Sxx BLOG: Another Full Year of Writing!

Second Full Year of Writing

Author Sharita Lira

Wow! Where the heck did the year go, huh? Can you believe it’s already December of 2012? I know I can’t. *raises eyebrow* Seems like it was just yesterday I mentioned my goals of 2012 which I already read through before doing this post. And now, I have goals for 2013.

Submissions! My biggest goal is to submit 10 full length novels to new pubs this year and hopefully have all 10 accepted. I also plan to push the writing goal this year to 500k. How am I doing on the 40k per month? Not bad. I’m just under 400k so it’s safe to say I might not make it but that’s okay. I won Nano, doing 50k last month and a little extra, all the books I spoke about last year came out except for one, I did the self-pub last month and will do 3 more this month. And the results have gotten better a well which is a plus.

I believe I’m one of those people that’s goal driven. If I’ve got something to focus on, it pushes me harder to achieve that goal. Without any set standards in mind, I’m sure I’ll slack off but the love to write is still there so it makes it easier to achieve those goals. Actually it’s stronger with the self-publishing as another notch in my writer’s career. Knowing that I can release my own books and build my backlist in other ways is quite satisfying. My editor was always right about building a strong back catalogue so I’m working on that now.

All in all, I’d say this has been a fabulous year and I look to make the goals I’ve set in 2013. It is just right around the corner. *wink*

Okay authors chime in if you’re reading. What goals do YOU have for 2013? Let me know your thoughts and I’ll comment on them! Thanks for listening.

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One of my last releases this year is under my wicked gal pseudonym who also has a full rock and roll series planned for 2013. BLMorticia presents the sequel to her successful debut m/m novella My Lieutenant, My Lieutenant 2: In His Arms. To be released Monday 12/3 from Rebel Ink Press!

Nathan Ellerby and Lt. Bryant Duncan are at it again. This time, the narration shifts from Nathan to Bryant who’s looking to solidify his relationship with his favorite artist. The Lieutenant wants to take Nathan to visit his naval friends, his parents who still aren’t happy about his decision to come out, as well as his best friend’s bachelor party. Bryant refuses to hide his man from the masses and despite his man’s insistence on the unimportance of the matter, Bryant pushes on.

I dressed for the occasion, in my uniform of black fitted slacks, a white shirt with black jacket, my few medals on my right breast. When I plopped my hat on top of my newly shaven head, Nathan grabbed me from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist. The scent of his Drakkar Noir infiltrated my nostrils and instantly I had an erection poking in my trousers.

“Oh God, I love when you dress up.,” Nathan beamed.

“Mhmm… I like the reaction you give when I do.” Quickly I shifted and picked him up by his buttocks. I pressed my lips against his cheek before going further down to nuzzle the crook of his neck. Damn, he looked so good tonight, wearing his tight black jeans and crewneck sweater that showed just enough skin for me to ogle and lick when I felt the need.

Nathan laughed and those hazel eyes met my gaze. “You know I love the uniform. I’m gonna hafta control myself around ya. I know your naval buds don’t need to see us being affectionate.”

“Well, maybe not overly, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be keepin’ my hands off ya.” I put him back down but continued my affections, licking and sucking on the spot above his collarbone. He swore up and down that was one of his erogenous zones.

“Ooh, baby. Don’t, please. We’ll be late if you keep this up. Then what will you tell them?”

After taking his lips inside mine, I grabbed his ass and pinched it hard. “That I was with my man and we had some, um, business to take care of? Why should I lie to them? I’m a gay man, for God’s sake, and just like they might get sidetracked, I might, too.”

Nathan giggled and reciprocated the kiss. “Ah, I love you. Let’s go on and get outta here, though. The quicker we leave and get there to socialize, the quicker we can come back and enjoy the rest of our Saturday night alone.”

“Agreed.” Despite the feelings of desire that swarmed my brain, I smacked his ass and turned back around to straighten my tie.

I had to admit, I’d been missing the brotherhood of being around my friends from the Navy. A few of us, including Bart and Pete, started in basic together and went to training school as well. Thank goodness it seemed they still wanted to be friends with me and wouldn’t hold a grudge because I was doing something they hadn’t expected. After enjoying about a half hour of kisses and gropes, we rushed out of the house to the bar and arrived about three minutes late. As soon as I went in, Bart chided me about this being the first time I was tardy.

“I had good reason!” Tightly, I gripped Nathan’s hand and winked at him.

Bart nodded. “Good to see ya again, man. You been takin’ care of our boy?”

“That I have, or should I say it’s the other way around? He thinks just because he was in the armed forces that he’s in control all the time.”

“I am…” I removed my pea coat and removed Nathan’s jacket from his shoulders. I walked them over to the coat room and, as I turned to walk out, my old friend Sergeant Miller stood in the doorway with a smile.

“Heya, how’s it goin’?” He extended his hand.

“Real good, man. Lots of recruits comin’ into the center ready to serve their country.”

“Yeah, that’s great news.”

“Means they won’t have to go back to the days of the draft.” I chuckled. “It got a lil’ shaky there for a while.”

“Naw, I don’t think that ever woulda happened, Lieutenant.”

“Good to know Miller, good to know. Hey so how’s the wife?” I quickly changed the subject so we could talk about other things besides my orientation and why I came out.

Some things were just better left unsaid.

Miller patted me on the shoulder and walked me out of the room.

Once our conversation ended, we stayed for a little longer, ate then said our goodbyes. I think the boys really took a liking to Nathan since he knew everything there was to know about sports, especially college football, which was always a hot topic in our naval circle. Miller even invited Nathan to be in his fantasy football league for next year. Nathan said he’d give it some thought because he really wasn’t into that sort of thing. Seemingly, he’d shown himself to be very knowledgeable and my pals enjoyed talking with him.

“Well…” I gripped his thigh tightly while we drove back to the apartment. “You were a hit tonight and get this…My friend Sergeant Miller told me my appearance at the bar three months ago helped his own brother. How cool is that?”

“Hmm? How did it?” Nathan turned his attention to me.

“Apparently, he told his brother what I did and that encouraged him to come out, too. Miller told me in the coatroom.”

“Oh, while Bart was chastising me?”

I darted my eyes at him. “What d’ya mean, babe?”

“He was just askin’ me all kinds of questions, like how we met, do we go out a lot, and are we gettin’ a lot of flack.”

“Wow, he really wanted to know, huh?” I wondered why Bart inquired so much about us. I’d need to ask him next time.

“Mhmm, like he was asking for his own reference or somethin’. Right when I was about to find out, you came over and distracted us.”

“Hmm, and he shut up real quick, huh? Well babe, I dunno, maybe he’s got somethin’ he needs to say as well.”

“Maybe. No straight guy would ask a gay man all those questions. There has to be another reason besides just wanting to know.”

“Perhaps so, lover. I’ll need to try gettin’ it outta him next time.”

”Maybe so.”

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