Feels Like the First Time

Once upon a time there was a boy who thought he might want to write suspense filled romance type stories. Sure, I know you hear these kinda things everyday. Or, maybe you don't. Either way, this story has a happy ending. I'm pretty certain it does. Least ways, last time I looked it did. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time the voices in my head have been known to lead me astray.

Where was I again?

Oh yeah, I was about to dish to you about my first time. It was a Monday. How can I remember it so clearly? Because you don't forget things like that. Like I said it was a Monday, horrible day altogether to tell you the truth. One of those days you just want to crawl into bed and forget it happened. You know the type. Any hoo, I stumble in and take care of all those things you do when you get home from a terribly bad day. Shower and shaved and fed up, I proceeded to crawl into the aforementioned bed.

And, there she is waiting for me. The answer to my every dream. My hands shaking with something akin to fear and the strongest desire you've ever experienced, I reached out and stroked my quivering fingers over the one thing I'd wanted most in my entire life. Electricity shot through me at the fleeting touch. I must have pushed all the right buttons because my doorway to nirvana opened up before my eyes. Licking my oh so dry lips, I delved into the secrets of the universe, or something equally boggling to a male mind. Opening an email.

Hey! Back in the day, with dial up, it was a pain to get an email to download in under thirty minutes. Men don't like waiting.

Wait? You thought I was talking about something else. You all have dirty minds! Especially  you over there. Stop mopping your brow and panting. It's unseemly.

No, I'm talking about my first contract as a published author. I had been writing for a few years with a couple nice rejections under my belt for some non-romance books I'd tried my hand at. My wife had finally pushed me to write a romance, since I read so many of them. In less than four weeks I'd written my first romance, which was unlike anything I'd written before or since. I was so nervous that my wife had to be the one to submit it. Time might be messing with me, but I think only two weeks passed before that joyous email came.

In that comedic attempt above to misdirect you, I failed to mention how nervous that email made me. I had my entire future wrapped up in that email. Sure, I would have probably gone on subbing books, but at the time my heart just wasn't in it anymore. If I'd know what was to come, I probably wouldn't have signed my name on the dotted line.  But that's another story. The point of this one is without that first contract, you wouldn't be reading this now. Of course back then, we didn't have blogs, Facebook, Twitter, or a hundred other things we have now. Like Kindle! Amazing how six years changes the landscape of things.

Wait, a second. I forgot to ever mention what book got contracted. Well, it's what I like to call a twofer.  That book represents two firsts for me. It was the first book I had published as an author, and it went on to be the first book I had contracted with Desert Breeze. I think? My mind is a bit foggy lately. If it wasn't, it was close behind. That book was The Michelangelo Blues, and it will forever be my first true love. If you haven't taken the time to read it, I would humbly suggest you give it a try. It shows a side of my writing that doesn't pop up often. Does that make it any less me? Nope, but proves at least one of those voices in my head has a serious side. Scary thought. Isn't it?

Just so you don't have to go looking for it, here's a handy dandy link.

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-31/The-Michelangelo-Blues/Detail.bok