Monthly Archives: September 2019

Welcome to the “BOUND’ED BY CHAINS” Blog Tour! @FRStepnowski

Greetings! Today, I am hosting author/poet Forrest Robert Stepnowski on The Indie Spot.

Take it away, Forrest. . .

Blog Tour Day 4

Title: “Bounded by Chains” Tour

About the Book:

BOUND; The Lost Romanticism and Eroticism of Gay Men. Allow yourself to give in to your deepest fantasies, desires, and sensual dreams, BOUND is a collection of poetic works exploring the world of eroticism, romanticism, and fantasies of gay men of all ages. Walk through the mind inspired by fantasies, the hopes for romance, the desire to be swept off ones’ feet, and the longing to be touched through this anthology filled with lost romance and passionate memories. Escape into a world that allows you to be one with your desires, feel the heightened sensations and passion through random rendezvous and engagements.

Poetry Excerpt from Bound: The Lost Romanticism and Eroticism of Gay Men:

I never knew your name

I remember when I thought I knew what innocence was

I had recently come out after pretending of being something I was not

I examined the possibilities of where to meet hot guys

There were the bars of course

Bars that were swarming with hot men in the midsummer night’s heat

Meat markets for all to ogle and lust after

Could I not see myself caught up in the scene and becoming a bar fly?

Or could I?

I was not the pretty face or the guy with abs of steel

I was joe average, still am I suppose

We met randomly on a chat page the year prior

You remembered it well

You were my guru on gay.com

Your sweet face was so innocent

Cute little smile, beautiful eyes, full beautiful lips

But your words were infused with sexual anticipation

You said it was your first time talking to a guy like that

I had just come out

We would talk for hours

We decided to meet at the metaphor, a local coffee shop in downtown San Diego

I walked into the shop and I became breathless

You were angelic, sitting their reading your book

I felt like a stalker as I stood there frozen in my tracks

Admiring your beauty across the room, love at first sight

You looked up and caught me staring, you laughed

You put your book down and walked my direction

You gave me a hug and a sweet kiss on the cheek

You said you were relieved to see I was truly the handsome man you saw in my photos

I was puzzled

Apparently, you have met some trolls and impostors before

We sat together by the window, holding each other’s hands

Talking for hours, we continued to talk for 12 hours

Lost by the time, you invited me to come over to your place for dinner

You smiled and said, ‘we can continue our talking there’

I could not resist your charms

We were both naïve

So innocent

But the sexual tension continued to build between us

After dinner, you kissed my cheek again

I caressed your face gently and kissed your lips

Slowly massaging your lips with mine

You trembled in my arms

I said, I better leave before it gets too late

You looked at me with a sense of desire and asked me to stay

I accepted the invitation

I offered to sleep on your couch, you laughed

You grabbed my hand and lead the way to your bedroom

We kissed

More and more intense each caress of our lips became,

We began removing each other’s clothing

Touching each other, exploring each other’s bodies

We laid upon your bed in an entangled embrace

Your legs wrapped around my waist

We stared into each other’s eyes

You smile and asked me to be your first

I kissed you and held you tight against my body

We became one so effortlessly

My initial thrust made you moan passionately

At first, we froze like statues

Lost in time like a work of art displayed by DaVinci

I began to thrust into you more and more

You quivered, asking me never to stop

I controlled your body with every motion

Holding your hands down against the bed

Looking into your eyes

Kissing you

We were locked in this embrace for hours

We both began our passage to climax

Moaning

Heavily exhaling

Our orgasm was powerful and in sequence

My final thrust caused you to arch backwards with a final ahh!

We peaked in a rage of passion like Mt St Helen’s erupting over and over again

I kiss you softly

I am still inside of you, throbbing inside of you

You looked into my eyes and began to move your hips side to side, enjoying the feeling inside of you

We began to make love again

You were utterly speechless and out of control

Our dance embattled, and intense

You sang out a song that put sirens to shame

We were at another apex in a passionate duet

Another moment of heightened sensation

We both exhaled, kissed, and then laughed

We continued to stare into each other’s eyes

Our coffee date became 20 hours of pure exhilaration

We embraced for the rest of the night

We fell asleep in each other’s arms

We dreamt of the intense Kamasutra we performed

Later that morning, we arose a warm embrace

You made me promise to never forget you

I laughed saying this is only the beginning

You began to cry

You told me how you were being deployed at the end of the week

You were in the middle of your tenure in service to our country in the navy

I reassured you I was not going anywhere and would wait for you to return

You cried and kissed me over and over again

We showered, dressed, and went to the coffee shop where our initial date started

We spent every available minute we had left that week in preparation of your leave to the middle east

You even introduced me quickly to your family, whom I still talk to this day

My heart both full and broken simultaneously

I kissed you with the sentiment I will be here when you return

Neither of us could say the words, goodbye

We wrote each other for four months

Your letters stopped coming

I waited for four more months, and your letters stopped coming

Your parents called me daily to see if I had heard from you, as their letters had stopped coming as well

Until the day you were pronounced missing in action

Your parents fell silent to everyone

March 25, the phone rang

It was your sister

She had been crying

I tried to console her, but she stated she wanted to know if I was ok

She called me for your parents whom I could hear crying in the background

I asked her what was wrong, even though I had a sense I already knew

She cried inconsolably and told me you were found dead in the field

I lost my identity, my joy, and my reason for living in one statement

My first true love ended in tragedy, like a Greek mythological play

You were part of my soul, my being, my treasure

The day of the funeral, I was left in shattered pieces

Like a broken stain glass window with the colors of life you gave me

They were fragmented into several pieces upon my feet

I read your full name in the memorial

I shed tears as I realized I never knew your full name

I continued to weep

I never knew your name

About the Author:

