Saturday

Saturday Snark

Marie Sexton, here, puts up little snarky excerpts from her writing each Saturday and a blog hop ensues. For my first time participating I http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhave an excerpt from Men's Shirts, Short Skirts. Enjoy and then check out all the other snark by going to Marie's site and following the lovely links.

He looked me in the eye and kept looking. Holy smokes he is sexy. I sighed and my mouth took that as permission to open and dump words on his head.

“I am so sorry. I didn‘t know he was your dad or that you weren‘t out to him. Your brother should have said something. Not that that‘s an adequate defense for being a complete idiot, but he should have said something.” I shook my head. “No, it‘s my fault.”

Roger stood up from his desk and stepped in front of me. “Dad said that you taught the team the line dance.”

I blinked. “Yeah, I did.”

“I love to line dance.”

“Great for you! What the fuck about your dad?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I smacked the side of my head and groaned.

He laughed and I realized two things: one, he had a sexy laugh, musical and unrestrained. I love men who can laugh. Two, I realized it was the first time I‘d ever heard him laugh. I wanted to make him laugh again.

“Can I just say that brother of yours has two left feet? We worked two hours just on the chorus steps. Two. I kept saying left, and he would step all over the chick next to him.”

He laughed and took another step toward me.

“Sure the man can sing, but with moves like this….” I did a snazzy two-step tap with flaying arms.

“No way was he that bad.”

“Was.”

Read more about Nate and Roger in the Higher Learning anthology.

Tuesday

Literary Nymphs Chat 3pm Eastern

From Pam of Literary Nymphs "Please join Literary Nymphs, on October 18 from 3:00 to 10:00 pm Eastern time, as we welcome the authors of Dreamspinner Press' latest anthology Higher Learning so they can talk about their stories. Authors attending are: M. Lee, J.J. Levesque, Dar Mavison, Jamie Lowe, Amberly Smith, Cooper West, G.P. Keith, Dawn Kimberly Johnson, Ellen Holiday, Leora Stark, Ellee Hill, Claire Russett, Jeanette Grey and Eve Ocotillo. Looking forward to
seeing all of you there!"

I'll be posting on my breaks at work and chats are always a lot of fun.

Monday

Literary Nymphs Chat

Ten of the authors from the Higher Learning anthology will be chatting over at the Literary Nymphs Yahoo Group. October 18th, tomorrow, from 3 to 10 pm.

Join now and enjoy all the excerpts, chatty goodness and your chance to win a free copy of the anthology.

Hope to see you there.

Release Day

The college anthology Higher Learning is coming out today October 17! I can't wait to read everyone else's stories.

Leora Stark's Second Beginnings is about a history professors second chance at love. Check out her website for more info.

Ellen Holiday is leading us off with Rainy Days and Star Charts about college freshman finding love while star-gazing. She actively blogs here.

Cooper West's first hand knowledge of graduate school must come into play for his story Accismus. Check out him and his other books here.

Dawn Kimberly Johnson, possibly our most prolific of the anthology, recently clued me into Husbands. Her story is Surprise Me with a professor and campus security guard trying to survive a campus shooting.

Get a chance to check out excerpts, chat with the authors and win free stuff on tomorrow Tuesday, October 18th from 3 to 10pm on the Literary Nymphs Yahoo Group.

Saturday

Higher Learning: Inspiration

Shania Twain is a hottie but in this video...whoa. It inspired my story in the Dreamspinner's college anthology. Check out the video
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Men's Shirts, Short Skirts
and the rest of the anthology is available from Dreamspinner Press.

Friday

Please Call Again

I remember the first time I saw a Please Call Again sign in a store window. We had our own pharmacist (father was a diabetic, sister is asthmatic) who wasn't part of some chain store. They sold home made caramels at the check out counter and I'd look through their greeting cards while we waited for the prescriptions to be filled. Best caramels I've ever tasted. The sign hung on the glass door and probably said Open on the other side. I thought it was so weird that the sign didn't say Come Again and Mom had to explain that visiting used to be calling. You paid a call or went and visited way before they even had phones.

Why the trip down memory lane? I just realized that comments for this site weren't notifying me. Lovely friends and readers stopped by to say kind things, they came to call and I didn't know. So, I'm sorry I missed your call. Please Call Again!

Higher Learning: Blurbs

Here are the other stories that will be in the Higher Learning anthology from Dreamspinner Press out October 17th. Four days!

Rainy Days and Star Charts by Ellen Holiday

College freshman Joel is admiring Andy’s freckles from the seat behind him in their shared Astronomy lecture. Overwhelmed by all of the math involved, Andy turns around one day to bemoan the lack of star-gazing he’d expected when he signed up for the class. When Joel tells him about the astronomy club’s \"star parties\" on Monday nights it seems like a match made in heaven. But every Monday night it seems to rain, so instead they end up spending the time getting to know each other, sharing their stories, each learning how to take a risk and reach out into the universe—at college or in the cosmos—and make discoveries in unexpected places.


