Gratitude & Giving Day 15 - K-lee Klein

Hey, guys. I hope you're all enjoying 31 Days of Gratitude & Giving. How spectacular have all these authors been for sharing their thoughts and gifts on my little blog?

I'm taking a turn because one of my friends had to pull-out due to a family situation. I'll also be the New Year's Eve time slot to usher us into 2016 because the boss gets to do the wrap-up. At the moment, I'm also sicker than a dog but so I'll try to put some braincells together for this post. 

I love that some authors have been using my "ghosts of..." idea so I'm going to give that a shot, too.

Ghosts of Gratitude Past

I have a lot to be grateful for.

I have three grown kids who are awesome, down-to-earth, independent people who care for one another and me. They endured having the out-of-the-norm mom who got her first tattoo at thirty-seven and was determined to show it off, and they simply blink their eyes at my obsessions or maybe tease me a little. They are my pride and joy and without their encouragement and love I would not be where I am today, I would not be the person I'm striving to be, and I wouldn't still be trying to reach those goals they tell me I can achieve. Without them I might very well not be here at all. (My sons were bridesmen for my daughter - that's where the pic is from) Damn proud of all of them. <3

I have a husband who has supported me through mental illness, hospitalizations, inability to work outside the home, the fact his wife signed-up four & five year-old boys for hockey at the same time (which was definitely more her idea than his LOL). He accepts my strange obsessive behavior like The Winter Soldier & The Hobbit, expensive conferences, and a desire to know, talk and show him everything gay. He has kept a roof over our family's heads, put food on the table, clothes on our backs, indulged my traveling urges, and as with my kids, made sure I didn't give up on myself and my life.

Ghosts of Gratitude Present

The past so easily bleeds into the present and in this train of thought I have to put my writing at the top of my list of things I'm thankful for. The past part is debt of gratitude owed to the first people who encouraged me to write - fanfiction friends from LiveJournal, The GoodReads M/M Romance, SJ Frost (who first told me I should submit something to a publisher), and Kris Jacen & MLR Press.

That brings me to the present.

I'm grateful every day for the ability to put my thoughts to paper, or iPad as it were. Writing gives me an outlet to take all those roaming thoughts and emotions in my head and heart and put them somewhere constructive. Writing lets me express how I'm feeling, what I love, what hurts me, and what makes me happy. It allows me to feel productive in my life, to touch people's hearts, funny bones or maybe even sexy times, and to share the lives of fictional characters who are an important part of me.

And one of the biggest perks of being an author in the m/m community is the readers and authors I've met online and in person. I'm thankful every time I open Facebook to see someone has liked yet another post of Sebastian Stan or Chris Evans, to read what others have commented on my page, and to keep those important connections of friendship strong and heartfelt.

I'm a bit of a hermit, a hibernator even in warm weather, so the friends I've made along the way in my writing career represent at least ninety percent of my social life. And without having that commonality of m/m romance or writing in general, I would have never met the majority of those people - the majority of you.

I'm also grateful to have found a medical professional who finally believes in me, doesn't treat me like a mere inconvenience, and let's me take as much of his time as needed whether in actual treatment or speaking kindly with me. I am, of course, talking about my knee issues of almost four years and my Physioterrorist, John. There are definitely some very good people in the world and I'm happy to have found him.

Ghosts of Gratitude Yet To Come (AKA K-lee is cheating in this category)

This is a tougher one. I'm normally a glass half-empty kind of person so I've never really looked to the future for things I might be grateful for. I'm going to look at it in a different way, rather than what I'm looking forward to being grateful for...how about just what I'm looking forward to?

In global terms, I'm hoping for a continued change in the stigma of mental illness, a more positive approach so there is less shame and more understanding around this issue. And let's just get rid of homophobia altogether. It's time. 2016 needs to be the year we educate more and more people, open some of those closed minds, or just decide "screw it" - you live your life and I'll live mine. Change is important. Change shows we are evolving. Change is always needed when important issues and especially beating human hearts are involved.

On a more personal level, I'm looking forward to sharing more stories with readers who stick by me through every book, no matter how it turns out. I'm excited about finally writing all those books I've put on hold because I've often heaped too much on my plate at once. 

I'm looking forward to at least one convention next year and maybe a special trip for my (whispers big 5-0) birthday in February. 

