Thanks for having me on the blog today to talk about the re-release of Special Delivery. I asked my forum what they wanted me to talk about in guest posts, and I got a bevy of responses, though a lot of people wanted to know the answer to this question:

What did Mitch do to keep from going completely insane during the 2-3 months when Sam hadn’t yet called him back? (How bad was it?)

People often ask me about Mitch, because the book is never in his point of view, only Sam’s. I did this deliberately because Mitch’s growth arc in my mind was pretty weak. For Sam this was a coming of age story: based on an alley hookup, a phone call, and a dinner out he throws caution to the wind and rides cross-country with Mitch to escape his overbearing aunt and humdrum, disappointing life. What he discovers on the road, in addition to some seriously kinky sex, is that humdrum and disappointing is all in his own head, and that to be happy at home or anywhere, he has to be happy with himself.

Key to really grappling with that truth, though, means that he can’t just stay on the road with Mitch forever—at some point, he has to go home and face the music, to see how much Middleton, Iowa changes once he’s been away from it for a little while. This is the part the forum readers are asking about: what in the world did Mitch do while Sam was back home putting in the final pieces of his transformation? All we know in the book is that he drives back and forth across I-80 until Sam calls.

The answer is…that’s what Mitch did. People ask when Mitch fell in love, and the answer I give is “the alley.” In so many ways, Sam to Mitch is a second chance. At love, at life—you have to remember, until Sam came along, Mitch had exactly no one. His one close friend was Randy, who he’d lost years before. Outside of people he saw regularly on his runs, he had no one in his life, by choice. He told himself people and relationships were too complicated, but the truth was he didn’t believe he could have them, or even should.

He calls Sam “Sunshine” because until that alley he was pretty much in the dark. Sam was light to him in so many ways, and even more, Sam kept coming. It’s interesting to me how many people don’t comment on the age difference—it’s significant—but nobody is more aware of it than Mitch. He sees Sam, loves what he represents and what he is, and thinks the only thing he’s entitled to is a little fun in the back of Old Blue, and even that is probably pushing it. Definitely they shouldn’t go on a date. Definitely they shouldn’t go on a road trip, and definitely he shouldn’t start baring his soul about how much he’s screwed up in his life. Absolutely he doesn’t deserve a happily ever after.

Mitch’s weakness, though, is that he’ll give Sam whatever he wants—even himself. So when Sam says he needs some space and time, Mitch gives it to him. He’d have waited ten months, fifteen—until he saw Sam had married someone else, he’d have kept going back and forth across Iowa, hoping against hope Sam would change his mind. Because at that point he was right back where he was before Sam, except he had Randy back now…but he wanted Sam more than anything else. Wanted to be the man he’d been with Sam, wanted to give Sam everything he wanted. Now, if Sam had moved on, eventually Mitch would have too, and I like to think he would have been a better person, that he wouldn’t have shut down again but would have kept searching, would have put himself out into the world again.

Mostly, though, Mitch waited. He’s like the Centurion from Doctor Who, waiting and protecting. He had one moment, before he took Sam home, that he dared to do what he wanted, or at least was ready to try, but before he could, Sam made his declaration that he had to go home, alone. Wondering what it was he almost did? Read that Nebraska rest stop scene a little more closely. (I beefed it up a bit in the re-release, but it’s still a bit of an Easter egg.)

So that’s the story of what Mitch did while he waited for Sam to call. He really did drive back and forth, hoping like hell. I imagine, too, there were a hell of a lot of cigarettes. And we already know he talked Randy’s ear off.

I hope, if you haven’t yet read Special Delivery, you give it a chance. If you have read it, take another ride on Old Blue. Mitch and Sam are waiting for you.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY

Release date: February 4, 2014

Book One of the Special Delivery Series

When your deepest, darkest fantasy shows up, get on board.

Sam Keller knows he’ll never find the excitement he craves in Middleton, Iowa—not while he’s busting his ass in nursing school and paying rent by slaving away in a pharmacy stockroom. Then Sam meets Mitch Tedsoe, an independent, long-haul trucker who makes a delivery to a shop across the alley. Innocent flirting quickly leads to a fling, and when Mitch offers to take him on a road trip west, Sam jumps at the chance for adventure. Mitch is sexy, funny and friendly, but once they embark on their journey, something changes. One minute he’s the star of Sam’s every x-rated fantasy, the next he’s almost too much a perfect gentleman. And when they hit the Las Vegas city limit, Sam has a name to pin on Mitch’s malady: Randy.

For better or for worse, Sam grapples with the meaning of friendship, letting go, growing up—even the meaning of love—because no matter how far he travels, eventually all roads lead home.

Warning: This story contains trucker fantasies, threesomes and kinky consensual sex.

Available February 2014 from Samhain Publishing and wherever books are sold. This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Buy links: Samhain, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

Excerpt on Heidi’s website

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DOUBLE BLIND

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Book Two in the Special Delivery Series

Know when to show your hand…and when to hedge your bets.

Randy Jensen can’t stand to just sit by and watch as a mysterious man throws money away on the roulette wheel, especially since Randy’s got his own bet going as to the reason this guy is making every play like it’s his last day on earth. The man’s dark desperation hits Randy right in the gut. Half of him warns that getting involved is a sucker’s bet, and the other half scrambles for a reason—any reason—to save the man’s soul.

Ethan Ellison has no idea what he’s going to do with himself once his last dollar is gone—until Randy whirls into his life with a heart-stealing smile and a poker player’s gaze that sees too much. Randy draws Ethan into a series of wagers that leads to a scorching kiss by midnight, but he isn’t the only one with an interest in Ethan’s vulnerability. Soon they’re both taking risks that not only play fast and loose with the law, but with the biggest prize of all: their hearts.

Warning: This story contains high-stakes poker, gangsters with a weakness for kittens, foursomes, and kinky consensual sex.

Available March 4, 2014 from Samhain Publishing and wherever books are sold. This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Buy links: Samhain, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

Excerpt on Heidi’s website

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TOUGH LOVE

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Book Three of the Special Delivery Series

It takes a strong man to be this fabulous.

Crescencio “Chenco” Ortiz pulled himself up by his garter straps after his father’s will yanked the financial rug from under his spank-me pumps. He doesn’t need anyone, yet when Steve Vance steps into his life, the prospect of having a sexy leather daddy on tap begins to take on a certain appeal.

There’s a hitch when he learns Steve is friends with Mitch Tedsoe—the half-brother Chenco never knew except through his father’s twisted lies. Despite his reservations, soon Chenco is living his dreams, including a performing gig in Vegas. Now if only he could get Steve to see him as more than just a boy in need of saving.

Steve’s attraction to Chenco is overshadowed by too many demons, ones he knows his would-be lover is too young to slay. Yet as he gets to know the bright, determined young man whose drag act redefines fierce, Steve’s inner sadist trembles with need. He begins to realize Chenco’s relentless tough love might be the only thing that will finally set him free.

Warning: This story contains glamorous drag queens, exhibitionist secondary characters, and no-holds-barred BDSM play, including watersports. Readers advised they may well leave this novel feeling uncharacteristically fierce.

Buy links: Samhain, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

Excerpt on Heidi’s website

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