Tuesday teasers - NAMES

Hello,

Short but sweet post for Tuesday Teasers. This is a short excerpt from Names Can Never Hurt Me. I recently changed the cover. I hope you like it.

You can buy either cover in paperback from Dreamspinner Press.

Also Available on AMAZON, Barnes & Noble, etc.

This is a scene after RC and Nick finally spend some quality time together and are just getting to know each other.

After a kick-ass stir-fry meal—I’ll go with meal—I asked if I could turn on some music. I knew he liked music, so I figured it was the best way to keep the enjoyable afternoon enjoyable. They say music soothes the savage beast; well maybe it staves off the beast before he becomes beastly. Sounded good to me.

He reluctantly agreed, “Um, yeah, sure. You can put on some music.”

 “Why do you sound so hesitant about it?”

RC replied, “Because no one’s touched my CDs before. Don’t…. Just don’t get them out of order.”

“Okay.”

“Or better yet, hit shuffle and then you don’t have to do anything. It’s an old stereo system. It was my dad’s.”

“Uh-huh,” I agreed.

I walked into the living room and plopped down in front of the stereo. It was indeed old—like dinosaur old—but easy to figure out how it worked. I opened the hatch-like front and the insides spun around like an old-time jukebox filled with forty-fives. I only knew what forty-fives were because my mom had some. I pulled one CD out. “500 Days of Summer, the motion picture soundtrack,” I read out loud. “Never heard of it.” I put it back and pushed play. I watched the inside turn since it was internally lit, and I heard the mechanism engage. Because all his shit was in alphabetical order, I found the CD case and read the back. The singer on this track was Zooey Deschanel. 

I stood up, listening to the plucky tones of what sounded to me like a ukulele. Funny, I didn’t know people still played those. I closed my eyes and let myself go. If I was going to be me and act like that in front of RC, then he’d have to get use to the fact that I randomly danced sometimes. Only Corey knew that about me. I’d told him a long time ago I liked dancing with my little sister. It was fun spending time with Jennifer, and her friends could be really funny to watch, but I’d never told my friends because they might have thought I was less manly. Corey was the only one I trusted with the info. Now, RC was going to get an intro into Nick 202: Dancer Extraordinaire.

I recalled a song from Just Dance and tried mimicking the moves. They fit this swingy little tune quite well. I was not the best dancer in the world, if I was truly honest, but I was good at copying dance moves. That was the reason I always won that game and Jenn hated me for it. I swayed my hips and moved my arms, all the while tapping my toes. I kept my eyes shut, and I could only imagine what RC thought if he was watching. Was he watching? I hope he’s watching. More than likely, I appeared much like a happy-go-lucky eight-year-old, spinning with my arms held gently out as if catching a breeze as I twirled.

I remembered watching my sister dance in the grass one sunny afternoon when she was six. I’d always thought she was adorable when she whirled her princess dresses around and swayed to the music. She was so beautiful as she spun, not caring what anyone thought. I tried to reproduce that innocence now, in RC’s living room. He'd only seen the sex-crazed part of me. He needed to experience the goofy, carefree side as well. I could be fun. I wasn’t all about the sex and women.

I heard the lyrics saying something about Su-Su-Sugar Town. The singer, Zooey Descha-something, sang, “I never had a friend or wanted one, so I’ll just lay back and laugh at the sun….” I liked her voice. It tinkled like glass wind chimes.

I kept my eyes tightly shut, afraid RC was watching, but also afraid to find out he wasn’t because then I’d be disappointed. I thought he was there because I could smell him. His soap or something had a distinct aroma I’d picked up on the first time we’d eaten lunch together. I’d liked it but was too embarrassed to ask him what it was. Now I was more nervous than embarrassed to ask because he might think I was coming on to him. I mean, it wasn’t like I couldn’t or didn’t want to come on to him, but if I did, I was defeating the purpose of just being around him twenty-four seven like Paul suggested. If I really did like RC, I should feel something without the need to bring sexual attraction into the mix.

