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Welcome to my blog, where I ramble on about writing, the bizarre world of m/m romance, and anything else that happens to grab hold of my attention and refuse to let go.

Regular posts:

Update Monday

My weekly update on my work and real life. Now includes a “snog of the week” picture, because looking at pictures of men kissing is my favourite way to start the working week ;)

Confessions of a Shameless Yarn Slut

Every fourth Tuesday of the month I post a guest piece over on Cole Riann’s fantastic blog, The Armchair Reader. Expect posts having something to do with my knitting/crochet obsession.

Vintage Smut Sunday

Because I adore vintage porn and have been collecting it wherever I can. I’ll be sharing a few of my favourite drawings or photographs each week. Silly captions and stories inspired by the pictures are very welcome.

Use the links below to navigate to all the posts in a particular category:

Update Monday: I’m a steampunk!

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snog of the week

Working week:

For various reasons I didn’t get much writing done in the early part of the week, but fortunately things improved and Merry Gentlemen (formerly known as Life of Riley) now stands at just under 26k. That’s a novella already, although I still have a few scenes left to write. All the big dramatic ones, of course: arguments and conflict. I always end up leaving those till last. I’m such a wuss sometimes.

Real life:

Steampunk outfit

Saturday brought with it the Steampunk Extravaganza, which I’ve been looking forward to for ages. Steampunk is something I’ve only encountered online before, and it was an absolutely fascinating people-watching opportunity. Steampunks from all over the country converged on our little town, and it was surreal to see them mingling with the regular shoppers on the high street. Part of what attracts me to steampunk is the DIY philosophy, so I made my own outfits for both the afternoon market (above-which made me look a bit like a pantomime dame but never mind!), and the evening do (right).

The absolute highlight for me, though, was getting to see Professor Elemental perform. I have an extreme weakness for chap hop–hip hop with comedy lyrics about tea and Britishness, performed by men in dapper historical costume. What more could you ask for?! Also, the Prof played Fighting Trousers, which made me very happy indeed :D

I put a few pictures on Instagram if you’re interested. You can find one of a slightly tipsy me being hugged by Professor Elemental, and a few pictures taken at the market: scary dolls, stallholders, and tea duelling.

This week:

I’ll be finishing off the first draft of Merry Gentlemen (est 35k in total, so that’s another 9k), working on the final edits for Mad About the Boys (my MMF anthology with JL Merrow) and don’t really have any other plans. Sometimes that’s the way I like it :)

How was your week? Got any plans for the week ahead?

Vintage Smut Sunday: bad furniture and awkward sex (gay erotica, NSFW)

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This week I’m posting a bit late without much comment because I’ve had a busy day with family stuff. However, I promised bad sofas, and have one particularly eye-bending example here, plus the room that interior design forgot.

There are also some weird poses in these. Don’t know if you’ll find them sexy, but they all caught my eye just because I was thinking “what’s going on there, then?”

Enjoy!

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The Hot Floor is a Book of the Month on the Goodreads MMR group!

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The Hot Floor coverWhat does this mean? Well, it means if you want to go and discuss it with other readers, there’s a thread just here (you have to be a member of the group to access it):

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1310210-may-bom-book-4—hot-floor-by-josephine-myles-spoilers

I’m not going anywhere near the thread as this is somewhere for readers to share their opinions without fear of the author butting in. Just thought I’d share it in case any of you wanted to get involved, though. I think the discussion continues just until the end of May.

The book was chosen as it was one of the twelve that received the most votes in their Member’s Choice Awards for 2012. Yay for Josh, Rai and Evan! And yay for all of you who voted! :D

Update Monday: one of those weeks…

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Working week:

Didn’t get as much as I’d hoped for done as not only was there a bank holiday, but Daisy was off school with impetigo again *sighs*. Still, I’m up to almost 20k on the novella, Life of Riley, so I’m feeling positive about that. Also managed to get the UK Meet blog “Meet the Delegates” posts started, which has been fun. Can’t wait to meet everyone in person in July!

Real life:

Yeah. Not really had much time for doing anything for myself this week, apart from going to see I’m So Excited! on Monday (great fun!). I did get a dress I’d made altered to fit properly, though. Have also dug out a very old coat project I started but never finished. It’s needing to be taken in by around 4″, but I’m finding it quite simple to follow. Might have to make a jacket for this summer. I have a huge amount of aubergine corduroy lurking under the bed.

We did have glorious weather on the bank holiday, though, which is virtually unheard of!

This week:

Need to buckle down and finish the first draft of the novella (or get near to it, anyway). At the weekend there’s the steampunk fair, so I’ve got to finish my outfit for that too. Should be fun, and I’ll get to see Professor Elemental perform :D

How was your week? Got any plans for the week ahead?

Vintage Smut Sunday: Smoking hot! (gay erotica, NSFW)

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Today I give you cigarette porn. Perhaps it’s a reflection of my own bad habits that I always want to collect pictures of guys smoking, but I can’t seem to stop myself finding it sexy. Yes, I know that tasting like an ashtray and having a hacking cough aren’t attractive, but there’s something seductive about a cigarette in a bloke’s mouth.

