Marguerite Labbe's Blog, page 10

I love going to museums and seeing old things and seeing the things that I've studied and read about. In college I took a lot of Art History courses and Washington, DC is blessed with many free museums. One of these days I would love to travel overseas and visit some of the museums in London and Paris. One of the things I’m dying to see in person is the Warren Cup. A friend of mine went to London last year and took these pictures of it for me.

      Now, the Warren Cup doesn’t appear in Make Me Whole, though Galen’s assistant Suzane expresses her wish to have it for the new exhibit that is opening up in a few months. But a good portion of the story does take place in a museum and the new exhibit is themed around homo-erotic art. So I thought I would share a few pictures of the famous cup.
       The new exhibit in Make Me Whole is centered around four ancient Greek statues that Galen mysteriously finds in his storage room. The four statues depict one man, in what seems to be erotic positions, but the other half of the statue seems to be missing. And Galen’s search to discover what happened to the statues leads him on a crash course to his ex-lover Nick, part-time wreck diver and lover of Art History.
Only Nick knows a lot more about these statues and the curse that surrounds them than he’s telling. Ooohh I do love these boys.

I’m back in the editing game after a couple of hectic weeks at work and getting over a post-holiday bad cold. This is going to be the week of busting ass on this 2nd draft of museum/statue story that I have been working on forever it seems. There have been so many interruptions this year that I’ll be relieved when I can get Galen and Nick off to betas readers. So without further ado, here is this week’s Six Sentence Sunday. Actually it’s nine sentences, but who’s going to quibble?
* * * * *
“After you were cursed, did you get to see him at all?  Did you have any of those moments in your lifetime?”Lykon looked back toward Dexios, his eyes far away.  “Just once, as I was dying.  She relented and he held me until the end.”  He looked back at Galen, his eyes penetrating.  “I wasn’t alone, do you understand?”Galen nodded.  Oh yeah, that he understood.

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays!

I have the PDF available for download at Goodreads. All I Want Is You. Once I figure out how to do it, I'll post a link in the Free Reads section of my website.  Here is the blurb:



It’s been a year since Ash Gallagher and Eli Hollister moved in together and they’re still going strong. Only a visit to Eli’s family in Tennessee threatens to put a damper on their second Christmas together.Ash wants a ring on Eli's finger before the New Year, but he’s not sure if his impulsive, free-spirited lover is even interested in marriage. And with family trouble brewing, Eli wonders if his family will ever come to accept who he is.Eli thinks that all he wants is to get through this holiday season with his sanity intact. Little does he know, Ash has plans to prove to prove him wrong.

I thought for this Six Sentence Sunday I'd introduce Gareth. He's Eli's cousin, best friend and will be one of the leads in my next Mountain Boys story whenever I get around to writing it.

* * * * *

Eli caught Gareth in a rough bear hug and as always seeing him again was like all the intervening months between visits fell away. Gareth hadn’t changed one bit from the battered boots, worn jeans to the scruff on his cheeks. There might be a new tattoo or piercing, but the blue eyes, and the heartfelt welcome in them, remained the same.Gareth gave him another hard squeeze, then stepped back to take Ash’s proffered hand and pull him into a hug. “This is who I really wanted to get my hands on. Shame on you Eli for sequestering him in the Great White North and depriving the rest of us red blooded American gay men from the opportunity to appreciate.”
* * * * *
And this my friends is the beautiful cover that Fae Sutherland made for me for the Christmas story. Didn't she do an amazing job? I love it.

Hello everybody. I cannot promise I'll update every Wednesday, cause let's face it, you know my track record. I have the attention span of a kitten who O.D. on catnip. I'm also as slow as molasses when it comes to writing and editing so if there hasn't been any significant progress then I probably won't post and I give you all permission to slap me around a little. I need something to keep me honest.

On that note, today I finished the rough draft of the Christmas story I'm writing for Eli and Ash. It came in at seven chapters and just under 20,000 words. So tomorrow I'm diving into edits and fleshing out the details. And I'd dearly love to find an image this weekend to use as the cover. Fae Sutherland said she'd make up my cover and she does a fabulous job. So that's my first December project.

The other project is finishing up the 2nd draft of "Make Me Whole" my slightly magical statues, little bit of reincarnation set in a museum in Seattle. I just got back my husband's comments on a scene I was concerned about so I hope to finish up the edits in this section in a week. It should be doable, there are no more scenes to add here. So fingers crossed that it stays quiet and I can get some work done.





On that note I leave you with this picture of the Balsams. It's one of the last grand hotels and right now it's closed for renovations and I'm really hoping that it will reopen again. There are no words to describe how beautiful the place is. It's located at Dixville Notch, not far from my Grandmaman's place. I had wanted to have a few scenes of Eli and Ash there sometime, but I never did get to work it in. Ah well. They're there in my dreams.

