Happy 7th Publishing Anniversary to Me & Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

On April 5, 2014 I published bi-erotica Taking Lance, the first book in the Taking Lance series. I’d never let anybody (outside of teachers during writing assignments way back when) read anything I’d ever written. During a terrifying moment, I sent the story to my best friend for her thoughts. I’d always written, had been writing short stories for as long as I could remember, but Taking Lance was different. It was written solely to get another book out of my head – a book I didn’t write. Taking Lance was nothing at all like that book but the character names were kind of similar. My best friend encouraged me to publish the story and here I am.

Since Taking Lance, I’ve published a lot of books, including the 7-book Willy the Kinky Elf series that ended in December. And while I may not publish a lot each year, I’m always writing something. At the moment, I’m going back and forth between 7 books I’m writing at the same time – 5 from one series and 2 from another.

To celebrate Taking Lance’s 7th birthday, I’m giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one winner. To enter, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter link below. The giveaway will run from April 5th to April 15th, with the winner being notified within 48 hours of the giveaway ending.

Unlike my other books, the Taking Lance series is bi-erotica, not strictly gay romance. Both Lance and Rick have sex with others on-page, sometimes even together. Once they become a true couple, they’re only with each other. It’s leading up to that when they aren’t.

If that’s not your thing, don’t read the series.

Thank you to every single person who has taken the time to read one of my books. You’re the reason I keep doing this and I appreciate every single one of you.

As always, thank you to my best friend in the world. Without you, my stories would still be hidden away. Much love, my friend. ?

Candi Kay

Note that my computer has died so I’m using my phone and Kindle Fire for pretty much everything. If you comment and it takes me a little while to approve it or respond back, that’s why.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Updates, Life, and Smashword Sale & Freebies

How is it already March?

We’ve just gotten through one of the coldest winters on record for my area so I’ll be happy to see spring, even if my already bad allergies will get a lot worse.  My car is already covered in pollen. I won’t even get started on the crazy hurricane season we had last year.

I’ve been dealing with some health issues (not COVID) so I mostly disappeared from social media for the past few weeks. I’m a little better now so I wanted to pop in and let you all know I’m still alive and well. 🙂  I had planned to do a ‘good riddance 2020’ post – had even typed a lot of it a few weeks ago – but then 2021 rolled in and said, “Here, hold my beer.”

2021 didn’t get off to a good start. Here’s hoping the rest of it will fare much better.

Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer Series

As most of you know, the series ended with Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate. Ending it was bittersweet. Normally when March rolls around I’m heavily involved in working on the next installment. It’s strange to not be writing about Willy’s shenanigans right now. I’m not going to lie. I miss the hell out of that naughty elf and the others in the North Pole.

After Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Mate, I’d written (and made available for download) 2 short freebies that went with that book. One was a quickie Randy and Willy scene and the other was Doc and Andrea (the only M/F story in the Willy’s World universe). I’ve since written another one that goes with Santa and Drew’s story. It’s about Logan (Luke’s bio dad) finding his mate. I’ve not made that one available yet because I ran out of time in December. The story is written but it wasn’t edited fully.

I’ve not pushed the freebies much because when I did that in 2019 hardly anybody read them – or that’s what the download count at Book Funnel told me anyway. I will likely (in the coming week or so) post those stories (including Logan’s) on this site somewhere so the reader doesn’t have to be taken to somewhere else for it.

If you’re interested in the first 2, click the link above. It’ll take you to the page where you can download them. If you’ve not read the rest of the series (especially Luke and Micah’s book), you’ll be confused if you read the short stories.

There are no words for how truly appreciative I am to everyone who has read Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate. In my almost 7 years of publishing I’ve never had a book do as well as the Willy the Kinky Elf finale.  Thank you to all who have read the series and to those who have been kind enough to share (publicly or privately) how much they truly enjoyed it. It means more than you can know.

Smashwords Read An Ebook Week – Now through March 13th

I’m going to throw this out there – I do not have all my books on Smashwords. In fact, I only have the first 5 of the Willy the Kinky Elf series and a few of my others on there.

Right now through March 13th (I think?) all of my books currently on Smashwords are either 50% off or free. The ones that are free are short stories The Guy In The Coffee Shop and (M/F erotica) My Son’s Girl & My Son’s Friends.

The link above takes you to my Smashwords profile page where the books are listed.

