Today celebrates the first day of my new schedule. I finally bit the bullet, so to speak, and approached my employer about dropping back to a four-day work week. It seems I'm the sort who needs to ease into retirement instead of going cold turkey.
I'm very much looking forward to picking up the writing. Cleaning out my stepfather's house and preparing it to be sold has taken a lot of time but that's winding down. The spousal unit is seven weeks past the last surgery and just yesterday resumed driving. (Maybe today I can get him on the lawnmower!) Yes, it's time to ease back into writing.
To that end, I set a goal to run Highway Nights through an online editor. Grammarly found over four-hundred items for me to review. Four hundred. And this is after two editors at a now-defunct publisher "edited" it.
Most of the items found had to do with comma placement. Yes, the lowly comma can bring you down, but remember that sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn't. Case in point - "Let eat Grandpa" as opposed to "Let's eat, Grandpa." Grammarly also likes the Oxford comma and I added a few of those. Beyond the comma, the software found six or seven missed words (a, it, to, do, the), and only two misspelled words. Most annoying word - it flagged "diner" every time and suggested "dinner." So all-in-all, it wasn't too very bad an exercise. Strangely enough, it's more educational than working with a person, at least for me.
While uploading the updated manuscript, I discovered I'd never uploaded the new cover I made back in September. Have I mentioned I've been busy with caring for family??? Anyway, the newest cover and the book are now up, and I'm moving on to the next project as soon as I take a moment to enjoy my first Monday off to watch the sun come over the mountain from the vantage point of my newly screened-in patio. It's all about balance, isn't it?
KC
HIGHWAY
NIGHTS
Contemporary
gay romance/suspense
Garrett
Webb has a five-point plan for starting his own business. To keep it on track,
he takes a second job and settles into the evening delivery run between
Owensville and Mt. Franklin. The solitude of being on the road clears his head
and enables him to chart a better future for himself. When a foggy night sends
him to the safety of The Downshift Diner and its owner, Oliver Sanderson, that
future takes an unforeseen turn.
Oliver
Sanderson enjoys a quiet life along the lonely stretch of highway that’s home
to his diner. The road brings all manner of interesting souls to his door. When
Garrett Webb steps out of the fog seeking shelter, his openness and honesty
draw Oliver’s interest. He’s ready to take the next step but needs to be
cautious. Trouble is coming to the diner, and Oliver wants Garrett clear of
it.
Good
intentions can’t hold out against their budding attraction. Garrett makes the
diner a regular stop during his nightly run, and the men get better acquainted.
But Garrett’s past isn’t done with him. In a single heart-stopping moment,
Garrett is forced to a decision that risks Oliver’s life – one that could
forever end their highway nights.
EXCERPT:
Oliver
grinned and stopped in front of him.
“Happy
to see me?”
Garrett
glanced down. “As happy as you appear to be. Can a guy get a soda to go in this
joint?”
Oliver
shook his head. “I’ve better at the house. Let me tell Shirl and Billy not to
call me unless it’s an emergency.” He disappeared into the kitchen, and
sauntered back out in less than thirty seconds. Oliver motioned at the front
entrance. “Let’s go.”
Garrett
turned and held the door open for Oliver. “What constitutes an emergency?”
“Someone
is bleeding, choking, or keels over all the way to the floor.” He placed his
hand on the small of Garrett’s back and guided him around the corner of the
building.
Garrett
leaned closer to the warmth of Oliver’s body. “Not fire?”
“That’s
what the firemen are for. Call ‘em. Besides, I like firemen. Don’t you?”
“Sure.
Big, burly men turn me on.” Garrett stroked Oliver’s well-formed bicep. Oliver
laughed softly and backed Garrett against the rear wall of the diner, out of
sight from the clientele and staff.
“To
each, their own.”
Garrett
grasped Oliver’s hips and yanked him against him. He held him there and soaked
up the heat from Oliver’s body. The corner of his mouth quirked in a small
smile.
“So,
am I going to have to beg you to kiss me again?”
Oliver
ran his thumb over Garrett’s lower lip. He swallowed, the muscles in his throat
moving. “Garrett. Be sure you want this. Don’t lead me on then tell me to
stop.”
“I
came for this, Oliver.”
Something
dark and unsettled sparked in Oliver’s eyes. “Don’t get too attached to me,
either, boy.”
“I’m
horny. I want to fuck you, not marry you.”
Oliver
leaned in, his breath warm on Garrett’s moist lips. In the back of his mind,
Garrett registered surprise at Oliver’s reticence but he’d ponder it later. He
shifted forward and touched his lips to Oliver’s.
Need
burst through him, a siren song in his blood that built as Oliver’s tongue
licked into his in a bold stroke. The larger man pressed his body to the
sun-warmed bricks, pinning him, his pelvis grinding against Garrett’s in a mock
taking. Garrett thrust his tongue into the heat of Oliver’s mouth. Back and
forth they tested, well matched, as the world spun behind his closed eyes.
Suddenly breathless, Garrett tore his lips from Oliver’s. Oliver rested his
forehead to his, breathing hard.
“You
should go home, Garrett.”
“I
don’t think so. Why are you afraid of me?” He ran his fingers through Oliver’s
short hair.
Oliver
brushed a kiss to his lips. “I’m too old for someone in his twenties, Garrett.”
“I’m
going to surprise you. I’m thirty-two.” He laughed as the man’s eyebrows shot
up. “Told you I was older than I look.”
Oliver’s
eyes darkened. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am, but I still feel like a
dirty old pervert chasing chickens.” He levered off the wall, grabbed Garrett’s
hand, and pulled him along the flagstone path to the bungalow-style house.
Garrett
fell into step beside him and slipped their linked hands behind Oliver’s back.
There was one sure way he knew to find out Oliver’s age—give him a little dig.
“You
can’t be that old. What are you? Fifty?”
“Fifty!
No, smart-ass, I’m forty-four. Happy to know that?” Oliver eased his hand free
as they climbed the steps to the wide veranda. He pulled keys out of his pocket
and unlocked the front door. “I should spank you for that.”
Garrett
stepped into the foyer and patted his butt. “A spanking might be fun
sometime...”
HIGHWAY
NIGHTS
Available
at:
iTunes/Apple:
itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1107349490
Barnes
and Noble/NOOK: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/highway-nights-kc-kendricks/1109557517?ean=2940153170350
KC Kendricks
My home on the web- Between the Keys:
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