LittleBuddhaTW

Now, a couple of weeks into the ceasefire, life in Medellín finally started to take on the shape of something that looked, at least from a distance, like normalcy. Children were back on the swings at the parks, squealing with delight as their parents chatted nearby. Young moms pushed strollers slowly along the tree-lined paths in El Poblado. The cafés were open again – tables spilling out onto the sidewalks – and once more filled with friends leaning in close, whispering over cappuccinos an

I settled under our guayacán tree that Monday morning, but its usual warmth felt brittle. Sunshine filtered through petals of vivid yellow, dusting the courtyard in confetti – yet I felt hollow. My stomach churned like I was floating in a boat on choppy seas. The weekend with Miguel lingered like a dream. Now I was back, surrounded by my friends, but a part of me was gone – lost on those lake waters. Around me, the group had changed. Zack lounged cross-legged, flipping through his notebook

I knew there was going to be drama. I set it up that way. Maybe that was a bit manipulative, but I needed the truth. Or maybe I didn’t. Maybe what I really needed was to learn how to let things go – to stop being such a paranoid drama queen. But those were thoughts for another day. For now, I needed answers. I needed to know whom I could trust. Who actually cared about me? Who maybe didn’t. Or if I was just some stupid "gringo prize" in a competition between Yeison and Miguel. The idea

Waking up on Sunday morning was a completely different experience from the day before. No rooster was crowing obnoxiously in the distance, no cold sheets beside me. Instead, I was wrapped in warmth – Miguel’s body pressed up against mine, his arms loosely draped around my waist, his bare chest rising and falling gently against my back. I felt the heat of his breath tickle my neck, followed by soft, slow kisses along my shoulders, my throat, and the side of my face. I stirred and blinked my eyes

Thank you for the helpful feedback. One of my future plans, when I am able to start writing again (long story), is to do a complete re-write of Someday Out of the Blue (since it's been 20 years since I first wrote it). I'll keep the original posted, too, for the sake of nostalgia. I'd really like to see Connor get his own band; that's one of the things I'm trying to think of how to integrate. BUT, I've still got Swing for the Fences: Stealing Home (Book 2), which is only halfway done, When I See You Again, more Extra Innings short stories, novellas ("Noah" is still not cooperating and I've about given up on it completely), and an idea for a collection of flash fiction pieces focused on Jonah, and several other partially fleshed-out ideas after that, including a possible Book 3 for Swing for the Fences (plus my productivity has come to a halt for the last month). It will all get done, just maybe not as fast as I was originally planning (hoping, praying, whatever)! Sometimes life gets in the way.

This is very true, and I've had similar (and much more dramatic, as in needing to call the police to remove an ex who broke into my apartment at 4 AM) situations in my long and complicated history of love, like, and hook-ups. It's hard, but life goes on. Took me 3 years to really get over my divorce until I met "Luis," who has been preventing me from doing any serious writing for the past month. Once we get past that "honeymoon" phase, I'll be right back at it, I promise (and Medellin is still posting every week, it just may slightly delay Stealing Home and Extra Innings). "Luis," like many of the less fortunate boys in Medellin, just needs a lot of guidance and help to break out of the cycle of poverty. And he's a complicated guy, a little hyperactive, very sensitive, and has "daddy issues," which most Colombian boys do, since most Colombian boys don't live in a two-parent household or even know their fathers. It's a tragedy here, and one of the biggest societal problems that no one has really felt like taking on.

You can find both Tabasco and Sriracha and a variety of hot sauces here. They've all been watered down (de-spiced, so to speak) for the Colombian market. I have to buy the real stuff from Amazon and have it shipped down here. It's not exactly cheap.

On Sunday morning, I almost considered going to church to repent for my sins. Almost. Yeison was still asleep, curled up in my bed like a little angel, his lips parted just slightly, his arm slung over the pillow where I had been sleeping. His curls were tousled, and the faintest smile played on his face, like maybe he was dreaming of something warm and sweet. Maybe of me. And that only made everything worse. I slipped out quietly, pulled on my swim trunks, and dove into the pool. The

I think there are a couple of isolated spots deep in the Andes that may get some, but for 99.95% of the country, no. It's sunny, warm, and beautiful here today, as it usually is. I do miss the snow, and I miss the changing of the seasons a lot. Here, it's just one long season, with the only difference that it rains more in some months and is drier in others. That's what you get for being on the equator.

There's an adult who cares about Hunter a lot. He just has to be cautious as to how he goes about doing so.

I tried it once here, and it ended with me having to call the police to haul him out of my apartment, kicking and screaming.

