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- Sun, 14:27: The Woman in Black (2012) Good haunted house movie, if a little slow. Very atmospheric. http://t.co/tDBsQZhA2V
- Sun, 15:07: Better than Fifty Shades February http://t.co/Alqkki3z70
- Sun, 15:35: Better Than Fifty Shades February http://t.co/AYqDuhv0Ut
- Sun, 15:35: Better Than Fifty Shades February http://t.co/v1GnXeJXNC
- Sun, 18:33: Homemade grow box self-watering Urban Gardening Part 1. Is that a laundry basket in a tote? That wou http://t.co/IMF17fBll1
- Sun, 20:08: Inscriptions http://t.co/zrJfd4Bba1
Feb. 9th, 2015
Stumbling toward progress.
Feb. 9th, 2015 12:17 pmAlabama, heart of the Confederacy (home of the Stoneyard in the Nikolai series), has just legalized same sex marriage.
The first couple, Robert Povilat and Milton Persinger, married in Birmingham. Other countries ceased issuing marriage licenses entirely and one can only imagine the private conniption fit and temper tantrum being thrown by Judge Roy Moore, the state chief justice who is a devout Dominionist.
As I made the bed this morning, I thought about this. How can I keep writing a future where the Confederates States execute gay people right next to thieves and murderers on the first Friday of the month? Doesn't this negate the directions I saw the world going in when I wrote Nikolai and Glad Hands?
No, it doesn't.
It changes nothing. No more than the election of Barak Obama did. (I suspect his presidency will be a temporary setback for black candidates, actually. Detractors and the media will say "See! See what a hash he made? Probably best we stick with less radical [read that as "white"] candidates.")
The CS will still promote its regressive theocratic way.
If reminded of the time when same sex marriage was legal, their response will be the same as it is when reminded of the Obama presidency.
"That was a different time. A time when we walked in darkness and listened to the lies of Satan. We have learned better. Now we weed out this evil before it can take root."
But today, none of my fiction is real. Today, couples in Alabama are marrying...except where the courthouses aren't issuing. And that, too, will change with time.
If you had asked me, seven years ago, if we would ever see same-sex marriage happen in the south, I would have said "No. The people down here are God-haunted Jesus-shouters who will never allow it." They didn't allow it, and in fact voted 5 to 1 to NOT allow it. But the courts have, once again, decided that civil rights of a minority are not subject to the whim of the majority.
And that is progress.
The first couple, Robert Povilat and Milton Persinger, married in Birmingham. Other countries ceased issuing marriage licenses entirely and one can only imagine the private conniption fit and temper tantrum being thrown by Judge Roy Moore, the state chief justice who is a devout Dominionist.
As I made the bed this morning, I thought about this. How can I keep writing a future where the Confederates States execute gay people right next to thieves and murderers on the first Friday of the month? Doesn't this negate the directions I saw the world going in when I wrote Nikolai and Glad Hands?
No, it doesn't.
It changes nothing. No more than the election of Barak Obama did. (I suspect his presidency will be a temporary setback for black candidates, actually. Detractors and the media will say "See! See what a hash he made? Probably best we stick with less radical [read that as "white"] candidates.")
The CS will still promote its regressive theocratic way.
If reminded of the time when same sex marriage was legal, their response will be the same as it is when reminded of the Obama presidency.
"That was a different time. A time when we walked in darkness and listened to the lies of Satan. We have learned better. Now we weed out this evil before it can take root."
But today, none of my fiction is real. Today, couples in Alabama are marrying...except where the courthouses aren't issuing. And that, too, will change with time.
If you had asked me, seven years ago, if we would ever see same-sex marriage happen in the south, I would have said "No. The people down here are God-haunted Jesus-shouters who will never allow it." They didn't allow it, and in fact voted 5 to 1 to NOT allow it. But the courts have, once again, decided that civil rights of a minority are not subject to the whim of the majority.
And that is progress.
Better than Fifty Shades February
Feb. 9th, 2015 06:45 pmToday is a double feature, technically a five-for-one.
Fourplay and "Paying Forfeits"
"Paying Forfeits" begins as a couple who like their board and card games who start playing for forfeits. The games get taken into the bedroom, and then expanded to include a houseguest.
This is collected in Into Dark Waters
Buy Link
Fourplay is a set of four BDSM contemporary pieces. It is available only as a paperback.
Buy Link
If you prefer to purchase the shorts separately, in ebook
Master Bear, Chain Male, Thigh to Thigh, and Long Term
Master Bear is a tale of a dying top trying to make arrangements for a boy who doesn't want to live without him.
Chain-Male gives us a university librarian and a non-traditional student, with a very unconventional hobby.
Thigh to Thigh is the sequel to Paying Forfeits, in which Billy and Sam have earned a punishment.
Long-Term tells us about Teague, a university president and one-man sub rescue agency and Ian, his latest project, who becomes more.
~~~
One of my favorite bits from "Chain-male":
Jace was sitting comfortably, working with a pair of pliers in each hand on some mail. “Nice walk?” he asked with a smile.
“Yeah. All kinds of stuff to buy and I found people singing.”
