Wayne Gray

Howdy, all. I hope everyone is as well as they can be. I'm just kicking along, doing the best that I can. Some days, that's enough. Others? Ehhhh ... lol Anyway, I'll be around. 🙂

Hi there. Thanks for taking the time to comment! Fleeting Eternity is something I'm proud of, so I'm glad that you found it moving. I'll see what I can do about keeping on writing. 🙂 Have a great one.

You're absolutely right.

It's never easy losing someone. And we're never really ready ... Take care of yourself, Fae. We're here if you need to talk.

Thanks, rick. We all can use a bit of hope, and there's reason to feel it. Yes, we've a way to go, but we're going to make it.

🙂

I know it's easy to feel as if it won't end. I know the need to protect our hearts by tempering expectations, particularly when there's so much out there we can't control. Here too, we're depending on people to do the right things to stay in our current "tier". Just a few more average cases a day and we'll slide back down, and we will lose a lot of our loosened guidelines (indoor dining included). It's genuinely unfair to be some of the ones to follow the guidance, to adhere to the physical distancing rules, and to have others essentially ruin it by haring off and doing their own, seemingly self-destructive things. You can only ask "what are people thinking?" so many times before you arrive at the conclusion: they are not. They are not thinking. We're all lucky. We have a different administration in office now, and soon the US will have so much supply that we will have capacity to share with our northern neighbor. If it comes down to it, that's what will happen. Persons in our govt have already said as much. Estimates here put more supply than demand for vaccine in early June. So, if for whatever reason CA can't get shots in most Canadian arms by then, they'll come from the south. It's going to happen. I know you guys are doing what you need to do, and I'm glad. Stay healthy. We're getting there.

Thank you, tim. It was a little bit of a snap decision to go, but I'm so glad we did. I can't wait for you and Michael to go too. I know the time is coming, it is. When it happens we can't really predict, but I know it will. It was really good. Thanks for wanting that for us. When it's your turn, I'll get to be excited for you too. 🙂 xo

Thanks, spyke. In ways, that's how it felt. We're doing something familiar in a very unfamiliar way, so by its nature, it was a "first". It was so nice. Parts were odd, but ... the eating, chatting, and watching others do the same, that was all good. I really do feel we're on the way.

Thanks, Chris. I know it's not the same everywhere, and it's tenuous here too. Things could change, if we don't obey the guidance and we spike again. But daily, the number of vaccinated folks climbs. I think we're going to outpace the variants (the vaccine is shown to work against those too). Cautious hopefulness. That's what I'm feeling.

Thanks, Reader. It was nice to get out, and do something together in public again.

My husband and I had our first night out in over a year in a physically distanced, but indoor dining situation. We went to a spot we love - a little, intimate place with dark, burnt orangey walls, ferrous-stained concrete floors with these glorious cracks filled with rust, and of course a terrific menu. The servers all wore masks, and all the patrons did too until served. Between courses we masked up again, and were all more than six feet apart from other tables. To add a bit of security, I've been fully vaccinated, but more important ... it has been two weeks since Kevin had received his first shot. By now he has built antibodies, and studies have shown even with the first of what will be two doses, he's protected from severe illness. So we took a chance. We went out to support one of our favorite little places, and to just ... be. We followed all the guidance. And as we sat there, eating our food and chatting, I watched my husband just ... I don't know. I watched him ... god, it's so hard to assign a word to it. I guess "hope" is the closest. Yeah, that'll have to do. It's a simple but sublime thing, hope. But I got to see it tonight in the man I love the most. We're close. We really are. Even with the variants, even with the mutations prevalent in all RNA viruses, we're close. Allow for hope. We're almost there.

Haha. Mamma G is her own little universe of crazy. But she's like a mean mother hen when it comes to her people, and now Truckerbait is counted among those. I think Lee is gonna do just fine there with her and his new, weird little work family. Lee really had to leave. For him to figure things out, to gain confidence and self-respect, he just had to. It took Greg, Harlan, and Camp Refuge to make leaving possible, but when it was time, he took the leap. You're welcome. Thank you for reading it. And absolutely, I'm glad you found me thanks to Parker's nice review!

I'm terribly sorry about that Cliffy timing! Lament indeed. Thanks for the great comment. Broken is a story in a long line now in the Camp Refuge universe. I'm happy you're enjoying it, in spite of that nasty cliffhanger. 🙂

I'm happy you found A Silent Song, Kitt! I like this one, in that it further complicates Harlan. Sometimes, he's a monster in the dark (literally), and a brutal opponent; while at other times, we watch him quietly surrender and trust Bailey. And yes! That last line. It's one of my favorite ways I have ever ended a story. Thanks for the comments and for the read, Kitt!

I like this line. They’re not cuddling, just lying close out of necessity. Yeah. Uh huh. 😉 Nice chapter. It didn't feel long to me. Well done.

Thanks for the great feature, and for the fantastic review. I sincerely appreciate both. I don't think I can say it better than Parker already did. I hope people read and enjoy the story ... and I hope it makes them think a bit when people like Lee cross their path.

This one. The thing I like most about it is the urgency. It's insistent, grasping. Willing to hurt later to love now.

I really love this one. Is it sexy? Well, I suppose it could be. One of those "Favorite Mistake" songs.

Thanks for the awesome comment! That's the goal. I want you to ride along with them - feel what they do, and understand why they do the things they do. Maybe you'd have made a different choice, but at least you can understand why the character made the decision they did. As for a sequel, I don't know if my writing will take me there, but I've not ruled it out. We'll see. 🙂 Now ... as for what story to read next ... hrm. That depends. What sort of tale are you looking for? If you like romance, try Bluegrass Symphony, or the Camp Refuge series (beginning with Guarded). If you want an emotional story that will challenge you, then Fleeting Eternity is a good choice. If you want unapologetic porn with a plot, then Silverwolf will fit the bill. Let me know what you decide to try. And thanks again.

The little dance is amusing. The "I'm not interested in you beyond sex" dance. And this was a good info-dump without it being too much of a dump. It is a good balance. Well done. 🙂

While I'm happy you like the story enough to want more of it, some things can be told in a shorter span. It is a far worse sin to drag a story on too long as opposed to ending one early. To take a tale beyond the central struggle, and still try to create an artificial sort of interest to retain the reader. That is, to me, a sure way to destroy a good story. I had similar comments concerning Ash and Ember, Guarded, and Bluegrass Symphony. But they ended where the characters stopped speaking to me. Once a story is done, then I have to stop. Yes, at nine chapters, this installment was indeed shorter than any of the others in the series. Is it too short? Maybe. But better that, than to write the spark out of existence.

I like that last bit in particular: "If there is such a thing as just a friendly fuck, that’s what this was. And Johnny has to admit . . . he liked it." 🙂 Nice start.

Did it? Huh. It's almost like I left things open intentionally!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Some things take time. Internally, each had to work through some stuff ... and they did. And if you can invent an extra day a week, I'll work on getting that new book started. 😄 Thanks for the nice comment, and for reading the story.