Happy 10 year anniversary to JMS Books! Thanks for stopping by today. Nicolas is my first story with JMS Books, and I’m really excited to be part of this amazing group of writers. Today, I’d like to tell you a little about my writing process.

Did you know that for my day job I work as a floral designer? I do! And I’ve recently realized that I approach a new design much the way I tackle a new story. I look over the selection of flowers I have available, deciding on colors and textures, which flower will be my focal point, which will be the accent flowers. In much the same way I choose my characters. Who is my main character? Who are the supporting characters? Best friend? Antagonist? Love interest?

Then I pick the vase and start my base of greens, usually Oregonia, myrtle, leather fern. This is my first chapter that I build the rest of my story on, a sound foundation of prominent characters and a hint at the storyline.

Next, I make my structure using curly willow or red huck and add laterals: gladiolas, liatris, bells of Ireland, any tall straight flowers that give the design height and depth. A lot like plotting a story! After I have my first chapter in, I take a little time to jot down a loose outline, where I want the story to go, a mid-point, the ending I’m aiming for, when I want certain characters to be introduced, what happens when, so to speak. But like my flower arrangement, I can pick up and move these flowers/characters/scenes, anywhere I want them.

Here is when I add the color, the heart of the design, the essence of the story. I set my focal flowers where they look best, adding another two or three colors/textures to bring the structure and flowers together into a beautiful, unique design for others to enjoy. Same with my stories. I start writing, building one scene onto another, adding my colorful LGBTQ+ characters like bright splashes of color, plot twists, heartache, happiness, as needed, until the story winds to its ending, leaving me something I can be proud of and share with my readers.

I used this technique while writing my story Nicolas, pulling in elements from all over, weaving them together. I’ve combined the legends of St. Nicolas and Krampus, having the Krampus chase Nico through the centuries, bent on revenge and punishment for a crime Nico committed against him ages ago. Nico travels the world spreading the word of tolerance and love and peace, with Krampus coming after him undoing all his good work. This is a story of how Nico stops running and confronts his nemesis. With the help of his lover, Jamie, he finds the courage to at last bring his conflict with the Krampus to an end. But first Nico must learn to forgive himself, the hardest task of all.

Thanks for stopping in! You’ll find an excerpt from Nicolas below, and also be sure to grab a copy of my FREE story, Off Sides. Happy Reading!

EXCERPT FROM Nicolas

Jamie startled awake. “What?”

He had trouble breathing, the crushing weight on his chest seeming to have followed him up from his dreams. But that couldn’t be right. He’d rented the cabin for its isolation. No one should be there. Did he still dream?

A warm breath brushed against his cheek, sending a shiver of dread and strange anticipation through him. “Easy, baby,” a silky voice whispered in the darkness. Sharp teeth nipped his earlobe and pleasure and pain sparked along his nerves. His eyes adjusted to the moonlight filtering through the sheer curtains, and he stared in amazement at the man gazing at him with wild green eyes, long pale hair, high cheekbones and a slender neck he craved to run his tongue along.

The stranger laid his weight on him, driving the air from his lungs and making Jamie struggle for every breath. Shifting position, the man sealed his full lips over Jamie’s, drawing a long groan from Jamie. In sudden panic he reached to shove his unknown visitor away and touched hot skin and lean muscles. Of their own volition his hands roamed lower, following the curve of the stranger’s back to the rounded swell of his ass. He drew a quick breath and the man laughed into his mouth, pushed his tongue deep, thrusting inside to match the movement of his hips as he ground against Jamie’s aching dick.

Heat pooled in Jamie’s stomach. God, what was happening? The thing in his bed looked like a man, but his every instinct shouted otherwise. His skin was warm when it should have been cold from being outside. And how had he gotten in? All the windows and doors were locked tight against the winter storm. It was as if he’d just materialized in Jamie’s bed. “Who –”

He cried out when a hand pushed between them, stroking them together until he lost the ability to think. So close! He grabbed onto the man’s firm ass and yanked him tighter against him, rising up to shove into his strong grip.

The triumphant hiss in his ear shot ice through his veins. “So naughty.”

“No!” Jamie struggled to sit up, scrambling back against the headboard. He blinked, finding himself alone in the room, only his ragged breaths disturbing the silence of the cabin. A forgotten anxiety knotted his stomach. Naughty. He hated that word, tossed about by the boys he once knew in school. The ones he’d suck off behind the gym, desperate for a gentle hand in his hair, balm against his loneliness. He’d been terrified his parents would find out he was different, that he liked girl things and found boys much more exciting than he should. They would know he was gay and there would be hell to pay for their freak of a son.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. God, that had been ages ago. The last shreds of the dream dissipated, and he reached for the bedside light, fumbling in the darkness for the switch. Low light stung his eyes and he blinked at the empty bedroom, unable to believe the attack hadn’t been real.

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