Nico Jaye's Blog, page 6

Just a type-by posting to let you all know that my latest freebie story, BTW I Love You, is now available exclusively on the Goodreads M/M Romance group's page. Yay!  Downloadable copies will be available on the Goodreads book page here  in a couple of weeks. For now, though, group members have exclusive access to Aidan and Jake's story  here . Not a member? It's easy to join if you're 18 or older - just make sure you have a valid birthdate included on your Goodreads information. :) This freebie story is just one of over 150 stories that the group will be offering during this summer's Love Has No Boundaries event.







So yeah, get exclusive access to the story here ! :D Hope y'all like the boys.



As a life update, things are pretty crazy around here. I begin my cross-country drive from NYC to San Francisco tomorrow. Yes - TOMORROW. *gulp* I know - that came up super fast! I've been packing, tossing, shipping, giving away, and donating all month. It's amazing how much I accumulated in my years here in NYC.



And um...it probably didn't help my packing timeline that I also just discovered YouTube videos that edited down the Queer as Folk series to the Brian-Justin relationship. *hides* Yes, I glommed when I should have packed. *hides again* And, yes, because I knew how it ended (*shakes fist*), every time they did something sweet or amazing or beautiful, I couldn't help but say, "I seriously love you guys, but you're gonna break my heart." Out loud. Because I um...get invested.



Anyway, huge tangent there, but circling back to the point of my post, go check out the story (if you are so inclined), and I hope you guys enjoy Aidan and Jake's story of World Wide Web romancing. :) And if you feel like rating and/or reviewing on the Goodreads page, then that would be nifty, too.



Hugs and dark-haired heartbreakers,

NJ

Well, folks, I'm heading out soon on my cross-country roadtrip (I'm moving from NYC back to SF!), so I'll be a little incommunicado this month.  However, that doesn't mean I won't have a story for you guys to read - and a freebie, at that! :)







BTW I Love You will be coming out verrrrry soon (yay!) as part of the  Goodreads M/M Romance  group's Love Has No Boundaries writing event. This story about two college-aged boys will be a group exclusive, so you'll have to join the group to get exclusive first-look access to BTW I Love You and over 150 other stories!



You can find the blurb here , and here's a tiny sneak peek from the prologue at the very beginning of the story. Hope you like it! :)



BTW I Love You Excerpt:

PROLOGUE

The
afternoon SoCal sun was bright and cheerful two days before Memorial Day
weekend.  Aidan was walking back to his
student housing apartment when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  He'd just taken his last final – a hellacious
combination of lab and written exam for his upper div Environmental Engineering
class – and the day that greeted him upon exiting the science lab was
glorious.  Provided everything went well,
knock on wood, he would at last be
graduating next weekend from UCLA.

Aidan
shifted his backpack to his other shoulder to fish out his phone.  When he saw who'd sent the text message, he
grinned.

24 hrs until some fun in the sun! check your email. ;)

He
glanced up to make sure he wasn't going to walk into a tree like he did last
week and, seeing the coast was clear, tapped his screen to check his email. 

To:  Aidan Montgomery

From:  Jake Everett

Subject:  You &
Me?

Attachments (1) 

Once the
picture loaded, Aidan let out a bark of surprised laughter as his heart warmed
at the sight.  Grinning, he quickly
texted a reply to Jake.

If you're lucky. ;)

***


That's it for now!



I know...cliffhanger, much? :D Well, if you want to find out what was in the picture that Jake sent to Aidan, then you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for BTW I Love You this summer...very very soon.  Like...perhaps...this upcoming week. :D



Cheers,

NJ

Hi folks! Sorry I've been MIA, but I'm currently packing up to move from NYC back to San Francisco next week. In short, life is hectic! As promised, though, here's a sneak peek of the cover for my Love Has No Boundaries story, which I wrote recently as part of the Goodreads M/M Romance group's annual writing event.






Beginning in June and throughout the summer, the Goodreads M/M Romance group will release free m/m romance stories every day (approximately 180 stories in total!), and the only way to get exclusive access to them is to join the group. So if you like m/m romance and aren't yet on Goodreads, why not check it out and see for yourself how great of a community it is? Three stories have already been released as an early membership bonus, and many more stories will follow starting next month.



