Momentoes: Mick's Journey

Thank you for asking me to share the story behind my latest release.

Momentos: Mick’s Journey is the third and final novel in the Basque Trilogy.  These novels, Loving Edits, Tono, and Momentos  were inspired by my mother and her battle with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  I was reluctant to write a story about a fatal disease, where the outcome was a foregone conclusion, but my muse was persistent and wouldn’t let the idea go.  In a genre where HEA or HFN are assumed and even expected, the story of Mick Henley and his two lovers did not fit into any of the predictable categories.  However, some stories need to be told regardless of how they’re received.  I was lucky enough to have a very supportive publisher who agreed.  The first book in the trilogy, Loving Edits, was written in the winter of 2009.  I was an emotional wreck as I was reliving every stage of this insidious disease, but my critique members never let me quit, crying along with me, and urging me on.

When it’s all said and done, this ménage is primarily a love story; powerful, gut wrenching, and often times difficult to read.  Conversely, it’s also romantic, humorous, and very erotic.  The common thread throughout is hope, which is underscored by a love so powerful it uplifted and sustained a man through the worst time of his life.  It’s an old-fashioned tearjerker with a m/m/m/ twist.  Loving Edits tied for fourth place in the 2010 Rainbow Awards.  Momentos: Mick’s Journey is part prequel and sequel before bringing us into the present as we accompany Mick on his last journey home.  

Blurb: Momentos: Mick's Journey

Before Mick Henley brought Paul Alcott and Tono Garat together in Loving Edits, it was simply Mick and Paul, two optimistic teenagers who began a love affair that would span twelve years—and leave an indelible mark on their lives.

The passionate young lovers shared a series of firsts before Paul’s harsh father drove a wedge between them, shattering their dreams and destroying everything Mick believed to be true about love. After Paul's defection, Mick met Tono, a closeted Spanish athlete, who helped heal his broken heart.

From passionate highs to heartbreaking lows, Mick inspires the two most important men in his life and brings them together with his impending death. They’ll learn that all their memories, even the most difficult to bear, are precious and that love is the most amazing journey of all.

Excerpt

Mick…

Tono lifted me off the chair and held me while Paul stripped off the tuxedo in record time.  Before I knew it I was naked and lying back in our king-sized bed, a little loopy from all the booze I’d ingested, and drained from the varying emotions that had emerged at different stages during the evening.  We’d partied long and hard, staying at the bar until it closed down at dawn.  Word had gone out that we were buying, and the people came in droves to celebrate our victory at the awards ceremony. 

The twin trophies were lined up on the windowsill, symbols of a dream that had started years ago when Paul and I were in high school.  That it actually came to pass was momentous, to say the least, especially considering the circumstances. 

I should have been dead by now, according to all the predictions.  Even Dr. Jordan, my New York neurologist, was at a loss to explain how my body’s deterioration had remained suspended for the last three years.  Paul, my arrogant and sometimes delusional lover, claimed it was all his doing, whereas Tono, the more realistic and gentler soul, attributed it to love and prayer.  Begoña and Itziar spent hours reciting decades of Hail Marys on my behalf. 

I was simply grateful for each new day.  Momentos, the novel I’d started three years ago, was finally complete.  No one had read it except me, and no one would until I was gone.  I couldn’t deal with Paul’s scathing remarks or Tono’s tears.  I had to save my energy for survival, although last night I knew I’d reached the end.  The minute I dropped the shot glass at the bar it was apparent to the three of us that I’d progressed another step into this disease from hell. 

The mattress dipped as Paul and Tono got into bed, positioning me in the middle.  Tono snaked his arm around my waist and pulled my butt up against his groin.  Paul faced me, just like old times.  We were sleepy, and had past drunk a while back, but our bodies were rising to the occasion, and I was glad.  I wanted one more round of hot sex with my lovers before hanging it up. 

Despite the many physical challenges I’d faced over the years, sexual fulfillment had never been an issue.  Paul and Tono had somehow managed to keep my libido intact, aided by Baxter’s willingness to take on the duties of a live-in nurse.  He was the only one I allowed into the bathroom.  The only one who was subjected to my humiliation and tears as I gave up control of my bodily functions.  It was Baxter’s quiet competence and nurturing personality that helped me retain my pride and sense of self.  By the time he’d completed my daily ablutions, I was the same sweet-smelling, beautiful man Paul and Tono had come to expect. 

“Did you have fun tonight?” Paul said, gently touching my face.

I nodded.  “Kiss me, sweetheart.”

He did.  I closed my eyes and shut off thoughts of tomorrow.  I let myself free fall into the sensuality that had sustained me for so long.  I could feel Tono’s warm hands caressing my bottom and moving down my flanks, kneading and rubbing the way I liked.  His breath was warm against my skin; his soft tongue tickled me, as it circled the outlines of my ear.  Tono’s body was responding to the stimuli, and within minutes, he was hard and poking at my crack. 

“Turn over, Pauly.  I want inside,” I whispered.  “Lube me up.”

We’d done this too many times to count and each movement was automatic.  Not much to it, other than getting the right angle as we lay on our sides facing in the same direction.  We had the timing of our strokes down to a science.  Tono was in me, and I was in Paul―a daisy chain of love.  Paul helped draw my hand down to his cock and I managed to curl my fingers around his girth, loving the feel of the heavy organ that grew plump within my grasp.  We pushed and rocked our way to orgasm.  It wasn’t rough and frantic, but achingly tender, with a lot of kissing and words of love; exactly what I was hoping for this last time.

Bio

Mickie B. Ashling began writing stories about men who love men around the time she discovered Queer as Folk. The characters on that show intrigued her, and ground-breaking writers such as Patricia Nell Warren inspired her. She began to write the kind of stories that she enjoyed reading, spurred on by her muse, who really has this thing for hunky men getting it on.

Mickie has lived in the Philippines, Spain, the Middle East, and San Francisco but currently resides in a quiet suburb outside Chicago. She's a respectable office manager by day and a proud mother of four grown men who continue to wonder where this interest in gay romance has come from.  Mickie's first love is writing, but traveling is a close second. Her dream is to be able to quit her day job soon so she can devote all her time and energy doing what she loves best.

Visit Mickie's web site at http://mickieashling.com and her blog at http://mickieashling.livejournal.com/. You can contact her at mickie.ashling@gmail.com. 

Find my novels here:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_76 

My blog-http://mickieashling.livejournal.com
My website: http://www.mickieashling.com
GLBT bookshelf: http://bookworld.editme.com/mickiebashling
Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2904716.Mickie_B_Ashling