Thursday, December 15, 2011

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

LILY SAWYER guest blogging on my blog!!!

Lily Sawyer has to credit her late mother for her interest in reading and writing. She used to take her to library and opened up to her the world of books. She took a writing class in an adult enrichment program and got hooked. She started off writing stories set in various fandoms she was interested in like Star Trek and Brokeback Mountain. After getting some encouragement from family members and friends, she finally decided it was time to write her own original stories. Lily recently returned to drawing and was in an art class. Also loves to garden and loves everything about nature. Including going to the beach and looking up at the stars.

You can find more information about Lily and her books on her blog.
Also, if you like beautiful hand-crafted jewelry check out Lily's Gems

Me: Which winter holiday, if any, do you celebrate?
Lily: I'm Jewish, so I celebrate Chanukah.

Me: What is your favorite family holiday tradition/story/recipe/etc?
Lily: I remember enjoying going around the neighborhood and looking at holiday lights. Sometimes we'd go into Manhattan to see Rockefeller Center. OR we'd go to the EAB building on Long Island, where we lived and see the big tree there. 

Me: What is your favorite holiday story? You can choose one m/m and one non if necessary. =)
Lily: I liked Carolyn Topols "Season of Change." It is the only story involving Jews that I can clearly remember reading, so far.

Me: What is your favorite thing that you have ever written?
Lily: I enjoy writing all my stories, but I have to say my fave so far is "Catch of the Day." It was fun bringing a merman to life. I'd never written anything in the fantasy genre before. It is published by Silver Publishing.

So there you have it....Go forth and purchase!!!

Now here is an excerpt Lily has been kind enough to share with us!!! Be sure to read all the way to the end for a chance to enter the trivia contest!

Love on the East End by Lily Sawyer


Blurb:

Gabriel Meyer’s restaurant is a dream come true, but he gets more than he expected when in the course of his business he meets William Thomas, owner of Rolling Hills Winery. Food and wine more than come together on the east end of Long Island as they discover just how complementary Gabriel and William really are. Their seeming paradise is disturbed, however, when they meet young Ben Stewart—a troubled teen who is being bullied at school over his sexuality. Can they help this young man and fight the intolerance that lies on the east end of Long Island, or will it consume them?

Excerpt:

Gabriel Meyers looked at the empty dining room of his brand new restaurant. He’d just opened the doors two weeks ago and already the place was packed every night.

While he loved the hustle and bustle of the lunch and dinnertime crowd, he appreciated the quiet the morning hours afforded him. He used the time to do all the paperwork and phone calls, which were a part of running a place like Maven.


“Gabriel, we have a problem with the wine order.” Pierre came running into the room to inform him. He was the restaurant’s sommelier, and Gabriel met him at the culinary school in Paris. He was studying to be a chef and when he decided to open his own place Pierre was one of the first friends he told.

“Oh what now?” It always seemed to be something, you’d think having your own place on the north fork of the east end of Long Island in the middle of wine country would mean having an endless supply of wine. Sadly, it wasn’t the case. Sometimes they had special clients that wanted certain things the restaurant didn’t always have on hand. Like now they were looking for a special vintage of Riesling to go with the duck being served at a fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration, which was happening this weekend.

“The Pindar Winery won’t have any ready for about three weeks.”

“Have you tried the other wineries?”

“I tried the Rolling Hills winery, they said they’d give us a call back.”

“We can’t sit on our hands on this, we need that wine. I’ll call them again to see if I can make any headway. Thanks Pierre.”

Gabriel heard the phone ringing and ran back to the office to pick it up. He wished he’d looked at the caller ID before he answered.

“Hello?”

“Gabbie!”

His stomach tied up in knots when he heard the dulcet tones of his ex-wife on the other end.

“Willow,” he said through clenched teeth. “What can I do for you?” He wished more times then he could count that he and the blonde with the blue eyes and movie star body had never crossed paths.

“Gabe, you don’t sound very happy to hear from me.”