BTW I Love You will be released as part of the event, and the only way to get first-look access to the story will be through the group. If you missed it, here's the blurb for the story:

When Aidan logs onto the Internet one night during winter break, he hardly expects to meet tall, dark, and handsome Jake - let alone discover over the course of their chats and emails that Jake may actually be...well...pretty much perfect.  However, with Jake studying abroad 8,000 miles away, Aidan soon finds himself struggling with the intense feelings that he's developed for a man he's never actually met.

With an ocean between them and all of the doubts and questions that come with the distance, will their relationship ever find wings? And when they finally meet in person, can their online romance become an IRL happily ever after?

As is par for the course with me, it's fluffy, not-too-angsty, and has cute boys who may or may not have a little sexytimes fun in between the pages. :D



I'm leaving on my cross-country road trip next week, but I promise to post a small excerpt before then. Also, in life news, I went to Turkey last month, and it was awesome. (Maybe I mentioned that already, though?) Anyway, I also just went to Niagara Falls this weekend, and it was also awesome. :) As dorky as it may sound, my favorite part was either getting incredibly wet on Maid of the Mist or straddling the international boundary line between Canada and the US. So cool!







Until next week, folks!



Cheers,

NJ

I'm currently knee-deep in sorting through my apartment as I prepare for my move from NYC to San Francisco. So of course that means I'm finding any and every reason I can to procrastinate. *grins shamelessly* And one of those finds was a Chibi maker. What's a Chibi? Well...







This is a Chibi. Specifically, this is Chibi ME.



Yup, so that's my big reveal of the week. This is pretty much what I'd look like if I were a Chibi, right down to the black tank, grey cardigan, bright corduroys, black flats, and red glasses.  Plus the mug of tea in my hand (can't forget that!).



Anyway, if you're curious and want to make your own Chibi, check out the Chibi maker here  at deviantart. But make sure you have an hour to kill because let me tell you - cartoonifying yourself can be STRANGELY addictive. :D



Putting the "pro" into procrastinate,

NJ



P.S. Actually, I lied - I have some writing-related news. My short story was accepted by Dreamspinner Press to be included in their next anthology! Woop woop! This is the one that just flowed out of me in the course of 2.5 days. It felt SO damned good to write, and I'm so glad that DSP thought so, too! So keep your eyes peeled for the Cuddling anthology, which will focus on established couples. More info on this story and the anthology later. :)

So yes, I submitted my Love Has No Boundaries story last week (a whole two weeks early). Yayzerbeams! I'll keep y'all apprised of the date that it'll be posted to the group.

As a treat for the folks who actually check out my blog, I'm posting a blurb-y type thing right now. :)

Warning: I kind of suck at blurb writing, but I tried. >_< And it's right here:

When Aidan logs onto the Internet one night during winter break, he hardly expects to meet tall, dark, and handsome Jake - let alone discover over the course of their chats and emails that Jake may actually be...well...pretty much perfect.  However, with Jake studying abroad 8,000 miles away, Aidan soon finds himself struggling with the intense feelings that he has for a man he's never actually met.

With an ocean between them and all of the doubts and questions that come with the distance, will their relationship ever find wings?  And when they finally meet in person, can their online romance become an IRL happily ever after?

Stay tuned for more tidbits on the story, including the date when it'll be available and the official cover. The cover is pretty simple, but the picture is perfect for one of the scenes in the story. I'll also post a sneak peek excerpt soon. :)

Thanks for reading!
NJ

Today's...no, this month's...no, make that THIS YEAR'S big news: NBA player Jason Collins comes out as gay.





I just got back from Turkey and am kind of recovering from traveling right now. That said, I'm still awake and aware enough to do a little (good!) freaking out/flailing about the first active pro athlete (other than, perhaps, the 1970s baseball player  Glenn Burke ) to come out to the world as gay.




So, yes, consider this Jason Collins post the COMING OUT AS A GAY ATHLETE big, bold, all-caps post towards which the previous posts in this series of discussions ( here , here , here , here , and here ) were leading.




The Sports Illustrated article containing Jason Collins's narrative is honest and straightforward.  The truths that he shares are simple in presentation, but contain a courage in their simplicity that reveals his desire to live his life without hiding from the world this basic part of himself.  As Collins says, "The most you can do is stand up for what you believe in. I'm much happier since coming out to my friends and family. Being genuine and honest makes me happy."




So far, the reactions to his coming out seem to be positive and supportive.  Today and in the upcoming days, I'm sure we'll see whether earlier interviews with sports personalities and athletes that showed support for a theoretical gay teammate will prove true in the face of an actual gay teammate.  




