Hello everyone! Today I am so pleased to welcome author B.G. Thomas to the blog.  B.G. is here to talk to us about his new release, Hound Dog and Bean.  He has also brought a great excerpt as well as a copy of the book to give away. So please join me in giving him a big welcome!

“Puppy Dogs and a Good Cup of Coffee”  or  “Hound Dog & Bean Take a Chance on Love”

“If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it.” ~ Unknown

Hound Dog and BeanHello Everyone and let me say what an honor it is to be guesting here today.  It amazes me when I think about the fact that not even four years ago I was only dreaming of being a published author and now here I am at Joyfully Jay. What a blessed life I have!

It all started with a dream. A desire more than anything to be a writer. A published writer. I’d been writing stories since I was in grade school. I hear the same thing over and over from my fellow authors. The desire, the drive, the need to tell the stories stirring in their souls. The difference in their accounts is how they got there.

How did I get here?

I could talk about the years where my mother’s religion made me unable to be myself for the fear of going to burning everlasting hell. I could tell you about the years of mental and emotional abuse from a sexually addicted husband. I could go on ad nauseam about my soul-sucking, dream-crushing “evil day job.”

But that wouldn’t be right. Instead I want to talk about leaping. And trusting, knowing that the net will appear.

Cover art by Aaron Anderson

Did you ever play that game, “Where’s Waldo?” it’s that huge picture with hundreds of people and your trying to find the guy with the red and white shirt and hat in all that chaos. First few times you play the game it takes forever to find that little son-of-a-gun. But after awhile it starts to get easier. Then you’re looking at one of those pictures and—snap!—there’s Waldo!

Well I have learned that life is like that. I found I could spend my time looking for what was wrong with my world and found that before long it got easy to find. Easy to find valleys and mountains and oceans of hurt and pain and misery and smashed dreams. But I also discovered that when my life was at its worst, when every day was nigh on unbearable, that when I decided to choose a different path, I could wind up choosing a new everything. I was living in hell but I chose to start looking for Waldo, for any blessing no matter how small. And bit by bit, to my wondrous surprise, the good got easier to find. Before I knew it, I was seeing love and light all around me. I found the strength to leave an abusive husband and in less than six months had met a man who loved me and with whom I’ve now been with for over thirteen years!

What’s more, all those stories that were imprisoned? They couldn’t be free because I wasn’t free. They couldn’t live and breathe because I wasn’t living. Now they’re free! The shackles fell from their wrists and they are laughing and dancing and falling in love.

In my new novel, “Hound Dog & Bean,” two men—one who runs a no-kill animal shelter and the other owns a Third Wave coffee café—get a little surprise one day in a quite explosive manner. Neither are looking for love. In fact, they have either given up on love or ceased wanting to have anything to do with it.…

Excerpt

Who. Is. That? Bean wondered from the minute the young man with the dark-blond dreadlocks walked through the door. He stopped at the sight, arms full of a heavy box of coffee mugs. He’s beautiful.

Bean put the box down on the counter’s end, then tried not to be obvious, unpacking the mugs while watching the dreadlocked young man.

Poindexter was serving him, and when he nodded, those dreads moved like a lion’s mane around his head. Bean had never been particularly attracted to the hairstyle—dreadlocks usually looked greasy and dry at the same time. But these? These looked clean and soft and they shone in the sunlight coming through the café’s big windows. It was all Bean could do not to walk up and touch them, to see if they were as supple as they looked.

And that bottom. God. The new customer leaned against the counter, sticking out an amazingly round and high butt. His soft looking jeans seemed molded to his cheeks so it appeared as if he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Could be he’s got boxers on, Bean thought. Then the customer leaned over even farther and the cleft of his upper buttocks was quite abruptly revealed, his loose white hippie shirt rising up as well, showing off the smooth skin of his lower back. Bean almost gasped. That was no plumber’s crack, for sure.

“Stop staring,” Bean muttered under his breath. “For God’s sake, what if he catches you?”

So Bean looked down instead and saw the guy was wearing sandals that were little more than leather flip-flops with a heel strap. Nice feet, he thought. They were long, creamy white, and well cared for. Even from here Bean could see that. So many men had such nasty feet: didn’t take care of them or clip their nails or groom anything below their balls, it seemed. But this guy? He…

Jesus! Now I’m staring at his feet! He sees that and he’ll think I’m some kind of perv for sure.

