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.Β  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.

Pre-Orders: Willy the Kinky Elf, #6, Giveaway & Excerpt, and Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa

I want to thank everyone who has checked out An Unlikely Romance – Ben & Mason. That was such a fun book to write. I’m thrilled with the feedback I’ve received. Brett and Casey’s story will be published after the first of the year, along with new College Encounters stories.

Now to what’s upcoming –

Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf

I’ll start with the 2019 installment of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series.

You might remember Luke from Dylan’s story last year. He was a rent boy Dylan prevented from getting shaken down by a rough john early in the book. Luke gave up tricking several months ago, but he’s still in hiding in Mistletoe Hill. The reasons for that will be told throughout his book. Micah, a hot nurse, is his love interest. Micah is also Willy’s first cousin so you get a chance to find out where Willy got his, well, Willy-ness. That would be from his mother, who I simply adored writing.

The secret left hanging last year is answered in the second chapter of ‘Luke’ so no waiting until the end of yet another book.

Expect quite a bit of Willy and his silliness in this installment. I should probably go ahead and apologize in advance, but Willy is Willy. That elf doesn’t like being censored. πŸ˜‰

It should be noted strongly that if you’ve not read the series up to now the characters and their stories will likely not make much sense. In other words, this can not be read as a standalone. While Luke and Micah will definitely get their HEA, it will also lead in to the series finale next year, Santa’s story. Santa’s story has already taken shape and if I had the time I’d be writing the heck out of it right now. I’m hoping I can get to it soon.

You can check out an exclusive excerpt at On Top Down Under Book Reviews now to help celebrate their 7th anniversary. The excerpt gives the reader a glimpse of Luke and Micah’s very first meeting. There are also a couple of Willy quotes.

Check it out and leave a comment on my On Top Down Under post for a chance to win your choice of 2 of my e-books. Just click the above link to get there. Also, check out the other anniversary posts and giveaways and give them a shout out for 7 great years.

You can pre-order Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf at Amazon here, and add it on Goodreads 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.

Luke has always known he was different. He’s never fit in with the reindeerΒ orΒ 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.

Approximately 88,500 words.

Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa

Kane and Sam’s story was originally written the same holiday season of the first Willy book. I wasn’t happy with it so I held off on publishing. After changing up a few things I’m finally happy with the story.

Kane the Fake Elf & His Sexy Mall Santa is NOT part of Willy’s World. This is a brand new contemporary story with absolutely nothing to do with Willy and his gang of elves and shifting reindeer.

Kane is a mall elf and Sam is the new fake Santa. They don’t exactly get off to a good start. That changes when Kane meets Sam’s five-year-old twins, Emma and Elliott.

So, what to expect?

Kids, family, and an epilogue so sappy and sweet I still get misty-eyed when I read it. πŸ™‚ A lot of people don’t like kids in books and I totally respect that. If you’re one of them, I suggest staying far, far away from this book. It’s all about Emma and Elliott and Sam and Kane working toward building a small family together.

There’s also an age difference between Sam and Kane, with almost 8 years between them.

I hope you’ll check it out when it’s published on November 1st. You can pre-order it from Amazon here and add it to Goodreads here.

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’sΒ Ho! Ho! Ho!Β 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 StoryΒ 

Approximately 26,000 words.

New Release! An Unlikely Romance – Ben & Mason

After dragging my feet for way too long I finally hit publish on An Unlikely Romance – Ben & Mason.

What to expect?

Two forty-somethings who don’t do relationships.

Matchmaking adult children.

A serious case of insta-love.

Approximately 32,500 words or 101 Kindle pages.

This is one of those stories where the reader knows pretty much right off what Ben and Mason don’t. It wasn’t written to be mysterious in that regard. Told in alternating first-person points of view – as I’m usually known to write – it tells the story of two forty-something men who meet in a bar and start a no-strings sexual relationship. Things happen really fast as both Ben and Mason go from swearing off relationships to wanting one pretty badly. Unfortunately, doubts creep in when they discover that they actually have a connection that has nothing at all to do with sex.

I hope you enjoy Ben and Mason’s story. If you check it out,Β  I hope you’ll let me know what you think.

Purchase links will be updated (below) as it goes live on more e-tailers.

Also, note to my followers –

When I add the book on here (to my book pages) you might receive another email. My apologies in advance for that.

Blurb –

The last thing Ben and Mason want is a relationship. Both in their forties, they’re content hooking up with random guys in between the demands of their jobs and family. When they meet in a bar, there’s an instant attraction. It doesn’t take long before they’re coming up with the perfect arrangement – no names, no details, no strings. The sex is good and neither man has to worry about silly emotions getting involved.

What starts out simple becomes anything but when one of their dates ends abruptly and they forget to schedule their next meeting or even exchange info. Suddenly Ben and Mason are finding themselves wanting a lot more than anonymous sex in a cheap motel room.

Convinced they’ll never see each other again, fate finds a way in the form of crazy work schedules, an upcoming wedding, and adult children who have been trying to hook up their dads for months.

An Unlikely Romance – Ben and Mason is a story about two men in their forties who find everything they want but didn’t even know they were looking for. Part of the An Unlikely Romance series, it’s a complete standalone with no details linking it to other books in the series. The only commonality is that all couples come together under unusual circumstances.

Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo | Smashwords

Smashwords Sale, Updates, This & That

Hi, everyone.

Ben & Mason Update

At the end of June I published an update about an upcoming story, An Unlikely Romance: Ben & Mason. I had planned to have it released shortly after, but a few things happening in the real world caused it to be delayed.

For years I’ve been dealing with carpal tunnel. About three weeks ago it went beyond the occasional aches and pains to something a bit more severe in my left hand. I’ll spare you all the details, but suffice it to say that I’ve not been able to do much typing because of the pain. I’m much better now, but there were a couple of weeks that I had a difficult time even logging on to my computer. I’m working on the final edits and hope to have it published in the very near future.

I’ve also gone back into Willy the Kinky Elf #6 and should have the first draft finalized very soon.

I’m still traveling (with another quick back and forth cross country trip happening this week – flying there, driving back) so that slows me down a little as well. Throw in having visitors over the past week or so and I’ve pretty much been all over the place.

Smashwords Sale

The sale of my books on Smashwords is still happening. All (with the exception of the .99 ones) are half-price throughout the month of July. You can check out my Smashwords profile here. If you read any of the books I hope you’ll let me know what you think. πŸ™‚

BookFunnel

I recently set up an account at BookFunnel so I can offer freebies on occasion, and possibly finally get it set up where new subscribers automatically get a free book instead of having to contact me with the book of their choice. I’ll update when I figure it out.

Instagram

I’m now on Instagram. I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing, so that’s another thing I’m trying to learn. I’m always on Twitter and available via other social media sites and gmail. Pinterest has started removing pins again so I’m trying to be careful on there these days. Not that I’ve posted anything bad or too revealing, but the Pinterest Prude Police have been out in full force recently. The last thing I had reported was something I’d sent via private message on there. Not sure how it was reported considering it was my best friend I sent it to. And trust me when I say that what I sent her was mild compared to others we’ve sent back and forth. πŸ˜‰ I’m assuming that whoever posted the pic originally was tagged and it had them tagging me as well. Who knows? I learned a long time ago not to question the way Pinterest works. It does no good.

I think that’s it for now. I have a million things to do before our next little travel adventure in a couple of days. I should probably stop procrastinating and get it done.

Until next time,

Candi

 

Smashwords Summer Winter Sale – Half Price Sale! – July 1st – July 31st

From July 1st through July 31st all my books that are published on Smashwords – with the exception of My Son’s Girl and My Son’s Friends (2 Erotic Shorts), and The Guy In The Coffee Shop – are on sale for half their original price. This includes the entire Willy the Kinky Elf series. Until recently, only Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer and Evan the Virgin Reindeer & His Sexy Buck were on there. I finally took the time to add them all so I could include them in this sale. I’ve also added Christopher (College Encounters, #1).

The Taking Lance series is still only available on Amazon so it’s not part of the Smashwords promotion. I’d love to put the Lance books back on other sites but apparently the first book in the series was suddenly a big no-no to every e-tailer except Amazon so I pulled them all. No actual incest, yet it was too naughty for even Smashwords. I don’t think I’ll ever understand that.

If you’ve been curious about checking out some of my books and haven’t done it yet, this is the perfect time. The links below take you my Smashwords profile and to the individual book pages. I’ve added the sale prices.

I may add my upcoming release, An Unlikely Romance – Ben & Mason, when it’s published. I’ll update everywhere if I do.

My Smashwords Profile

Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer – .99

Evan the Virgin Reindeer & His Sexy Buck – $1.25

Blake the Rogue Reindeer & His Cocky Human – $1.50

Barry the Lonely Reindeer & His Bashful Elf – $1.50

Dylan the Bad Boy Reindeer & His Virtuous Mate – $1.50

Christopher (College Encounters, #1) – .99

Eros – .99

Just Friends – .99

Books That Are Always .99Β 

The Guy In The Coffee Shop – .99

My Sons Girl & My Son’s Friends – 2 Erotic Shorts (M/F erotica) – .99

Upcoming Release: An Unlikely Romance – Ben & Mason

 

I have been working a lot on upcoming releases. Some are stories written way back when that were never published. Some are brand new. I almost never just work on one story at a time. While that’s really good sometimes because it keeps me from getting bored, it’s also kind of bad because of my ADHD brain that has me bouncing from one to another. I finally took a step back to just focus on one until it’s published and then I’ll go back to the others.

The first one is An Unlikely Romance – Ben & Mason. This is actually the 2nd story written in the ‘An Unlikely Romance’ series but I’m publishing it first. I’m able to switch them up because characters and settings aren’t linked in any way. All main characters in each book will come together under unusual circumstances. There’s also a bit of insta-love happening in the first 2 books, along with well-meaning relatives who try to do some matchmaking. They’re not, however, set in the same towns or have any characters in common.

Ben & Mason came to be when I was on Amazon a few weeks ago trying to find books to read with older characters – as in, not twenty-somethings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the younger characters too (hello! I write them often), but sometimes I want to step outside of that and find characters who are a little older. I was shocked to discover that there are only a select few available. Oh, there are tons with older men and women who hook up with younger ones (most of what I write, actually) but not many with both characters being in their forties or older. Before I even found a book to buy, Mason and Ben’s story was running through my head.

At the moment, it’s around 30,000 words. That may or may not change before it’s published. The blurb (below) is subject to change slightly.

I hope to publish it within the next week or so.

This is my first new non-Willy the Kinky Elf or Taking Lance story in quite some time, so I’m eager to put it out there. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’ll update here and everywhere else closer to publication date.

Blurb –

Ben and Mason don’t do relationships. While everybody else believes they should settle down now that they’re in their forties, both men are quite content hooking up with random guys in between the demands of their jobs and families.

When they meet in a bar, there’s an instant attraction. It doesn’t take long before they’re coming up with the perfect arrangement – no names, no details, no strings. The sex is good and neither man has to worry about silly emotions getting involved.

What starts out simple becomes anything but when one of their dates ends suddenly and they forget to schedule their next meeting or even exchange names. Now Ben and Mason are finding themselves wanting a lot more than anonymous sex in a cheap motel room.

Convinced they’ll never see each other again, fate finds a way in the form of crazy work schedules, an upcoming wedding, and adult children who have been trying to hook up their dads for months.

An Unlikely Romance – Ben and Mason is a story about two men in their early forties who find everything they want but didn’t even know they were looking for. Part of the An Unlikely Romance series, it’s a complete standalone with no details linking it to other books in the series. The only commonality is that all couples come together under unusual circumstances.

My State, Willy the Kinky Elf, #6, This and That

It’s been almost a month since I’ve posted anything so I thought I’d do it now while I have a few minutes.

I’m going to just go ahead and get this out of the way because it’s become a serious issue over the past few days.

I was born and raised in Alabama. That’s where my home is. That’s where I was married and where I raised my sons.

With that being said…

I didn’t vote for the corrupt governor or any of the others in Montgomery. During the campaign Kay Ivey, the governor, didn’t debate, didn’t campaign, didn’t answer any questions. You know why? Because she knew that she was going to win because of that big R next to her name. The man who ran against her for governor barely put up a campaign because he knew she would win. I’m hard pressed right now to even remember his name and I voted for the guy. Sad, huh? He gave up before he ever even got started.

Until we get candidates who are willing to fight to beat these people, we’re going to continue to go backwards. I’ve been watching it happen most of my life. It’s really sad because once upon a time I was proud of where I came from. But then the Robert Bentleys (if you don’t know who he is, Google his sordid tale) and Roy Moores came out of the woodwork and showed me just how screwed up my state really is.

Speaking of Roy Moore… he’s planning on running for office again. The sad part is that he has a lot of supporters. I’d like to say that surprises me but it really doesn’t.

I can’t go anywhere on social media without seeing bad things said about every single person in or from Alabama. Seeing it all over the place is bad. Having it aimed at me by people I don’t even know just makes me mad. And anybody who honestly believes that I think a woman should carry a rapist’s baby to term is, to be blunt, delusional. Under this new law a rapist would get less time in jail than a doctor. Also, had this law been in effect when I miscarried many, many years ago my doctor could have gone to jail over something beyond his or my control.

Does any of that make sense? Of course not.

I won’t turn this into a debate. Any messages sent or comments made trying to pull me into one won’t be responded to. And no comments on the subject will be approved on this post.

Some of the messages and comments I’ve received this week have gone beyond comments about my state. Every single person in Alabama (or the South in general) is being judged by the actions of a few. Someone in our family has had a medical emergency this week and we don’t know if they’re going to pull through. My husband and I are over a thousand miles away and can’t be there. That’s what I’m having to focus on right now, not what a few people have to say to me about where I was born.

That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Travel, Travel, Travel

I feel like I’ve been everywhere over the past couple of weeks. We flew home on a Saturday, drove to Florida on Sunday, flew back to Colorado on Monday, then left to drive all the way across the country on Thursday (close to 2,000 miles because we detoured for some touristy stuff). I’ve been on long road trips before but nothing quite that long. Thankfully, my husband and I are really good on road trips. This one was 3 days of driving. We’ve been together for so long, and traveled together so many times, that it’s just almost routine these days.

I love the East Coast, but it’s just so busy, you know? I’ve not ventured out alone yet. Hell, I don’t know if I could even figure out how to get out of the maze that is the parking garage.

That’s a joke… kinda. πŸ™‚

Willy, #6

I’ve been up to my ears trying to finish the 6th installment of Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer. I hope to at least type THE END in the coming days. I’d been waiting for something to click about the story. It finally did a few nights ago. At the moment the story is around 43,000 words. I still have a couple of chapters and the Christmas party scene to write. I’m sure there will be a lot of rewritten sections before it’s said and done but at least the first draft will be completed soon.

As of now the plan is still to end the series in November of 2020 with Santa’s story. That may change, but that’s where it stands at the moment. I’m still working on who his love interest will be. Aside from that, the story – and how to end the series – is basically already written in my head.

Mother’s Day

I hope all mothers had a nice day on Sunday. I celebrated a few days before with two of my sons because of my travels. My husband took me to dinner because I couldn’t be with my sons on the actual day. It was nice but I missed them. Mother’s Day has always been bittersweet to me. I’ve always enjoyed the day as a mother, but not so much as a daughter. That’s not something I dwell on these days.

That’s it for now. I hope everybody is doing well. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Until next time,

Candi

And the Winner Is….

Gabriella! who won my 5th publishing anniversary giveaway. She chose (on top of the $25 Amazon gift card) Taking Lance (the Complete Series) and all 6 e-books in Willy’s World as her winning books.

I don’t know if I should go ahead and apologize in advance for Willy the elf or offer to send her a bottle (or twelve) of Peppermint Whiskey. πŸ˜‰

There were 762 total entries. Not all were valid but most were. At the end of the day Randomizer did its thing and Gabriella was chosen as the winner.

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my publishing anniversary and for entering the giveaway.

It’s been an amazing 5 years.

Until next time,

Candi

a Rafflecopter giveaway

$25.00 Amazon Gift Card & E-book (s) Giveaway, This and That

Rafflecopter Giveaway

There’s still a week until a winner is chosen in my 5th publishing anniversary giveaway so make sure you get your entries in. Also, share the giveaway if you know others who might be interested. The Rafflecopter link is at the bottom of this post.

For those of you signing up for email notifications – You have to confirm the subscription by clicking a link in your email. If you don’t confirm it, you’re not subscribed. If you don’t receive the confirmation email check your spam folder or shoot me a message and I’ll take care of it for you. Unless it’s confirmed (via link or a request to me) your Rafflecopter entry for that doesn’t count. If you’re unsure how to subscribe, the form is on the right of this (and every other) post or you can leave a comment anywhere and click the little box below it.

On The Road Again...

I’ve been traveling and am back in Colorado, my favorite place on the planet. We were under a blizzard warning a couple of days ago. You know what the temperature was back home that same day? 87 degrees. 87! That number doesn’t surprise me as I’m used to it. It’s just strange how the weather can be so different in 2 different parts of the country at the same time. I’m a southern girl. I’m not used to the cold and snow. πŸ˜‰ Looking out the window and seeing the mountains in the distance totally makes it worth it though.

A Bit Of A Rant

Those of you who know me know I don’t go back and forth about political stuff. I’m very firm in my beliefs, but I won’t argue politics with anybody. Not one comment that I’ve seen anywhere has had me changing my mind about what I believe. For that reason I don’t allow myself to get pulled into political (or religious) arguments, though I’d say it’s pretty obvious which side I’m on. With that being said, I want to touch on something that really bugged me this week in my real (non-writing) world, on my personal Facebook page.

There’s disagreeing with somebody and there’s being a jerk. We all have a right to our opinions. If somebody doesn’t share yours, ask them why instead of making assumptions and lumping them in with specific groups…. or simply walk away.