In my opinion, the most interesting and telling question of support may not be known until this summer when we see what happens with Jason Collins's free agency.  His career thus far seems to have been reliable and productive, and he's set to become a free agent in July.  In the world of sports, "free agent" means he's up for grabs, and he has stated that he intends to pursue a new contract.  It looks like he has more basketball to play in him, and seven-feet-tall players don't just grow on trees. With that said, the biggest and most revealing question of acceptance may come in whether and/or how the NBA teams react.  Will Jason Collins receive a new contract offer?  Will the contract offer(s) reflect his abilities? Will the team(s) take into account only merit or will they also consider his status as a gay athlete?  Not to be a downer or realist, but these questions are still unanswered.




Setting that aside, let's focus on the positive.  For now, this is amazing news. Groundbreaking, really. An active pro athlete came out today as gay. Wow. Can you imagine that headline even five or ten years ago? Perhaps more active gay pro athletes will follow in his footsteps. Perhaps other major professional sports will get their own "firsts" soon.  And perhaps there will eventually be a time when coming out as a gay athlete won't actually be front page, all-caps news at all.




Rooting for number 98,

NJ

Ahhhh! So much to share! But also...so much stuff to do still! I guess that means this is going to be a type-by, info-heavy posting.  :D



First, I went on a spontaneous and last minute trip to Iceland.  Yup, ICELAND. It was awesome with really stark and stunning landscape and nature-y stuff everywhere. I booked the trip a few days before flying out largely because I wanted to see the Northern Lights.  That was kind of on my mental bucket list (if I were to keep one, that is), and Iceland in late March just seemed like the perfect opportunity. After booking a tour to go out onto the bay and ocean in a boat, I saw the Northern Lights on my first night.  The whole night was really an amazing experience, and everything else on my trip was a bonus after that. :)  Gratuitous pic of the beautiful Gullfoss waterfall!









Second, upon my return, I received a message from Less Than Three Press about accepting my swimmer/massage therapist manuscript for publication. YAYAYAYAY! Let me repeat: yay! *ahem* So yeah, the contract is all signed up now, and it'll go through the editing process and all that stuffs. Not sure what the ETA is for publication, but I'm not too concerned. What's awesome is I got the "yes," and my big surly swimmer and happy hapa massage therapist have found a cozy new home.  So yeah, the big takeaway is the yay! :)



Third, I've been making some serious progress on my latest WIP, the LHNB event story . After a rollicking good start, I jumped out to around 10K words by the time I flew out to Iceland.  Since returning, I'm now at 14K and around 80-85% done.  I'd loooove to finish this by the time I fly out, but it might have to happen while I'm IN Turkey. And how interesting would that be, eh??? :) The most difficult part, though? I can't think up a danged title, and the title info is due tomorrow! Well, to be fair, I've thought up a couple potential ones, but I still am not 100% sold on them. :/ :/ So even though the words are coming, the big picture title stuff is not. Roar.



Finally, I leave for Turkey tomorrow! Whoa. I know, a lot of travel lately, but it's just my way of taking full advantage of my voluntary unemployment. After all, when else will I have (a) the free time and (b) the money set aside specifically to do stuff like this?  Also, I figured it would make sense to travel to Europe while I'm still on the East Coast. It might help if I got myself into gear, though, with the packing. And the figuring out what I'm doing in Turkey part. Eeks! I'm just gonna have to go with the flow and trust that things will turn out ab fab. :)



That's about it on my end.  Oh! Also, it was 70 degrees today in NYC. Forget that dumb groundhog, who was a big fat liar! Here's a curious daffodil checking out its own shadow:









Stay sunny, folks!




NJ

I hope we get it right this time.



History is being made right now in the highest court in the land.  Today and tomorrow, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) hears arguments regarding same sex marriage, including California's ban on same sex marriage under Proposition 8.



In my mind, the issue has eerie similarities to landmark discrimination cases, most notably Brown vs. Board of Education, which struck down "separate but equal," and Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws against interracial marriages.



Scott Fujita, an NFL linebacker with a hapa Japanese heritage, recently published an eloquent essay in support of same sex marriage in the New York Times about " Acceptance by Example, on the Field and at Home ."  He presents the issue from a unique perspective - as a parent, as a professional athlete in an intensely physical and testosterone-dominated sport, and as a person of mixed racial heritage. I love the quiet simplicity of his explanations, and I, too, share the hope that, years from now, we will look at today's "controversy" over same sex marriage in the same way we now look back and shake our heads at the "controversy" of interracial marriages before the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision.



