Hurricane Day two!

Last night I kept waking up which is funny because A. (the husband) always jokes that I can sleep through anything. I usually pass out and sleep 9 hours straight. Sometimes he'll carry me upstairs if I fall asleep in the car or on the couch. He'll take off my clothes and put me in bed without waking me up. But the tropical storm kept waking me up. The first few times he woke up because I wiggled out of his arms. Then he rubbed my shoulders and back until I fell asleep again. The last time though I made it out of his arms and spent awhile working on a Colton chapter while the wind and rain howled outside. It was a wild night. He was upset this morning that I didn't wake him up the last time. He likes to be the daddy and hates when I worry alone. 

Today it was raining sideways! We went out this morning and got breakfast (really good french toast). The hotel gave us an umbrella to use. This afternoon the sun came out for awhile and we got to see some sights. It's so beautiful. We're in Miami Beach. 

It's also "Urban Beach Weekend" in Miami Beach so there are a lot of loud partiers and music everywhere. Tonight it's pretty quiet. We went for dinner at this fancy place where we had to dress nice. We're guests of these older gays and some of them are from here. 

It's raining again but supposed to be better after tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish this chapter of Colton before we fly back to LA. It will be the first chapter I post from outside of California. :) 

The rain isn't so bad. We've spent a lot of time in the room. It's a room that adjoins a suite the guys got for us so they are in the bedrooms connecting. It's pretty cool. We're on a high floor and can see the ocean. A. is going to help them with some business properties they are investing in so I'll have some free time this week. Hopefully we can make it to the zoo. I want a stuffed alligator and he always gets me an animal when we go to the zoos. 

Hurrication!

We got to Miami yesterday. It rained. Still raining, and now there is a hurricane coming! The hotel is super nice and right on the beach. We're on a high floor and you can see the ocean. It's pretty but glass and we're going to die. Yes, we will die. A (the husband) says no death just lots of rain. We have to adapt our plans. 

The hotel room is super nice though! It's this suite and connects to the guys who brought us here (four older guys who invest a lot with A.). They're really nice guys and don't treat me like a weird little kid.  

By the way. If you're afraid of hurricanes, don't google image search hurricanes! I spent ten minutes showing A. scenes of destruction before he took my tablet away. They are all shrugging this off like it's nothing, but I'm pretty freaked. One of the older guys went to a store and made me a bag of survival stuff including a flashlight, magazines, candy, almonds, and a first aid kit. A. says we are perfectly fine here, we'll just be doing indoor stuff. It's also something called Urban Beach weekend so there are a lot of party people out in the rain. 

Chapter 13 of Colton is halfway there. It's taken some time because I didn't really know where to go with it, but now I think I have a good storyline to do. 

I'm still thinking about what kind of series to do next. Lots of ideas. If you have any, leave them below. :) I'll read them if I survive this Hurricane. 

Crescents scars and a man who loves me...

Sometimes he does the most incredibly sweet things that remind me I don't deserve him... 

Last night we were doing some online shopping for our Miami trip and we picked out new swimsuits and then I saw some shirts that I had to have. He saw I liked them and he added them to the online cart. I stopped him and told him no. I said, "We're buying a new house and going on a trip. I shouldn't spend your money on more clothes that I don't need. Plus you're paying my summer tuition soon." 

He said, "Of course you should. My baby is taken care of, there's nothing to worry about. I promised you you'd never have to worry for anything." 

Then we argued back and forth about me not needing them, but then he stopped me. 

He took my hands and held them up in front of us. 

He said, "Look, the little scars on your palms are almost gone completely. If I don't know to look for them, I never will notice them. It makes me so happy. I still look at them every day to see what kind of man I am for you." 

I used to get bad anxiety when I was younger. I'd dig my fingernails into my palms and sometimes they bled with little crescent cuts. I couldn't stop it. I had anxiety pretty bad and it's like it built up and that little feeling of digging in was like a release. Apparently it's a thing not unique to me. I didn't realize other people had done it too. (See meme below) My dad used to freak out when I did it as a kid, it peaked around ages 14-17, but now I never do it. 