The school week dragged on like a sentence I didn’t remember being convicted for. Every class, every lunch break, every half-hearted joke with my friends felt like wading through syrup. The worst part was knowing I was the one making things weird. We still met up in the courtyard every morning, under the same tall, wind-worn tree that had become our little sanctuary. But the energy was different now. Zack was still his quiet, perceptive self, sketching silently while watching everyone with

Yes, that's right. I'm an American expat who's lived in Colombia for nearly a decade. I've been to Cartagena as well. Very beautiful, but very hot, very expensive, and too many tourists for my liking. My favorite part of Cartagena was taking a boat out to the Islas del Rosario. Private beaches, cabanas, and great snorkeling. The city's history is fantastic, too, especially the old Spanish fort. I don't really see myself going back anytime soon, though. There are many nicer beaches (albeit with far, far fewer amenities) that are more off the beaten path.

All I can say is how a Colombian would reply to that: "Bienvenido a Colombia!" (Welcome to Colombia!)

I do believe I warned y'all that Hunter would be an extremely dislikable "protagonist." However, I promise you that things are moving in the way they need to/are supposed to go. The condom bit is important, but usage here is very low, which is why there is such a high rate of teen pregnancy and rising rates of HIV in the country. The biggest reason why is that they are very expensive here, and would be considered a luxury for many working people. There are NGOs that do free testing and hand out condoms for free. PrEP, though, is being adopted quite quickly here because the government-run healthcare system provides it for free, which is a very good thing. My boyfriend is on PrEP, for example.

I'm just dumbfounded that none of you seems to think that a slightly melted hunk of cheese in hot chocolate is not one of the strangest things you've ever heard of. BTW, Extra Innings: Noah is still coming ... eventually. Hopefully, soon. Still having issues with the arc/spine and timeline, and it's grown to three large-ish parts (basically the equivalent of three long chapters of Swing for the Fences), so it's more like a novella now than a short story, and that's required some changes, and there are also some difficult and complicated topics that are difficult to handle properly. But for those who wanted to know more about Noah's background in Swing for the Fences, you will get it. And I'm still waiting to start (for the past few weeks) Chapter 26 of Stealing Home because "Noah" has been kicking my butt for the past ~ 3 weeks or so. Plus, yes, I'm still seeing the super-duper, amazingly gorgeous, and sweet and affectionate 23-year-old Colombian young man who has been staying with me for a 4-day weekend to celebrate my birthday, which has been really nice. And although he's quite tall (about 6'2", which is a couple of inches taller than me), you would think he'd have such a tiny butt, but I actually think he may have a tinier butt than Jonah from Swing for the Fences. I'm not complaining, just sayin'. But anyway, with the whole writing thing, when your choices are lots of snuggles, constant kisses, and falling asleep with my head on his chest (I've never been able to do that with anyone) versus sitting down and writing, 10/10 times I've gotta pick him. We just have so much fun together, always a lot of laughing, he helps me deal with the crazy bureaucracy here, and he has certain other special "talents" as well. It's been a long time since I started falling in love with someone, especially someone different from me (culturally; linguistically we're fine, but he wants me to teach him English now. Fortunately, I did that for a good three years when I lived in Asia, so I think I can handle one silly, goofy, and distractingly handsome Colombian boy enough to teach him the English. We were at the Medellin Zoo today, saw lots of cool local animals from the jungle and rainforest, and maybe, just maybe, one day, before too long, I'll post one of the selfies we took together on my @LittleBuddhaTW Twitter/X page so you can see what "Luis" looks like. AND, he started kissing me in public, like, yesterday, which is a brave thing to do in a part of the country that tends to be very conservative (although Medellin itself tends to be a bit more progressive, with a HUGE Gay Pride parade every year, quite a few saunas, clubs, bars, hotels, etc.. Maybe I'll continue with my adventures with "Luis" in my blogs, since we have a lot of plans (trips and stuff) coming up soon. Since he's from Bogotá, I've basically become his tour guide for Medellín, and in mid-February, we've already got something planned for the day with the real-life "Juan Camilo" from Medellín. "Juan Camilo" will check "Luis" out for me, just like he does in the novel for Hunter, to make sure he's really a good guy and all. "Juan Camilo" is a good judge of character, and in the eight years I've lived here (and I've known and been good friends with "Juan Camilo" that whole time), he's met quite a few of the guys I've gone out with. He really only liked one, and he was my husband, whom I divorced five years later, so maybe I won't ask for "Juan Camilo's" opinion on "Luis," because he's just a precious baby doll and I want to keep him forever and ever! UPDATE: The photo is posted on my @LittleBuddhaTW Twitter/X page for roughly the next 12 hours. Things have moved quite fast, and it's a little weird building a relationship with a Colombian guy while posting chapters of the novel I wrote, which involves a gringo possibly getting into a relationship with a Colombian guy. Life imitates art? Or art imitates life? It's been really, really fun, though, both physically and emotionally/spiritually. Highly recommended!