Truth be told he wasn’t. Their marriage was the biggest mistake of his life. They’d met in New York City, she was acting at a theater club and he was waiting tables. They started off as friends, hanging out with friends and family. Then ended up getting married.

Gabriel knew they had rushed into something that was never meant to be. He did love Willow, but he was never in love with her. He was gay; it took him a long time for him to admit it to himself, let alone to Willow. He finally told her two years after they’d said ‘I do.’ She was stunned at first, then she told him she had a feeling something was different about him, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on it.

They got a divorce, their story made the rounds with the tabloids. Fortunately he was able to hide his secret of being gay, he was only too glad they left him alone and glommed onto her.

When one reporter intimated they’d split because Gabriel was gay, he asked an old friend from school if he could hang out with her to make it look like they were dating. She was only too happy to help him throw them off the scent, even going so far as to make sure they were seen in public, holding hands and walking the streets of Brooklyn having brunch at a restaurant one Sunday morning.

“Willow, I’m kinda busy, what can I do for you?”

“Is that any way to talk to your ex-wife?”

He cringed when she said ex-wife, their divorce hadn’t been as clean a break as he would have liked. She got nasty when he asked for the house on Long Island. She had several properties; she barely spent any time there. Her favorite spot was a condo on the upper east side of Manhattan.

“Well, I’m having a party to honor Chuck Scarborough, you remember my agent? He’s celebrating thirty years in the business and I wanted to do something special. He has a home not far from your restaurant and I want to rent out the back deck and hire a DJ and just do it up big.”

“How big?” Despite how their marriage ended, Gabriel knew Willow could bring him a lot of big business with all the big wigs in the music and entertainment industry she could connect him with.

“About one hundred.”

“When?” Maven could easily handle that many people.

“Weekend after next.”

It was spring and the weather was getting nice enough so they could start using the deck outside. The restaurant faced Long Island Sound and on a clear day you could see Connecticut.

“How about I put you in touch with Annie, our party planner? She can iron out all the details. I don’t see any problem having the party here.”

“Thanks, Gabe, I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“Sure thing. Thanks for thinking of Maven for your party.” They hung up. He’d let Annie know about the party later, right now he had some Riesling to wrangle up.

****


William Thomas loved wine; there wasn’t anything he didn’t know about it. His interest started when he took a trip to France and toured the wine country and it was like he finally found what he wanted to do with his life there in the middle of vineyard. When he got back home he did everything necessary to begin his journey from a beginner everyone in the industry scoffed at to a well-respected wine maker. Even his family, who were not thrilled with his decision to go into the winemaking business, became his biggest supporters.

Rolling Hills winery was the result of all the blood, sweat and tears.

William loved opening up the winery to tourists and often joined them in the wine tasting room.

Women came on to him all the time, he enjoyed the flirting. But that was all it was ever going to be. He wondered what these same women would think if they could see him dancing on the dance floors at one the gay bars on Fire Island.

He’d never had a serious relationship, content for years to play the field until he hit the big three-O six months ago. Now he was looking for that special person, but it sure wasn’t easy to find him. He decided if it was meant to happen it would happen.

****

Gabriel turned down the long linden-lined drive. He parked in front of the quaint, Tudor style house at the end. He got out of the car, walked over to the fencing and looked at the rows of grape vines that went on towards the Sound. There was just something about being out in the open air that made him feel so peaceful.

“Like what you see?” A deep, sexy voice startled him out of his reverie.

“Oh geeze, you startled me.” Gabriel put his hand over his beating heart, which beat even faster when he got a good look at the curly blond haired man that had snuck up behind him.

“Sorry,” the blond stuck out his hand. “I’m William Thomas, owner of Rolling Hills winery.”

Gabriel grasped the proffered hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m Gabriel Meyers. I own Maven. I called about getting four cases of Riesling.”

“Ah yes my partner Steve told me you’d called.”

