - the Men of Marionville

July 19, 2021

It's often said that change is the only thing you can be sure of (outside of death and taxes). That's very true. Change is inevitable - but why? I think a lot of it has to do with the way we keep learning and improving our knowledge and skill set. 

Change can also be daunting. With the Men of Marionville series, or as I prefer to call it a collection, the first books in the series contained out-of-date series information. The bonus reads didn't stretch to Twice Removed From Yesterday and the author bio needed updating in the worst sort of way. 

I settled down to make the updates after a read-thru of July Heat. I needed to let that story "settle" before I selected an excerpt, made a promo sheet, and started the uploading process. 

This afternoon I went ahead and loaded July Heat, but I don't have approvals and links. I should be able to start announcing them tomorrow.

Getting the Men of Marionville books updated took longer than I thought. Had I been able to go through the books without interruption, yes, I would have the job completed. Life happens, or so they say. Some days it's happening to someone else and it becomes necessary to be a nosey neighbor and watch your cousin WORK in the neighbor's yard. (Seeing IS believing!) 

 I'm three-quarters of the way through my self-appointed task. I'll get it finished either tonight or tomorrow morning. It's always good when you don't have to rush. 

Will Amazon notify Kindle owners the books have been updated? Your guess is as good as mine. 

With July Heat finished, I need to decide on my next project and I have no idea which way I want to go. I've long wanted to write another story set at the Bar RC Ranch, so perhaps it's time to see if I can flesh out a story outline and a couple of character bios. I enjoyed writing Ride Your Luck and the modern-day cowboy. I'll leave the true Wild West to someone else. 

And that's the way it is, July 19, 2021.

Have a good one! 

 *_*_*_*_*_*_

 KC Kendricks

My home on the web- Between the Keys: 
Visit my bookshelf at: 

Social media links:
Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com
My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com
Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: KC Kendricks Between the Keys



Saturday, July 17, 2021

The paradox of time (I need a clone)

It seems like the older I get the more I want to accomplish - and the less time I have to devote to new challenges. I don't think I'm unique in that. Time, and the passing of time, is more on my mind these days. My life is pretty full and it's difficult to fit everything in. I continually remind myself that personal relationships should never suffer because I want to spend all my time holed up in my comfortable office doing writer stuff. Case in point - an hour and fifteen-minute phone conversation with one of the cousins this past week. What earth-shattering event kept us yakking for that long? Food, gardening, tree-trimmers, and retirement. 

Have I mentioned here at Between the Keys that I tried to retire and it didn't go as planned? I know I did over at Holly Tree Manor, but I'll share a bit more with you. 

It was one of the strangest conversations I've ever had. I put in my letter of resignation effective July 31, 2021. My contract states I need to give four weeks notice, so I gave them five. That had more to do with the way the calendar dates fall this year and some other people's scheduled vacations than trying to be an overachiever. 

Retiring is generally cut and dried. You hand in your notice, work out the days, and off you go to your "new" life full of extra hours to do the things you want to do. (Did you hear the heavy sigh I just made?) The upper echelons flocked to my office, full of the belief they'd done something horribly wrong to me that made me want to leave. Nooooo. I wanted - still want - to retire so I can do all the happy little things I enjoy. 

They did not like this. They threw the world at me - anything I wanted if I would just stay. They know they can't replace twenty-one years worth of my experiences. Sure, another person can learn my job and do it well, but some knowledge can't be transferred. I understand their panic. 

The upshot is I'm now free to work at home as much as I want. I only need to go to the office when I need to pick up paperwork and/or use the copier to print statements, etc. I retained full benefits. I cautioned them I do have a Final Date that I won't back off from. 

I agreed to this even though it's not my Plan A. Or even Plan B through about Plan Y. I'm already regretting agreeing to it. It's the paradox of time. My time. Time to do all the little things that make me happy. But now I can do some of those things. I'm attempting to adjust my thinking to where these next months will be an easing into retirement. 