It had been two weeks since the Colombian government’s surprise counter-attack against the narcos. According to my dad, it had been carried out independently, without DEA input, which didn’t sit well with the U.S. Embassy. Still, by all accounts, it had been a decisive success. “El Chino” was still out there, but his network had taken a serious beating – lieutenants arrested, dozens of sicarios dead, guerrilla camps bombed, and entire logistics chains dismantled. It had even given the embattled

I have added a slightly revised version of Chapter 8 to address some/most of @Altimexis's comments.

This is the kind of constructive feedback I really appreciate, because it's actually helpful, and when I finally got the time to take a look at it, I noticed a big part of the problem was structural (with a few other little things as well). I'm working on edits I hope will resolve the issues and replace the "old" version of Chapter 8 as soon as I can, hopefully before the release of Chapter 9 this weekend. @Hagge2025 I humbly suggest that if you want to criticize an author's work, something they've put many, many hours into doing, you at least do it constructively, like @Altimexis always does, leading to me taking the time to try to make it better, because he was polite, honest, and correct. Or you try writing a novel (or several) yourself.

The agency hierarchy would never approve of something like that. But individual agents certainly could if it helped the mission. Some years ago, I went through the interview process for one of the "letter agencies" (I won't say which one), and the lady speaking had a bunch of kids, and she would take her baby with her in the stroller when she was making drop-offs and pick-ups and other things, like meeting with assets, because it made her look less suspicious or worthy of anyone's attention. So, yes, "letter agency" agents do use their kids if they feel it is necessary. For something this risky, though? I don't know. We'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

Sadly, it is the real situation here. My new boyfriend used to be a male prostitute. Now he's planning on school, learning English, and the sky is the limit. Everyone deserves a little help once in a while, and they can end up doing wonderful things for the world. Unfortunately, in Colombia, that is rare. And because of the economy (primarily) and the security (maybe secondarily or third in priority), so many Colombians still risk their lives to get to the United States where there are around a million Colombians living.

By morning, I felt like my brain had been dragged behind a truck. The day started normal enough – sunlight through the curtains, the ceiling fan chopping the air, Doña Susana moving around downstairs like the house wasn’t full of secrets and bodyguards and invisible rules. But my body didn’t get the memo. My chest was tight, my stomach was hollow, and my phone felt like it weighed ten pounds in my hand. I checked it anyway. No new messages. At school, I tried to act like I wa

Yes, I've known that for a while. I have a large emergency supply kit and know my predetermined evacuation points, and the closest U.S. military base is not far from where I am. I appreciate the reminder, though! I really don't think it will come to that point. Colombia has a presidential election in a few months, and it's almost certain that the leftists will be defeated, which means no more problems with the U.S. for a while.

Well, this is a "coming-of-age" story, so one would hope that by the end, Hunter will have "come of age" and matured at least to a certain degree. And don't forget the screwed up childhood he had, being dragged all around the world for his dad's job, no stability, no place to put down roots, or make long-term friends. And the relationship with his dad sounds bad. His mom's fairly recent death doesn't seem like he's totally processed. His relationship with Rory may have ended in disaster because Hunter screwed around, but they still lasted a year, which is like 10 years in gay years, so I think that shows that somewhere inside of him, he wants that. There are just other factors, influences, inner demons, or whatever that have made that "challenging" for him. I like most of the characters in the novel. There are a few whom I don't like, but were never meant to be liked by anyone. I already mentioned Juan Camilo as being my favorite. I also really like Carlos, but Hunter is another favorite of mine. Watch carefully the relationship between Hunter and Juan Camilo (it is not sexual at all). I agree that this could be very interesting if told from a different POV. I've been experimenting with various POVs in Extra Innings and hope to start writing more novels in the third person in the future. The way Medellin ends, and, of course, depending on how well it is received, there are possibilities for either a short spin-off (novella) from a different POV (I already have ideas for a novella that would take place some years later) or some short stories like Extra Innings, but I'd kind of like to get past these two major stories (and finishing When I See You Again, which I will do, but am not thrilled about it; updating/improving/polishing Someday Out Of the Blue, etc.), and try some different, more unique themes, styles, etc. Get more creative. I've even been tossing around the idea of trying some flash fiction in Extra Innings, too. Never tried it before, so it could be interesting. It could also be a trainwreck and would only ever be released posthumously! 😆🤣😂🫠 I will instruct my new 23-year-old Colombian concubine/boy toy on how to post all my unfinished stuff if I suddenly drop dead.

I did warn you all several times that Hunter was not going to be a likable main character/narrator. He's got lots of demons. 😉 I'll be curious to see if people's perspectives on Noah from Swing for the Fences change after reading Extra Innings: Noah. He was a pretty universally reviled character.