So, this is the second blog in two days. It must be the sign of the apocalypse.  I'm not one to talk much online as you can tell, I prefer to talk in person. I don't even get on the phone much. But I've decided to try and make more of an effort. When I find pictures that inspire me to write stories I figured I'd try to post them on Mondays. Since I'm currently working on Eli and Ash's Christmas short, which is set in the Great Smoky Mountains and introduces Eli's best friend and cousin Gareth, I thought I'd start with pictures taken from where the story is set. Eli is taking Ash to Tennessee to meet his parents. Eli's never taken a man home to meet his parents so it's a big deal for him and Ash, well, Ash is holding onto a surprise of his own.
 

About twelve years ago my husband and I went to Alabama for his cousin's wedding.  On the way down we passed through a portion of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Now I'm a mountain girl. I was born in New Hampshire and for me the mountains always equate home and for me the mountains in New Hampshire are the most beautiful. But I have to admit when we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains that morning I was awed. They were such a dark green and they soared high and close, wreathed in the mists that give the mountains their name.  In all this time I've never forgotten how they looked in the brief time that I was traveling through there. I don't think anyone got a word out of me then, I was too busy staring out the window and dreaming of coming back someday.

I've been waiting for a long time to write a story set in those mountains. When I created Eli's family and history I knew that I might get a chance to do a story there as well. I had toyed with the idea of one day writing Gareth's story. I'd known it was in the back of my mind, but I was uncertain over the idea of writing one full length contemporary, two was in the category of we'll see if I survive the first.  The idea of a second story persisted and Gareth is not the type of man to remain quiet so he's been in the back of my mind a lot. Maybe soon I'll tell his story. I'm already dropping hints to my husband that we need to head to the Great Smoky Mountains for a research trip. I suspect he knows that what I really want to do is sit on a cabin porch for a week, drinking coffee and writing in my notebook while he heads into town to shop and explore, but that's why we get along so well.

I tried finding a picture that captured how they looked that morning drive and I didn't have any luck, so here are some pictures of the mountains in the winter. Eli insists that they aren't as pretty as back home, but Gareth would disagree with him.

I had toyed with the idea of posting the rough first chapter of my free xmas short today, and the second chapter in a week and so on up until Christmas. I posed the question on Twitter and the consensus is that you'd rather wait and get the whole in. So I'll post the first six sentences for Sunday and tomorrow I'll post some pictures that inspired me.  So here you go. I hope you enjoy!

Love, Margie

* * * * *


“I can think of a hundred things wrong with this picture.” Eli gestured toward the windshield and the mist filled valley that dropped off to their right revealing the tall mountains covered in a mix of evergreens and trees bared for the winter.Ash tore his eyes from the gorgeous panorama and looked at Eli, a smile tugging on his lips at the look of disgust on his partner’s face. Eli didn’t fool him one bit. He lived for views like this. If they weren’t here to visit his family he’d be enjoying every minute of this trip. In fact, Ash would consider himself lucky if he managed to get Eli indoors at all.

Ghosts in the Wind  Cover Art - Reese DanteAndrei Cuza and Dean Marshall celebrated their tenth anniversary only to have their happiness shattered by a random, insane event: On his way home from closing a business deal, Dean stops on the parkway to help a young mother with her flat tire, and her ex arrives, murders them, and takes off with his two kids.

Ghosts have haunted Andrei all his life. He bears the guilt for his sister being stuck in limbo, because ghosts are frozen at the moment they died, unable to adapt to the changes in their living loved ones. When Dean returns to Andrei as a ghost, the double punch of losing him and having to watch him founder if he doesn’t move on is almost more than Andrei can bear.

Despite dangers in limbo—Jackal Wraiths that devour souls are hunting him—Dean isn’t going anywhere until he helps Andrei track down the missing children. Andrei is in danger as well when he pays dearly to feel Dean’s touch one last time. Time is slowly running out as Dean and Andrei try to say good-bye while they track a killer who’s more than happy to kill again.

A Bittersweet Dreams title: It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.  It's 25% off today for Dreamspinner's Happy Halloween sale.  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3323Plus, see an excerpt and a picture drawn by my husband of the monsters at Paranormal Paradigms: http://pparadigms.blogspot.com/2012/10/inventing-creepy-crawlies-meet-jackal.html

This is from the opening chapter.  I was in love with Dean and Andrei from the outset.  I just loved the way they were together, friends as well as long time partners.  The edits aren't completely done so if there are any mistakes, I apologize.  I hope you enjoy.

* * * * *

Dean tugged on a pair of track pants and paused in the bathroom long enough to pull back the curtain and land a satisfying, wet smack on Andrei’s ass. He danced out of the way laughing as Andrei spun with an indignant squawk to take a retaliatory swipe at him. “Ever vigilant! Dude, after all these years you’d think you’d have learned. Be happy I didn’t toss in cold water this time.”


Andrei jerked the shower curtain closed again. “You should be happy I’ve got too much shampoo in my hair to chase you down and beat your ass.”