I thought my dancing might get a laugh out of him, but RC hadn’t made a sound. Either he didn’t want to hurt my feelings with snide comments or he liked watching me dance. “Liking me” was an awe-inspiring concept. Maybe I could do more quirky things in his company like I always wished I could do normally but never did for fear of ridicule. My friends didn’t welcome random silliness unless alcohol was involved. If RC accepted me as I was, it would give me more reason to pursue my feelings, even if they were somewhat convoluted in my brain.

I played it cool even though the uncertainty of the moment was killing me. In my mind's eye, he was leaning against the doorframe, observing my silly behavior from a short distance away. Possibly grinning. I was having so much fun floating around, I was saddened to hear the song end and the CD player shuffle. It picked a different one.

A song I knew came on, and my heart thudded suddenly. Oh my gosh, I can sing this one! I was so excited. I sang way better than I danced; my chorus teacher in high school told me so. She’d said I could sing professionally but that’s a hard career to get into.

I stilled momentarily, my back to where RC theoretically stood, and played the air piano I pictured in front of me. RC stifled a snicker. Oh good, he’s there. I didn’t allow his presence to draw me out of my trance, though. In that moment, I was Carly Simon. Just as the lyrics started, I pulled an imaginary microphone up to my mouth, spun around, opened my eyes, and started singing on cue.

A shadow crossed his face, and he shifted his stance. Still, I sang. Maybe he’d gotten the impression I was singing to him and he didn’t like it. So far I hadn’t seen any indication he liked me. That would explain the discomfort I plainly saw. He had gotten pissed in the car, after all. I couldn’t bear the idea M-L had about him not being attracted to me at all. I was adorable, wasn’t I? And if he didn’t like me singing this song, what could I do? It wasn’t my fault he had very little music I recognized. Plus, it had shuffled to this song. I hadn’t picked it.

RC joked, “And I thought you didn’t listen to music. How the heck do you know all the words to ‘Nobody Does It Better’?”

“James Bond,” I blurted between lyrics. “My dad loves James Bond.”

RC smiled, giving me the impression he liked my singing. He also must have known this was the theme song to The Spy Who Loved Me. He shook his head and strolled over to the CD player, switching it off.

I protested, “Hey, I was getting good.”

RC nodded. “Yeah. You should audition for The Voice.”

I tapped my chin. “Maybe I should.”

“You’re so vain,” RC half-joked, or at least I thought he was joking.

I pointed out, “That’s another Carly Simon song I know.” I knew it only because M-L sang it to me at one of her parties when I was doing something she found arrogant. I laughed at the time because I’d never considered my vanity a bad thing. Was it? I’d have to think on it.

He chuckled. “I bet. Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Um….” I considered. “I can’t rebuild a transmission. Not yet.”

RC laughed out loud and marveled, “Oh my gosh. Well, I guess there’s one thing I have over you. …"

For the full chapter, I guess you have to buy the book.

Or come to a reading of mine. I'll be at Birdie's Cafe on March 26th form 6-8 pm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs <3

Movie Mondays

Hello all.

In the interest of keeping on track with my PLAN I thought I'd talk a little about X-Men: Days of Futures Past, Evan Peters, and American Horror Story

No, Evan Peters is NOT the star of the latest X-Men. I am fond of Hugh Jackman :) as Wolverine

But when I went to see Days of Future Past I had no idea there would be such a great side-character in the film. I saw Evan Peters in American Horror Story and fell in love with his smile. I thought he was a great up and coming actor and I was very pleased to see him in this film. I think he plays that "whimsical" character perfectly with his sweet grin and dimples. But don't let it fool you, he can certainly pull off the "dark psychopath" as well. Good actors can run the gamut of emotion on screen and I think he does a great job in the varying roles he has played. I look forward to another season of American Horror Story.

X-Men has been one of my favorite series of films lately. I loved how they kept the theme going by going back in time with First Class and kept it going in Days of Future Past. And yes, (spoiler), I KNEW the would bring Jean back. Even predicting it, I still cried.