The Hooper Lake Series (Upcoming)

The Hooper Lake series consists of 5 stories that take place during the same time period. Each one has new main characters and love interests, but they’re all linked – the stories, characters, etc. Each book focuses on an adopted adult son of Esther Hooper (who insists on being called Gran or Gran Es, even by her adopted sons). Esther is a character. Her only goal in life seems to be pushing her sons to get laid. If their getting laid leads to falling in love, even better. She has no filter but she has a heart of gold.

While there may be a little humor in each story, they all touch on serious topics as well. All 5 brothers have a past that brought them to Esther as teens. The years before Esther were not at all flowers and sunshine. Some were worse than others. Each book will start with a short prologue that gives the reader an idea of what they went through, though more will come out in their individual stories.

The first one is about Noah, the oldest of the 5 adopted brothers. Something life-altering from his past sets the stage for his story and that of the others. The brothers are (listed from oldest to youngest) Noah, Aiden, Matthew, and Elijah (Eli) and Ethan, who are identical twins.

These books will not be standalones.

If they’re not read in order they won’t make any sense. I’m more than halfway through writing all 5 books – I’m writing them all at the same time – so I’ve not yet decided if they’ll be published in one e-book edition or as individual stories. That will depend on the length of each one. Noah’s book (not yet finished) already has almost 52,000 words. I’m hoping to cap it at 60,000 and move on to finish Aiden’s story,  but that’s likely to change.

There will be more updates when I have them.

Upcoming Christmas Stories

Hopefully 2021 will have me publishing at least 2 new Christmas stories that I wanted to publish in 2020. It didn’t happen for a variety of reasons, one of which being that I didn’t want to take away from the finale of the Willy series. They take place in a small Vermont town during Christmastime. The first one is about Jacob and Owen. Jacob is the police chief of the small town who meets Owen, who’s just passing through. The second one is about Jacob’s brother (a doctor) and one of Owen’s relatives.

These two books will be published together in one e-book edition.

If you like kids, you should enjoy these books. Jacob’s nephew Jesse steals the show a few times. If you don’t like kids, you might want to pass on these when they’re released. Jesse’s not everywhere in Jacob and Owen’s story, but he’ll play a big part in Dustin’s because Dustin is his father.

The first story was written last year. The other one will be completed (hopefully) in the coming weeks.

As with the Hooper Lake series, I’ll post updates when they’re available.

Alabama Crimson Tide

If you know anything about me, you know I’m one of the biggest Alabama football fans in the world. I won’t go on and on about how awesome my team was this past year, but I will say this…. even with the pandemic, they killed it. I’ve never seen a team play like this one. I doubt there’s ever been one as good in the history of the program.

They won the championship the day before my birthday so you know I had a blast celebrating. I’m hoping the 2021 season is as good as 2020’s was. It was nice watching the haters (there are SO many Alabama haters) eat their words about us only ever playing ‘cupcake’ teams.

The Pandemic

I don’t know where to even start with the pandemic. The amount of new cases and deaths have dropped drastically in my state (Alabama). Honestly, I don’t know how. The only place I ever see people consistently wearing masks is at a specific grocery store and I’m not talking about Wal-Mart. I and my family wear them everywhere we go. I can’t tell you how many smartass comments I’ve gotten from anti-maskers because I cared enough about THEM to wear a mask in public.

Two of my sons had COVID. Both were serious but thankfully didn’t get bad enough for hospitalization. My youngest had it in late October and early November. He still can’t taste or smell. My oldest had it in January. He’s still feeling weak.

Today someone whose family I know well will be buried after suffering in the hospital for over six weeks before his body just couldn’t take it anymore. My heart breaks for all of them.

I want to scream when I hear someone say it’s not real or not that bad. There’s no rhyme nor reason when it comes to COVID. I’ve seen people who have all kinds of underlying conditions recover without a problem. But then I’ve seen others (like the man I mentioned above) who are perfectly healthy but end up dying from it.

Wear a mask. Get the vaccine if you can, when you can. If you don’t believe in wearing the masks, don’t be a jerk to those who do.

And please don’t @ me with political stuff or any of the ‘it’s not real’ nonsense. I won’t respond. Everybody has an opinion and I think I made mine pretty clear.

I avoid political stuff like the plague with everyone except those closest to me. It does me no good to go back and forth with people (usually total strangers) who want to argue. I refuse to allow myself to be dragged into something that will end up upsetting me. It’s just not worth it.