The same sex marriage issue brings me back to my law school days, so bear with me as I share a few thoughts on the legal aspects involved here.  For the most part, it's a constitutional issue under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.  To me, the marriage prohibitions limit marriages based on gender, and gender is a quasi-suspect classification under the EPC.  For quasi-suspect classifications, the courts use intermediate scrutiny to determine whether a law is substantially related to an important government interest.



Further to the EPC arguments on suspect classification, I also wonder about another constitutional EPC issue - that of fundamental rights and, particularly, the right to privacy.  From my understanding, the right to privacy includes decisions about marriage, and it seems arguable that the decision to marry a certain person - namely, a person of the same sex - would be included within that category of decisions about marriage.  If the same sex marriage prohibitions are considered intrusive on that fundamental right to privacy, then the court would use strict scrutiny, under which the law needs to be narrowly tailored and necessary to a compelling government interest.



In my mind, the question then becomes how to define the government's interest. I hope that the government interest here lies with protecting marriage.  Contrary to conservative voices that equate protecting marriage to denying same sex marriages, I would suggest that protecting marriage actually means protecting the basic right to marry - or not marry - for all citizens.  As the Warren court in Loving v. Virginia held, "marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival....Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."



So will the 2013 Roberts court apply the same reasoning to its decision on the freedom to marry a person of the same sex?



It makes sense to me, and it is my hope that the court takes such a stance.  My dream?  For the Roberts court to issue a unanimous decision in support of same sex marriage.  As background, I should note that the SCOTUS decisions are often split - and, many times, 5-4 splits - because, by the time the issues in question come to the SCOTUS, they are often borderline cases that could go either way. However, the SCOTUS can - and does - issue unanimous opinions at times in order to send a message as to the court's unity on that point.



Previous SCOTUS decisions that were unanimous include Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia.



Equality.  It's a simple enough idea.



Waving her equal rights flag,

NJ

*sounds the alarm* The Goodreads M/M Romance group recently launched their big Don't Read in the Closet annual writing event! :D











The Don't Read in the Closet event is what got me started as a writer a year ago with Man-to-Man Coverage, and um...let's just say the writing bug bit me. :) I've chosen a new prompt for this year, so be on the lookout this summer for a story about sweet college boys.



Check out more info on the group's webpage (note: must be a member of the Goodreads group to access the site)!  Take a peek around and, if you are so inclined, submit a Dear Author request letter of your own. It's super easy - just find a pic that you like, write a prompt about the picture to inspire an author, and cross your fingers that an author will claim your letter.  In past years, I believe 99% of letters were claimed, so you have a pretty darn good chance of getting a custom story - all you need to do is muster up the courage to ask for it. :)



Separately, if you've ever wanted to try your hand at writing M/M, this is a great opportunity to spread your wings. The environment is super supportive and friendly. If a prompt speaks to you and you can follow the submission guidelines, then go for it!



Okay, gotta rev up those engines on this WIP. What with my Turkey trip next month and moving cross-country in May, it's gonna be a busy next couple of months! :)



Hugs,

NJ

So I'm pretty much kitty-obsessed or, at the very least, Nico (the feline) obsessed. He's my little cutie boy, and I had sooooo much fun hanging out with him when I was back in SF.  *cues up the song "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb*







What prompted this post, however, is this really awesome article I found showing unusual animal pairings.  You know, have you ever seen those adorable pictures that show, e.g., a monkey has made friends with a squirrel? Yup. I found a whole plethora of them, but BONUS. These include cute little "animal version" and "human version" descriptions of their friendships.



Here's the link to the picture (squee!) slideshow: A Guide to Love in Any Species (Animal Odd Couples)



So adorable, right?



I also found it especially humorous that the "human version" explanations of the odd couple pairings often sounded verrrrrrrrrrry familiar.  As in, yes, I think I've read that trope in romance before. *grins* In fact, I'm kind of curious to read some more of those stories, so if you need a prompt on which to base your next WIP, definitely check 'em out. Especially #1 ( the Cheetah and the Anatolian Shepherd ), #5 ( the Bobcat Kitten and the Fawn ), and #6 ( the Donkey and the Mutt ), hint hint. ;)



Feeling warm and fuzzy about the beasties,

NJ