Gabriel didn’t know why hearing the word ‘partner’ bothered him, he’d just met William a moment ago and yet it felt like Cupid’s arrow had pierced him in the heart.

“I had them set aside for you. They’re in the barrel room. How about I give you a tour of the place? I mean if you have the time.” William flashed his pearly whites at him and Gabriel couldn’t resist the opportunity to spend more time with the tall blond.

William must have been about six-one or six-two. He didn’t tower over Gabriel’s own height of six feet, but he still had to crane his head just a little to meet the chocolate brown gaze.

“I have plenty of time, the restaurant doesn’t open until noon.”

“Well, then, let me give you the grand tour.” William led him to one of the pickup trucks parked next to the house. They took a drive around the vineyard. William explained the different varieties of grapes they grew and what kinds of wine were produced from them. He even got a chance to watch one of the grape picking machines at work, carefully picking the fruit off the vine and separating out the stems.

“I can tell you, Gabriel, that is one expensive piece of machinery. Had to get it imported from Italy.”

“Really? Wow!” Gabriel was very impressed. He knew about wines, after all you can’t live in Paris like he had and study culinary arts and not learn about them. He wasn’t an expert like Pierre, but he knew enough to know how to pair them with food and not embarrass himself.

As far as the growing end, he knew little but he sure was getting an education now.

“Has this winery been in your family for long?” The wineries on Long Island had started up about thirty-six years ago. No comparison to the centuries old vineyards in Europe but they still had made their mark in the wine making industry none-the-less.

William laughed. “No I’m the only one in my family interested in wine. My father is a lawyer and my mom is a fashion designer. My older brother is a screenwriter. He ‘s worked on a few movies, and he lives out in LA.”

“What made you decide to go into the wine industry?”

“I was going to school in northern California and my friends wanted to spend spring break in Napa Valley. I just fell in love with wines and wanted to learn the business. I came back to Long Island and started my own winery. Rolling Hills is the result. We’re celebrating our tenth year.”

“Congratulations! Your family must be proud.”

“Thank. Well I can’t say they were thrilled, but they saw the passion I have and they’ve been very supportive.”

They parked next to the house and William took him to the barrel room. One of the workers took the cases of Riesling and put the in Gabriel’s car.

“Do you want to stick around for lunch?” William offered his new friend.

Just then Gabriel’s cell phone went off.

“Hello?” Gabriel walked a few feet away from the other man. “What! No I know I placed that order a week ago, what do you mean they don’t have a record of the order?’ He paused. “Shit, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He shut the flip phone closed. “Damn.”

“Problem?”

“Yeah, I had a champagne order that was supposed to be delivered this morning and they have no record of it. I need it for an engagement party tonight.”

“I think I can help you out there, just hang out here for a bit.” After Gabriel told him he needed some Dom Perignon, William went inside the house. He returned a few minutes later with a smile on his face. “It’s done, I got you the champagne you needed. It should be delivered to the restaurant in about an hour.”

“How did you manage that?” Gabriel was surprised.

“I know plenty of people around here. There’s a place on the south fork that carries some wonderful champagne. I got you a case. Unless you wanted more?”

“No, a case is fine. I can’t thank you enough for helping me.”

“Forget it, I was glad to help.”

Gabriel slid into the driver’s seat of his car and started the engine. “Hey how about coming to our wine tasting event? We’re having it on Friday night at seven thirty.”

“Sure, sounds like fun. I’ll bring a good vintage from our special collection.”

“You can bring your partner if you want too.” Gabriel took off without waiting for an answer from William. Truth be told he didn’t want him to bring anyone else, let alone his partner. But it wouldn’t have been polite to invite him without his lover.

‘Why are the good ones always straight or taken?’ He asked himself as he drove, with a heavy heart, back to Maven.

Lily has also agreed to share with us a bit from something she is currently working on!

