{"id":3295,"date":"2013-12-04T09:38:45","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T17:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/?p=3295"},"modified":"2013-12-08T18:21:46","modified_gmt":"2013-12-09T02:21:46","slug":"delectable-bgthomas-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/delectable-bgthomas-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"#Delectable December: B.G. Thomas’s Christmas Miracle & the Story Behind the Cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"santaben\"<\/a>I’m so excited to host B.G. Thomas as part of Delectable December. We met in Albuquerque at the secret Icelandic booze party that has now become a GRL tradition. Experiences like that bond people, even if you don’t see them for a whole year, and when we met up again in Atlanta, we started chatting again and just bonded like we’d been friends forever.\u00a0 We spent hours in the Melia lobby, late into the night most nights and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to really make a special bond with Ben.<\/p>\n

And I’m thrilled to learn the story behind his latest cover because I instantly recognized the models. You’ll love the story behind the story, and make sure to curl up with a big mug of Hot Buttered Rum to read his brand new Grumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf.<\/em><\/p>\n

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So There I Was…Last Christmas…Recovering from A FULL Knee Replacement…!<\/h1>\n

\"GrumbleMonkey<\/a>So there I was, last Christmas season, stuck in the house and recovering from a full knee replacement. It wasn\u2019t fun, kiddies, believe me. On the other hand, the constant and chronic pain that I had been in for several years was GONE! It had departed! Vanished! Flown the coop! It was past, finito, quit, had run off, dried up and departed. Sure there was the pain of the surgery and the recovery and the physical therapy. But compared to what I had been going through? When I had become known as \u201cWaddles?\u201d (and truth be known that hurt my feelings). When my every step horrible<\/i> and there were times I would go hide and sob? I was in heaven. It was a Christmas Miracle!<\/p>\n

But for those of you who know me or know of<\/i> me, I am a social butterfly. I love the nightlife, I like to boogie… Ah, well, I hadn\u2019t \u201cboogied\u201d in quite a while (I couldn\u2019t), but I liked to get out of the house and be with people. And I couldn\u2019t. I couldn\u2019t get up and down the stairs without my amazing husband or my visiting daughter there helping me.<\/p>\n

And I was in mind-blowing Cabin Fever! I wanted to go out! I wanted to see people! We had no Christmas cookies! I wanted to try my best friend John\u2019s Hot Buttered Rum (and he had no car.) I even posted about it on Facebook (now isn\u2019t that pitiful?).<\/p>\n

I was a sad puppy despite the Miracle of No More Pain.<\/p>\n

Then I get this phone call. It\u2019s John telling me to have my husband go look out and look on the front porch. Guess what? My friend with NO CAR took a taxi to the grocery store, ran in, got me Christmas cookies, took the cab to my place, dropped cookies and<\/i> a batch of his hot-buttered rum mix and left it there for me.<\/p>\n

I was as happy as a little kid. It was so<\/i> good! And by the way, the mix doesn\u2019t have rum in<\/i> it so you can have a hot drink to warm you up even if you don\u2019t want the rum (although heaven knows why you wouldn\u2019t! *grin*).<\/p>\n

Somehow, that never left my mind as I was writing my holiday story for this year\u2019s Dreamspinner Press Holiday Advent Calendar. That hot-buttered rum found its way into my story, \u201cGrumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dreamspinner<\/a>

Dreamspinner Authors and Artists: Jonathan Treadway, B.G. Thomas, Jamie Fessenden, Shobana Appavu, Paul Richmond and Catt Ford<\/p><\/div>\n

Something else really cool happened this last year. I had met the amazing artist Paul Richmond in 2012 in New York for a Dreamspinner Press workshop. I connected with him immediately. We even went to the famous drag club \u201cLips,\u201d and had a great time! In 2013, the DSP workshop was in Chicago and we connected even more\u2014and I met his future husband (and by the time of this writing his legal<\/i> husband!) and wow, Dennis is just as amazing as Paul (but in a much less flamboyant manner and, well, I am<\/i> all about the pageantry!).<\/p>\n

As I wrote \u201cGrumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf,\u201d I couldn\u2019t help but imagine Paul as my splendiferous department store elf (and artist) Kit Jeffries. And even though Dennis is certainly not<\/i> a grumble monkey, he was in my head the whole time I was writing my story.<\/p>\n

One day I got the brass cojones to ask Paul if he would consider doing my cover and if he and Dennis would be the models for my characters. And OMG!!\u00a0 He said yes!\u00a0 I was so excited!<\/p>\n

So there you have it! Two (three!) of the major inspirations for \u201cGrumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf.\u201d\u00a0 And here\u2019s the cover blurb:<\/p>\n

Kit Jefferies, a part-time department store Christmas elf, is an artist who loves life and his family. Unfortunately, his car dies at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere as he is heading home for Christmas. Enter Nick St. George. <\/i><\/p>\n

Nick is a very unhappy man\u2014he’s achieved his professional goals only to find the rest of his life bleak and empty. Deciding there was only one way to make everything right, he is on his way to San Francisco on a dark mission, and even the horrible sleet storm that blocked his path won’t deter him. That’s when he found Kit.<\/p>\n

At first, Nick is pretty sure rescuing Kit was a big mistake. Kit’s personality is just too, well, effervescent. But as the miles go by, Kit begins to bring light to his dark heart. It might even be bright enough to illuminate a Christmas miracle.<\/i><\/p>\n

And just what is<\/i> a \u201cgrumble monkey?\u201d Why you\u2019ll just have to read the story to find out! I sure hope you will. I just love this story. You can find it right here:<\/p>\n

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Buy “Grumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf” from Dreamspinner Press<\/a> or Amazon<\/a><\/h2><\/div><\/div>\n

And as a special holiday pressie, and per the wondrous E.M. Lynley\u2019s request for recipes, here\u2019s how to make the mix for hot buttered rum. It\u2019s a pretty big batch, but believe me, put it in smaller containers and give this out as gifts and you are going to get a lot of happy people!<\/p>\n

So Happy Merry Chrismasolstikwanzaakah and may your new year be the best ever!<\/p>\n

And remember always… Leap and the net will appear!<\/p>\n

B.G. Thomas<\/p>\n

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Buttered Rum Recipe<\/h1>\n

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