“Yeah, there’s always a bardic circle at night. Tomorrow, there will be belly dancers, too. And some idiot will drum all night long and another one will take it into his head to pipe the camp awake at dawn with a set of Great Pipes. Do you know,” Jace set the mail aside, “the bagpipe is the only musical instrument to be banned as a weapon of war?”
Chad laughed as he sat down. “What time is it?”
“Time to close up shop,” Jace said. He dowsed all the lanterns, except one, and covered his wares with a black cloth. He took the moneybox into the tent with him, after blowing out the last candle.
“You aren’t afraid of thieves?”
“I’m the only mail-maker out here. My stuff is pretty distinctive and I have an official inventory sheet. Money? Money has no maker’s mark. But my mail does.” Jace shut the tent flap behind them.
Chad swallowed hard. It hit him that he was going to sleep with Jace tonight. Sleep at least, maybe more. Jace stripped down to his pants. Chad swallowed again at the sight of those sexy nipple rings, shining when Jace reached over his head and took the candle out of the ridgepole lantern. He sat on the bed, waiting, letting the candle make strange shadows.
“Coming?” Jace grinned.
Chad gulped for air and stuttered. Jace just laughed at him.
“To bed, trashmind,” Jace added.
“Oh. Yeah.” Chad stripped off his tunic and shirt, the cool night making his nipples peak, and crawled in quickly. Jace blew out the candle’s last wick and covered them both with several layers of blankets, including one faux fur throw that looked like bearskin. “No lights?”
“Can’t sleep with them. Beside,” Jace kissed his neck, “we’re about to get busy, right?”
“Oh hell yeah,” Chad was already unbuttoning Jace’s pants.
“We don’t want an audience.”
“Audience?” Chad gulped.
“No shit, there I was…” The way Jace said it, the words sounded like “once upon a time.” “It was a camping event in early summer, and night had just fallen. The tent was white. She was married. He was married. But not to each other. They left the lantern on. The rest of us pulled up our chairs and watched the porn. We applauded when they finished.”
“Holy crap.” Chad gaped at the tale. “No lights,” he agreed
Fourplay and "Paying Forfeits"
"Paying Forfeits" begins as a couple who like their board and card games who start playing for forfeits. The games get taken into the bedroom, and then expanded to include a houseguest.
This is collected in Into Dark Waters
Buy Link
Fourplay is a set of four BDSM contemporary pieces. It is available only as a paperback.
Buy Link
If you prefer to purchase the shorts separately, in ebook
Master Bear, Chain Male, Thigh to Thigh, and Long Term
Master Bear is a tale of a dying top trying to make arrangements for a boy who doesn't want to live without him.
Chain-Male gives us a university librarian and a non-traditional student, with a very unconventional hobby.
Thigh to Thigh is the sequel to Paying Forfeits, in which Billy and Sam have earned a punishment.
Long-Term tells us about Teague, a university president and one-man sub rescue agency and Ian, his latest project, who becomes more.
~~~
One of my favorite bits from "Chain-male":
Jace was sitting comfortably, working with a pair of pliers in each hand on some mail. “Nice walk?” he asked with a smile.
“Yeah. All kinds of stuff to buy and I found people singing.”
“Yeah, there’s always a bardic circle at night. Tomorrow, there will be belly dancers, too. And some idiot will drum all night long and another one will take it into his head to pipe the camp awake at dawn with a set of Great Pipes. Do you know,” Jace set the mail aside, “the bagpipe is the only musical instrument to be banned as a weapon of war?”
Chad laughed as he sat down. “What time is it?”
“Time to close up shop,” Jace said. He dowsed all the lanterns, except one, and covered his wares with a black cloth. He took the moneybox into the tent with him, after blowing out the last candle.
“You aren’t afraid of thieves?”
“I’m the only mail-maker out here. My stuff is pretty distinctive and I have an official inventory sheet. Money? Money has no maker’s mark. But my mail does.” Jace shut the tent flap behind them.
Chad swallowed hard. It hit him that he was going to sleep with Jace tonight. Sleep at least, maybe more. Jace stripped down to his pants. Chad swallowed again at the sight of those sexy nipple rings, shining when Jace reached over his head and took the candle out of the ridgepole lantern. He sat on the bed, waiting, letting the candle make strange shadows.
“Coming?” Jace grinned.
Chad gulped for air and stuttered. Jace just laughed at him.
“To bed, trashmind,” Jace added.
“Oh. Yeah.” Chad stripped off his tunic and shirt, the cool night making his nipples peak, and crawled in quickly. Jace blew out the candle’s last wick and covered them both with several layers of blankets, including one faux fur throw that looked like bearskin. “No lights?”
“Can’t sleep with them. Beside,” Jace kissed his neck, “we’re about to get busy, right?”
“Oh hell yeah,” Chad was already unbuttoning Jace’s pants.
“We don’t want an audience.”
“Audience?” Chad gulped.
“No shit, there I was…” The way Jace said it, the words sounded like “once upon a time.” “It was a camping event in early summer, and night had just fallen. The tent was white. She was married. He was married. But not to each other. They left the lantern on. The rest of us pulled up our chairs and watched the porn. We applauded when they finished.”
“Holy crap.” Chad gaped at the tale. “No lights,” he agreed