My favorite character that WASN'T a main guy was the "winged" X-Man Angel. Why, because I have always wanted to fly. That old question that gets bandied about "What super power would you want?" Well, I've always wanted to fly. I used to dream I had wings. So, I like the Angel guy and I wish he had a bigger part in the movie.

They introduced Sonic in First Class, but then his character disappeared. :( I thought the young ginger was cute. Plus, he flew!

The added bonus in both newer X-Men films was Nicholas Holt. I liked him from back in the SKINS days. (But let's face it, Mitch Hewer was the hottest guy on Skins!) Nick has great eyes!

Anyway… I just wanted to let you know that I am a huge fan of X-Men movies, and below is my favorite clip of Quicksilver -- Evan Peters :)

I'll come back on another Monday and talk more about movies or actors :)


To recap. The PLAN consists of:

1.    Silent Sundays. I might post about my pets or pictures of things I like, but generally Sundays will be quiet. And you always have Sundays With Sam-I-Am on 2 boys in Love to keep you busy reading :)

2.    Monday Movies. Are for talking about my favorite movies and actors and stuff. I don't watch loads of things anymore because I lack time, but I'm sure I can come up with something now and then.

3.    Tuesday teasers. I will post a review or an excerpt from one of my books. I don’t have all that many publications so I will have to get creative with that. Maybe I'll posts teasers of other people's books too. (I think ZAM does that!)

4.    What's up? Wednesdays. What's up with that? All because I can't plan things well, this leaves a day for no plan at all.

5.    Throwback Thursday. Re-postings of post from years ago for those who missed some.

6.    Friend Fridays. It is going to be back on!!! If you are interested in posting on a Friday, let me know. We start THIS Friday with new author Tyler Cook. 

7.    Saturday Songs. I'll post videos and talk about music that I like :)

Until next time, have a great day!  

~Wade Kelly

xoxxo

Click HERE

Silent Snake Sundays

These are 2 of my pets :) Tuck is brown and Monty is grey.

Go read Sam's post on 2 Boys In Love.

Have a great SUNDAY!

Song Saturdays - All Time Low

If you couldn't guess my top BEST AWESOMEST favorite bands on my previous post, then I will straight out tell you!

1. All Time Low
2. Maroon 5
3. Evanescence

There are other bands I LOVE, but these three have been consistently at the top for YEARS! These are bands that I can listen to ANYTIME! These bands I have all their music, or at the very least MOST of it.

I discovered All Time Low when listening to Pandora and I made a Maroon 5 channel. Other bands got mixed in and I heard Yellow Card, Fall Out Boy, & Panic! At The Disco. But something about ALL TIME LOW stuck with me. I love Alex Gaskarth's voice. I love their sound. I LOVE that they originated in my hometown of BALTIMORE. But what I think stuck out the most was their Lyrics. I really really like a band that can play well, compose great music, and also write some sweeeet lyrics! They done good in my book!

One of my first posts about All Time Low was in January 2013. I am pretty sure my Pandora experience was in the end of 2012 when the song Weightless hit me hard! That is what I wanted to be! Weightless.

"Manage me, I'm a mess,
Turn a page, I'm a book
half unread…"

I STILL refer to it as my theme song!

I refer to All Time Low in several of my books as (ironically) ATL is my character's favorite band! (Flynn and Keith like ATL) HAHA. And Cole Reid heard Maroon 5 playing in the coffee shop in JOCK.

I tweet about All Time Low too. And in May I am going to see them in Baltimore! I am a huge fan! I saw them play at the Filmore in Silver Spring MD in the fall 2013 and it was awesomenicity! When I looked them up on Wikipedia, it says they are a pop punk band. HAHA who knew I listened to Pop Punk! But I guess I do! (and I use too many exclamation marks) Wiki says they have 6 albums, although there are "deluxe" albums and singles and such on iTunes. Their first albums were released before they graduated high school! Now I say THAT is pretty cool! I hope these guys keep going strong because I really like their music!

