Do you want a copy of Himiko: Bonding - for free? It's Torquere's ten years' anniversary, and they're giving away a book each day in September! And yes, I'm a bit late announcing this; real life has a habit of being either insanely busy or depressingly slow. My life in a nutshell lately!

But you can still catch a lot of good books - among them Himiko: Bonding. All you have to do is go to www.torquerebooks.com between 7-8PM (Central Daylight Time) this Tuesday, September 17.

Check out this link to Torquere's blog to see a schedule of your Torquere books for free: Romance for the Rest of Us.

You know I was talking about my secret perversions, right? (which are no longer all that secret). Well, I found out that I shared at least one of them with all of you: Libraries.

This is almost as good: Bookstores! The BuzzFeed Community has collected the ultimate list of 16 Bookstores You Have To See Before You Die. And oh, yes, yes, yes I do have to see those stores. As a matter of fact, I had to say "Dayjob! Paycheck!" in a very stern tone of voice to myself to keep me from jumping on a plane to Buenos Aires right now.

I've only been to one of them - Shakespeare and Company in Paris. How about you - have you visited any of the shops on the list, or have you been to even nicer bookstores?

So, there I was, beginning to write a book about a severely injured guy desperately trying to get rid of his carpal tunnel syndrome (a story which has been in my head forever. Now I finally have a lot to do and not enough time to write - so of course I'm finally able to write again).

I have a lot to do in my day jobs at the moment, some of it graphic design. Graphic design is not my friend. Yes, I love doing it and would love to do even more of it - but my hands really, really hate it.

Apparently working with graphic design is different from any other kind of computer use, at least to my body. I have to be extremely careful, using the computer mouse sparingly and sometimes with my left hand.

It sounds like I knew what to watch out for, doesn't it? But I still found myself researching all of the CTS symptoms for the story and suddenly thinking "uh... oops." Because even though I've been injured for months at a time during the last fifteen years, I never took the time to do any research. If I had, I'd have known that those "it doesn't hurt yet, it just feels weird" sensations are really the beginning of an injury.

But, well, at least I have a lot of experience in dealing with CTS - at least in theory. The only thing you can do is rest, basically. And that's not easy when you've got two jobs - not to mention books you want to write. It's a pain in the biggest part of your body! I want to write...
It did give me a reminder of just how much CTS can hurt, though, and I immediately incorporated that into my story (yes, the story I'm not supposed to write because I'm supposed to rest).
And instead of moaning (all right, during a brief break from my moaning), I went into my garden and took some very nice photos. I should probably have another lens for my camera, but I still think they came out pretty well. And, uh, at least you have something nice to look at while you're reading my moaning:).

So, the next part of my promised embarrassing disclosures probably won't come as a surprise to you. In fact, I even suspect that I'm not alone in this.

This is, however, one of the most difficult perversions to keep hidden, at least for me. There you are, in a nice, touristy manor or castle, surrounded by friends who think "kink" is something you get when you're tense, and pensioners who're looking for the cafe to get their tea.

And suddenly, you get all hot and bothered, your feet seem like they're glued to the floor, and whatever you were about to say is lost in a weak stutter. Because what's in front of you is something that you desperately long for, and in that exact moment, it seems like you simply can't live without it.

That's when you know you've reached the library. At least if by "you", you mean me:).

If you've read A Russian Bear, you might already have guessed this perversion of mine. After all, I did have my hero prove his love for his sub by giving same sub a library. And thinking about that still makes me a little weak in the knees... Getting somebody a library?? That's true love!

I'm not particular, either; it doesn't have to be several stories. I think I'd like it to be white, though. And the ladder is a must!

So, as you might know by now, I seem to be a pretty boring person.

Well, a very boring person with a couple of interesting interests, one of them kink. But hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a little bit of healthy exercise. Even if that exercise involves lube, rope, and a flogger, it's still exercise, right? And it really takes quite a lot to make me think "that's really weird" these days. It takes all kinds - and many of them are smoking hot, so you won't hear me complain! Quite the contrary; I'll write a book about it.

But basically, I'm boring; everybody's kinky these days. However, there are a couple of things which I've never admitted before - the really kinky stuff. Things which I could never even tell Mischa. This is one of them *takes deep breath*:

I really like looking at rain. Yep, I said it, it's out there. I know it's really, really weird, but there you go. Mischa would be blushing by now. Downright embarrassing for me.

But there's just something extremely peaceful by being indoors (important detail!) and looking out into the rain. It's kind of zen to me. And the smell! Yep, looking at rain is one of my favorite little perversions.

I'll be revealing more of my twisted secrets the next couple of days - hang tight! It'll be deeply embarrassing and slightly titillating. For me, at least.

Oh, and sorry about the photo! Strictly speaking, it's hail. But it started raining, and then it changed into hail before I got my camera out (springtime is wonderful in my part of the world), and hail is just a lot easier to catch on a photo... Although not as kinky.