Tutor Me, Love by Ellee Hill

Zach is a college sophomore with no time for fun and games. He’s at school on scholarships and is determined to not let anything distract him from proving to his parents he can make it on his own. He earns extra money by working as a tutor, and so far he’s successfully kept on track without losing his focus—until he meets Deacon. Deacon is a guitarist in a band and a flirt and he’s evidently been interested in Zach since Orientation. Zach doesn\'t want to think beyond his next homework assignment, but Deacon is a delicious temptation who won’t give up.


Inspiration by Claire Russett

Physics professor Dr. Eric Hardiman is working late one evening on a research project that’s causing him problems—there’s an error somewhere in his equations, but he just can’t find it. He’s distracted and frustrated when Matt Wilkinson, an engineering professor, arrives on the scene. Buzzing with energy from his own night’s work, Matt inspires Eric in more ways than one.


Second Beginnings by Leora Stark

History professor Braydon Rothfuss has been alone since his long-time lover was killed almost a year ago. He’d thought his heart had stopped for good that day, but then Jay Mitchum walked into his classroom and took his breath away. Jay, recently discharged from the army after being wounded, is still struggling with his sexuality. Forced to spend time together both in class and in tutorial, their mutual attraction grows stronger and, after a series of heated looks, some lust-loaded moments, and a few misinterpretations, the two find themselves at an off-campus bar talking things over.


Bug Boy by Jeanette Grey

Dan Holbrook remembers Jesse Milner as the social misfit from his third grade class—the quiet boy in the glasses who liked to play with bugs. When he encounters Jesse again as a junior in college, the glasses and the bugs are still there, but in every other way he’s changed. Handsome and self-assured, Jesse is exactly Dan’s type, but a decade of resentment over past rejections has made Jesse wary. Dan resolves to do whatever he has to in order to crack that prickly exoskeleton and get close to Jesse, no matter how hard Jesse tries to push him away.


Accismus by Cooper West

Charlie Harper has had a crush on handsome, popular, straight frat boy Lance Milton since they were both undergrads. Lance graduated first, and in the following two years Charlie thought he had recovered from his hopeless crush. He was wrong: when starting graduate studies in Rhetoric and Composition, Charlie runs into Lance once again. Lance remembers Charlie, and starts up a friendship that is fueled by a shared love of a local coffee shop. Charlie doesn\'t hide the fact he\'s gay, but he does hide his attraction to Lance, knowing it would be unreciprocated. Or would it?


Men’s Shirts, Short Skirts by Amberly Smith

My goal at the party was to win the costume contest, but when Roger hit on me I thought—when I could unravel my brain—that he’d make a great prize. Until I learned that the cute guy from my psych class wasn’t a closet case I could lure out, but a pledging frat boy with something to prove. His talented tongue might have made me flush with heat, but the only action Roger was going to get would be me teaching him the error of his ways. Except I got it all wrong, and I\'m going to need to quick-step it before I lose any chance to win him back.


Learning After Hours by Jamie Lowe

Greg is a standoffish junior who works in the writing tutoring lab. One day Jordan, the popular pretty-boy from his history class, asks him for help with a paper. Greg refuses—they’re not friends—but Jordan won’t be dissuaded, and when he comes in to the writing lab, Greg can’t turn him away. The situation gets complicated as Greg discovers that Jordan likes historical trivia... and that maybe he’s not a moron after all. But when Greg realizes their encounters might not be coincidences, tensions rise between them, and Greg might not be the only person at risk of being hurt


Universally Gay by M. Lee

Eighteen-year old Mark is leaving behind a repressive home for the freedom that college offers. Determined to be true to himself, Mark weathers the ups and downs of being out for the first time, finding a refuge in his roommate’s acceptance and the university’s gay student community. There he sees Seth, blond and glittery and full of courage. Their shared lit class gives Mark the excuse he needs to talk to his crush and maybe to let himself fall in love for the first time.


Literature and Lust by J.J. Levesque

When Jamie signs up for the “Vice in Literature” course with his friend Sadie, he doesn’t expect to find anything other than a few good books to sink his teeth into and analyze. But when Ethan appears at his side at the bookstore, looking for the same course materials, he finds the man of his dreams. The two students quickly discover shared interests, but nothing romantic seems to come of their friendship. It isn’t until another chance encounter in the library late one night that things heat up between them, nearly setting the pages of the books on fire.


Statistical Outliers by G.P. Keith

Opposites often attract, as Ben—a post-doctoral researcher teaching a course in statistics for a group of football jocks—discovers when he finds himself drawn to one of his students. Tom is a big, quiet young man, but not as innocent as he first appears. When Ben is inadvertently “outed” by another of his students during a lecture, a bond of support begins to develop that is furthered when Tom injures himself during practice. Ben must teach Tom other ways to feel good about himself, such as by mastering the difficult subject of statistics, and Tom in turn teaches Ben to feel good about a more physical education.


