Thursday, June 28, 2012

Waiting for Summer...to End with Guest Blogger: Margie Church

Win a copy of Executive Decision and 
meet author Margie Church 
today at the Book Boost!

She's here to chat about those long, summer days and here's what she had to say...


I don't live in the Land of the Midnight Sun, but the summer days are long in Minnesota. At this time of year, we see the first stain of sunrise at 4:30 a.m. and the cobalt blue of sunset around 9:30 p.m. That's a lot of sunshine, especially when you have kids. Because kids are like solar-powered windup toys in the summer. The longer it's light, the longer they keep going. And did I mention the birds start chirping like kids on a playground about 15 minutes prior? Um yeah.

Before kids, things were a lot different, of course. We could sit out on the deck and drink beer and swat mosquitoes until the mosquitoes got inebriated with each bite they took and we didn't care. Or we'd fish until it got so dark we could hardly find our way up the path to our tent. We'd be out doing oodles of yard work and gardening and not mind the extra hours of sunlight at all. Because we could quit when we wanted to quit, and we slept like vampires on the weekends.

But our kids never slept in and they never stop going – even now as teenagers. And neither did the neighbor kids.

When our oldest was five, we got a trampoline. Word to the wise, never get a trampoline. The safety issues aside, it's a kid-magnet. Our yard became the summer vacation destination for every kid in the neighborhood. They walked, biked, scootered, and sometimes got dropped off by their parents on their way home from work. No kidding. I finally had to send letters home with the kids asking parents to enforce safety rules, and respect our family time.

I'll never forget seeing a couple of the kids sitting at the edge of the driveway while we ate dinner – that was their idea of going home for dinner – so they wouldn't miss a bounce. I had to shut the shades so our kids would eat dinner. The kids complained about having to drink water and not be served snacks while they were playing so hard on our trampoline. Humm. I was running a daycare without getting paid for it. And that's when I started to hate long summer days.

If I could have found a way to silence the trampoline springs, I would have. The neighbor's kids had super-power hearing. One squeak and over they ran. Sometimes I sent them packing without even one little bounce. Payback for making me sit out there in the blistering sun making sure they didn't do something foolish and break their necks. And for listening to them whine about the Kool-Aid or lack thereof. I hoped their parents, who never came over to see where their little darlings were, enjoyed the whining for awhile. Even when the note said please come over and say hello.

After those years, I began to look at Summer Solstice a lot differently. The long, dark December nights are coming. The house lights will be turned on at 4 p.m. and it's not light until 8 a.m. Things quiet down, slow down. It means this workaholic actually relaxes more in the winter and goes out more. For this northern gal, there's nothing more beautiful than a walk on a winter's night. When the snow is falling and Christmas lights glitter on each flake. The only sound I hear is the crunch of my boots on the snow. All the trampolines and long daylight days of summer are put away. That's tranquility.

My newest book, Executive Decision, is a far cry from kiddos and trampolines. It's about two gay men who work together in the chemicals industry.

A Note from the Book Boost:  Margie,  I feel your pain.  Hubby bought the kids a trampoline for Christmas and the kids love it.  It makes me a nervous wreck.  The pediatrician said that it is an Orthopedic Surgeon's paycheck!  Oy!  Thanks for the memories and please tell us more about your latest!


Blurb: 

The prospect of getting caught while having sex is a powerful aphrodisiac for Logan Carlyle. He's viewed as the leader on the sales force, but in bed, he's a submissive all the way.

Hunter James is just as adventurous as Logan. He's lower in the sales ranks, but he's the top when it comes to his relationship with Logan.

When Logan's thrill-seeking desires create chaos with their careers and severs their relationship, Madame Evangeline's expertise is required.
      


Excerpt:


Logan frowned, wondering whether there was some kind of Las Vegas-style scam hidden in the offer. He pitched the card in the bathroom trash, dismissing the idea.