This is not fair. I had perfected my grumpiness to a previously unheard of level of, uh, perfection. I had the ideal foundation for a good bout of grump: I was out of work, back in my boring apartment in my boring town where people speak a boring language - and of course, the weather gave me plenty of grumping material. Hell, we had a snowstorm a few weeks ago. In April. Snowstorms in April are not okay.

And then this happens!

Sunshine, mes amis. And not just sunshine (we've had a couple of days with that before, and I almost froze off my nose trying to make the best of it).

No, no, no, not just sunshine, but nice, warm spring weather as well. I even sat out in the garden today for an hour or so, working, and it was downright idyllic. The cherry trees were blossoming, bumble bees were humming around me, and there were little yellow flowers everywhere (I've no idea what they're called).

If I'm not careful, I'll lose my touch, and then Mischa and/or Jeff will transform into happy go lucky characters bursting into song. Maybe they'll sing "Tomorrow" from Annie. Imagine Mischa doing that? The horror. I simply have a literary commitment to find my grump again. And soon. 

At least I'll soon be allergic. Or get sunburned. Maybe it'll rain tonight. One can always hope:).

I'm pleased to announce that - after months of excitement, new languages, and new places - that I'm finally back under my rock.

Well, okay, I'm not exactly pleased about it. As a matter of fact, it's really, really depressing to be back where everybody speaks my language and everything is exactly like it used to be before I left for my grand adventure. When you're travelling, even going to the supermarket is an exciting experience. Back home? Not so much. As a matter of fact, the most exciting feature in my life right now is the fact that I might need a plumber. Or maybe I can fix it myself. I'm breathless with excitement to find out which it'll be.

At least we've had a couple of records since I got home: March was the coldest March in 26 years, and April was the coldest April in about 50 years. Unfortunately, I'm no fan of Arctic temperatures; I want spring, and I want it now!

I also want to get back to writing. I've been so busy looking for a job that it feels like ages since I've spent any decent amount of time writing. I really, really miss it, and luckily, things on the job front seem to be a bit better now. I really hope that it can alleviate some of the stress which keeps me from writing. It's a funny thing; it seems like it's easier to be busy when you're busy. And my brain needs something to do; otherwise it'll keep itself occupied, and I really don't need to be any more neurotic than I am at the moment;).

So, let me hear: Is it spring where you are? Please, I want to hear stories about warm weather and blooming gardens; it'll be almost like being there myself...

This is an offer at least I can't refuse: Today and tomorrow, you get 25% off on ALL Torquere books! Mine included, of course - so if you haven't got Fifty Shades of Gay yet, now's your chance:).

Just use code mar2013 for 25% off your total purchase at www.torquerebooks.com.
That's 1/4 off all your favorite authors! But only on March 3 and 4, so you have to be quick.

Sorry, can't talk more, guys; I'm off to make my wish list considerably shorter...

Oh, yeah, it's time to find out what happened to the stubborn, trouble-prone boy Jeff met in Saturday Night, Life.

It turns out that Jase is in just as much trouble when we meet him this time - the good kind of trouble, that is:). Read more here.

I can't wait to read the other stories in the collection, as well. Especially not after reading this blurb:

Welcome to Shady Business, the hottest gay BDSM club in town. Owned by Grey Shade, it's the place you want to be if you're into leather, whips, crops, and hot and steamy sex.

Each story in this anthology takes the reader inside the club for a steamy, hot night filled with passion, sex, and leather. From love stories that pluck at the heartstrings with riding crops to subs masquerading as Doms, from virginal first-time forays into the scene, to tales of experienced members in the leather community, there's something for every reader here. Top or bottom, Dom or sub, every need is met, every desire filled.

At Shady Business, no good deed ever goes unpunished.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to spend the evening reading:). You can buy An Accountant into Kink and the other stories in Fifty Shades of Gay from Torquere Press.

One moment you're happily asleep, dreaming of your new home town and how you're going to explore it the next day.

The next moment you're faced with your landlord's crazy girlfriend, who's going through the drawers (and your stuff) and refusing to leave your room. Even though it's the middle of the night. And you've paid New York prices to stay there.

Yeah, that wasn't really a good situation to be in. Luckily, she was only mildly crazy and not violent. She kept saying it was "the man's" fault. Probably meaning her boyfriend, but maybe she meant all men. What do I know.

The trouble was that the real estate market in Munich is completely crazy, which means that it was impossible for me to find anywhere else to live with such a short notice. To top that, there was some sort of fair, which meant that hotel prices tripled overnight.

So, a quick decision had to be made, and now I'm in Berlin. Kind of unexpected, and I'm still looking out the window and trying to understand that I'm here. It's not bad - I know Berlin well, and it's probably easier to find work here. It's just that, well, I already know Berlin. But hey, sometimes shit happens - and I'm eternally grateful that the crazy woman wasn't violent.

So, today I went to Charlottenburg, a baroque castle in Berlin. It was great, but baroque can be a little crazy. Like this photo from the porcelain room. That room was pretty outrageous in itself, but then I looked up - and just under the ceiling, I noticed this life-size stag, laying on a kind of ledge. Then I realized: Being threatened by crazy people might be bad - but don't you just HATE when the decorator leaves a dead deer in your newly refurbished room?