Forrest Robert Stepnowski is an advocate, a writer, a social worker, and a performance artist in the Pacific Northwest. He has been writing poetic works and prose for most of his life. He realized how important is to share his work with others who have dealt with similar pathways of self-hate, self-deprecation, and self-loathing in the hopes they find they are not alone, as well as help them realize they are not deviants, nor are they against “human nature.” They are part of a collective of misfit toys on an island where being different is beautiful. We all have a voice, and the world should hear it. Forrest is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

Social Media Links:

Website/Blog: https://www.forresttakesajourney.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forrestrobertstepnowski

Twitter: https://twitter.com/frstepnowski

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forreststepnowski

Amazon Purchase Links:

Paperback

https://www.amazon.com/BOUND-Lost-Romanticism-Eroticism-Gay/dp/1096882558/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

E-Book

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1MLFGD/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE.

Thanks for supporting this author and his work!

Welcome to the “GRANDMOTHERS: A FORCE FOR GOOD” Blog Tour! @HealthMN1

27 Replies

Greetings! Today I am honored to welcome author Harriet Hodgson to The Indie Spot.

Excerpt from The Grandma Force

Readers remember stories more than statistics. I use personal stories to emphasize points and link me to readers. This is my favorite story in The Grandma Force.

It was early morning at the family cabin. I sat in a log chair on the dock with my granddaughter on my lap. Patches of fog lingered in the forest and mist was rising from the river. We sat there silently, no words, no wiggling, and watched the current carry a few leaves and twigs downstream. Mayflies had hatched in the night and trout jumped from the water to catch them. One trout jumped up inches away from us. We heard other trout splashing in the river as they tried to catch mayflies.

At the edge of our property, an eagle had built a nest on top of a Norway pine. When we canoed on the river, we often saw the eagle in its nest. That misty morning my granddaughter must have been thinking about the eagle because she jumped off my lap and called, “Eeeagle, you can fly overrr, if you want to.” Her sentence as almost a song. We smiled at each other and she came back and snuggled on my lap.

Minutes passed. Suddenly we head a flapping sound as the eagle swooped low over the river, a couple of inches above the water, its claws poised to catch a trout. But the eagle missed the trout, made a quick turn, gained altitude, and flew back upriver. My granddaughter and I looked at each other in amazement. Neither of us said a word. Spoken words would have spoiled the miracle.

I tried to write a children’s story about the experience and failed. There were too many facets to the story—the stillness of the forest, the mist rising from the river, the jumping trout, the grandmother-grandchild bond, and the eagle who answered a little girl’s call. Much as I hated to admit it, the story exceeded my ability to tell it. Yet I remember the story and it’s one of the most beautiful times of my life.

Author Bio:

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance writer for 38 years, is the author of thousands of print/online articles, and 37 books. Hodgson is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Alliance of Independent Authors. She has appeared on more than 185 radio talk shows, including CBS Radio, and dozens of television stations, including CNN. A popular speaker, she has given presentations at public health, Alzheimer’s, bereavement, and caregiving conferences. She lives in Rochester, Minnesota with her husband, John. Please visit www.harriethodgson.com for more information about this busy wife, mother, grandmother, caregiver, speaker, and author.

Purchase Links: Amazon paperback https://amzn.to/31Kklgs

Amazon eBook https://amzn.to/31FoUt5

Barnes and Noble paperback http://bit.ly/2N28jLY

Barnes and Noble eBook http://bit.ly/31GeWaj

IndieBound paperback http://bit.ly.2TBRpol

Thanks for supporting this author and her work!

Introducing the “TIGERMAN ON TOUR” Blog Tour! @TigerManGuest

8 Replies

I am pleased to welcome author Colin Guest to The Indie Spot today.

Take it away, Colin. . .

The second book I wrote was An Expat’s Experiences of Living in Turkey. Readers who are thinking of moving to Turkey will find a wealth of information related to living here.

The book starts with how I came to Turkey back in late 1988, to work on a five-star hotel project down on the Turkish Meditteranean Coast. After only five weeks of being in Turkey, my late wife stunned me one day. “When you finish your contract, why don’t we buy some land and have a house built,” she said. It just shows how impressed she was at what she had found and seen in Turkey. As a result of that conversation, along with a Turkish friend, we bought a piece of land and had a house built. Although at first intended as a summer holiday home, after some discussion with my wife, we sold our house in England and moved to live fulltime in Turkey. Without a doubt, we did the right thing by moving to live permanently in Turkey.

After my wife died in 2007, I later met, and at the age of 72, married Gulden aged 69. We live in Istanbul, one of the most exciting cities in the world. Although living in Turkey has been a roller coaster of experiences, I have never regretted living here.

So, if you want to get out of the rat race, who knows, an expats life might be just what you need. For those considering this kind of life, there are specialist organisations that handle overseas contracts. They can also provide a wealth of information related to expat life.

Bio

As an expat who worked in fifteen countries spread through the Middle, Far East and North Africa, Colin Guest has lived a life most only dream. He started writing after his retirement and has had nine books published, with five made into Audiobooks.

Social media contacts

http://www.tigermanpress@gmail.com

http://www.colinguestauthor.com

http://www.turkmed.wordpress.com

http://www.twitter.com/Tigermanguest

http://www.facebook.com/tigerman55

http://www.pininterest.com/colinguest9

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9857414

http://www.linkedin.com/in/tigerman77

http://www.instagram.com/tigerman105

To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to schedule your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE.