Months after ending a long-term relationship, Bryony Murphy still lets it control her. She’s scared to let anyone else in, just in case her ex, Tara, comes back to torment her again.It isn’t easy to keep her heart to herself around beautiful journalist Georgia Bing, who works with Bryony on the TV show Crooked Cowboys. Georgia makes Bryony want to forget everything else and enjoy simply her.
After a one-night stand with Bryony, Georgia wants more with the lovely researcher. She knows Bryony’s hurting, but she also knows of Bryony's past. Georgia is willing to go slow at first, but soon the sexual tension becomes too much to bear and she just has to make Bryony her own.
Buy yours now! Amazon B&N JMS Books
Katharine has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. She wrote her first novel when she was 15. In her A-levels, she spent lessons preparing dialogue for scenes. Then she studied Creative Writing and Film and TV Studies at Derby University, graduating in 2010.For a few years, Katharine worked in the community as a care support worker before becoming a stay-at-home parent. In 2015, she made the leap into becoming a freelance ghost writer of romantic fiction. Since then, Katharine has written over 300 short stories, novellas and novels for various clients.
In June 2018, her first novella, A Day to Remember, was published. Katharine lives in Derby with her fiance, a mental health nurse, and their two children.
Find Katharine online
Facebook Twitter
Guest Post
Whenever I tell people that I’m a writer and I hear their jobs, I feel stupid compared to them. Everyone else seems to be a nurse or something within the medical field or an engineer. I live in a city where Rolls Royce is based, so there is an abundance of engineers. Listening to them talk about things I have no idea about makes me feel a little inferior to everyone.
I know that’s not the case, but that’s what goes through my head if I allow it to happen.
However, I never grew up wanting to be an engineer, and I could barely pronounce the various medications, never mind know what they were for. My brain didn’t work like that. I was always a daydreamer, thinking up scenes and various scenarios in my head due to the many books I read or the films I had been watching. They were inspiration for many of my early attempts at starting a book.
While I knew I wanted to be a writer from my early teens, I was sensible enough to know it wouldn’t bring in the money immediately. And I also knew not everything was going to be accepted right off the bat. It was going to take some time. So, when I finished university studying Creative Writing and Film and TV Studies, I started work as a community care worker. It was tough going, especially when I had to go part-time after my daughter was born, but I had an income. Then I lost my job and became pregnant with my son a few months later, so the next year and a half was focused on trying to keep my head above water. My fiancé was going to college and then to university to get the qualifications he needed to become a nurse, so I was at home with a new-born and a toddler.
In October of 2015, I decided to do something about my writing and actually get paid for it. I had done a few lifestyle and sports articles, but they hadn’t been paid for. And I didn’t like relying on other people for money. So, I signed up to a freelancing website, Upwork. Within a week, I had two clients and two projects.
I admit, I did take on far too much at the beginning and I lost a very big contract because I wasn’t able to organize my time properly. With that, I learned my lesson and began to organize my time more. It wasn’t easy with children being around me, and I did end up pulling a few all-nighters, but that took a lot out of me. And the contracts like my work, so I ended up being a full-time ghost-writer.
But it wasn’t until over a year later before I started classing myself as a writer. I’m not entirely sure why, but it took a long time for it to sink in. It was amusing to see people’s faces when they realized a ghost-writer wasn’t a writer of ghost stories. I did enjoy it, as I was now getting paid for something I enjoyed doing, and I could get to be at home with my children, watch them grow up.
In 2016, I did attempt to have something published under my own name, but it didn’t work out. Looking back now, it wasn’t very good at all. It took me about eighteen months to gather the courage and try again. One of those attempts was to JMS Books, an LGBTQA publisher. I had only written two lesbian romances before, so it was still relatively new to me. When I sent it off, I sat back and thought I would be getting a rejection email.
However, when I got an email three days after sending the novella off, saying that JMS Books would like to publish it, I had to read it several times before it sank in. And I actually squealed, for the first time in my life. My daughter thought I had seen another rat again as we had had a problem with rats a few weeks earlier. It was hard to believe for a while.
It did take me nearly twenty years from the time I decided I wanted to be a writer emerged to get my first novella published, but it was worth it. And It's given me even more confidence. At the end of August this year, I was offered a contract with another publisher for a short story I had written for a specific line, and that is now published on Amazon as well. Currently, I’m writing for another themed submission call for JMS Books, which is taking shape nicely. Because of my previous experience, I’m not as nervous about submitting it for possible publication.
I may not be as smart as an engineer, but I do have perseverance. And that paid off for me.
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.
“Oh, hello, Georgia. Fancy meeting you here.”
“How much have you had to drink?”
“I don’t know. I’ve lost count.” Bryony downed the rest of her glass, slamming the glass down on the countertop. “But I’m going to keep drinking until I don’t remember my own name.”
Georgia was not having that. She caught the barman’s eye and signalled him over.
“Get me a strong coffee. And don’t serve anymore alcohol for this one.” She indicated Bryony. “She’s had enough.”
The barman nodded and moved away. Bryony scowled.
“Why are you spoiling my fun?” She grumbled.
“This is hardly fun.” Grabbing the woman’s arm, Georgia helped her off the stool and led her towards the booth. “You and I are going to sit down and talk.”
Bryony tried to pull away but Georgia wouldn’t let go. She wasn’t about to let Bryony bolt. Nudging Bryony into the booth, Georgia sat beside her, effectively crowding Bryony against the wall. Bryony grumbled and glared at her but Georgia didn’t react. They sat in silence until the barman brought the coffee, giving them both curious looks before leaving. Georgia nudged the coffee cup towards Bryony.
“I thought you could handle this assignment, Bryony.”
“I can.” Bryony protested. “This has nothing to do with it.”
“I think it does. We had cameras watching you, remember? Joyce also told me about your reaction. Now tell me drinking yourself into a stupor when you’re supposed to be in the office is nothing to do with your breakdown earlier.”
Bryony glared at her. Her pupils were wide, almost swallowing the color of her eyes.
“Save your journalism for your job, Georgia, not for analysing me.”
Georgia pushed the coffee towards her and leant forward, placing her hand on the back of Bryony’s neck. Bryony didn’t shake her off. If anything, her breathing seemed to get faster.
“Bryony, we’re all worried about you. I’m worried about you.” That much was true. “Please, just talk to me.”
It was all she could do not to pull Bryony into her arms. Georgia wasn’t one to do public displays of affection but she was tempted with this woman.
Bryony looked like she wanted to run. But she slumped, leaning into Georgia until her head rested on Georgia’s shoulder. Georgia didn’t say anything, simply leaning back to settle against the booth, her arm going around Bryony’s shoulders. Bryony let out a shuddering sigh.
“Tara and I were together since I was eighteen and she was twenty. We would’ve been together fifteen years this week. And for the first twelve years, it was amazing. Tara was amazing. But then she changed. She got into a car accident and was diagnosed with bipolar. Tara had to go on pain medication and meds to control her bipolar. Her mother, Krista, found out and accused me of making Tara into an addict.” Bryony sniffed and reached for her coffee. She lifted her head enough to take a sip and placed the cup back down, snuggling against Georgia again. “She’s always hate me, Krista has. She decided to mess about with the meds and eventually stole them, telling Tara she didn’t need to take them. Tara didn’t do anything; she had started developing psychotic delusions and believe Krista that I was the one at fault. So she started lashing out at me.”
Georgia had suspected something like that. She had been there at Tara’s trial and sentencing while Bryony had been in hospital but because Tara had pleaded guilty early on, she hadn’t heard everything. Just hearing all this made the anger bubble up.
“Did you call the police?”
“You know I did.” Bryony sniffed. “And you know what happened at Thanksgiving.”
Georgia did know. She had come into the office early and had found Bryony unconscious. She looked as though she had been hit by a car and was bleeding from the neck. Georgia had called for an ambulance and got the whole story. Tara had tried to come to the hospital but Georgia and a few of their co-workers had blocked her way. Tara had screamed at them and tried to attack Georgia but security had dragged her out.
Georgia wasn’t about to forget that day in a hurry.
No comments:
Post a Comment