Writing a blog is one of the hardest things for me to do. Tell me what to write and I can do it, leave it to my own devices and I’m not the best at it. So I sat and thought about what I could write about. I have a new book out and by rights I should be talking about that, making people rush out and buy it.

I actually have two stories out, my anti valentine’s story which is called Everything Changes. It is the first story I wrote that came back from the different editors with a note that said ‘I cried’. It’s a touching story of a man who isn’t ready to move on after he loses someone close to him.

I could talk about my newest release titled Forgotten. It’s somewhere between a horror and a romance. Yes I somehow managed to cross the two of them. Forgotten tells the story of a vengeful ghost who falls in love with the man that moves into his house.

I had thought about talking about the GRL hoopla and my experiences there but then I realized the one thing I want to talk about if my best friend in the entire world, my Angel friend or as many people knew her AJ Kelton.

Most people remember AJ at the GRL retreat, a smiling friendly woman who talked to everyone.  She attended the first GRL in New Orleans and was so excitedto meet the authors of the books she read. She called me each night to tell me about the new friends she had made. For as long as we were friends we talkedeach and everyday. When she moved to Texas to house sit for her parents a few years ago the miles never truly separated us. When we awoke in the morning, we texted as we got ready for work.  As soon as we were both home we grabbed our hands free and spent the night together, talking about our days, watching the same TV shows and reading the same books. I was her beloved Kitten friend. I got the nickname after we read a book with a shifter panther who she said reminded her of me.

She was so excited about going to GRL the next year. We were authors but we didn’t make the author cut. Still it didn’t matter; we had postcards of our book covers and pencils that we had turned into flowers. We had spent hours on those pencils and were proud of them, we were proud of our covers. In her down time she offered them to people. What some people didn’t know was how badly she was treated for doing that. They saw her smiling face, what they didn’t see was her calling me that first night crying on the phone telling me she wanted to come home. She was being called names, snide remarks were being made, she couldn’t handle it. I talked to her for hours reminding her that if she left then they won. I told her to hold her head of high, the people who we making snide remarks where just jealous. I promised her that in Atlanta we would be there as authors. Yes she left early but she held her ground and I was proud of her for that.

She had dreams for 2013, she wanted to have several books out. As AJ Kelton we put out three books. She wanted to see her own name on a book, she put it on three short stories. She wanted to go to GRL as an author. Somehow in the feeding frenzy that is author registration we both were registered. AJ Kelton, two author’s one name.  She wanted to have a publishing house ask her to write for them. In the last months of 2013 that dream came true for her too.

This time I went to GRL to make sure no one reduced her to tears. She was still amazed that people fell into groups and they didn’t welcome outsiders. I would sit in the room with her and remind her that we didn’t come for the authors we came for our fans. I toldher that we didn’tneed to be a part of a clique, we would be our own.

Angel and I were everything to each other.  She gave me a hard time because I was supposed to work New Year’s Eve. I told her I wasn’t going to. She reminded me that I would lose all my holiday pay but to me it was only money. We had spent every New Year’s Eve together since we became friends; I wasn’t going to miss this one. So we did what we did every year. We picked out a bunch of movies, we made more food than we would ever be ableto eat and we curled up on the couch and watched movie after movie while eatingjunk food. We discussed the men that we found handsome, me preferring the long haired goth boys with piercings and her the Hugh Jackman type of man. At midnight we watched the balldrop and ate twelve grapes for good luck in the New Year.

The next day we ate all the traditional foods to bring good luck. We talked about our goals for the year.  I wanted to get our second books out and do a little traveling. We both talked about adopting a child this year, she wanted a boy she could call Jaden. Angel wanted to put out twelve stories.  We returned to work a few days later and everything was going good and then I got the text that changed my life. She sent me a text that said Kitten friend I don’t feel well. I texted her back telling her to go to bed, we will talk tomorrow. We didn’t talk the next day though. She texted me telling me she still didn’t feel well and had a cough. I told her to take a hot shower and she would feel better. Maybe if I had called her, if I had spoken to her I would have known. Instead I told her to rest.  She told me on Sunday she was going to the hospital to get something for her cough; they admitted her with pneumonia. On Monday she called me. I talked to her for a little while, teasing her about being in the hospital and how she should be home getting waitedon hand and foot. She laughed and said Kitten friend I feel so much better, I’ll be home tomorrow. That was the last conversation I had with her. I texted her several times during the day with no answer. I knew something was wrong. She never went a day without texting me. When she didn’t text me or answer the phone that night I tried to tellmyself that her phone was dead, she was sleeping, but I knew. I my heart of heats I knew in the way that only someone who is closer then family knows, something was wrong. Wednesday I called her family and found out that she was on life support. My beloved Angel, my writing partner, my partner in crime and the one person who had been my friend and confident for as long as I could remember never woke back up. She died on January 17^th. I was a zombie for the longest time trying to figure out how I was supposed to go on. Every breath I took felt like a million pieces of glass slicing my soul. I wondered how you went on when you shattered so badly. I wanted so desperately to follow her. Friends rushed to my side afraid I would do just that. So now there will be no more AJ Kelton books, I will continue on alone. I have released two stories so far this year but the releases where hollow when I had no one to share the joy with.

Every night Angel and I had a ritual. She would say ok Kitten time for bed, what color are you tonight? I would pick a random color. For this I will be blue since I’m so very sad without her. She would say blue? Any distinguishing marks? No Angel friend, just a solid blue. Ok Kitten, my Angel wings will be white with a pearl shine to them.  Am I tucking, smoothing or fluffing?  Angel friend it has been getting warm so just fluff me. Ok kitten fluff, fluff, fluff, fluff.  What about your kitten paws? My kitten paws are in Angel friend. How about your Angel cloud, is it tucked around you? Yes kitten friend I’m as snug as an Angel in a cloud. Will I talk to my kitten friend later? Yes Angel I’ll talk to you later. Ok Kitten big kisses right between your ears. Good night kitten. Good night my beloved Angel.

FORGOTTEN

BLURB: Some houses come with secrets, and some secrets should never be forgotten.

After eight years together, Peter and Rhys have finally achieved success: good jobs that keep them comfortably fed and a happy married life. The icing on the cake is their move from a small city duplex to a large farmhouse in need of repair.

Peter instantly senses something going on in the house that he can’t put his finger on, something a bit sinister. Things start to happen: whispers in the night, crying only Peter can hear, faucets that turn on for no reason. When Peter starts to dream of a dark-haired young man who tells him how much he loves him, he feels like he’s losing his mind, especially since Rhys doesn’t see or hear anything.

Only after suffering accidents and injuries does Rhys agree the house is haunted, and they’ll have to figure out how to fight a lovesick ghost.

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