Perhaps I’m just orally fixated…

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Update Monday: Christmas in May

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snog of the week

Working week:

I got stuck into writing my Christmas novella (provisionally titled Life of Riley, but this will change!) and managed 12k, which I’m really pleased with. The narrator (Riley) is mouthier than I’d expected, but he’s great fun to write. Loved that point on the second day when his voice started coming through loud and clear!

JL Merrow and I have also got an edited draft of our MMF short story anthology, Mad About the Boys, ready. If anyone’s interested in beta reading it over the next week or two, just let me know. It would be good to get another pair of eyes to look it over :)

I also seem to have got over my Facebook issues and actually started to enjoy using it. I think having the FB app on my phone helps hugely. I find it so much simpler to use than the main dashboard on the computer screen.

Real life:

This weekend we’ve been enjoying the sunshine, and Daisy helped me plant a load of new flowers and herbs in the garden. It’s looking so beautiful this spring, now those awful leylandii are gone from next door’s garden.

I’ve also been busy sewing, and not only made Daisy a skirt to match the one I made myself recently (the only difference being hers has an elasticated waist) but have completed some alterations on clothes that didn’t fit quite right, and nearly completed a chiffon gypsy blouse to go under my corset. My outfit for the Steampunk Extravaganza is so nearly complete! Just some jewellery to make when that blouse is finished :)

This week:

The bank holiday today means no writing (but lots of time spent in the sunny garden!), but I’m treating myself to a trip out with a friend to see I’m So Excited tonight. It’s been ages since I’ve seen an Almodóvar film and this one looks like great fun!

As for the rest of the week? I’ll be aiming for another 12k on the novella, and keep on top of the weeding the garden. Got to stop that bindweed from rearing its ugly head!

Has it been sunny in your part of the world? Got any plans for the week ahead?

Vintage Smut Sunday: Rate the Cowboy! (gay erotica, NSFW)

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I thought we’d do something a bit different this week, and play a game of “hot or not” with some cowboy nudes.

I’d like you to rate each of these three lovely men on a scale of one to five in two different categories, with one being the least and five the best. Please feel free to add comments to explain your rating :)

Looks – are they hot or not? (5=scorching, 1=damp squib)

Authenticity – real cowboy, or just a model? (5=genuine article, 1=faking it)

Lets see who comes out on top in each category!

Bonus activity: if you’re inspired, feel free to christen each of them with a cowboyish name.

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Update Monday: corsets and claim forms

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snog of the week

Working week:

It was a weird old week, in which I ended up doing lots of little things but didn’t get going on the writing instead. I had a few benefit renewal claim forms to fill in (one of my all time least favourite jobs!), blog posts to write, short stories to edit, print galley to read, inbox/in trays to clear, UK Meet planning, etc. Still, I feel in a good position now to dedicate this next week to writing :)

Real life:

I finished my corset! I’m insanely proud of that fact, and it’s been a huge confidence boost in my dressmaking skills. I’m now setting about clearing the mending/alterations basket so that I can then get on with more new things. Here are a couple of pics of the finished article, which is incredibly comfortable to wear as it’s all been custom fitted:

CorsetCorset back

I’ll be making an overbust corset next, and getting more adventurous in terms of fabric choice. It’s been so much fun to make, and utilised so many new skills. I was surprised at how many tools were involved, too. I had to use a hammer (eyelet punching and application), tin snips (cutting steel boning), two pairs of pliers (applying end caps to steel boning), awl (making holes for busk to go through) and a screwdriver (used for pushing the bones down inside the channels). Felt more like a metalwork project at times!

If anyone’s interested I’ll do a more detailed blog post about making this, but I don’t want to turn my blog into a sewing blog. Sometimes I think I should start a separate sewing blog, but then I remember that I don’t have the time and need another blog to maintain like I need a bicycle made of cake.

This week:

I’m buckling down and starting writing my Christmas novella (provisionally titled Life of Riley, but I expect that to change). I hope to have 15k by the end of the week. Eeek!

The only other thing I have to do, though, is finish reading through the ARC of Junk to make sure there are no typos. Oh, and work on the second round of edits for the joint anthology I’m doing with JL Merrow. Uh, yeah, that’s quite a bit actually. Anyone know where I can buy more time? :)

How was your week? Got any plans for the week ahead?

Vintage Smut Sunday: a close shave (gay erotica, NSFW)

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I just adore pictures of men being shaved. There’s something incredibly trusting about allowing anyone else near your skin with a sharp blade (especially in more intimate parts of the body!)

I found the first two pics ages ago, but couldn’t seem to find any more to make up a weekly post. Then, today, I tapped in the right words to the search engine and voila! Check out the last pic. I’m always a happy bunny when I find gorgeous vintage pics like this :D

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Dirty books shouldn’t be an embarrassment! Guest posting today on Jessewave

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Yep, the title says it all, really. Here’s the link. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/2013/04/25/in-defence-of-dirty-books-by-josephine-myles/

BTW, Jessewave’s site is loading slowly for me today. Might be worth copying your comments before posting them, as it’s a real pain when they get lost in the ether!