COVID is not a political thing. It’s a real disease.

That’s all I’ll say about that.

~~~ * ~~~

I think that about covers everything for now. For those who have asked about An Unlikely Romance: Brett & Casey, there’s something holding me back from publishing it. It’s been edited and ready to go for a couple of years but I feel like something is missing. When I figure out what it is – and fix it – I’ll hit publish on it. Note that the cover on the right is tentative. It may change slightly before it’s published.

I hope everybody is doing well. Thank you all again for making Santa and Drew’s story a success.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Until next time,

Candi

Happy Holidays!

What a year it’s been, huh? Geez. I’m sure I speak for everybody when I say that 2021 can’t get here fast enough.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate, the final installment of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series. It’s been a great ride and I’m beyond thrilled that so many readers have embraced my crazy version of the North Pole. Ending the series was bittersweet. I hated to say goodbye but I knew it was time. Don’t be surprised if I pop up in the coming years with short stories and updates from that world. I love these guys and I can’t imagine walking away permanently. And then there’s the fact that Willy the elf rarely shuts up in my head. 😉

Kazza of On Top Down Under Book Reviews added Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate to her favorite books of 2020 list. How awesome is that? She’s been a huge supporter of my books since Taking Lance way back when. I’ll forever be grateful. Check out her list here. To be included with so many amazing authors and their amazing books means so much.

Also, you have to read/listen to her review of the book. You can do that here. She always has the best visuals. The Darth Vadar wearing a Santa hat one is perfect for Willy’s quote. I love it!

Something else that’s pretty awesome? Author KC Faelan asked me to do a follow-up interview for her website to the one I did last year. You can check out last year’s post here and the follow-up here. It’s always a pleasure stopping by and talking with KC. I can talk anybody’s ear off about my books, but it means much more when I’m discussing them with someone who’s read them, who knows the characters and the stories. She’s a fan of the series and knows all about Willy’s crazy world. 😉

~~~

I’ve been bad this year about posting. Worse than usual, I mean. I think 2020 has been crazy for everybody. I’ve barely even promoted ‘Santa’. I’m truly blessed to have the amazing readers I have. If you’re new to the series, welcome! And I guess I should apologize in advance for Willy. 😉 If you’ve been with me from the beginning and are still hanging around, I adore you. Seriously.

There was never supposed to be more than one book. I’ve said this a million times but I’m saying it again… there’s no greater compliment to an author than to be asked for more. I love every single one of you.

Happy Holidays to all who celebrate! Here’s hoping for an amazing 2021!

I’ll be popping back in real soon with my end of 2020 post.

Until next time,

Candi

Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate: E-book and ‘Willy’ Swag Giveaway

I’m in the middle of preparing for yet another tropical storm or hurricane to hit my area.

I mean, really, WTF, 2020?

This has been the craziest year ever for hurricanes.

Even so, I wanted to pop on and let everybody know that I have a giveaway happening at On Top Down Under Book Reviews right now. It’s to celebrate their 8th (yay!) blog anniversary and the November 1st release of Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate.

The giveaway –

An e-book of the winner’s choice from my catalog, 1 ‘Santa’ cover magnet, 1 ‘Willy’ quote magnet, 2 (different kinds) naughty list postcards, one ‘Santa’ cover keychain, and a reusable tote bag with Santa’s cover on it. There are also a couple of surprises I’ll be throwing in for the winner.

This giveaway is open to international entries and ends on October 31st.

Check out the giveaway here or by clicking the banner below and enter via Rafflecopter or by commenting on the giveaway post. There’s also a quickie excerpt from the story that hasn’t been shared anywhere else.

Good luck and I hope y’all enjoy Santa and Drew’s story.

Until next time,

Candi Kay

Pre-Order: Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate (Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer, #7)

Hi, all.

I’m excited to announce that Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate, the 7th and final installment of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series, is now available for pre-order and will officially be published on November 1st. Right now, it’s only available on Amazon. It will be added to other e-tailers in the coming weeks.

I mention this in the blurb but I need to stress it again – this book cannot be read as a standalone. If you’ve not read the other books in the series you’ll be confused.

You can find the pre-order link here.

Blurb –

From the World of Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer.

The North Pole isn’t exactly as it appears in fairy tales. It has the elves and Santa and his reindeer, but Santa and Mrs. Claus aren’t the jolly couple the world believes them to be. The reindeer are all shape-shifters who transform into gorgeous beings in human form and are respected by all.

