Musings on a book release

Passing His Test is out today and it feels both great and strange.

It’s been a long time since I’ve released a new book, for all kinds of good reasons. I went back to working outside the home. That was a huge adjustment, but I managed to finish Yield. About the time that came out, we realized my mother needed to give up her long-time home in central New York and move in with us. This started months of frenzy: 6-hour drives each way to help her get ready to put the house on the market; frantic remodeling to make the house ready and handicapped-accessible; moving my office upstairs so the old office could become Mom’s room. She’s been here for about 18 months, and it’s going well–but recently, it became clear she needed someone at home with her. In early January, I left my office job to be a full-time caregiver, and to the extent it’s possible, a writer.

Good timing, wasn’t it? At least I was settled into being home by the time COVID-19 became a serious issue in Massachusetts. The distraction and anxiety of spring 2020 isn’t making it easy to write, though, and my work in progress (the still-untitled Chronicles of the Malcolm book 4) hasn’t seen much progress. Still, I was able to finish a long-neglected novella and turn it loose in the world.

Finishing and releasing Passing His Test represented a sort of rebirth for me, a return to where I want to be. When I set the pub date, I had no idea where the world would be on April 1. I was thinking spring and new beginnings. The way things are, though, I’m having trouble feeling as celebratory as I used to on book release days. I’m sitting in my office, which is normal enough. What’s not normal is my husband, who’s a humane officer, is sitting at the other desk in full uniform. Even most city services are shut down. He can’t go into work anymore, except for a brief visit to the animal shelter (alone) to feed the critters and clean up after them, but he’s on call in case of emergency, so the uniform is on. We’re lucky and we know it, but the crackling of the police radio–he’s affiliated with our local police, though not a cop–is a constant reminder that things aren’t normal.

Yet in a strange, isolating, scary world, we need stories more than ever. We need heroes and heroines. We need sexy, and we need romantic, and we need vicarious adventures. And so I offer a tale of kinky friends-with-benefits on a long weekend in Maine, discovering they may be more than just friends who share a few kinks.

She’s bound … and determined to pass his test!

Dominant Thorne tells his submissive playmate Eileen that their weekend in Maine is a test for both of them. She thinks he’s testing how they like the rules he set for the trip: Skirts and no underwear. Addressing him as “sir”. Asking for permission to come. Most important of all, obeying him and letting him take charge.

Best test ever! They already know their kinky chemistry is off the charts. There’s no way to fail. If she gets “punished”, that’s just part of the fun.

As the weekend wears on, though, Eileen starts to doubt herself. Their experiments in oceanside spanking and hotel-bed bondage are scaldingly hot. But getting caught in the rain with Thorne shouldn’t feel as sweet as it does. And that’s not even getting into how much she enjoyed 100 percent vanilla candlepin bowling. Thorne’s her Dom and play-partner, not her boyfriend, and if she starts getting confused about their roles, the Harvard grad student may flunk a test for the first time in her life.

Unless Thorne is playing a deeper game and testing something else entirely. And how’s a sub to ask the right questions to figure out her Dom’s game when the weekend rules say he’s in charge?

Find it here for just $.99!

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