Wearing only a pair of briefs, he turned back the bed covers. A good night’s rest would do wonders. Tomorrow could be a beast if integrating his company’s resins didn’t go smoothly in the new manufacturing plant. He flipped through television channels until he found the news. While a series of commercials aired, he tapped the keyboard to awaken the laptop.

While reading the mundane emails from work, his thoughts drifted to the business card he’d thrown away. Was it an escort service? He’d never tried one.

Should I?

Curious, Logan retrieved the card from the wastebasket and typed in the website address. Scanning the pages, clearly 1Night Stand was not an escort service by any stretch of the imagination. He breathed a sigh of relief. Much of what he read interested him. With his finger poised over the request information link, he vacillated between feeling downright dumb and really wanting someone in his life again.

What could it hurt? He clicked.



Want More Margie?

Visit her on the web here:  http://www.site.romancewithsass.com/

Follow her blog here: http://blog.RomanceWithSASS.com

Pick up a copy of her book today!  Click here.


Contest Time:

Share a summer from hell moment with Margie and be entered to win a copy of Executive Decision.  Or winner may choose any book from her back list.

**Winners for Book Boost prizes are drawn the first week of the following month and posted in the Recent Winners box in the right hand side of the blog. Check back to see if you are a winner and to claim your prize! Please leave your contact information in your blog post!**
      

9 comments:

Margie Church said...

Thanks for having me. As for the present - yeah it's not much of one. The more comfortable the kids get with it, the more relaxed they get about the safety rules and the more arguing there is about what they can do and how YOU ARE A SPAZ. Good luck. I hope everyone has a bouncing-good time!

Katie Harper said...

Oy I feel your pain. We had a trampoline growing up and kids from far and wide would show up at all hours to jump. My brother compound fractured his arm on the trampoline.

I hate summer too. At this very moment I am moving from Las Vegas to Colorado. I HATE the heat! I don't leave the house most of the summer. When it reaches 110+ I won't even go to the store. Dinner is whatever is on hand, even if that's ketchup on saltines.

Margie Church said...

Ketchup on saltines! Wow. I've never pitched that one, but hey, some nights I cook for a tough crowd. And did your folks take the tramp down after that? LOL

I hope you'll be safe from the fires, Katie. Colorado is a beautiful state. What takes you there?

Zee Monodee said...

Man, I'd go nuts after one such summer! Glad to have our 4.30AM-7PM sun in December (yeah, I'm from the other side of the world...).

We're lucky our temps rarely go over 100 deg where I live, but even that's a pain sometimes. My summer nightmare is all those activities you have to funnel the kids to. Jujitsu, soccer, gym, play dates, whatever other thing they've enlisted for. End up nearly all day in my car, with no UV-protecting glass in the windows and you come home to find your hands are one tanned colour and then where your sleeve starts, you're white as cream. Gloves in summer - wouldn't that be hell? :)

Margie Church said...

LOL Zee! When we were kids we could just hop on our bikes or walk - and be home for lunch. No worries. Today, we are definitely busy with our kids in the summer on top of our jobs and other responsibilities. I start organizing summer stuff in April - otherwise I have no hair left by mid-June. Put a little self-tanner on those arms. Thanks for visiting!

Zee Monodee said...

Margie, that's how I remember my childhood too, which wasn't that long ago, lol! We went out at 9, and our mothers only got worried if we weren't back by 6. Lunch happened at whatever house we happened to be, the whole day spent in the sun. *sigh* the good ol' times... :)

Debby said...

One summer we were repairing the side steps. They were gone and I had the door locked. Of course the middle daughter opened the door in spite of the warnings and walked right out. Right after that the dog was hit when someone left the gate open.
debby236 at gmail dot com

Margie Church said...

Those were the good days, Zee. Too bad our kids will never have that kind of freedom.

Margie Church said...

Oh Debby! That is dreadful. What a horrible thing to have happen to a pet you love and be responsible. Bet you never thought of leaving a gate open again. :-(