Santa Claus has everything except the one thing he craves most – a mate of his own. Forever told it wasn’t in the cards for him, he goes about his days longing for something he knows he can never have. Maybe Andrew Lanzer isn’t his fated mate, but he knows what he feels for the reindeer goes far beyond simple attraction.

Drew sees how Santa looks at him, but he’s not stupid. Santa’s wife may be gone now, but history has proven she’ll be back. Time and again. He’s hoping one sexual encounter will be enough to get him out of his system. What he doesn’t expect is for it to open the door to so much more.

When Mary Claus demands to be heard, the entire North Pole is thrown into chaos. With the man he loves and his newfound son by his side, Santa must fight harder than he’s ever fought before to rid the North Pole of her conniving presence once and for all. Along the way, he may even discover that what the Fates have always led him to believe might not be true after all. With help from Willy the elf and a few new allies, Santa Claus may finally get the happily-ever-after he’s only ever dreamed of.

Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate cannot be read as a standalone. The finale of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series, it contains characters and stories from each book that will be confusing to readers who have not read the series.

 

 

Final Willy the Kinky Elf Book, New Series, Latest Author Drama, This and That, Updates

I’d already taken a step back from writing and doing blog posts for awhile.  Then 2020 hit and I was forced to step back whether I wanted to or not. Y’all know me. When I do pop in and do updates in a blog post it’s usually pretty long. My apologies in advance.

Now to some long overdue updates…

Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer, #7

I typed the words THE END on the 7th and final installment of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series. Ending that series is bittersweet. I admit to getting quite emotional when I typed the last chapter. If you’ve read the series you know that the last chapter or two always takes place at the annual Christmas party. There’s usually quite a bit of drama, more than a little humor, and tons of announcements about things that have changed over the previous 12 months. In this book, Santa’s story, it takes place over 4 chapters, the equivalent of 26 Microsoft Word pages. Note that a lot of cuts will be made and chapters shortened before the book is finalized so expect that number (maybe even the number of chapters) to drop substantially.

For those who don’t know, Santa’s love interest is Andrew (Drew) Lanzer, Luke Lanzer’s (from last year’s installment) younger brother.

There’s also the matter of Mrs. Claus and ridding the North Pole of her and her meanness once and for all.

Expect the usual Willy the elf shenanigans, including what he dubs Operation Rid-A-Ho – his personal mission to get rid of Mrs. Claus – who he’s always (not so) affectionately called a ho. 😉

It’s also a bit serious in some places. Santa has a lot to do to prove to the residents of the North Pole that he’s changed and won’t be taking his wife back.  He’s always taken her back for reasons brought out in this book. Not everything is as it has appeared in the past.

There’s also the matter of Santa being told throughout his existence that he’s not allowed a mate. This was discussed at length in Barry the Lonely Reindeer & His Bashful Elf (#4 in the series). Drew, however, believes wholeheartedly in the mate bond and is convinced his own mate is out there somewhere and he knows that it can’t be Santa Claus, regardless of the connection they seem to have.

Right?

Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out. 🙂

Each couple from the previous 6 books, and the themes of their stories, are brought in and mentioned at a critical moment. That’s all I can say about that and the story as a whole. Just keep in mind that this is the FINAL book of the series so a lot of things need to be elaborated on that haven’t been in the past, and some issues need to be put to bed once and for all.

The (very rough) first draft came in at almost 108,000 words, by far the most I’ve ever written for one book. Again, expect that number to change.

I have a title and a cover. The blurb still hasn’t been finalized.  I always have a hard time with blurbs, as my best friend could attest.

The plan (as always) is to put the book up for pre-order in the coming weeks, to be published on November 1st.

Another thing to note is that Willy the elf hasn’t shut up in my head for 7 books, plus 3 short stories (the last of which will be published in Santa’s book). For that reason, you can probably expect a freebie or more in the coming years catching you up on the happenings in the North Pole.

Other Updates 

I’ve basically thrown my hands up on all others I’d planned to publish this year. Some are written but they need final run-throughs. I had originally planned to publish a 2-book An Unlikely Romance Christmas Edition about 2 brothers who find love in their small Vermont town during the weeks leading up to Christmas. The first book has been long finished (first draft) but it’s on hold because one of the main characters in the first story is a small town cop. I’m not opening the door for that because of the current political climate. I’m very proud of the story, and I love the character, but it’s just not happening this year.

