Excerpt From HOMEWARD BOUND by Alexa Silver

Part of the NAUGHTY REUNIONS boxed-set, available for download September 25th

Click here to pre-order now from Amazon
 
Blurb:
Bry intends to come out with a splash. How will the public handle their favorite movie actor coming out of the closet? And how will the stresses impact Bry's relationship with Kell?  
Genre/theme: M/M, rock star, actor

Copyright © Alexa Silver, 2015

Excerpt:

“Hi, Bryson. Or should I call you Bry. Seems as if everyone does.”

“That’s fine. Hi, Orion. It’s good to finally talk with you.”

Bry had put not only his faith and trust in Kell, but he’d taken a leap of faith when Kell had suggested that Orion pitch his story, no names included, to several publications to see which, if any, might bite.

This was going to be Bry’s coming out story, but also his debut as Kell’s lover, and it had to be right. Though Bry knew he couldn’t direct this, as if his life were a movie, he desperately wanted to try. The lack of control was its own stress.

“You too. Anyway, guys, I have some news.” He paused then and Bry white knuckled the steering wheel.

“Vanity Fair is interested in a four thousand word article. That’s huge, guys. And depending on who my celebrity coming out is, they may want the cover as well. Bry, I’m sure they’ll want you on the cover. Before I go forward, do I have your okay?”

“Shouldn’t we sign a contract or something?” Bry asked, panic welling up inside him. Was he ready for this?

“We will. Soon, I promise. And confidentiality agreements that should plug the majority of the leaks. I’ll do my best. Bry, Kell, Vanity Fair is a great choice, and they’re willing to go there without even knowing what celebrity it is. For all they know, I have Lindsey Lohan or Brittney Spears lined up. Or, I might have the girl who was in Glee for two lines. They’re trusting me, and I know you both are, too. It is a trust I’m not going to screw up, on any levels. I care too much about Kell and too much about my reputation and integrity as a journalist to mess anything up. Bry, I know you don’t know me, but I swear, you can trust me.”

Vanity Fair. A possible cover. Kell had thought he was ready for this, but maybe he wasn’t. “Give me tonight to think about it,” he told both Kell and Orion. “I need to make sure this is the right thing at the right time.”

“Cold feet,” Kell remarked.

“Not cold feet,” Bry shot back. “Just...hesitant. This is a huge thing.”

“Orion helped me when I had the People magazine cover,” Kell admitted.

Bry hadn’t known that. He nodded, driving automatically toward his parents’ house, the other cars mere distractions as his muscle memory took over, allowing him to think deeply. “Orion, I will call you tonight. Give me a few hours to think about it all.”

“You’ve got it. Lean on that guy there. He’s pretty amazing. If I wasn’t completely straight arrow, I’d be kicking myself for losing a chance with him. You’re lucky. Remember that.”

“I’ll try.”

 

Writing Through Stress

 This seems like the perfect time for this post, as my life is very stressful and I’m trying to write through it.

Stress can be a career killer.

I had this happen in the past. Due to some incredibly stressful situations in my worklife, I didn’t write original fiction for almost seven years. Oh, I tried. At first, daily, and then, when it got to be too hard, I didn’t open up the manuscript for weeks. It was this black cloud hanging over me and I didn’t seem to be able to get beyond that to write anything. The stories were in my head, but my anxiety didn’t allow me to move forward.

Last August, my job situation changed. I was laid off with zero notice, and as I was a contractor, there were no benefits, no unemployment to claim. To make matters worse, several months of pay were in limbo for months.

Stress Number One, achieved.

Since then, I’ve been dealing with a major medical crisis—two actually, I’m an overachiever, have lost three of my cats, have set up a new business, and a couple of weeks ago, my husband lost his job with two days notice, no severance package, nada, not even payment of expenses owed :/

So…stress upon stress central here at Casa Alexa. You’d think that if one situation (above) had blocked my writing, this would have paralyzed my muse and had her rocking in a corner somewhere, right?

You’d be wrong. For some reason—some blessing in my psyche I don’t even dare to understand—I’m writing more than ever. I’m writing so much that I’m astounding myself, my word count spreadsheets are showing wear and tear, and my poor hands are begging for someone to save them.

This time, my muse is far from rocking in a corner, she’s dancing a jig and throwing me plot ideas faster than I can jot them down. And I couldn’t be happier. Writing is a huge stress relief, a way for me to get out of my present worries and into someone else’s issues.

I wrote my Naughty Escapes story—Get Away—in two days. Yes, two days! The story is 13,000 words and even my beta reader couldn’t keep up with my productivity. She finally threw her hands up and said she’d read it at the end rather than a s a work in progress. I chewed my nails down to bloody nubs wondering if Kell and Bry would strike a chord with her. She’s a tough beta, so I expected the worst. What I got back was anything but. She loved the story. And furthermore, she…er…“encouraged” me, with help from my evil little muse, to write a follow up story for them, and maybe even another story featuring Kell’s sexy guitar player, Ace. I’ll be revisiting Kell and Bry in the Naughty Literati fall anthology, coming in September.

It is funny how my workplace stress caused my writing to grind to a halt, while my homelife stress, which is so much larger in scope and impact, is giving me more inspiration to write.

The brain is a funny funny thing!

To check out the story of Kell, a former boyband singer, and Bry, an A-List Hollywood actor, check out Get Away in Naughty Escapes, out now!