Cute Dogs & Cold Weather Reads
As you can see, my dogs are pretty big hams. They are Aussie Cattle Dogs (ACD for short) What that means is that they are various heelers and herders mixed with other breeds. This case, a Chow (Bear - the brown fur one) and Jack Russel (Lily - the white fur one). Even with the other breeds - the dead giveaway for ACDs are the ears and the snoot. A lot of folks ask me if they are siblings, which is plausible by their interactions but impossible based on their overall breed. Plus, I adopted them two years apart even though they are the same age. They are about eleven years old but definitely don’t act like it at times. They frustrate me as much as they amuse me and they have taught me patience more than any other being in my life. I’m lucky they decided to stick around. Trust me, they have minds of their own and are more than happy to leave you in the dust if they don’t like you.
My Other Obsession
I was playing board games the other night and found out that Azul has two new versions! (If you’ve read my author bio, this makes sense.) One is based on chocolatier and the other is a card game version of the original tile board game.
I haven’t unboxed it yet. I’m hoping to do that this Wednesday with my board game group. I bought it right as the game shop was closing, so it’s still in the plastic wrap! I’m super excited to give this a go and see how the game play is different from the others.
Not that you asked for it, but here’s a ranking of the current Azul games:
Stained Glass of Sintra (Square Shiny Color Tiles)
Azul Original (Square tiles)
Queen’s Garden (Hex tiles)
Summer Pavilion (Diamond tiles)
The rankings are based on how many times we have played a particular version. The original game is a favorite, but we’ve definitely played the Stained Glass version more than the original. The Queen’s Garden version has some neat game play and a lot of puzzle-like strategy with tile placement. Summer Pavilion has similar game play to the original, though the tiles are harder to manage physically for folks with dexterity issues.
As we play the card game and the new chocolatier version, I’ll post updates on IG and here. I also have the expansions for the original and Summer Pavilion. I recommend picking those up if you are into these board games. They have nice alternative play throughs and neat plastic mats that help keep the tiles in place on your board.
And for anyone else obsessed with these games, the website has collectable tiles and mugs, plus other neat little expansions. I’m very tempted!
My Other-Other Obsession
The real reason you signed up to this newsletter - books! Cute dogs and awesome board games aside, writing has been my main pandemic survival tool. Well, to be more honest, it’s always been a survival tool, it just so happened that I stopped writing creatively for a long time before the pandemic. I’m glad that’s changed. During the lockdown, I was cranking out 1500 to 3k words per night. My brain wouldn’t stop. It’s slowed down, thankfully and I’ve learned things along the way. Like pacing myself, and editing.
Speaking of which, The Saint George Chronicles: The Dragon’s Lance goes to editing this week! I’m excited because it means I can move back to writing other books in the sprawling Mythical Desires Universe. SGC: The Dragon’s Lance is currently available for preorder in all your favorite places!
SGC: The Dragon’s Lance will be different from the first book in a lot of ways. First, Greg and Xav are officially together. The focus will be on their relationship, their families, and sometimes their exes. Repercussions of where SGC left off follow them into this book. For those readers looking for more of a typical M|M romance read, you’ll find it with The Dragon’s Lance and the rest of the series.
Reviews!
After a few months and a lot of reader interest, reviews are starting to appear for books in the Mythical Desires Universe. A recent one for The Saint George Chronicles made me so happy! The first book isn’t a typical M|M romance, which is why I generally don’t market it as an M|M romance but instead a Queer/Monster romance or Urban Fantasy with a twist. The book does a lot for setting the world around Xav and Greg along with the folks they interact with on a day-to-day basis. Some might say its a prequel of sorts. It’s definitely an origin story for a relationship that defies all the odds.
Feel free to leave a rating or review wherever! All of it helps, even if you DNF a book, letting other readers know why is helpful.
Queer Things!
If you’re looking for fun author swag, check out ShirtKinks. It’s an online shop with a lot of fun things and a little something for everyone. My personal picks are: the Romancelandia hoodie - which comes in a 5X, and I totally scored! And the wine tumbler that is a Liquid plot doctor. It’s true - wine does make for interesting plots, either for yourself or your characters! You decide.
If you’re looking for a queer podcast with discussions about a lot of historically queer folks and things, you have to check out Queer As Fact. It was recommended to me after a discussion about Hadrian's Wall of all things (and the fact that Hadrian, based on a lot of accounts was most definitely gay, and might or might not have ritually sacrificed his lover - Antinous. Who is famous in his own right as Hadrian declared him a deity. It’s thought that Antinous’ deification resulted in the many, like thousands, of statues depicting him.
Most of that I learned from Queer As Fact. Like I said - very cool podcast, with great stories, research, and cool hosts. Check out their links and give them a listen.
There was a recent Twitter thread that discussed the intersectionality between queerness and folks that are disabled and/or neurodivergent. While I didn’t engage with the thread, I realized I had several books that I’ve read this year that would fall into that intersectionality. So wrote up a blog post about those reads: Cross-sectional Recommendations - Disabilities and Queer representation. I’ve also included a more extensive list from LGBTQ Reads which has several lists that I definitely recommend if you are looking for specific intersectionality. The most recent post has recommended reads for World AIDS Day.
If you have Queer shops, podcasts, and or blogs that you’d like to recommend, leave a comment!
Cold Weather Reads
Last day to check out this list of LGBTQ+ books on Kindle Unlimited! There are even some queer holiday reads available that you should check out. So grab a coco in your favorite mug, and curl up with your kindle.