I have other An Unlikely Romance books that are honestly ready to be published. I’ve just not had time to do anything with them. The same applies to at least 2 books of the College Encounters series. Here’s hoping that 2021 isn’t quite so crazy.

Hooper Lake Series

The Hooper Lake series (series title subject to change) is a little different from other books I’ve written. It’s a 5 book series about 5 adopted brothers who all have to come back to their family home when the oldest brother has a life-changing event occur. Each brother has a unique backstory. I’ve tried to add humor but there are some pretty serious issues delved into with each of the brothers.

The series has been completely outlined (something I’ve never done) and I’ve already started writing all 5 books, another thing I’ve never done before. The first two are pretty much complete. They’re all basically being written at the same time in order to keep details accurate and consistent. I hope to publish all 5 books at the same time not long after the 1st of the year. I may place them in Kindle Unlimited but that’s undecided at this point.

More details will come out as I complete the books.

Latest Erotic Author/Social Media Scandal

If you follow the erotica genre on social media you’ve probably seen the latest. If not, I’m sure a quick search will take you there. A male author has been using a female pen name to write lesfic. Okay, no big deal. I write gay romance under a pen name. I’m a female and have never claimed to be a gay male. Every bio I’ve ever written for Candi Kay describes the real life me 100%. The only difference is the name I write and publish under.

What is a big deal is that this author didn’t just write under a pen name, he catfished a lot of women. As in, gaining  trust and sexting. From what I’ve read, private photos were sent to him that would not have been sent had the women known he wasn’t the female he claimed to be.

I don’t know this author, but I’ve seen him ALL OVER THE PLACE when I’ve gotten on Twitter. We followed each other and he was always, ALWAYS tweeting, retweeting or I’d see comments he made on there. He typed a blog post outing himself as a married (for 25+ years) father of 3.  Apparently he thought that he’d tell the truth and all would be dandy. Uh, no. He violated the trust of a lot of people who never would have shared what they did had they known who he really was.

Do you know what else is bad? The fact that so many people (mostly men from what I’ve seen today, though I’ve seen some women too) are supporting him and telling him he’s ‘brave’.

Uh, what the hell?

Brave?

For lying and catfishing innocent victims?

I seriously just saw a comment where a man called someone on Twitter bigoted for daring to give her views on the above-mentioned author. He then said (later down in his comments) that what the catfish did was ‘marketing’. I kid you not. The man who said this is an author. Below is his quote. I’m not naming him.

‘You’re exhibiting awful, bigoted behavior. Be better. {author name} was incredibly brave and deserves our admiration. Bravery is in short supply today when so many cower before a minuscule number of hard left woke fanatics.’

Incredibly brave, my ass. He was a predator who got his kicks by preying on unsuspecting women. Had he simply been writing as a pen name and not using that pen name to gain the trust of others who sent him photos and talked sexually with him, no biggie.

I’ve been asked for years why I’m not as ‘out there’ as most authors. In my early days of being published I trusted two people I never should have trusted. The first one outed my (and other authors’) real names on Twitter when he had a mental breakdown. The other one was worse. I put a lot of trust in that one. He was someone I considered a friend and mentor. The first one angered me. The second one hurt me. It took a lot of time to get over both so my trust is minimal when it comes to new people. I hate that because I’d never been this way before.

I know those mentioned above are the minority, but it still makes it difficult to trust again after you’ve been stabbed in the back not once but twice. My closest friend and I met online and we’re still going strong almost a decade later so I’m not saying all people you meet online are fake or are out to hurt you. I’m just saying be careful who you trust. I could seriously write a book about the 2 who betrayed me but they’re not worth it. Not anymore.

That’s all I’ll say about that. If you want names of the latest author and the one whose quote I used defending him, shoot me a message. It’s all public. As for the other 2 in my own life, I won’t be sharing that information. The past is the past and I’m over it now.

What else?

I’m sure there’s a lot I’ve missed considering my long absence from this blog and most of social media. Just know that I read all my messages and emails and I can’t stress enough how much I love hearing from readers.

Take care of yourselves. We’re in trying times right now and the new numbers of COVID-19 cases are staggering, my state now considered a hot spot. Wash your hands, use hand sanitizer, and if you’re told to wear a mask, wear a mask. It’s a small inconvenience. I live in the South where it’s miserably hot this time of year. But you know what? I go nowhere without my mask on, regardless of how uncomfortable it gets to be. And trust me, when the heat index is often close to 110 F with sky high humidity, it gets uncomfortable.

