Apropos the season

As Double Coverage is about football and we are coming up on the Super Bowl I thought I would continue to run with the theme.
I've said in previous posts that I have a love/hate relationship with the sport. Really it's a sport I love to hate because I hate to admit I love it. I am not an expert on the game, hell I actually know very little about sport. I don't know the rules, I don't know the names of all the positions I don't know much about the players themselves. And frankly I don't want to. I like being ignorant of all that. I like pissing my husband off because I root for the team with the prettiest quarterback. I like saying things about the tight ends lined up all in a row and how nice and tight they really are. I like the sexual innuendo. The butt slapping. The in your face man on man stuff. And it drives my husband crazy. This is serious business to him. To me it's just plain old fun to watch.

It's even more fun to watch when Ben Roethlissberger gets butt humped there at the end of the championship game, it was funny, slightly erotic, and fitting. I adore the Steelers, I love to watch Big Ben play ball. I love to see that behemoth of a man throw that ball and then knock heads. And there's Troy Polamalu, the long haired strong safety who moves like cat on the defense. What isn't there to love about that. Makes for one damned good team.

 
But to be fair, there is this new found respect I have for the Packers. I mean I love Brett Favre and I rooted for Green Bay while he played for them, but I never considered myself to be a fan. This year though Aaron Rodgers impressed me. He plays a good game. He makes it look fun. A worthy successor.




But let's not get sidetracked the real reason I have this new found respect for the Packers is this man



Where, when, who, oh yeah. Clay Matthews, Green Bay's monster of a linebacker. It's like Tom Brady, Ben Roethlissberger and Troy Polamalu were all slammed together in some cataclysmic big bang event and this is what was left. A pretty man giant with tons of hair. Damn. Now that I've found this guy I feel like a dirty old lady. I feel like cheering on the Pack over my Steelers. I feel like....who the hell cares, football schmutball it's just a game. I'll just be happy who ever wins. Happy Super Bowl every one. Oh in case you are interested here's a few more pics of all that is fine in this sport.


Well that just about says it all 


Pleasant Dreams
Mercy

It's here. Double Coverage is available to buy now.

And the lady makes three

Today is the day okay not really today but tonight, tonight is the night. Double Coverage comes out tonight at seven eastern standard time at Liquid Silver Books. Tonight DC will be on the top row and I am so excited I could bust something.
Okay now it's down to the nitty gritty. Over the past few days you may remember that I show cased my heroes. Trigger, my serious former gunslinger. Bullet my larger than life NFL star. Today we are going to talk about Kailey.
Kailey Whitmore was the poster child for geek in school. As if being blessed with an above average intelligence wasn't enough, she was also cursed with glasses, braces, and bad hair to go along with it. But that was then and this is now. Kailey had a growth spurt after school, got contacts, the braces paid off, and she ditched the braids. She went on to become a professor of archaeology, she loves doing field work best of all. Tanned and toned from spending her days in the sun Kailey is now a beauty.
But Trigger never thought she was anything but beautiful. Trigger always wanted Kailey, he was just too afraid of her to let her know. Trigger thought she was out of his league.
Bullet on the other hand, doesn't even remember her from back then. His interest is purely lascivious.
Caught between a rock and a hard place Kailey Whitmore has a big decision to make.
Find out tonight what that decision is.
Until then I leave you with this excerpt:



Kailey sipped an appletini as she watched her former classmates gyrate on the dance floor. Some of them were actually married to their partners. How novel. There was Veronica Hutchins--the bitch head cheerleader and all-around perky nemesis of girls like Kailey--with Mark Cullman, former basketball captain, on the dance floor. She wondered if Ronnie’s hubby knew they were bumping uglies off the floor as well. Brad Brickman, the men’s wrestling captain, was flirting outrageously with Heather “Bunny” Kaufmann. Too bad he was so deep in the closet he was having adventures in Narnia. Too bad Bunny was too stupid to tell there wouldn’t be a happy ending for her tonight.
And then there was the captain of the football team, just as gorgeous and as single as ever, and headed straight for her. Oh, for the love of God, he was headed straight for her. Her heart somehow managed to skip a beat when he smiled her way.
“You look stunning, Kailey.” His voice was deep, masculine, and damned sultry. She smiled at him behind her glass, looking him over. He had the body to match his voice, well-developed shoulders, slim waist, and muscular thighs. His face wasn’t bad either, with little laugh lines beside his brown eyes, and a straight nose and square jaw.
“I could say the same about you, Trigger.” She swirled her drink, sipping to hide the smile she hadn’t expected when he blushed. Trigger Morgan had actually blushed! Damn, that was priceless.
“Just Trig now, Kailey. Trigger was embarrassing enough back then.” He placed his foot on the bar rail and leaned on one elbow beside her. “How’s life been treating you?”
“Oh, you know, can’t complain. I work too hard, play too little. Same old, same old.” She wondered why he was standing there looking at her as if she were a buffet. “Are you drunk, Trig?”
“No. Why do you ask?” He signaled the bartender for a beer, then looked her up and down, undressing her with his eyes. Jesus. So, that was what it felt like to have Trigger Morgan look at you with those bedroom eyes of his. Like liquid fire, all tingly and hot.
“Because you never spoke to me back in the day, Trig. Remember? Dorky little Kailey with the glasses and braces, and the straight As and perfect attendance award. Thirteen years worth of straight As and perfect attendance awards, I might add.” But that was fifteen years ago, and the braces had paid off; the glasses had been replaced by contacts. She still had perfect attendance, damn it all to hell.
“That’s because I was afraid of you.”
“Bullshit. I was just a dork. There was nothing scary about me. You were a stuck-up jock who thought I was beneath you. Admit it.” She was still beneath him if the rumors were true. He was now a doctor. Trigger Morgan had gone and gotten himself a medical degree. Trig Morgan was a goddamned pediatrician. Well, at least he wasn’t banging his patients, unlike a certain dentist she could name.
“You know, Kailey, I’ve always had this one particular fantasy. It was about you, and you were definitely beneath me.” He smiled at her over his glass, heat and promise in his eyes. Oh holy hell. “We’d be good together.”
“What’s wrong, Trigger? Strike out with the cheerleaders this time around?” She glanced over at the Rah-Rah table where several sets of blue eyes were staring daggers at her. “Or did you lose a bet? I’m going to go with the latter. So what was it--kiss the valedictorian in front of everyone or steal a mascot head from the rival school? I bet stealing the mascot head will be easier.”
“There is no bet, Kailey.” He slid his hand along her arm.
Heat and electricity shot through her, taking her by surprise. She gasped, and he smiled. Oh dear God in heaven, the man had a killer smile.
“You’re kidding, right?” His hand trailed up her arm to her shoulder. She shivered; her skin prickled with a combination of desire and humiliation. “Don’t screw with me, Trigger. I’m not in the mood.”
“I’ll take that as a not interested, then.” He removed his hand, grazing her nipple “accidentally” as he stepped away. “Nice seeing you again, Kailey. My condolences on your divorce.”

Mercy


Catch the Bullet train.

Okay that reminds me of those old Coor's beer commercials. Sorry about that. But I guess it is fitting since I am still in football mode and gearing up to talk about yet another character in my forthcoming book, Double Coverage. But first where were you on January 10, 1982? Were you even born then? If not then lord I'm old.

What happened on January 10, 1982? Well this happened on that day


Okay I know you are asking yourself what the hell is wrong with me right about now, so humor me for just a little while will ya.
Kudos to anyone who knows what that up there is and yes it has a title: The Catch
And it was a spectacular catch. On January 10th 1982 the San Francisco 49er's led by one of my all time favorite gunslingers faced the Dallas Cowboy's in a showdown to see who would get to go to the Super Bowl. In the final minute of the game Joe Montana in heavy coverage threw what everyone thought was a wild pass just to get the ball out of bounds and stop the clock. But number 87 wide receiver Dwight Clark somehow managed to launch his body into the air and snag the ball with his finger tips. A lucky photographer just happened to be in the right place to capture what is considered one of the all time greatest plays in NFL history. The Catch put the 49ers ahead of the Cowboys by one point. One lousy point. And later that month they went on to win the Super Bowl. All because of that wild as hell lucky catch.

I was a kid I mean really a prepubescent girl child who hated football with every fiber of my being but I remember that game. That game made me a life long fan of the 49ers. That picture is what I see when I think of great football. I'm pretty sure even Susan Elizabeth Phillips was impressed by that play, I'm pretty sure, she modeled Bobby Tom Denton after that photo. I'm pretty sure it's why I have a love hate relationship with the sport.

So now that I have that out of the way I'm going to introduce you to Bullet Brady.

No his name isn't really Bullet, it's Robert, or Rob or mostly Bobby. Even his own mother calls him Bullet. In school Bullet was Trig's favorite wide receiver. In school they were a team, part of one powerful weapon. "If I'm the Trigger then you're the Bullet. Go long Bullet."
Separated by tragedy, Bullet and Trigger, grew apart. Now all Bullet wants is to come home, to have Trigger on his team once again.
But Bullet doesn't count on nerdy Kailey Whitmore intercepting his heart, and pitting him against his best friend. Somehow though Bullet is poised to make that catch, he just has to figure out what he is reaching for if he is ever going to have his own happy ever after.

Are you ready for some football? Tune in Monday night, when Liquid Silver Books kicks off Double Coverage
Mercy

What is it about those gunslingers?


As in the days of the wild west, the gunslinger has a certain appeal. A bad boy, a good man, fast on the draw and good with his hands. Sure, I know the reality of the old west was gritty, dirty, and down right mean, the gunslinger was most often an outlaw who took great delight in killing people. Same as pirate lore. Dirty, nasty, horrible time in history. But the romantic ideal of the gunslinger is very much alive.

Take the movie 3:10 to Yuma for instance. Russell Crowe, mmm have I ever mentioned that I have a serious thing for Russell Crowe, plays an enigmatic outlaw, complete with his own gang of mercenaries. Once captured he is to be sent to prison in Yuma but the trick is getting him there. The movie is a character study of this lawless man, artistic, charismatic, and very good with a gun versus the simple homesteader played by Christian Bale. In the end I didn't know whether to root for the good guy, Bale, or this completely remorseless gunslinger, Crowe. In the end I didn't have to root for either. 

