Good Morning Monday ~ And Excerpt, and It’s Almost December?

“Um what?” is right. December. Pretty sure it was March yesterday but whatever. Good news this week was that I did manage to finish my first draft of Kennard’s Story! Bad news is I had a techfail and managed to lose a bunch of words and research when my iMac gave my laptop the silent treatment and failed to sync. Actually, it’s more a case of my laptop not listening to iMac. It’s kind of a long story. The short version is the words are gone forever and I’m diving back in today to redo it.

In other news, it’s only six more days until A Soldier’s Wish is released!! I’m super excited for you all to meet Richard and Gary. They’re adorable guys and totally deserve their HEA. And I thought I’d share a little excerpt from Chapter One…

This is Gary’s POV…

I began to study the other folks in the diner. The hippie-hating farmers were still there, sour-faced, scowling in their cups of joe. And there was a young family; I smiled as the kids enjoyed their pancakes. But then there was a guy, by himself, in a booth staring out the window. He was wearing slacks and a sweater. His blond hair was the good ol’ short back and sides. He was so tidy and clean-cut, he couldn’t be anything but military. The duffle bag at his feet confirmed my suspicion.

U.S. Army.

Normally I wouldn’t look twice at his type, and Lord knew, his type never looked twice at me. But there was a look of such profound sadness on his face, I couldn’t look away.

“Gary?” Lyman called my name.

I turned, not having heard any of what he’d said before. The three of them were watching me. “Hey, I’m just gonna go say hi.” I took my cup of coffee and slid out of the booth.

“We’re leaving in five,” Kathryn called after me.

I gave her a nod to let her know I’d heard her and made my way over to the sad army guy. He was still staring out the window, looking like he was fighting tears. “Hey,” I said so as not to scare him. I nodded to the seat opposite him. “Can I join you?”

He startled anyway and shifted in his seat. “Oh, sure,” he replied.

I slid in and put my coffee between us. “I was just sitting over there with my friends,” I explained. “I couldn’t help notice.”

His eyes, so blue, shot to mine. “Notice what?”

Wow, okay. So that was an overreaction. And over what? What did he think I noticed? He swallowed hard and looked back out the window, a deep blush staining his cheeks.

I put my hand up. “I couldn’t help but notice you were here alone.”

He glanced at me again, then kept his eyes on his hands that were now clasped on the table. “Sorry, I… I…” He sighed. “It’s been a helluva day.”

“It’s early morning.”

The guy almost smiled, then shook his head. “Feels longer.”

It was pretty clear he wasn’t having a good day, so I gave him a smile. “My name’s Gary Fairchild.”

He looked at me then, like really met my eyes. His cheeks pinked up a little. “Nice to meet you, Gary. My name’s Richard Ronsman.”

---

Release day will be December 2nd!  I can’t wait for you guys to meet these two <3

This coming week, I have delusions of grandeur of finishing Kennard’s Story redo, then starting my next book. I’m SUPER excited to start this one. These two boys have been waiting a while for their story to be written, and it should be fun!

Okay that’s it this week. I hope every one is well, and all my American friends survived Thanksgiving <3  I’ll be posting on Sunday with buylinks for A Soldier’s Wish.

Until then…

<3