That is all I have to say for now. I'm sure that All Time Low will make it back to Song Saturdays because I can talk about MANY of their songs! For those who have not seen them or heard of them, here is a OLD video I found on YouTube. Way back in the day when Weightless had just been released. This is from an MTV thing called "Unplugged" and is about 24 minutes long. At the 16:00 minutes mark, Alex sings Weightless! The cool part here is that it is acoustic and live and they are so much younger looking. Fun to see how the band is progressing :)

Thanks for stopping by! More bands and music to come so stop back again!


Wade

Lack of CONSISTENCY

In the interest of BLOGGING on a more regular basis, I am going to try and utilize some of the things that were suggested by Poppy Dennison and others on my wonderful weekend with my Dreamspinner family. One thing that Poppy suggested was picking your personal favorite social media and doing it well. If it is Facebook, go for it. Blogger—do it! But the point was to be specific and consistent and vary content when posting. If I blog, then don’t blog on the same things that I have talked about everywhere else in exactly the same way.

Anyone who follows my blog knows I ramble. You also know I am NOT consistent. Part of that is not knowing what to post, or feeling like I’ll bore readers to death, but of late it is fear of being “watched”. I am a public figure in a sense because I am an author, but I haven’t feared readers following, stalking, or watching. If I am being an ass or a bitch, readers PLEASE call me out on it. I want to be known as a kind person, a loving person, and I strive NOT to add to drama or say anything untoward about follow authors and readers etc.

It is people in my REAL LIFE that disagree with what I write and do not understand my goals in writing and why I chose to write in the genre. Shouldering their ridicule is often very hard, and painful.

That being said, I don’t want to repeat myself and annoy you with details of my daily difficulties. Just know it is ongoing. This will not stop, the pressures just shift and change, but they do not go away. To make them disappear I would have to stop writing. That sounds drastic, and the nay-sayers in REAL LIFE would probably argue and say, “We never said that!” No, you want me to stop writing the stories I feel passionate about. I don’t know about every author, but writing something deep and meaningful doesn’t exactly flow if forced. My stories come to me in various ways, but they are not forced. I don’t sit down and type and push a story out because someone wants to story about a zombie mutant that took over Chicago and blew up Alaska before boarding a spaceship to Mars.

Um, MAYBE I could write that story, but I would have to feel it and find something significant about that zombie that pushed culture and had a social message that I thought others needed to hear. I write about culture, if you didn’t know. My stories are not just about two guys having sex, as some may think. I write about social issues and push boundaries in order to make people think. (It is in my bio!) Have I made you think? I hope so.

In the desire to post more often and be consistent, I thought of types of posts….

1.    Silent Sundays. We have Sundays With Sam-I-Am on 2 boys in Love, so go ahead and read about what Sam is up to. I might post a picture, or something short. My Sundays are generally busy so I don’t get online as much. I might even make it “Snake Sundays” because I love snakes. I’ll post some pictures of my pets or something. :)

2.    Monday Movies. What do you think about that? It’s simple enough, right? I talk about one movie a week and see how it goes. Remember I was born in the time of the dinosaurs; so many of the movies I know about are old. (HAHAHA) I rarely have time to see newer ones but we will see how this goes. Kage Alan likes to talk about movies, so maybe so can I :)

3.    Tuesday teasers. I will post a review or an excerpt from one of my books. I don’t have all that many so I will have to get creative with that. Most likely, it will become repetitive. We shall see.

4.    What's up? Wednesdays. I might start talking about the musical WICKED and call it "Wicked Wednesdays"and talk about how I really feel like most of the songs were written about me. Hahaha. After I get though Wicked, I will have to think of what else Wednesday bring you readers, hence "What's up?". Not sure. :p

5.    Throwback Thursday. I am going to go through and repost some older posts. I plan on commenting on some of the content. Like: “Oh, look here! I accomplished this!” etc. So I can get a feel of where have come from in the past 5.5 years as a published author. What was I thinking and feeling back then and how has it changed?

6.    Friend Fridays. It is going to be back on!!! I will set up a schedule and send it to authors who were previously interested. Not sure if THIS FRIDAY will happen, but I do have a post from new author Tyler Cook that I will post first and then we shall go from there. If you want to post and you didn't sign up on Facebook (because I still have that list) then comment below or message me.

7.    Saturday Songs. I love music. Maybe not as much as Eric Arvin, but I do listen to music all the time. I will share a song or video that I like and talk about it. (Even songs I don’t like and why.) Something different for me, and not real hard, plus it gets readers to feel more connected to the type of person I am. I bet you can't guess my 3 top best awesomest favorite bands! lol

I try to post twice a week and fail, so this is a lot of posting! I might miss some, but if I strive for something shorter every day then I might actually get some posts up! That would be good, right? For the most part, many of these posts should be easy enough for me.

Poppy said that only 20% of posts should be about book promo, and the rest should be about YOU. So, I am trying not to bore you about my books over and over and just talk about me. I know me. I can talk about me.

That is all for now. Love and Hugs.

Wade Kelly

xooxoxox

Spreadsheets!!! I love them.

Spreadsheets!!! I love them… hahaha. I am home! Long wait for my bags, but way better than Angel had with her delays. I'm going out to dinner in a minute, but I thought I would post what I wrote.

On the plane, I made a spreadsheet! HAHAHA. I thought it would help keep me on track with all the things I need to do. It seems many people limit their time on different social media, like 10 minutes or 30 minutes or something, and limiting it keeps them on track and focused. This translates into everything I do really. I need to be organized in everything! So I made the spreadsheet with all the social media things I do, but also things like laundry and cleaning because these need to be done everyday and when done everyday then they are fast!

One of my HUGEST goals this year is to purge my house of all the crap I have piling up everywhere because I never throw anything away. I am trending toward being a hoarder and that is not what I want to be. I want to purge! So, cleaning is on my checklist as a way of working toward that end-goal. I want a clean and organized house!

Poppy mentioned being consistent in social media and not cross posting. Fresh new content or a variation of another post, but it shouldn’t be the same or people gloss over and don’t read it. The author becomes white noise because everyone has seen it and therefore they stop reading. Just like if I only ever talk about the same things. This would get boring, right? So I am coming up with a plan and a blog post schedule to make it more interesting for all of you! I will post my weekly blog schedule later this week.

Oddly, I have written several blog posts on the plane back from Orlando! YAY

ONE VERY LARGE GOAL AND ONE I NEED TO KEEP IS WRITING EVERYDAY. My daily goal is 1500 words. I think it is doable if the story is flowing. Rick R Reed says he gets up at 4:30 in the morning and is done writing by 10 so he has all day for everything else. I intend on doing that as well. My dogs get me up at 4:30 anyway! I will get up and stay up and write while everyone else in the house is sleeping! I think it is also doable.

I don’t have much control over many other things in my life. Kids and dogs and cooking happen, but I AM ABLE to get my butt out of bed and write when people are sleeping. I am also able to take a nap on some days if getting up at 4:30 is hard on me that day. I can do it!

I want to bring my readers more stories and the only way to do that is to WRITE WRITE WRITE! Beth even does a hash tag of #writewadewrite when she comments on facebook. I have cheerleaders so I need to listen to them.

So, anyway, that is all for today.

I will think about my trip and post about Orlando, but really, I have already posted about the highlights. On TWITTER I will talk about marketing. Facebook has pictures so you can connect with me there. Pinterest will have pins of things I like. Visit me on all social media for a broader idea of what is going on with me.

Thanks for stopping by! As Jason says, Hugs and Kittens <3

Wade

Brain Explosion and Information Overload… but in a good way :)

I am currently at the Dreamspinner Author Conference in Orlando and I have to say it is Excellent. Not only is it wonderful to see friends I haven’t seen in a long time, it is also great to be in the presence of other people who make me feel normal. I have found often that only other authors really get me. Other authors have an author mind and the way I think and my creativity is often lost or unappreciated by others who just don’t get it. I don’t say this to be unkind to those out there who are not authors and still get me, but as information in general because “artistic” minds are different and when you find others whose thought processes are extremely similar, it helps to feel less of a freak.

