Category Archives: Wednesday Briefs

Wednesday Briefs: July 25, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #82 (17.2) by Julie Lynn Hayes

I half-expected to find this fancy place had valet parking, but no, that was just an illusion based on my own assumptions. We parked in the circular drive at the front and entered. The young lady at the reception desk exuded serenity as we approached. Maybe it went with the territory. Can’t risk stirring up the patients, right? Of course she recognized Troy right away, and spent ten minutes gushing over him and how she’d seen every one of his movies. He listened to her politely, of course, but I noticed he kept one arm securely around Brendan. Not that he wasn’t openly gay, but sometimes it didn’t hurt to remind his public of that, I guess.

“Oh yes, she’s here,” she replied to his question concerning the wayward actress. “I believe she is expecting you in the solarium. Let me show you the way.” Apparently

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Wednesday Briefs: July 19, 2023


Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Broken Path, Starless Tail: Chapter Eighteen by Cia Nordwell

“Are you okay?” Valrinda asked. He craned his neck and tried to peer at Beckett, who only looked up for a brief second before the icy wind of their rapid flight made it too unbearable.  

“F-f-fine,” was all Beckett could get out without risking biting off his own tongue. He patted Valrinda’s neck, and his hand burned from just the light contact. There wasn’t a choice. They had to stay higher in the atmosphere, and he was going to tough it out. His core was warm enough, pressed against Valrinda, and that was most important. Beckett tucked his head tighter

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Wednesday Briefs: July 12, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #80 (16.4) by Julie Lynn Hayes

We found Ethan’s Uncle Benny in the kitchen, putting away some dishes. Obviously helping his sister with her daily routine. I couldn’t have stopped my snicker if I’d tried…and I confess, I didn’t try very hard. The man was wearing a ruffled green plaid apron—obviously Maureen’s—but how incongruous it appeared on his rugged frame, especially with that ginger beard. Luckily for me , he didn’t take my laugh in the wrong way, giving us both a huge grin.

Then he turned immediately serious. “Everything okay out there?” I had to guess he had overheard the same thing Maureen had but had elected to give them their privacy, much as we had.

“It will be,”

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Wednesday Briefs: July 5, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #79 (16.3) by Julie Lynn Hayes

“What were you mad about?” Ethan asked cautiously. I didn’t look up, afraid to be seen as staring at Ethan’s brother. I wasn’t even sure he’d want to answer the question. But his comment seemed like a cry for help almost. I don’t think I’d ever seen Joey so…what was the right word? Vulnerable. Human, even.

“A lot of things.” Joey sighed. I noticed he never stopped stroking Benny. Not that our pup was likely to complain. He seemed pretty comfortable right where he was. “You. Sarah. Mom. Dad. Heather.” He paused for a moment, and no one broke the silence. “Maybe me most of all, I dunno.”

Wow, that was candor I never expected

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Wednesday Briefs: June 28, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Newberg: A Small Town Anthology – Prologue by J Ray Lamb

I decided to chronicle the story of the people who lived in Newberg: the public lives lived and the private lies hidden. Newberg is just like every other amalgamation of people. It has gossip, scandal, and intrigue. I was a resident of Newberg for twenty years – a native son born to outsiders. I would grow up, have my morals shaped and broken, and learn valuable lessons of the duplicity of human existence. When I left, I swore I would never return. Never is a powerful word that often doesn’t mean what it says on the tin. Now, some five decades…

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Wednesday Briefs: June 21, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #78 (16.2) by Julie Lynn Hayes

Nothing was said at first, we simply sipped our sweet tea and stared out into the backyard, where the laundry floated gently on the breeze. Benny raced about the yard like a madman. He’d spotted a rabbit and, despite the fact the little fella offered him no harm, insisted on chasing it. But the bunny managed to keep well out of Benny’s grasp, to our amusement. I wasn’t worried that our boy might actually catch and harm the rabbit. I think the fun lay in the sheer physicality of the chase.

“I always wanted to have a dog,” Joey broke the silence. That surprised me. I just couldn’t imagine him being interested in another living creature that wasn’t him. Of course, he’d obviously been married, but I’d never seen him

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Wednesday Briefs: June 14, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #77 (16.1) by Julie Lynn Hayes

Joey managed to give us a look that was both sullen and apologetic, but he didn’t say anything, simply stood there.

“Why are you spying on us?” Ethan demanded. “What are you up to?”

“I wasn’t spying on you,” Joey insisted, but I wasn’t very convinced, and I was pretty sure Ethan wasn’t buying his act either.

Ethan folded his arms across his chest,

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Wednesday Briefs: June 7, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #76 (15.6) by Julie Lynn Hayes

For that time of year, the temperature was fairly pleasant, being in the mid-fifties. Sunshine radiated down upon us as Ethan gave me a quick lesson in how to hang laundry. Not like it was rocket science or anything, but I wasn’t complaining. Gave me an excuse to have his hand over mine was he explained the intricacies of clothespin placement, punctuated by occasional kisses of approval.

Let’s be honest. Sleeping on the floor in the living room, with Ethan’s uncle, as well as Troy and Brendan, close at hand was not conducive to making love in any way shape or form. I was grateful that we could even snuggle together. But I wasn’t complaining, not really. I knew we’d make up for lost time as soon as we could. Probably after Benny gave his testimony and that was all taken care of.

“Thank you,” he

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Wednesday Briefs: May 31, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Broken Path, Starless Tail: Chapter Thirteen by Cia Nordwell
 

By the time he was dry, Beckett and Valrinda had a long talk. Valrinda had flown all sorts of places, and he knew of the city that Beckett thought he’d seen, but he’d never been there. “I know the path at least.”  

“Of course you do,” Beckett mumbled. “Wouldn’t make sense for you to be my guide if you didn’t.” This was all too coincidental—too easy—for him to believe it was real. Maybe he was in a coma. He did have a great imagination, one teacher had once said. Too bad real life, and his dad, was trying
 
 

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Wednesday Briefs: May 24, 2023

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Broken Path, Starless Tail: Chapter Twelve by Cia Nordwell
 

“What do you know?” Valrinda asked.  

Beckett thought hard. It was only… yesterday? How could it only be yesterday with all that had happened? He’d been in the bathroom with Parallax in his arms, then in a freezing cold forest with that same cat, but somehow, he’d been completely different. “Well, Parallax said he was the embodiment of the Cosmos, not it’s guardian,” he pointed out.  

“And you think that the very fabric of space and time needs a physical being to not protect it?” One of Valrinda’s eye ridges went up.  

“Okay, fair point.” Beckett tried to think back

 

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