And while we're on the topic of westerns starring Russell Crowe I'd be remiss in not mentioning the first movie I ever saw the man in. The Quick and the Dead. Nothing but gunslingers, nothing but ruthless killers as far as the eye can see. But there is Russell Crowe as a former gunslinger turned missionary forced to become the monster he once was or die. Mmmmm Russell Crowe. Sorry. In the end a bad man redeemed himself and earned a spot in my heart forever more.

So with all this talk about gunslingers I'm sure you are asking yourself what the point to all this is. And certainly since my book is about football and I'm doing an all out blitz to the goal line, the goal line being the release of Double Coverage on Monday night, what does any of this have to do with gunslingers or the wild west.

Ah, the gunslinger is so much more than just a wild west romantic tale. In football, the quarterback is often referred to as a gunslinger. Especially the quarterback with a tremendous arm who can throw long, hard, fast spirals incredible distances.

In Double Coverage my main hero is Trig Morgan, Trig or Trigger as he was lovingly called by his team mates earning him a dubious nickname, is just such a quarterback. Blessed with a powerful arm Trigger was set to take the NFL by storm. But this didn't happen, an injury took away his shot at the big time. Instead of going pro, Trigger went to medical school. He became a pediatrician. But he still has that incredible arm, and he still has the charm, and he is still every woman's fantasy.
Sigh, Kailey Whitmore is a lucky woman, indeed.

Tune in tomorrow for more Double Coverage, coverage.
Mercy
Oh and who is my favorite gunslinger, well, love him or hate him, you can't deny he is one of the best. Not mentioning names I'll just leave you with this
VVVV

Mark your calendar January 24, 2011

Double Coverage is hitting the market next Monday.
I am so excited I'm about to burst something vital.

So since I was just shocked with this news and only have four days before it's go time I'm just going to be all Double Coverage all the time between now and then and probably some after that.

Going to post the blurb and an excerpt tomorrow and all sorts of stuff in between, and finally on Tuesday I'm going to give a copy away to one or two lucky people.

In the mean time, feel free to hop over to Liquid Silver Books and find Double Coverage on the coming soon page. Discussion is already in progress.

Mercy

News

I am proud to announce the recent sale of my very first M/M short story to Cobblestone Press.
The Fifty First Thursday follows what happens when bar owner Joe Deacon and former quarterback Shelby Bainbridge find themselves stranded during a hurricane.

The cover for Double Coverage is killer gorgeous. Bet you can't guess who is Trigger and who is Bullet.
Cover art by April Martinez. April is incredibly talented don't you think. This cover really captures my ideal of Double Coverage. Thanks April.

Football, yes Football

The time: my teens. I'm not telling the actual decade.
The place: High school. In particular the hallway in my high school.
The event: Game Day.
The memory: Walking down that hallway following a hard body dressed in loose swinging navy blue and gold football jersey atop a pair of tight faded sometimes ripped jeans, the Levi's V accentuating the view adding to the fantasy. It didn't matter who the boy was. I don't remember the number I don't remember the face or the hair but will always remember walking down that hallway in full blown teenage girl hormonal overdrive.

So yeah, football.
I wrote Double Coverage for that reason. A tribute to that memory. I wasn't valedictorian and I never dated a player but oh yeah I fantasized about a couple of them. You see I was the safe girl. They let me hang out with them, sit with them at lunch, walk down the hall with their arms over my shoulder, because I wasn't a threat to their real girl friends. I was just another boy, I talked cars, and the game, listened to their relationship problems and got them food. Why? Hell I don't know. I was lucky I guess.
Were there sexual offers? Of course, I might be able to name all of the pro teams in both the NFL and MLB. I liked classic cars and knew what most of the stuff under the hood was, but I still had breasts. Did I take them up on their offers? No. I have more respect for myself than to give myself to some guy who's fighting with his girlfriend or because she wouldn't put out. Not that the fantasy wasn't there, not that the urge wasn't there. There were two and all they would have had to do was worship me.
Do I regret never following the fantasy? Sometimes, but not often. Only when I'm feeling old.

And that is what Double Coverage is about. A second chance at the fantasy. The super hot quarterback who nursed a secret crush on you, his jealous best friend, competition for your favor. Who will you choose? What if you could have them both? Would you take the chance? What is stopping you?

If I had a second chance and I was single, hell yeah I'd take that chance.
Oh and if that isn't enough of a reason to write about football then I will leave you with this.
Mercy

I grant you Mercy

In case you were wondering, my name is Mercy Celeste and you are visiting my little world. First off let's get this out there. I like men. Just so there is no mistake about what this blog is going to be about. Secondly, I write erotic romance about men. Men and women, men and women and men, and men and men. Did I mention men. Yes I believe I did.

My blog mission is to promote my books and to glorify my favorite pass time. Men.

Shall we get started? Yes Mercy let's.

Up first.
DOUBLE COVERAGE
Coming soon from Liquid Silver Books.
What do two boys of fall do in the off season? Just ask Kailey, she knows.
Mercy