I still wear my mask.

Until next time,

Candi Kay

 

Freebie: Happy Anniversary to Me!

Every year on April 5th I celebrate my publishing anniversary. My first book, Taking Lance, was published April 5,2014 so I’m celebrating #6. Normally I do some type of contest for people to win one or more of my books. This year I’m making it easy.

To celebrate my 6th publishing anniversary, I’m giving away an e-book of the reader’s choice to anybody who asks for it. If it has been published by me, it’s available.

Tell me in the comments what book and what format you want it in. Don’t put your email in the public comments. You’ll be asked to list it privately in order to publish a comment. I’ll see it there.

If you don’t want to leave a comment, send me an email to candikayauthor@gmail.com or a private message on one of my social media accounts – Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. If you do it that way, I will need you to privately give me the email address you want it sent to.

Disregard where Facebook says I have a 0% response rate on my author page. That’s far from the truth. I just don’t respond to messages asking for boob pics, offers to send me dick pics, or others who think that because I write erotica that I get turned on by anonymous pervs on the internet. 😉 If you prefer, you can request me as a friend on my other Facebook page and send me a PM there.

This giveaway will run through April 15th.

If your book choice is Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Mate I’ll also send you two bonus stories from that book, Doc’s and Randy’s. Note that those stories won’t make a whole lot of sense if you’ve not read Luke.

Thank you to every single person who has read one of my books. I know I’m not as out there as some authors, so it means a lot knowing that I’m being read. Thank you for the past 6 past years. I appreciate every single one of you.

And a special thank you to my best friend who gave me the encouragement to finally put my words out there. She’ll forever be credited for every single book I publish.

You can find all my books on my Amazon page or here.

Please take care of yourselves during the pandemic. I live in a state that takes the ‘wait and see’ approach. Only on Friday did they finally decide to take things seriously. I fear for how many people were infected leading up to it. One of my sons works in the medical field so the fear for me is quite real, as it is for most people right now.

Stay inside and away from people. Follow all the guidelines, including social distancing. I’ve seen so many people complaining. I’d rather be inconvenienced some that end up in the hospital or worse.

Until next time,

Candi

P.S. For those wondering where I’ve been… I spent almost 9 months out of 2019 traveling. During that time, I was focusing on publishing Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Mate and Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa. When I got home, and after the books were published, I took a step back from everything. I’m back writing again and happy to report that the 7th and final book of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series (that would be Santa’s) is only a chapter or so from being complete. It will be published November 1st, 2020.

Happy Holidays!

Traveling and a bad case of the flu has kept me mostly offline recently, but I couldn’t not pop on and wish everybody very Happy Holidays!

Thank you to everyone who has picked up Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf and Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa. I’m thrilled with the feedback both stories have received so far.

Someone was kind enough to nominate Dylan the Bad Boy Reindeer & His Virtuous Mate (Willy, #5) as ‘best paranormal’ in the MM Romance Group on Goodreads. If you’re a member of the group, even if you don’t vote for ‘Dylan’, I hope you’ll vote for some of the other amazing books that have been nominated. You can find ‘best paranormal’ here, but make sure you vote on others!

The first draft of the still-untitled Santa’s story (Willy, #7 – the series finale) is close to being complete. It’s going to be so hard saying goodbye to those guys. I’ll update more on the story throughout the year.

Author KC Faelan interviewed me a few weeks ago about my writing process and Willy’s World. It was such a fun interview. You can check it out here.

Also, all my books published on Smashwords, with the exception of the .99 books, will be on sale for 25% off from December 25th through January 1st during the Smashwords End of the Year Sale. You can find my Smashwords profile here.

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday. My husband and I will be spending Christmas Eve watching Die Hard. Christmas Day will be spent with his family before my sons and their significant others come by my house for dinner. We’re starting new traditions. Last year we did Mexican food and margaritas. This year will be steaks, and well, margaritas. 😉

I’ll be back soon with my end of the year post and updates on upcoming books.

Until next time,

Candi

Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa Now Live!

Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf (Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer, #6) and Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa are both live!

I hope you enjoy reading about Luke and Micah and Kane and Sam! Keep reading after THE END of ‘Luke’ for info on two free bonus scenes.

More e-tailer links will be added as they become available.

Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf (Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer, #6)

Blurb –

From the World of Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer.