Surprise Me by Dawn Kimberly Johnson

Each fleeing heartbreak from opposite ends of the country, Biz and Tock both wind up in tiny Marcia, Texas. There the professor and campus security guard find themselves thrust into the even tinier space of a utility closet in the college’s science building. Gun-wielding thugs are on the other side of the door, and Tock wants to protect the cute civilian at his side, while Biz just wants to survive the night and have the chance to love again.


Close Distance Education by Dar Mavison

Cassidy is a young student taking distance education courses along with his full course load to speed his graduation. He is beautiful and sensual and poses semi-nude to help pay the rent. Gavril Dalcro is his mysterious older classmate— a foreign businessman with no real need for a distance education course on business writing. Cass is intrigued by Gavril before they even meet at the library to work on their group project. Both are both pleasantly surprised at how attractive they find each other, and when Gavril asks Cass out for dinner, Cass begins to suspect he’s being seduced. He’s not wrong, though Gavril prefers to call it “wooing”.


Brazos Mud and Horn-Rimmed Glasses by Eve Ocotillo

TJ is an easy-going and affable native Texan who frames houses for a living and picks up odd jobs to make ends meet. While moonlighting as a university janitor, he meets Daniel, a young chemistry professor newly transplanted from Michigan. Daniel is everything TJ is not—soft spoken, elegant and intense—and TJ is instantly attracted to him. Over the course of several weeks, TJ woos Daniel, chewing nails wondering whether a professor could be interested in a mere janitor and trying to interpret the mixed signals he seems to be getting.

Monday

Higher Learning: excerpt of Men's Shirts, Short Skirts

Men's Shirts, Short Skirts is part of Dreamspinner's college anthology Higher Learning
October 17, 2011

Here's an excerpt:


“You look very fuckable.”

Since I'd gotten to the costume party, I heard a few compliments about looking hot in the black mini skirt and trench coat. Even a few of the frat boys had cat called and whistled. It didn't bother me. It just meant our win of the five hundred dollar grand prize was a lock. My roomies in their tight red mesh shirts and dark khol eyes were getting a lot of attention from the ladies. Which was great since the costume idea had been a tough sale. If we didn't win, which we would, they'd still have a blast and hopefully get some play. Even timid Tommy looked good as one of my backup singers and was chatting up a cheerleader.

I turned my head slightly, smile on my face just in case the speaker had a judge ribbon pinned to his shirt. Not a judge. It turned out to be the activist from my psychology class. You know the type. Recycles, won't wear leather, marches in protests. Looks a bit like the male version of an earth mom. A hippie minus the peace signs and psychedelic clothes. I thought his name may have been Roger. In class he slouched in his seat and took up our whole row with his personality. He’s cute, smart and truth be told I’m a bit intimidated.

My friend Lorrie, who I’d been talking to, stepped in for me. “Really? I was going for gruesome.” Unless the guy was into the walking dead, no way would anyone say fuckable about her tonight. Normally? Totally. But with peeling flesh and bloody splatters...well, I'd had to look her in the eyes when we talked so I didn't focus too long on the rotting flesh and get queasy. She was just giving the guy an out. I looked like a chick from behind, even with the top hat, because the black corset gave me an hour glass shape. But up close, even with the makeup and half veil, it was pretty obvious I was all male.

“Actually, I meant your friend.”

I turned a bit more to eye Roger the Activist. He was dressed as a cop. The irony of it, a down-with-the-man, free spirit buttoned into the blue uniform of a police officer, made me laugh.

He touched the badge on his respectable pec and grinned, possibly knowing what I was thinking. “It's my brother's uniform.”

It looked good but there were other cops at the party, just like there were other zombies, so I wasn't worried he'd be competition. The smile and blush and the way he shifted under my leer, made me think he'd spoken before he really got a look at me.

I decided to ignore his earlier comment, like Lorrie, willing to give him an out now that he had seen me and would realize I was a guy too. Don't get me wrong, he looked plenty doable every day. Add the uniform and I was swallowing to keep the drool from ruining my lipstick. I have always had a thing for men in uniform. Recently I had the opportunity to try out handcuffs and I definitely had a horny spot for restraints. So, rebellious hottie with a pair of cuffs on his hip? Hot, hot, hot. But you couldn't hold someone to something they said at some loud college party.

This was the house party. The people who lived here promoted the monthly event all over social media. The place was huge. I’d come to a couple parties last year and still hadn’t made it to the backyard.

“Lorrie, Officer Do Right is in my psychology class.” I figured it was close enough to an introduction that it covered the fact I couldn't remember his name. Now I'd politely pull him into the conversation. I couldn’t remember what we were talking about, the hottie had me distracted, but we’d wing it. “We were just talking--”

“I'm serious.” He rushed to talk over me. “You look good.” He stepped close and let his hand brush across my exposed thigh, just above the thigh high black boots.