Blurb:

  
Alex Perez is a talented artist, lives in a nice quiet community in bucolic Lancaster Pennsylvania.   He lives a simple life and has everything he needs except someone to share his life with.   The house four doors down has stood vacant for a long time until a moving van shows up and someone moves in.     But welcoming the new neighbor proves elusive for Alex and he wonders if the mysterious man in black is hiding something.


Beware...there is smexin' below! =)

Excerpt:


“Tristan.”   Alex touched him on the cheek the despondent look in Tristan’s eyes made his heart break.    He wasn’t sure if he was acting on impulse or instinct but whatever it was he couldn’t resist grabbing Tristan by the arms and pulling him against him for a kiss.  He could feel Tristan’s surprise in the tense muscles but soon he relaxed and his arms came around Alex’s shoulders.   The feel of the stubble from Tristan’s five o’clock shade grazed his face making his cock stand up and take notice. 

“Do you want to go lie down?”  Alex asked him as he came back to his senses.

“Yeah.”  Tristan’s slurred voice sounded so sexy to Alex’s ears.    “Come with me.”  Alex allowed himself to be led out of the hallway bathroom and down the hallway to a large master bedroom.   Aside from a master bathroom there was a large walk-in closet and two dressers that lined the wall and a sitting area at one end of the room, but what drew Alex’s attention was the huge king-size bed that could easily fit two tall men like he and Tristan.   It was even better then they tested that theory by lying down on the soft comforter.  

Kissing resumed only it was Tristan who initiated it this time.    The neatly made bed was quickly messed up and their clothes flew off their bodies so quickly they could have gotten gold medals if it were an Olympic sport. 

“I want you, Tristan,  I want you so bad.  But I don’t want to hurt you, you’ve already been hurt enough.”

Tristan’s finger touched his lips and silenced him.  “I want you too, forget about everything else.”  He grabbed Alex’s dark hair and pulled him in for another round of kissing.   “So beautiful,” Alex blushed as Tristan’s gaze raked his body up and down. “Like one of your paintings.” 

“I’m not that great an artist.” Alex modestly pointed out to the other man.

“You’re wrong, you’re better than Picasso.”  Tristan kissed his chest and sucked on a nipple, causing Alex to arch off the mattress.   “Better than Michelangelo.”   His lips traveled slower to Alex’s belly and his warm tongue bathed his belly button.  “Better than Da Vinci.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far.”  Alex sat back on his elbows and was watching Tristan watching him.” 

“I’m going to go farther than that.”  Tristan smiled as he reached the target he’d been wanting to attain for a long time.

Trivia Question: What is the image of the fifth photo down on the side bar of Lily's Blog?

Email your answer to me at kchayes54@gmail.com by midnight tonight for one more entry into the drawing for a mystery trivia prize on Christmas Eve! You can no longer send me answers to yesterday's question.

If you haven't already signed up for the event on the original post you can COMMENT below with a valid email address to be entered to win today's giveaway. I will be traveling most of the day tomorrow so I will leave sign ups open til I get where I'm going, probably around 9 pm CST.

5 comments:

  1. Ok I'm a little confused here, you said the fifth book down on the side bar of Lily's blog and I only saw four book covers.

    Am I looking in the wrong place?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Kathleen,
    sorry that I'm late but I'm a bit confused where to sign up... :)

    Fehu

    Aramis_blue@gmx.de

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Gabby - you are correct...funnily enough Lily just emailed me and told me the same thing before I saw your comment...I said no one had been confused yet...oops spoke too soon. Yes I made a mistake...I changed the question to fifth image down...teach me to respond to emails before I have checked comments. =) mea culpa.

    @Fehu - If you signed up in advance of the event (on the original post) then you were automatically signed up for all the drawings. If you didn't do that, now that we have gotten started, you have to come back every day and sign up for each individual drawing. Sorry for the confusion. =)

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  4. WOW They sounds so wonderful. Can't wait to get it. Cinders

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  5. Amazing excerpt, sounds like a struggle for acceptance and love. For the work in progress i can't wait to find out just what is being hidden by the mysterious new neighbor Tristan. rshereifa(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete