If you need a break from your shopping and decorating...here is a terrific read you should check out - The Story Orgy's first ever published anthology - And The Prompt Is...
It's chocked full of something for everyone and available at Amazon and 1Place for Romance!
It's chocked full of something for everyone and available at Amazon and 1Place for Romance!
Picking up Quinn
Em Woods
Will racer Quinn Rowan and tow truck driver Liam Nelson find
that love is enough to cross even the greatest divide?
Finding Pleasure
JR Boyd
This yarn takes a glimpse inside the life of paramedic
Sterling Kost, whom works side-by-side with his assigned partner and EMT
Innocenzo Lucciano (aka Cenzo). Committed to discovering a place in the
hospital, Sterling and Cenzo spend their lunch break scouring Methodist Medical
Center of Dallas for a secluded location where they can be alone.
Farewell
Havan Fellows (that's me! *giggles*)
Dwight's heartache leads him to the cemetery; where lessons
are waiting to be learned and second chances are freely given.
The Old Soda Shop
Lee Brazil (that's my muse!)
Former college roommates Matt and Sam have a history. Will a
chance encounter in the street lead to a second chance at love?
With This Ring
Hank Edwards
The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Central Park, is one of the most
elegant and romantic hotels in the world, even for its employees. When Carl, a
seasoned member of the maintenance team, meets Dylan, a younger bellboy, their
attraction is undeniable. Carl and Dylan meet in rooms recently vacated by
guests and slowly forge a relationship, but can they overcome the difference in
their ages and, somehow, fulfill Dylan's dream of spending the night as a guest
in the hotel?
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| Read the awesome review it got! |
And here is a short excerpt of my story Farewell :)
So
after walking and counting and then counting some more because he kept
forgetting what came after three, he finally got to the grave that Grams mentioned.
He
stood there paralyzed, reading the engraving; not even his inebriated state
could have knocked him over at this point.
Riley Marksham
Wonderful son
and brother
Trusted, devoted
and loved partner
The world took
you from us too early, but we will meet with you again soon
B – November 12,
1982
D – October 11,
2010
He
remembered picking out this tombstone with his then future in-laws, how the
cost of all that engraving would be phenomenal, but they insisted that he be
included. He remembered thinking that soon would never be soon enough for him.
Most
importantly, he now remembered what had brought him here this night exactly six
months to the day after their car had been side swiped by a group of fucking
asshole teenagers who had done as he did now, imbibed a little too much in the
sauce and didn’t notice the red light.
Dwight
himself had walked away from the accident almost unscathed, physically at
least. His Riley though, well he was driving and between the front of the
teenagers’ car embedding itself in the driver’s seat and the steering column
embedding itself into Riley’s chest . . . Dwight sucked in some oxygen and
forced those visuals out of his head.
He
had seen the shrinks, listened to his family and Riley’s family mumble about
survivor’s guilt:
“It’s normal to
feel this way Dwight, but you have to live for Riley.”
“Riley wouldn’t
want you wasting away to nothing, come over to eat dinner with us, you’re still
considered family.”
“What would
Riley say if he knew you were blowing off work and risking your job over him?”
Dwight
hit the ground on his sore knees and screamed, “Riley fucking left me here! Who
fucking cares what he would think or say! Damn you Riley Marksham! You swore to
me you loved me! You swore you wouldn’t ever leave me! I need you! I don’t want
to be here without you!” The tears flowed down his cheeks and he started the
gibberish talk that always happened when someone poured out their hearts, like
in all those movies that Riley and he stayed up late at night watching. “I
can’t Riley . . . I can’t do this without you. It’s too hard, living is too
hard. Every breath I take hurts me, every morning I wake up I feel the pain and
hate myself for waking. Tonight, tonight I will go to you since you can’t come
back to me. You’ll see, we will be together forever! You aren’t just my lover
and friend, you’re my soul mate. The one meant to be mine, my other half; and I
want . . . no I need my other half back! I need you Riley.”
He
twisted his body and collapsed against the headstone repeating his mantra over
and over again; “I need you Riley. I need you Riley.”
While
he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the pint of Cuervo Gold and the
new bottle of sleeping pills, he kept up his chant; his ode to himself, his
power words to keep his movements from halting.
It
took him a couple of tries to break the seal on the bottle but he finally did,
he tilted the pill bottle to his mouth and shook half of them in. It was even
harder to open the new bottle of liquor, but he got that open also and washed
the contents of his mouth down to his stomach. He repeated the process and
emptied the pill container. He looked at the tequila, still two-thirds full,
shrugged his shoulders and downed it in no more than six throat burning gulps.
“I’m
coming baby, open your arms and welcome me back home, where I belong; in your
arms . . .” He settled back as comfortable as he could and closed his eyes,
feeling a peace he hadn’t felt for six months.
It took him a couple of
tries to break the seal on the bottle but he finally did, he tilted the pill
bottle to his mouth and shook half of them in.
It was even harder to open the new bottle of liquor, but he got that
open also and washed the contents of his mouth down to his stomach. He repeated the process and emptied the pill
container. He looked at the tequila,
still two-thirds full, shrugged his shoulders and downed it in no more than six
throat burning gulps.
“I’m coming baby, open your arms and welcome me
back home, where I belong; in your arms . . .” He settled back as comfortable
as he could and closed his eyes, feeling a peace he hadn’t felt for six months.
Havan, I LOVED this anthology!!! Dwight's story was sad, but sweet.
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