I'm hoping for more quality time with my busy adult kids who I will beg and bribe if need be - they're really very good people, but a mother is allowed to use her wiles to get more face-time.

And finally, I'm looking forward to Captain America: Civil War because...OMG, have you seen the trailer? Cap & Bucky Foreva! Ha! If you know anything about me, you had to know I'd mention them at least once, twice...

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Okay! Phew, that was way longer than intended. Now for the good stuff - the giveaway. I've decided a signed print book is in order for this post. So since I mentioned 2016, I want you to tell me one thing that you're looking forward to next year. Simple, right? Leave your name & email address too, if that's okay with you. I'll pick a winner on December 22. Thanks for indulging me.

Peace, joy & love.

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For this post, I'm pimping my Family of Misfits series because the first book, Lucius' Bite takes place at Christmas or Winter Solstice. There are three books in the series now, it takes place on Vancouver Island, Canada, & Romania, and it's contemporary paranormal with a tinge of fantasy. Lol. Yeah, something like that. You can get any of the books in the series at MLR Press, Amazon, ARE, or iTunes.

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Lucius' Bite

One bite has never been a life changing decision but it is now --- to bite or not to bite that is the question.

All Lucius needs is his family. They might be a mismatched and unconventional group but they're the only "real" family he knows and wants. What Lucius doesn't need is the strange, beautiful man who arrives as a last minute dinner guest and knocks him and his wolf on his ass, literally.

Just being in the same room with the mysterious Nicu proves disastrous. Lucius knows without a doubt he doesn't need the havoc Nicu threatens to bring to his predictable, but comfortable existence. But when he stands to lose the man who is tearing his life apart, Lucius realizes he doesn't know what he needs at all.

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Ali's Intuition

If the rough and tumble man at Ali's door is supposed to be his fate-ordained mate, then he has to wonder what in the Goddess' name Fate was thinking.

Ali has always dreamed of his spirit mate, someone classy, intelligent and romantic, but the man who faints in his doorway is anything but. Kalo is loud and pushy, with hair more suited to a caveman and manners to match---all wrapped up in one big package of you've got to be kidding me. Besides, Ali has responsibilities as mama bear to his den of shifters and that's where he needs to be. For Kalo, being rejected by his spirit mate won't be life-threatening. But there's something about Ali that intrigues him and touches his soul. He's ready to offer his already-engaged heart with no strings attached, for a chance to change Ali's mind.

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Manny's Heart

Manny's willing to do anything it takes to be loved by the spirit mate of his dreams, but there's a fine line between dreams and nightmares.

Manny's life has improved in so many ways since moving to Romania, but he's unhappy that the last essential piece-finding his spirit mate-hasn't happened yet. He's more than ready, willing, and able to make that dream come true. If only the match for his birthmark would finally show up, because he's determined to be the best damned spirit mate anyone ever had.

Mika's always been relieved to not have a birthmark like his twin. He's never going to end up stuck with some fate-ordained mate he doesn't even know. The rock & roll bachelor life, with friends and hook-ups he chooses for himself, suits him perfectly.

But Mika's never had a friend quite like Manny, and he's never been as angry about the whole fated mate nonsense as he is when it becomes Manny's only goal. All Mika can do, though, is offer Manny his support. As his friend.

Buy links

MLR Press 

Amazon

ARE 

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Bio (insert crazy K-lee pic here...)

K-lee Klein has lived in one part of Western Canada or another for her entire life. She’s a doting mother of three now-grown kids, and has had characters and plots running around her head for as long as she can remember. In an attempt to avoid major writer’s block, she keeps the image of muse on her leg so he can’t run off too far. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work all the time.

K-lee’s days consist of planning her next tattoo design for her growing collection, having a lot of baths since her muse loves the water, and fighting off an abundance of fabulous gay men, large and small who continually bounce off the walls of her skull, competing for their turns to tell their stories.

Among her favorite sub-genres to read and write are rock stars, cowboys, shifters, friends-to-lovers, and opposites-attract relationships. But to be honest, she’s open to almost anything if it involves messing around in the heads of her characters. She’s also big on series—because she has a hard time letting her characters go—and is usually working on a handful of stories in various stages of completion all at the same time.

Places to find K-lee.

Website

Blog 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Facebook author/reader group