trust me (story)

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Wonderful News About Two of My Stories!

First, I was very excited to find out that I was one of Amber Allure’s bestsellers for July!

1. Clay’s Challenge – Cassandra Gold (Gay / Contemporary)
2. Lucky – K. M. Mahoney (Gay / Shapeshifter)
3. The Truth About Al – M. L. Rhodes (Gay / Contemporary)
4. Under My Bed – T. A. Chase (Gay / Paranormal)
5. Trust Me – B. G. Thomas (Gay / Contemp. / Western)
6. Cemeteries – Lynn Lorenz (Gay / Paranormal)
7. Lost Between – Shawn Lane (Gay / Paranormal)
8. Hellish Twist In Tinseltown – Lee Avalone (Gay / Paranormal)
9. Echoes – Rick R. Reed (Gay / Paranormal)
10. For One Night Only – Anne Brooke (Gay / Contemp. / BDSM)

Considering that my book came out halfway through the month, that says something, don’t you think? So happy!

AND ML Rhodes, only one of the best and finest M/M romance writers, gave it five stars and said, “I love this book!” WOW!

This is what it must feel like if an author of a “straight” romance got such kinds words from Kathleen Woodiwiss or Diana Gabaldon!

SECOND! Silver Publishing is putting out an audio book of “Never Say Never,” the anthology with my story “A Secret Valentine!” I was SO amazing listening to the first version (they send it to you to see if any mistakes were made) of the story, hearing that strong masculine voice read my words. I got chills. The good kind!

I will be sure to let you know when it is released.

So life is good! I am working hard to finish my Christmas story this week, and then will get busy on one of two (or both) other stories right away.

My daughter is staying a few days with me. It was her birthday the other day and we are still celebrating. It has included a nice dinner, my husband grilling huge chicken breasts for another meal, two movies (Captain America; the First Avenger and Rise of the Planet of the Apes – both were surprisingly good and I recommend them highly!) and finally we are going to go have Pad Thai today at Thai Place. It is the best I’ve ever had and I’ve tried it at quite a few places.

Jayli and I have had quite a lot of fun. Like I’ve said before, I see her just enough to miss her when she’s not here! LOL!

So that’s it for now! Until next time,
Namasté,
B.G. Thomas

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Home Again, Home Again

So I am home from my vacation and it was a good experience. Still processing. I think, as open as I was for whatever Men’s Festival had to offer this year, I was still hoping for something that didn’t materialize and that affected my total enjoyment.

Despite that, the twelve days was magickal. Amazing. Lovely. Sweet. Fun. Crazy. And I have a pretty damned good all-over tan! Shocked people when I got back to work (and of course they can only see part of it! *G*)

I am hoping to find out the Trust Me is selling like hot cakes, but it will take a while to find out. Let me know what you think? I love that story and would love to get input. (Trust Me is available by clicking Here)

I am very excited to see that it was one of the free books offered through Jessewave yesterday and that there were 42 people interested in it, and that was on a Sunday! Sounds like good news to me! I hope it is reviewed soon, and reviewed favorably of course.

Several stories are ready to start pouring out of me. I want to finish this year’s Christmas story which is darker than I expected, however, that only means that when the sun breaks through, it will be all the more wonderful and romantic.

Then there is my Canadian story (to be written with a dear dear friend and the first time I’ve really attempted to write something with someone since before I was twenty years old! OMG! LOL!

And my pseudo science fiction story should be the best and most romantic story I’ve ever written in my life. I can’t wait.

Stay tuned!

Namasté,
B.G.

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“Trust Me” Released Today!

Today it the day!

I am SO excited. Not only am I heading out on a men’s retreat for Midwest Men’s Festival for a long over due and deserved retreat, but my newest story, Trust Me, is being release from Amber Allure.

I am really proud of this story and working on it from beginning through edits really helped me grow as a writer. I am just seeing that what is percolating and working since then is better. I’ve learned so much with each story, but this one is quite a bit longer than anything I’ve ever written before and shows me for sure that a certain editor at Dreamspinner Press is right, long form is best for me. And that editor will be getting some long form fiction soon!

I am so happy about Trust Me, and my hopes is that you will run right out and check it out!

Here is the description of the story:

Widower Neil Baxter is surprised when his best friend Amy Radcliffe, a recent widow herself, asks him to join her family at a dude ranch. It’s the last thing Neil wants to do with his vacation. He is not an outdoors kind of guy, and he’s been afraid of horses since one threw him when he was a boy forced to attend summer church camp. But Amy is the one person who successfully helped him deal with his wife’s death, so he agrees to go for her sake.