The North Pole isn’t exactly as it appears in fairy tales. It has the elves and Santa and his reindeer, but Santa and Mrs. Claus aren’t the jolly couple the world believes them to be. The reindeer are all shape-shifters who transform into gorgeous beings in human form and are respected by all.

Luke has always known he was different. He’s never fit in with the reindeer or the elves. When long-buried secrets come to light, he has no choice but to run. Forced to hide or risk his brother being caught in the crossfire, he does what he has to do to survive. He stays hidden well until the one moment he makes the mistake of letting his guard down.

Micah Matthews is one of the most loved nurses in the North Pole. He’s funny, cute, and good at his job. When the big man himself requests Micah as a private nurse for a special patient, he agrees without hesitation. What he doesn’t expect is to find his mate in the process. Micah knows it would be all kinds of wrong to stay as Luke’s nurse once he discovers the truth, but is walking away even an option? What if the attacker somehow manages to find him and finish what he started?

Between a matchmaking elf and Santa Claus actually being nice, Luke is convinced he’s been dropped into the Twilight Zone. Throw in some Peppermint Whiskey, a super-hot nurse, and a younger brother who may or may not have the hots for Santa, and Luke knows his life will never be the same again.

256 Kindle pages.

Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo

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Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa

Blurb –

Kane’s been one of Santa’s little helpers for five years and has always enjoyed his part-time holiday gig playing an elf. Well, until he meets the newest mall Santa Claus anyway. Sam Clausen is thirty to Kane’s twenty-two, but that doesn’t stop Kane from wanting to be Sam’s Ho! Ho! Ho! One glance at the man outside the costume and it’s instant lust. Unfortunately, while Sam is great with children, he’s a grumpy Santa to Kane. Everything changes when Sam witnesses Kane’s elfy-self making a certain little boy giggle.

When Kane discovers that the man he’s been lusting after has five-year-old twins, his fantasies fly off with Santa’s reindeer. He refuses to be Sam’s secret fling if he’s taken, and he has no desire to become an instant daddy to somebody’s children.

Will Kane give in when Sam makes his interest known? Or will he run away without seeing what could happen with Sam and his little family?

Tags: Christmas, Children, Contemporary, Family, Older Man/Younger Man, Romance, Short Story

76 Kindle pages.

Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo | Smashwords

Luke the Hybrid Reindeer (Willy the Kinky Elf, #6) and Eating Disorders

You saw that title and thought, what the heck does Willy’s World have to do with eating disorders?

Luke, the main character in Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf, has battled anorexia on and off since he was a teenager.

When readers pick up this series they expect Willy and his craziness. Each story has a theme outside of Willy as well. I’ve covered love is love, adult bullying, addiction and redemption, domestic violence, and child abuse.

And now we get to Luke, whose story I (unfortunately) understand too well.

Forgive me for getting personal, but here goes…

I was fifteen when my eating disorder started. I was having problems with my knee and given a cortisone shot. My weight, that had always been in the mid-nineties or so, got up to 103. No biggie, right? I knew as soon as I got off the meds I’d go back down to my (already too thin) normal weight. I have ADHD and have always been rush, rush about everything, so that played a part as well. I also should stress that I’m barely an inch over five-feet tall.

My mother pushed me to step on the scale. Her exact words to me (as she laughed) were, “You’re getting fat.”

Mom and I never had the best relationship. My sisters and I were criticized at every turn. I, being the youngest of the three, was blamed for the destruction of her and my dad’s marriage simply because I’d been born a female instead of male. Apparently, I was the ‘last chance, save the marriage’ baby. My dad always wanted a boy and already had two girls, so…

To be blunt, until my mother died last year I wasn’t treated well, yet I was expected to wait on her hand and foot. It was especially hard after I lost my sisters and I was her only living child.

All that is a story I won’t go into, but suffice it to say that her, “You’re getting fat,” that was said in glee (seriously) was a huge turning point for me. I started seeing myself as overweight so I started cutting back on anything and everything with calories. What Luke consumed during his worst moments was exactly what I had day in and day out – lots of black coffee, a lot of water, and a 230 calorie candy bar.

At my worst I was 83 pounds, severely anemic, always dizzy, dry heaving constantly because I barely put anything into my body, and passing out daily. Like Luke, I had an amazing teacher who went above my mother’s head and pushed for me to get help. He risked his job to do so because he was a good man. When my mother finally took me to the doctor it was done simply to prevent Child Services from stepping in, not out of concern for my health.