There are certain things I feel strongly about and no amount of arguments thrown at me will change that. Instead of calling somebody names publicly (after often saying something different privately), how about asking why they feel so strongly about it? You might be surprised at the response. I was born and raised in the deep South. I’ve been clumped together with the backwoods stereotypes my whole life. Maybe the views of some have absolutely nothing at all to do with politics or religion or where they were raised. Maybe something happened in their lives that made them feel so strongly about certain things.

I’m as sickened over the state of the world right now as most of you are. I’m a big ally when it comes to the rights of everyone. I will stand up and loudly fight for the rights of everybody. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to be pulled into a fight and go back and forth arguing with somebody publicly over anything. All it does is stress everybody involved out and the argument ends with neither side having won. It’s not worth it to me – not emotionally or physically. I may not say a lot publicly, but I don’t miss much. I just learned a long time ago to pick my battles.

The person who inspired this post won’t see it and I’m good with that. I’m just amazed over how the true colors of some people come out when certain topics come up.

That’s all I’m going to say about that.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I’m hoping to do a bit of exploring and maybe sweet talk my husband into Mexican food tomorrow night. We’ve been here a few weeks and we’ve not been to our favorite place yet. I need to change that. πŸ˜‰

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Candi

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celebrating 5 Years: Amazon Gift Card & E-book (s) Giveaway

On April 5th, 2014 I took a chance. I published my first book, Taking Lance. Taking Lance was written in fun and was never meant to see the light of day. That changed when my best friend in the world encouraged me to publish it. I’d been writing for years but never showed my stories to anybody until that one. I’ll forever credit her for every book I publish. Without her encouragement and constructive criticism my books would still be hiding away somewhere on my laptop.

The Taking Lance series is bi-erotica that turns into a romance later, not just for the main couple (Rick and Lance) but for others as well. Since that was published, I’ve mostly written gay romance and erotica, with one M/F e-book of two short stories published early on. I now save my M/F books for other pen names, though I admit that I haven’t written one in awhile.

The Taking Lance series was completed in July of 2018 when I published Finding Alex. I miss those guys but now I can focus on other stories and series.

I have two official series going on – College Encounters and Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer. Only one College Encounters book has been published to date but there are several in the works. As for Willy the Kinky Elf, I’m writing #6 now, to be published on November 1st. The plan is to officially end that series in November of 2020 unless something major happens before then. I don’t want to carry a series past its expiration date, as I’ve said in the past. As much as I love Willy and the gang, I really can’t see me taking it beyond 2020 when the plan is to give Santa Claus his own book and tie off some loose ends.

One thing that hasn’t changed in five years is that I still suck on social media and with self-promo, though I’m always available to talk to readers. Just because I’m a little shy doesn’t mean that you need to be. πŸ˜‰

I read every single review I see of my books and I appreciate them all, even those when the readers don’t like my books. I don’t love every book I read (as I’ve said many times before) so I damn sure don’t expect everybody to like mine. A 1-star review helped me early on when a reader hated the first Willy the Kinky Elf book. Instead of pushing people away from it, that review had some wanting to know what was so painfully bad about it. Every time I publish another story in that world I’m grateful for that review and rating. A bad review won’t bother me unless it describes things that don’t actually happen in the book or if I’m being attacked personally. Otherwise, I’m thrilled knowing that people are reading my books and letting people know their thoughts on them – good or bad.

To celebrate my five years and the most amazing fans ever, I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card, the complete Taking Lance series (in one e-book), and the entire Willy the Kinky Elf series (including upcoming book #6 when it’s available – if you look real close on the Willy the Kinky Elf page you might see the tentative title that I’ve not officially announced yet ) via Rafflecopter. I’ve used Rafflecopter before but not as an author so bear with me. πŸ˜‰ There are lots of ways to enter so check it out and share it if you know others who might be interested in the giveaway. If you have any problems shoot me a message and I’ll see what I can do to fix it.

When I published Taking Lance I honestly thought I’d sell maybe 5 books – total – and that those 5 would be my best friend and her family (who I’m sending the evil eye to because they KNOW they never have to pay for my books). πŸ™‚ Imagine my surprise when the book did quite well, giving me the push I needed to keep going and to publish others.

Thank you to every single person who has read one of my books. Without you, I wouldn’t be doing what I love. I appreciate every single one of you.

Here’s to my first 5 years and hopefully many, many more.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

~Candi

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S. To those new to my site, I like to look at nice things (as Willy the elf would say) so expect to see nice visuals in almost every single thing I publish on here, regardless of what the post is about. Some may be NSFW or close to it. I’m an equal opportunity perv so expect a little bit of everything. You can check out my SEXY PICS page to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

And I like red. A lot.