Dean snickered and paused at the mirror to run a comb over his cropped hair. “Got me shaking there, babe. Seriously, I’m terrified.”He was on his second cup of coffee and contemplating breakfast when Andrei came into the kitchen in jeans and a T-shirt, his hair lying in wet tangles about his face. Andrei needed a haircut. He was getting shaggy, and he hadn’t shaved as he usually did, though the stubble that still covered his cheeks and jaw was rather sexy.


Dean frowned as Andrei laid his ankle holster and pistol on the counter. “I thought you said you had paperwork to do.” Andrei rarely took a gun out on routine investigations. That he had picked this particular gun and holster told Dean that Andrei planned on going into a dangerous place instead of dealing with a possibly touchy, angry spouse, insurance scam, or reluctant witness.


“I always have paperwork to do. It’s vile and neverending.” Andrei poured himself a cup of coffee and sipped it straight black. It made Dean shudder; he had to have lots of cream, lots of sugar. Any other way was downright gross. “However, I’ve got to go into West Baltimore today. A lead came in on that missing teenager.”


Dean knew he shouldn’t worry. Andrei had been taking care of himself since he was fifteen, rarely letting anyone help him. Still he hated it when Andrei went among the crack houses with the drug dealers, spaced out addicts, and prostitutes. It didn’t take much for something to get ugly. Like trying to pull a kid out of there who didn’t want to be found or who had someone with a vested interest in seeing that the kid stayed put.


“You heading over there now?”


“Yeah, I don’t want to risk the trail going cold again, and the lead is solid. If you call my cell and I don’t answer, then it’s ’cause I’m still in the middle of it all.” Andrei propped his foot on the chair and strapped the holster at his ankle, then slipped the gun in place and checked to make sure it was secure.


As much as Dean didn’t like the sight of him with a gun, he couldn’t deny the satisfaction Andrei got out of solving cases that reunited kids with their families over the other bullshit. So even though he worried, he never said a word against him going. Andrei could not look away from a kid in trouble, and it would be unfair of Dean to ask him to, no matter how dangerous the case or how nonexistent the backup.


“You look like a hood rat, babe.”


Andrei glanced over at him and gave Dean a toothy grin. “Nice to know I’ll blend right in.”


“It’s giving me all kinds of ideas. Can I use your handcuffs on you later? I could be the upstanding guy making a citizen’s arrest.”


“You’ve got to get them away from me first.” Andrei’s gaze heated as he raked his gaze over Dean, making his pulse skip a beat. “And if you lose, oh buddy, I’m going to be doing the interrogating, not you.”


“Oooh, a wrestling match.” Dean pulled the carton of egg whites from the fridge and raised his brows as Andrei grabbed his wallet and keys. “Hey, what about breakfast? I’m cooking.”


“I’d love to take you up on that, but the timing on this may be critical.” Andrei looked around the counter and swiped an apple. “See, I’m all set. It’s even healthy, no Pop Tarts this morning.”


Dean gave up with a shake of his head. Trying to get a real meal into Andrei was an exercise in frustration sometimes. “Go out and save the day, mister hotshot private detective,” he said, smiling at him. “Again, ’cause you’re like that.”


“You have this image of heroism and me in your head that just doesn’t exist, iubito.” Andrei paused, a faint line appearing between his brows. “I spy on cheating spouses for the most part.”


“Yeah and then there are the days like this. I think these are the days you live for.” Dean slid his hand around the nape of Andrei’s neck and drew him in for a kiss. “I’ll call you later after I’ve won over the bank execs with my enthusiasm and charm.”


“You’d better.” Andrei smiled. “I’m proud of you.”


“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go on, get out of here. Be careful, okay?” Dean said, allowing that small part of his concern to show.


“I promise, Dean. I’m not going to let anything happen to me.”

First off the cover because I'm absolutely in love with it.  Reese Dante is amazing.  She took what I had in my mind and made it so much better.



Andrei Cuza and Dean Marshall celebrated their tenth anniversary only to have their happiness shattered by a random, insane event: On his way home from closing a business deal, Dean stops on the parkway to help a young mother with her flat tire, and her ex arrives, murders them, and takes off with his two kids.

Ghosts have haunted Andrei all his life. He bears the guilt for his sister being stuck in limbo, because ghosts are frozen at the moment they died, unable to adapt to the changes in their living loved ones. When Dean returns to Andrei as a ghost, the double punch of losing him and having to watch him founder if he doesn’t move on is almost more than Andrei can bear.

Despite dangers in limbo—Jackal Wraiths that devour souls are hunting him—Dean isn’t going anywhere until he helps Andrei track down the missing children. Andrei is in danger as well when he pays dearly to feel Dean’s touch one last time. Time is slowly running out as Dean and Andrei try to say good-bye while they track a killer who’s more than happy to kill again.

A Bittersweet Dreams title: It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.

* * *
Finally after all this time my ghost story is coming out.  I originally came up with the idea on a road trip to South Carolina and I think it was very fitting that I ended up working on DSP edits for it while in SC again for my sister's wedding.  I hope you all fall in love with Andrei and Dean as much as I did.  Later on this weekend I'll post an excerpt!