I wasn’t allowed to speak. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone what I was going through. All questions were asked of my mother, not me – you know, the patient. I was forced (unlike Luke) to have test after unnecessary test run on me for stomach issues.  I did have an ulcer but that wasn’t what was causing my rapid weight loss. When a nurse in the doctor’s office pushed for why I wasn’t eating, Mom said the same thing Luke’s mother says, only with sister instead of brother, “She’s jealous of her older sister. She’s doing this for attention.”

I loved my older sister, but she was the favorite. Everybody knew this because my (divorced) parents were quick to tell everybody that.

Both of my sisters are gone now. My middle sister was treated as bad as I was. Well, worse in some ways.

It was that same older sister who showed up at our house out of the blue with her new husband who finally got me help. She’d not seen me in a few weeks and she caught me walking out after a shower in a thin tank top, shorts, and a towel on my head. You could literally see my ribs. She freaked, my brother-in-law freaked, Mom got yelled at for ‘watching me kill myself and doing nothing about it’ and I was in a doctor’s office – without my mother – the next day. I wasn’t allowed to go home before I was sent straight to the hospital for an inpatient stay.

The sister who I was ‘supposedly’ jealous of literally saved my life.

I was finally getting the help I needed, but that didn’t stop my mom. She threatened me if I dared speak with a social worker or anybody else in authority. If I did, I was to lie and say I ate fine and WAS doing it for attention because I WAS jealous of my sister. I may have resented being constantly told my sister was better than me, but that wasn’t what started my ED. I never said any of that but I wasn’t overly cooperative when questions were asked. I was terrified of my mother.

Since then I’ve battled on and off. I met my husband during a relapse three years later. He’s watched me pass out in restaurants and at concerts. He’s held me as I’ve lain on the floor of the bathroom praying I won’t faint. After my sons came and got older, he taught them what to look for if he wasn’t around. That’s the worst of it for me as an adult. My kids were literally told what to watch for. That breaks my heart to this day and they’re all grown now.

I’m a lot better now, but the mindset never truly goes away. I still remember every comment made to me about my weight over the years, especially during my teen years. I’ve not spoken to a family friend since I was eighteen because she said, “Oh! You’ve put on quite a few pounds since I saw you last. You know, with your mother being overweight…” Rude on her part, yes, but something I should’ve gotten over already. For the record, I was 98 pounds when she said that.

The comments are never forgotten. The people saying them may long forget but the person they say them to won’t.

With that being said, if you know someone who’s suffering, LISTEN. Don’t judge. Don’t say you know how they feel unless you’ve experienced it yourself. Don’t tell them to get over it already. And for God’s sake, never, EVER say, “Just eat.” Oh, and this one was always fun (not) – “I know you’re supposedly sick and all, but shouldn’t you cut back before you gain too much?”

You’d be surprised how insensitive some people can be.

If you know somebody who’s suffering, reach out. They may say they’re doing fine but they’re not. When they look in a mirror they don’t see what you see when you look at them. They see an overweight person who could lose a few more pounds. At my worst, I would gain one and lose three. It was a pattern.

When you read about Luke just know that his story was written from someone who’s been there. A lot of details were switched around and/or fictionalized for his particular story, but not the severity of the issue.

If you’re suffering and need someone to talk to – someone who understands – please reach out to me. If not me, somebody else. I promise anything you say will be kept between us. Shoot me an email to candikayauthor@gmail.com. I had nobody when I was a scared fifteen-year-old girl. Looking back, I know having someone to talk to who simply understood would’ve done wonders in my recovery.

My mother went to her grave denying I ever had any type of problem. I spent every day until then being told constantly that I was fat, that my husband would leave me if I gained any weight, etc. Lord, I could go on, but I won’t.

I hope you all enjoy Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf. You’ve all embraced my crazy North Pole and I’ll forever be grateful.

As for Willy, well, he’s more over the top this year than normal so be prepared. He takes his crudeness to a new level. Every time I tried to tone him down he just got worse.

I’ll pop back in when ‘Luke’ goes live on November 1st, as well as with a post on another November 1st release, Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa, both of which are available for pre-order now.

Until next time,

Candi Kay

P.S. I don’t suggest looking up memes about this topic. A majority of them infuriated me. Apparently, eating disorders are a big joke to some? Just… wow.