When Neil arrives at Black Bear Guest Ranch he meets Cole, one of the ranch’s wranglers, a twenty-five-year-old, out-and-proud gay man. The chemistry between them is instant, and it’s upsetting and frustrating for Neil. He has avoided acting on his homosexuality for twenty years, has fought it with all his energy.

But Cole is amazing..!

Soon, things between the men begin to sizzle. Will Neil continue to hide his true self, or will he finally learn to trust his feelings, as well as Cole, and step out and claim the life he has always wanted?

You can find my new story at Amber Allure and from what I can see, if you head out there now, they have it on a New Release Sale! (available by clicking Here)

Okay! Signing off to finish loading the car and head out. Kind of cool that Neil goes on vacation today and so do I! Synchronicity!

Much Love,
Namasté,
B.G. Thomas

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Edits For “Trust Me” Are Done

So for those of you who aren’t in the know, when you sell a story, the usual process is the publisher then assigns it to an editor.

The editor fixes it so that all the formats, chapter heads, quotes, ellipses, dashes and more fit into the in-house format. They might also be specific about spellings of words like “come” versus “cum.” 😉

THe editor also has the daunting task of editing the thing, through years of knowledge, to fine tune your tale. If you get good one, and I have had some good ones, their work and pointers will fine tune you as a writer as well. I’ve learned a lot.

A whole lot!

See, the next step is they send the edits back to you, and you go over them, one by one. You accept or deny each one. It is pretty smart to accept them, these editors usually know their stuff. But they are human and make mistakes themselves. Also there are cases where you thought you were saying something, but when someone else reads it — since they don’t have your knowledge of what is going on or who your characters are — what you’ve written might read differently than you intended. Sometimes it is almost comical. Then between you and your editor, you can make sure you are saying what you meant to say.

Examples: The way I structured a sentence made it sound like the branch of a tree was ruby red. She thought I had made a mistake and I meant for two hummingbirds to be ruby red. Actually I meant that the hummingbird feeder was ruby red! LOL! Now the sentence reads they way I intended it to be.

I once wrote a story in which a character who is very well off is drinking an expensive whisky. The editor changed the word from “whisky” to “whiskey” throughout. What she didn’t know is that I had done my research! Whisky/whiskey drinkers are very very particular about this… Scottish whisky is spelled without the “e.” American whiskey, especially Kentucky whiskey, is spelled with the “e.” Since my character was drinking a Lagavulin — a brand from a distillery near the coast of of Islay, and which has a legitimate claim to being one of the oldest in Scotland — then it is spelled without the “e.” The spelling went back to the way I had it originally.

An important relationship can exist between writer and editor that produces a better story, and that is good for the reader, the writer and the publisher.

In the case of Trust Me, which was bought by Amber Allure, I am an amazing editor. Not only is she good, but she knows a lot about horses, and owns four! But did she find a few possibly awful mistakes! LOL! But with her direction, things went well, and I am very proud of what has been accomplished between us,

I finished nearly a hundred pages of edits today and it wore me out! It is harder editing such a long story. But it is done, and ready to go out tonight!

And soon “Trust Me,” my most romantic story to date, will be ready for you!

Namaste,
B.G.

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AMAZING NEWS!

So you know what I’ve been praying for lately.

And you know what I’ve been asking you to send out good vibes for as well, right?

Well guess what?

YES!

She said, “Yes!”

*screams with joy*

Here is part of the letter…

    Hi Ben,

    I’m sorry for the delay. Yes, Christine and I talked about it and she said she’d be happy to allow you to put those things in your book. She said she’d love a copy when it is done and she’d be happy to send the info about the book to others. 🙂

    As for the crediting, she says there is a standard format for that kind of thing. She suggested that you find out what the standard is for that in the publishing industry and use that method. She said people like Stephen King quote songs frequently so that might be a starting point in your searching for how to do it. Many books will say used by permission, etc. in a note at the end, but that there’s a more formal way to do so that would be a good thing to track down.

    Keep us posted! Congrats on the exciting developments!

    To your success,
    Meredith Bennett

Boy oh boy am I doing the Snoopy Dance!

I will actually have IN my story credits, “Lyrics used with permission of the author..!”

How cool is that?

Edits are going hot and heavy!

So back to work, I just had to share this information!

Namasté,
B.G.