Even with having a lot of extra time at home, I need a clone. I suffer from the same "problem" everyone else does. No matter what I'm doing, I can think of a dozen other things I'd like to be doing. Right now I'm blogging but maybe I should be doing the final read-through of July Heat. It's time to load it onto a Kindle and look at it on a device. I can't do both things at once without a clone to do my bidding. 

Time isn't fluid. It's linear and it changes course for no one. We talk about managing our time but the truth is Time manages us. We make our decisions based on Time's unwavering flow. Slow, lazy afternoons are a trick of the mind as much as the busy mornings that pass in the blink of an eye. It's our perspective that makes Time paradoxical. 

I still want a clone. 


 _*_*_*_*_*_*_

 KC Kendricks

Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com
My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com
Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

Social media links:


Sunday, July 11, 2021

July Heat - finishing up

July 11, 2021

THE END

Those are great words to type, and I was able to do that yesterday evening. Finishing a manuscript might not be everyone's idea of a hot Saturday night, but writers are a different breed. We think nothing of leaving our spousal unit to fend for themselves, eating warmed-up pizza alone with only the television and YouTube for companionship. When it's time to wind up the story, then it's time. We must obey the muse, and so it was last evening. 

I don't think Himself minded being able to watch tractor, firearms, farming, woodcutting, and tool videos without having to endure sitting through gardening, canning, and homesteading videos (my choices). Sometimes being in our own spaces works best here on the manor

July Heat is my seventy-seventh book. I'm including the Rayne Forrest books in that count, and a handful of those are out of print. I wonder if I can make it to one-hundred? It's taken over twenty years to get this far, but it remains doable. I used to fear I'd run out of ideas, not time. The world does move without us and it's up to us to keep up. 

Back in the midst of the e-publishing boom, having typed THE END my work would be over. I'd send the completed manuscript to my editor and the completed information forms to the cover artist. Then I'd wait until my book came up in the rotation. Being blessed that my books have always been popular, I never had to wait long. These days, being independent, the process takes a while longer. I need to create the cover, edit, edit some more, add the front and end material, and upload the complete book to the various sellers. There are still some e-publishers out there, hanging on, but Amazon has effectively killed that model. The lack of competition is not a good thing. 

As I built the ending of July Heat, I went back to the beginning and re-read the story. This was my first editing pass where I look mostly for continuity and the glaring typos. I also took the time to run what I had through Grammarly, which not perfect, does catch all the little pesky comma ommissions. I don't really get commas. Never have and probably never will. 

Now that THE END has come, I'll go back and do a complete re-read looking for the same things - continuity and typos. After that, I go old school and print it out. For some reason, I find reading a printed copy away from the computer is helpful. 

I'm excited that July Heat will be released in the month of July. That was the plan and it seems like forever since the plan, any plan in my life, has worked as planned. (My old editor would scream about the same word being used four times in a sentence but today I'll give myself a pass on it.)

So! Coming soon! July Heat by KC Kendricks

*_*_*_*_*_*

Drew Bernard’s life was shattered in a single, breathless moment. His one action made reconciliation with his family impossible. He can’t put it behind him, not really, but he’s determined to move his life forward. When a friend reaches out to him with the offer of a place to stay and a temporary job, Drew makes the move to Centerville. 

Morgan Osborne made choices for the benefit of his son, but now the child is a grown man and determined to sever all ties with him – except for the monetary ones. When an unsuspecting Drew witnesses a particularly heated exchange, Morgan makes his apologies and ends up asking Drew to go out with him.  

Drew is drawn to Morgan, but he’s afraid to trust his heart. His vision of his new life never included someone like Morgan, someone who would need to know the truth. 

_*_*_*_*_

 KC Kendricks

My home on the web- Between the Keys: 
Visit my bookshelf at: 

Social media links:

Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com

My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com