Gratitude & Giving Day 13 - Z.A. Maxfield

Hi and welcome to day 13 of K-Lee Klein's celebration of gratitude and giving. First of all, I want to express how grateful I am to K-Lee, who is allowing me to post here today to celebrate the holidays with the ghosts of gratitude, Past, Present and Future. 

 Ghost of Gratitude Past - I have to give this one to my mother and father, Regina and Gary, who adopted me at three days old. I don't know what would have happened to me if they hadn't. Like something from a science fiction story, I'd have had an entire alternate universe tale to tell. I sometimes imagine what my life might have been like if they hadn't come along, but I don't think I could have done better than to end up with the parents I got. I loved them dearly, and I miss them every day. 

Ghost of Gratitude Present - These days I have trouble counting my blessings because there are so many. My family charms the hell out of me. My friends are kind. My colleagues are wonderful, entertaining, warm and giving. I'm grateful that I can do a job I love and take home a paycheck. I love my job, my home, and my family so much. I'm a very, very lucky lady. 

 Ghost of Gratitude yet to come - I really hope I'll live to see the world change for the better with regard to social justice. I'm grateful for the transparency we have today, for our ability to see people struggling with social justice issues in the moment they happen through communication technology. I believe if we continue to shine a light on irrational hatred we can eradicate it and I look forward to that day. 

My newest release is really a re-release, A novella from 2009 called Blue Fire:

Fire cost Jared Kenny his home and all his memories of the man he’d loved for over half his life. But it also brought him firefighter Adam Collins and the purest blue eyes Jared had ever seen. 

Despite the best efforts of his department, Adam had to watch with Jared while Jared’s house burned to the ground. Something about the man touched Adam and made him want to follow up and protect him. Later, when the two of them gave in to their passion, it burnt and bared them both. 

 So Jared ran…from Adam, from his past, and from everything their future together could hold. He tried to start a new life, taking only his newfound passion for glass and his obsession for a finding a particular shade of blue, the blue of the heart of a flame. It took a near-tragedy to teach him that the blue he sought, he’d had all along…in his firefighter’s eyes. 

 For giggles, I'll be giving away a $10.00 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter below, just in case you didn't get what you really wanted for Christmas! 

Thanks for everything, K-Lee, Holiday Blessings to you, your family, and friends! ZAM