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Quoting Songs… Send Out Good Vibes!

When courage finally comes,
You never see it coming…

Right outta nowhere
You open your heart and that changes every thing
You’re going somewhere
And all you need to know is that you’re free to go

A HUGE hero of mine is Christine Kane. In fact, it is lyrics from one of her songs (several!) that inspired me to finally take the chance and try to write, to submit, and to believe in myself. I heard a song where she used a Zen Buddhist phrase, “Leap and the net will appear.”

I was grabbed instantly. It was like my very soul was paying attention! I listened to the whole song and my breath was taken away and I did it.

I leapt and the net DID appear.

I realized that I sorta quote her in my new story “Trust Me.” I may have to remove the line or two that isn’t “Leap and the net will appear.”

Recently I was talking with a dear friend of mine who also happens to be the wife of George R.R. Martin (the man who wrote the book that the new hit HBO series Game of Thrones is based on). Parris told me that frequently recording artists are flattered and more than willing to let you quote them, and even wonder why you bothered asking.

However, some are just terrible, asking for thousands of dollars to just use a single line or two.

So I wrote Christine tonight. Wish me leaping luck! LOL!

If I don’t hear back soon I will just take the lines out (except for the Zen line!). I was really clever how I used the lyrics, more explaining them than quoting them. I bet it wasn’t more than a few words that are used word for word.

Knowing her I will get permission. If I don’t, that is okay too.

I haven’t been given my edits yet, so I have some time.

So please, please wish me leaping luck! I appreciate those good vibes1

And remember!!

Anyone who is dreaming of being a writer and trying to build the courage to send in something…

It is never too late!

Leap and the net will appear!

Namasté,
B.G.

Some choices hold you down
Some choices set you free

So you dream and the way will be clear
Pray and the angels will hear
Leap and the net will appear!

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The Cover to “Trust Me” Has Been Released!

So I just got the cover from my next story, Trust Me which will be released on July 17th. It is my first book from Amber Allure.

I am excited to have sold a book to Amber as they only have open submissions a time or two each year. That I got in is a good thing! They have a good repuation and are now open to any future submissions from me.

I am also very proud of this story. It is VERY romantic.

(and pretty hot too!)

This is my longest piece to date so far as well.

As I said in a previous post, it is about “a widower named Neil who agrees to go to a Dude Ranch vacation with his best friend Amy, the sister of his dead wife. He is anything but an outdoorsy kind of guy and he is afraid of horses. But he goes. There he meets Cody, a wrangler, a man young enough he could almost be Neil’s son and the attraction is immediate. But before anything can happen, Neil must deal with the fact that he has been denying his homosexuality all his life. Can he?”

Keep tuned for the particulars!

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Trust Me: Another Sale

I just got the most incredible news.

I sold another story. I am simply stunned.

On March 20th 2010, I got my first contract for a story.

Today, one year and less than a month later, I have sold my eleventh.

I am simply stunned.

The name of this story is “Trust Me.” It is about a widower named Neil who agrees to go to a Dude ranch vacation with his best friend, the sister of his dead wife. He is anything but an outdoorsy kind of guy and he is afraid of horses. But he goes. There he meets Cody, a wrangler, a man young enough he could almost be Neil’s son and the attraction is immediate. But before anything can happen, Neil must deal with the fact that he has been denying his homosexuality all his life. Can he?

Of course! LOL! I think this story is the best I’ve written to date, and the story that has prepared me to write my first novel (a piece I am about to begin for Dreamspinner Press).

One of the things I am SO excited about is “Trust Me” sold to Amber Quill, a very presigious publisher and one that is HARD to get your foot in the door. The only have open submissions to new writers (new for them) a couple of times a year. The email they sent me on receiving the story said I would hear back in 6-8 weeks. I sold it in 11 days! I sold it to Amber Quill!

Oh, God! I am SO happy!

*does the Snoopy Dance*

I can’t wait to tell you more.

Also, I am doing final edits for “How Could Love Be Wrong,” the story I sold a few weeks back that will be in Dreamspinner’s Daily Dose for June.

This is a very exciting time for me. Thank you so much to all of those of you who are supporting me. And a very very special thanks to clmiles and essayel, the true friends and excellent betas who moved heaven and earth to edit “Trust Me” (39k words) so I could have it done in time for the deadline! And of course, special thanks also to valarltd who pointed out the open submission and counseled me and answered so many questions.

Remember folks, pursue your dreams. Leap and the net will appear!