Other authors have ideas that come in spurts.

Other authors need QUIET to write.

Other authors have ideas and dialogue come out of nowhere and they often can’t write it as fast as it comes out.

Other authors write by the seat of their pants, no outline or direction.

Other authors gather ideas from every little thing they pass by.

Other authors put bits of themselves in every character.

Other authors are constantly thinking about their characters and things to write when they are not physically in front of a computer able TO write.

And many more things along those lines.

So one thing I came away with this morning was CONSISTENCY. (I have none.) I set out with a goal of writing every day. I have failed. I had a great run of 21 days and I would like to get back to that. But I NEED to be consistent at all things. This means I NEED to stick to my schedule of blogging. Even if they are short posts or a picture of something I thought about that week, I need to consistently post. So if my goal is to blog twice a week, then I better do it!

It is also important to help promote other authors. Not only is it kind, but also it is beneficial to a genre that is supposed to be a family. READERS can out read ANY author’s ability to write. Some readers read a book a day or MORE. I cannot write a book a day; neither can anyone else I would venture to say. SO banning together for support of other’s careers is essential. It is not a competition. Marketing is a group project and talking about other authors helps everyone.

It is important to find the social media platforms I like, and use them well. I don’t like Tumblr so I shouldn’t spend all my time and energy on something that doesn’t seem to help me know anyone or get them to know me. My preferences are Facebook, Blogger, & Twitter. So, I better get more consistent in using them. Google Plus, I TRY to use but don’t understand. Pinterest is interesting too but I forget to post there too. Goodreads I need to figure out.

No cross-over content. It is important to have unique content in different social media so I don’t BORE people. (Although I think I bore them already!) Different posts on Twitter than Facebook is best.

20% of my posts should be book promo, leaving 80% to be about ME and MY interests. This allows readers to connect with me as a person. This is essential. I shouldn’t be that author who only ever posts about their books and ignores the reader comments and never engages anyone on Facebook unless it is to say “Read my book.” That is kind of rude anyway.

What else… Um, I need to have an icon that represents ME and use it on ALL media. It will not be my face. I would like to contact a graphics person and show them what I have in mind and go from there. If my signature color is ORANGE, then I should use orange on all my PLACES, like blogger and my website and face book etc. I need to be CONSISTENT!

Using hashtags and retweeting and using terms that get you notices and retweeted is important to keep your name in the public eye.

So… GOALS???? (I know I always set them and then fail. ONE thing I am consistent with.)

1.     Re-establish “Friend Fridays” and give out rules and expectations that I can consistently follow. Friend Fridays were good for exposure of other authors and I feel bad that I dropped the ball. I even found a couple newer authors that I wanted to help promote so keep a look out for me on this.

2.     BLOG twice a week, PLUS Friend Fridays. Make it about me, even if I think it’s dumb because I am selling myself and my brand and my mission statement. What is that? Well, my tag line is “Real characters, raw pain, and unconditional love.” Is that a mission statement? Does that get across my desire to inspire hope and spread love and peace? Let me know your thoughts.

3.     TWEET !!!! I need to tweet and use hashtags and make my voice be heard, even if it is a silly voice.

4.     Last I want to keep the news feeds and currents events and “news” of any sort CURRENT on Amazon, and Dreamspinner and MY website. All need to be linked and current.

How and went I will get to this? Not sure. I think I need to create a spreadsheet or check list to make sure I am on track over day until it becomes a habit. One this is for sure, I need to go to bed consistently and get up around 4/4:30 every day because THAT is the time when my house is quiet and I am most productive in writing. I am a morning person. Laundry and shopping and social media needs to come AFTER I produce words on paper! (Or computer.)

Poke me and hold me to this!

Wade

#dreamer