Looking ahead with Deirdre

I just submitted a new story yesterday. It will be part of a "Music" PAX to be released later this spring. I'm not sure of the PAX title yet or the release date. This story took me on a different path than I usually follow. The characters were very determined and turned out to be the driving force of the tale. There is not a great deal of external plot besides the relationship that builds for two very unlikely and different men. Talk about an odd couple! That's Jest and Greene, the other hero.

Ever since I wrote Take It Easy some time back and introduced Tom Holden and his band, Taken By Storm, I knew there were more stories to be told by other members of the band. The first one to step forward was the enigmatic drummer, Jest, who called himself the token rave rocker in a group whose roots split between Creedence Clearwater and some of the more recent country and western groups. When the topic of a music related PAX came up I jumped right in and claimed the title A Different Drummer, knowing Jest would come out of his shelter behind the drum set and tell me his story. And wow, did he ever! I learned some surprising things about him and his past in the process. Yes, I always feel like my characters are "real people" and they do talk to me; that's what makes writing such fun.

To refresh your memory since Take It Easy came out some time ago, I'll offer an excerpt, cover and blurb info on it in a separate post shortly. Although the principle romance in it is a straight m/f one, two of the band members are a lesbian couple and one sizzling  scene features them and Stormy who becomes Tom Hayden's lady after she picks him up in --wait for it--Winslow, Arizona! (well duh!!)  It was a PAX story too and all the group had song titles. The Eagles fared well and I think inspired several tales in the Heart Songs PAXs we did for both Heat and Allure. Anyway, the one scene let Take It Easy be dual-listed on both the Heat and Allure lines. A Different Drummer will be Allure only as it is totally a gay romance story.

I am on pins and needles to see what Trace Zabar, one of the Amber Quill owners and the art director and primary cover artist will do with this one! I expect it will be awesome and I will share it as soon as it hits my email, promise!

Meanwhile, let's nip back to Take It Easy in the next post. BTW it has a pretty neat cover too! The guitar shown in it is not the black Telecaster I mention in this one but Tom is versatile and plays both electric and acoustic, of course. I'm kind of an afficionado of Teles since it's a favorite instrument of my brother who is a former railroad maintenance union man and an aspiring musician. As I type he is practicing on the dual neck pedal steel he is teaching himself to play! It is great to have a resident tech expert in such diverse fields. Of course my late husband was in law enforcement as is one of my sons and that is handy too! As you know I do a lot of "cop" stories!