Today is a big day for me. Exactly 10 years ago I took one of the biggest chances of my life and hit publish on one of my stories for the first time. There aren’t enough words to describe how terrified I was to put myself out into the world like that. I’d been writing for years, but I never shared my stories with anybody – until Taking Lance. I allowed my best friend to read it, and the rest (as they say) is history. I’ll forever credit her for every single book I ever publish. If she ever gets tired of me and dumps my butt as a friend, I’ll still credit her for everything. 😉
Goodreads says I’ve published 25 books total since then, but I didn’t manually count them before typing this. That doesn’t even count my pen name stories that I’ve published.
My original plan to celebrate my publishing anniversary was to write a quick update telling the readers what Rick and Lance are up to these days. Unfortunately, a serious health issue prevented that. I’ve recently spent close to a week in the hospital, with 3 of those in ICU. While I won’t say I’m 100% right now, I will say that I’m doing better. I could say it wasn’t anything serious, but it damn sure could’ve been. I had a bad internal infection that could’ve easily turned into sepsis had my husband and doctor not insisted I go to the emergency room when I did. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the gist of it.
I’m a very private person when it comes to my real world. I’ve discussed my ADHD and migraines in blog posts, but there are other issues I’ve never gone into. I’m happy to finally have a diagnosis, but I’m also frustrated because there’s no cure or real treatment for it. It’s not fatal, just frustrating to have to live with. Even so, I’m doing better now thanks to the hospital stay, antibiotics, and my husband and sons who have taken good care of me.
With that being said, no Taking Lance update. I had really hoped to do something special to celebrate my 10th year, but unfortunately that’s off the table for now. What I’ve done instead is make the Taking Lance complete series available free on Amazon today only.
I can’t tell you how much I adore Rick and Lance, Lance especially. Those were my first guys, and they’ll forever hold a special place in my heart. Just note that their stories were written before I started writing M/M almost exclusively, so don’t go into these books expecting more of the same. It’s not there. There’s a massive age gap, and lots of sex with others on-page. Rick is bisexual and hooks up with quite a few women and men before he and Lance are exclusive – often at the same time. Once they’re exclusive, no others are brought into their beds.
If that’s not your cup of tea, please don’t read it. Shoot me a message and I’ll gladly send you an e-copy of one of my other books, your choice. This does not apply to the Purrs series that has been put on hold.
Thank you to every reader who has picked up not just the Taking Lance series but any of my books. Without you I wouldn’t still be doing what I love a decade later.
Thank you BIG to my best friend who fell in love with Rick Preston long before I did. 😉 Lots of love, my friend. Also, a big thanks to my husband who may not understand it, but he supports it anyway.
You can find the link for the full series on Amazon here. Remember, it’s free today only.
Until next time,
Candi
Cupid is loosely based on the Roman mythological god Cupid. I stress the word loosely, as this is a contemporary story with the main characters both being male instead of male and female. A lot of liberties were taken in my interpretations of Cupid and Peitho, the secondary characters – including Eros, Psyche, Aphrodite, Venus, and Mercury – and the story behind them. Nowhere in my research does it even hint that Peitho (a Greek goddess) and Cupid were an item. That’s simply a product of my imagination.
After Cupid is published, I’ll be focusing on The Right Time (tentative title), and hoping to get it published soon. When I can mark that one off, I’ll hopefully move onto another completed one. I may even make a list and pick one at a time to work on. Wish me luck because I suck when it comes to focusing on ONE THING for too long, in this case being my completed and unpublished books.
One thing I can’t not mention is the retirement of Alabama Crimson Tide’s beloved coach, Nick Saban. We fans may have expected it, but that by no means made it easier. He took our program to heights we will likely never see again. Here’s hoping that Coach DeBoer, our new head coach, has a good run. I couldn’t imagine the pressure of stepping in after the (literal) greatest to ever coach the game. True fans will support him. We’ll also remember the players who felt that $$$ was more important than tradition. There’s looking out for yourself, and there’s what one former player in particular did. To those in the former, I honestly wish them well. To the last guy, I hope he sees that the grass isn’t always greener.
I also wanted to thank all of you who have kept all my Christmas stories alive over the past few holiday seasons. There’s no greater compliment to an author than when readers tell you they reread your books as you guys have with 
I hope everybody has an amazing Christmas and a very happy New Year. I’ll be spending a few days with my husband, three sons, and their significant others. Two of my sons live and/or work out of state, so I’m excited they’ll both be home soon.
The Right Time (very tentative title) – Enemies-to-lovers, both bi characters. This tells the story of Ryan Bailey and Greyson Tanner, two men in their forties who have spent the past 29 years pretending they’re not both head over heels in love with each other. Something happened when they were both 18 that ruined any chances of them being friends, much less more. Ryan’s spent almost three decades wanting to make it right. Grey’s spent almost three decades trying to avoid Ryan at all costs, something made difficult by the fact that they both went into law in the same small town, and that their sons have been the best of friends for over a decade.
The story has been complete for quite some time. I’m now in the serious self-editing stage. Unless something drastic happens between now and then it will definitely be published not long into the new year.
Untitled Cinderfella story – I started this book in 2015 and forgot about it. I went back into it earlier this year. I’m in the process of writing the last chapter now, so the first draft should be complete very soon, depending on life and how I’m feeling. It’s a modern day gay romance Cinderella story. I’m looking forward to finally putting it into the world.
Willy the Kinky Elf short – I started writing this a few months ago but wasn’t able to finish it in time for Christmas 2023. Willy won’t shut up in my head (still), so I thought I’d write a little quickie with an update of what’s been happening in the North Pole since Mrs. Claus was finally banished. Hopefully I can publish it on November 1, 2024.
We ate too much food, those of us not driving had too many margaritas, and we all stayed up way too late. It was one of the best days I’ve had in a very long time.
This woman is not elderly or disabled. I think she’s younger than me, but I suck when it comes to guessing ages. If she was elderly or disabled and genuinely needed help, we’d do it in a heartbeat. She’s not.
The new story will focus on two lifelong best friends who are elves working in Santa’s workshop. Santa’s a bit of a perv when it comes to elf porn, though – unlike in Willy – his wife is a sweetheart. There’s a lot more to it, but I won’t be oversharing at the moment.
That happened with Rick Preston 
The reason I mention this here now is because I’m reading the 
I’m still fighting USPS on that one.
Do you guys have any special traditions? Have you created new ones as the years went by?
Speaking of Willy… thank you to all the readers who keep the series going strong this time every single year. The books are used in a lot of reading challenges on Goodreads, which means more to me than you’ll ever know. I never would’ve dreamed that my kinky little elf series would still be going strong 8 years later. So, thank you all again.
To help celebrate 
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