A Russian Bear is nominated for the coolest award ever! Can I just say WOW?

I admit that I'm a bit late to the party; I've been working a lot lately and hadn't had time to check the Goodreads Member's Choice Awards nominations this year (it's a great place to find great reads, by the way - you can check it out here). I didn't have anything out this year, either, so why should I check?

Well, I finally had time last night to check it anyway - and A Russian Bear is nominated as Favorite All Time M/M Romance Book! I'm speechless. Or, well, at least as speechless as a happy author can be;). Which means that I immediately come running to my blog to say thank you!

Because (and I'm repeating myself here) WOW! Somebody out there thinks A Russian Bear is their all time favorite M/M book. That's pretty awesome. If there's any justice at all, it won't win, because have you seen the list?? There are some seriously good books there. But still, it's pretty amazing that it's nominated.

And about the whole "I don't have any books out this year"? Yeah, I completely forgot An Accountant into Kink which is in the Fifty Gays of Shade anthology - which is also nominated. This is awesome on top of awesome. God, I love my readers - and some of them love me back;).

Christmas is just around the corner - and what better way to celebrate than to give away a free story?

A little about Leather and Newfound Land: When I grew up, we had very big dogs - and one of those was a brown Newfoundland. I must admit that we had no idea what we'd gotten ourselves into. Not about the size of the dog; we were used to that. But we had no idea what would happen the first time we let our pup out into the rain. We'd thought he would want to get back inside quickly or maybe spend some time in the dry area of the terrasse.

Instead, we went out to get him after half an hour - and found him down the biggest hole I've ever seen. He almost fit completely, and with the rain pouring down, it made a very nice pool. Especially since he was digging quicker than I'd ever thought a dog could, and then jumping up and down in the water at the bottom of the hole. God, he had fun.

This is where we made our big mistake. We saw a poor wet dog, felt immensely guilty, and immediately took him inside. Where he shook himself. In a room with white walls.

Well, let me just say that it took hours to clean. And that was after we'd finished cleaning the dog.

It made a lasting impression on me, though, and that's why you'll find that exact scene in Leather and Newfound Land. Enjoy!

Leather and Newfound Land used to be a Charity Sip. Torquere Press does a new charity each year, and after that year, the Sips are turned into free stories. You can find my story Leather and Newfound Land here - or you can go to Torquere Press to download it for your Kindle or other e-reader.

You can also find other free Torquere stories here; now that's what I call a nice little Christmas present:).


Here's the blurb:

About a couple cursed with literary names and a Newfoundland puppy. And a little about a poet who likes a lobster. Thanks to Kristi P. for the idea! (Well, the lobster part really isn't her fault).

Getting a puppy can cause major upheaval, mess, and distraction in your life. Much like getting a boyfriend, come to think about it. And Cliff has to think about it after Mischa (the adorable, but incredibly messy Newfoundland puppy) and Gerard (the equally adorable, but incredibly tidy man) come into his life on the very same day.

It's a case of opposites attracting -- and a puppy making it worse. The dog is wreaking havoc, and in the end, Cliff's doubting whether he's going to have a boyfriend for much longer. Then a puppy catastrophe leads to the discovery of Gerard's kinky secret, and Cliff realizes that they may be more compatible than he ever thought possible.

I don't know if you've noticed, but whining has been a recurring theme on this blog lately. And by "lately", I mean for a pretty long time. Way too long, probably, and I'm sorry about that.

The point is that I haven't been all that happy - and I wasn't able to figure out why. I'm one of those rare people who - literally - got all of my dream jobs within five years of finishing my degree. That's pretty amazing.

The problem was that my life wasn't amazing. As a matter of fact, I was downright depressed a lot of the time, and generally feeling like all those dreamjobs were sucking the life right out of me. And yes, I probably was working a bit too much, but still; that wasn't enough to explain why I felt so horrible. It was pretty scary, to be honest. Because if all your dreams come true, and you're still not happy, does that mean you're simply unable to be happy?

Of course it didn't help that I lost the day job and have been working hard to find something permanent since then. But as a matter of fact, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise: I got some career coaching, and I suddenly had a lightbulb moment: I wasn't happy in my dream jobs because they weren't my dream jobs. Simple as that.

Because yes, I love writing fiction - but sitting in an office writing press releases all day is like watching paint dry to me (I'm still reeling a bit when I'm writing this, because I thought it was my dream for such a long time). Instead I need to be challenged, and I love being around other people. And most of all, I love teaching.

I can't tell you how relieved I am right now. Because yes, looking for a job is suddenly a lot easier and a lot more fun. But most importantly, I've realized that I'm not unable to be happy; I've just been a little slow on the uptake when it comes to knowing myself and what makes me tick. But hey, I'd rather be slow than unhappy;).

Oh, God. I just realized that I actually have a tag called "whining". Well, I hope I'll use it more sparingly in the future! And I promise to have a free story for you one of these days as well - as penance!