Bean turned away, placed his back to the man. Stalked to the back room. I gotta get laid, he thought. Or jack off more.

Masturbate, because one-night stands didn’t do it for him. Left him feeling more alone than before. He was used to being by himself. He was an only child. His father had always been at work. His mother was a career woman all the way, with her job at the bank and the tons of charity work she did, gay organizations only a part of it all. Bean had to do a lot of caring for himself growing up, although his mother had always been there when he really needed her, and his father whenever he could. Then there was the University of Michigan, and of course the years on the road—roads all over the world.

“Don’t need anyone,” he whispered, then went to his office. He sat down, sighed, switched on his computer—rubbed his eyes.

Damn, the guy was cute. From what Bean could see from across the room.

Could it hurt to go out and say hello? Wasn’t that what customer service was all about?

Bean grinned goofily and sat up quickly, rolling his chair on its squeaky wheels. He got up and headed back to the floor.

Just in time to see a big football-player type walk through the front door.

“Well, fuck me!” the man bellowed. “You!”

At first Bean thought the man was yelling at him. All his internal alarms went off as he caught the big man’s expression and saw this was not just a disgruntled customer—this man was pissed. Enraged, even. The man’s whole face was contorted, his thick dark brows drawn together in an ugly jagged line, his eyes on fire, his mouth a vicious snarl.

Then Bean realized the snarl was directed at the pretty dreadlocked man at the counter.

The angry man pulled back a fist that in that moment looked the size of a catcher’s mitt. Bean had time to think—Not good! Not good!—before he surged forward to put himself between the hurtling behemoth and the object of his fury.

It was a move timed perfectly to allow Bean’s own jaw to intercept any damage that could be done to the hapless customer.

Bean saw the fist coming at him as if in slow motion, thought I need to duck.

And then he knew nothing more.

*****

Hound Dog and Bean have quite a road to travel before they can turn away from their past and all the reasons why they “shouldn’t” believe in the possibilities of true love and instead choose to look instead to the future. Especially H.D. who knows that love is real but has had it snatched away from him enough times that he’s afraid to take another chance.

Rest assured the boys will find their HEA. That’s no spoiler. I don’t write anything else.

I really believe in this book! So much so that all pre-orders proceeds for the book which came in before the end of 2013 went to the ASPCA!

In the meantime, what is your dream? Are they in chains, behind bars, held in stockades of “I can’t” or “I’m too old” or “what’s the point?” Do you want to be an artist? Learn to play the piano? Travel? Dance? Scuba dive??

Then find a way to do it. It will happen!

One of my life’s teachers is Dr. Chris Michaels—a completely amazing man—tells the story of one of his students who was miserable in his job.

“What would you do if you could do anything?” Dr. Chris asked him.

The student laughed and said what he really wanted was impossible. He wanted to eat for a living. He loved food, discovering new foods, trying new and exotic dishes. “But no one pays you to do that.” And frankly, he shared, he couldn’t afford the foods he really wanted to try.

Dr. Chris convinced him to believe. To believe that anything could happen. To envision himself being paid to eat.

Guess what?

That man is now a food critic for a gourmet magazine, traveling all over the world and—that’s right—eating for a living!

So what’s holding you up?

Do it!

Your dreams are your compass pointing you due to your destiny!

Less than four years ago I had never been paid for any writing except for an embarrassing handful of gay porn stories in the nineties. Then one day I took a chance. I wrote a story, submitted it, and four days later had my first contract! Since then I’ve sold over twenty stories including five novels and with things going the way they are I’ll be able to give up my “evil day job” within the next one to two years.

So please! Look for Waldo! Look and you’ll find your dreams. With time it will get easier and easier and before you know it you’ll be living your dreams.

Ask. Believe. Receive.

And I hope you will check out my new novel “Hound Dog & Bean.” It is available for order at Dreamspinner Press.

Namasté,

BG sent along this picture of us from the formal party at GRL

B.G. Thomas

P.S.:  Hey!  Comment and you’re eligible for an e-copy of the book “Hound Dog and Bean!”

And second prize will be a wall calendar—but please note you’ve got to be in the continental United States for the calendar. I am very proud of it too!


Giveaway

B.G. has two giveaways for you guys today. The first place winner will get an ebook copy of Hound Dog and Bean.  And the second winner will receive a wall calendar (continental US only please so please note if you are international).  Just leave a comment to enter.  The contest closes on Monday, January 20th at 11:59 pm EST.  

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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