When we met and started hanging out he would check my palms every day or when I'd get upset he would uncurl my fingers and hold my hands. You would think it would have horrified him or made him think I was totally weird, but it didn't. He accepted it and helped me through it. I didn't think he checked me like that anymore. He's so busy and it's been so long since I've done that or even wanted to. 

He said "I use to see blood and feel like I fail you, know I let down my promise to take care of you. They are my report card." 


He still checks in with me... 

I think that's why I stopped writing the Noah series. Something about putting our wedding down... there's just something so private about it. I wrote the chapter for it, but I couldn't bring myself to publish it. It felt like crossing a line. 

I thought about doing a remix story of Noah, make it less of us but still with a similar setup. I also made a big huge mistake when I wrote Noah. It was my first story (although Emerson was the first one I actually posted). 

The original concept for Noah's Starship was to do it as one chapter representing each month of the relationship. That's why the original chapter titles were June, July, August... But I had to skip so much that was really special about those first few months of getting to know someone. I rushed ahead too fast and then it led to "boring" sex scenes because after the first few months we got into a rhythm of how things go. 

Right now I'm working on Tabula Colton, one more chapter. I might write more after this chapter 13, but this will wrap up some things. 

Sorry for the long post,
-Emri 

Colton, Miami

Good news or Bad news first? 

Good news! We are going to *drumroll* Miami!! A. got invited with some investors who think we are a "cute couple." It's these older gays, two guy couples. They are very nice and throwing big business A.'s way and they want us to go to Miami with them!! I haven't been! A. has been, but just to the airport connecting to Italy.  I'm so excited! They said it is like a flat LA, but very Cuban. 

Maybe Miami will inspire a new series. It looks so pretty! 

The Bad news: Colton is kinda dead. Almost no response to it. I think people are over the series, which is fine. I was planning to do a spin-off of Julian into his own series, but this last chapter got almost no response from readers. I think I need something new and exciting. Not sure if I'll write more of it. They're kind of at an ok stopping point. 

I am almost finished with the semester! I'm excited. Can't wait! 

What's next for Colton?

So chapter 12 of Colton is up now. Sorry for the delay. Chapter 13 though? I'll be not so busy soon. 

My final projects were CRAZY. It seems like every semester deeper into this program the professors want something bigger and better. 

If you like to read things in an incognito browser then here is the link to copy and paste (Don't click): https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/tabula-colton/

One cool thing is that I gave a presentation and it was open to guests so my husband guy (I still feel weird calling him that) came and sat in the front row and paid attention. It was really the first time he's gotten into something I've done. He didn't pull out his phone or look at his watch even when I noticed it buzz with a notification. He stared straight at me and paid attention. It was pretty cool. Normally I share his attention (other than during sex) with his friends and clients and games and emails and sports and other stuff. 

Should there be a next chapter of Colton? I don't know. Do the guys team up to defeat the older guys and evil scientist? Do they just have weird and entertaining hijinx? What say you? I got a lot of feedback and people wanted very different things for Julian in chapter 12. I know I disappointed about a third of readers, but the other two thirds (who were vocal) will hopefully be happy. 

Sometimes I get weird emails from readers. The funniest ones are the ones that go: 

Emri, I read the first 10 chapters and loved it, but now I will never read your stories EVER again! 

Then they go on to some way I offended or disillusioned them with the story. 

Chapter 12 of Colton will definitely get these emails because I included a racial slur, but it did have a purpose in the story! I hope... :) It's tricky to write about a culture that isn't mine, but I don't like the endless stories of white guys with white guys in love or white guys with super dominant hood stereotype black guys or white guys with super submissive young asian guys, etc... 

It's tough and I probably effed it up, but I write, I grow, I learn, I write more.