Monday, January 25, 2010

Tam picks up the gauntlet . . . again!

I wondered in my previous post if any manlove fiction existed wherein one of the characters had a peculiar combination of occupation/interests/fetishes or kinks, like the heroine in that gingerbread-dude story that prompted my post.

Chris, knitter extraordinaire, kvetched a little about heroes in gay fiction never having knitting as a hobby. So, just by way of example, I tossed a welder-knitter-felcher combo on the table. Wren passed the buck . . . uh, I mean modestly declined . . . when I suggested she build a tale around such a character. I can't do it, because I'm obviously too busy dreaming up stupid blogs. No one else volunteered.

And then -- voila! -- a story appeared in my inbox. Someone had risen to my challenge! (And the story's kind of hot, too.) If you click on the title of this post, you'll be treated to:




Girl always comes through!

25 comments:

Chris said...

So, Tam, tell us - do you really exist, or are you actually a pseudonym of another author? ;)

*Disclaimer: The author of this comment may have read too many old posts in the GoodReads mmromance forum before leaving said comment.*

Average Reader said...

What a fun story! I like the little vivid details: mitten-thumbs, welding the tanks, the ex-lover who leaves to be an extra in a zombie film!

Tam said...

Argh argh, errors, errors. *hangs head in shame*

I swear Chris, I'm really me. No money rolling in from all my lucrative publishing deals under other names. :-P

Thanks Val. Not sure how accurate stuff is as I just whipped it up today but I tried to put things in I might know a little about.

Tam said...

I forgot to say I love my little story picture with the mittens KZ. Very cute. Thanks so much. And I suppose picking up the gauntlet is better than being smacked cross the face with it à la Bugs Bunny.

Chris said...

Tam, I just finished reading it and it was great! I've purchased ebooks that had more errors and that I didn't enjoy as much. I especially love the little fun details, like the zombie extra and the town near Minneapolis! :)

wren boudreau said...

I'm so glad I tossed...I mean, declined... because you did a fabu job, Tam!! I loved it!
Loved how you let us know what Arnie's teaching job was, and I enjoyed picturing a 6'3" muscle guy knitting.

"Two snakes on a bad acid trip." *snortgiggle*

Yay, Tam! And KZ, for providing the opportunity :)

Tam said...

Thanks Wren. It was fun to play around with.

Chris said...

Hey, was there a nod to Go Fish in there, too, Tam?

Y'all have stereotypes about knitters. Hmph. :)

Tam said...

If there was it was subconscious Chris.

Chris said...

The bit about his subconscious or inner voice being a 13-year old girl. It was most excellent. :)

Tam said...

Hmm. Oblivious plagerization. LOL

Chris said...

I'm pretty sure it wasn't word-for-word. :D Just glad I didn't do a spit-take on my laptop.

Average Reader said...

"I just whipped it up today but I tried to put things in I might know a little about."

You know about welding tanks? And zombies? Even the knitting impresses me!

Tam said...

Hey, I watch How It's Made on Discovery Val. I am a vast fount of useless knowledge. That and Mythbusters.

wren boudreau said...

Now I know who to turn to when I need to research miscellaneous stuff! Forget google.

Lily said...

Tam, that was fabulous!!! Great job with all the details, loved it.

Jeanne said...

Adorable story, Tam.
I just loved the image of those mittens doing all sorts of naughty things ;~D

K. Z. Snow said...

Wow! Take your bows, Tam; you deserve your accolades!

And you're more than welcome for the cobbled-together "cover." Every published story needs one--as long as it doesn't contain nightmare-inducing poser figures. :-)

I'm really not surprised by the details. You have a very vivid imagination. And I, too, have read plenty of fiction, even by highly regarded authors, that was far more riddled with errors.

I just loved "Knittin' Mittens" and had to share it.

K. Z. Snow said...

Chris, I envy anybody who can create things with their hands. I took up knitting in college for a while, just because it was so relaxing, but I never got past the scarf stage. :-) Oh, and I worked at a big knitting mill in the summertime to help get myself through school (effing sweatshop, it was).

Do you do both hand and machine work?

Chris said...

Gah! Blogger just ate my comment. *shakes fist*

I hand knit only. Considering how uncoordinated I am, it's always surprised me how I took to the whole knitting thing. Maybe because it's binary. One of my happiest days was when I realized I could read and knit at the same time. *bliss*

Hmm. My veri word is "unbed".

K. Z. Snow said...

That impresses me even more -- the hand work, I mean, although your Word Veri was pretty cool too.

But how do you keep Chaos and Mayhem from wreaking havoc (hey, there's the name for your next kitty!) with your yarn?

Jenre said...

Wonderful story, Tam and I can't believe you just whipped it up in an afternoon!

I laughed at the idea of a hunk of a welder crouching over a pair of knitting needles!

Tam said...

Thanks Jen, Lily and Jeanne. It was fun to have the constraints and make them fit. Now what I think of when I put on my mittens might not be very PG rated anymore. :-D

I didn't start out with the plan to have the mittens so involved but it just kind of happened. The subconscious is a dangerous place I guess.

And thanks for not giving me a computer generated man awkwardly staring of into space ... wearing mittens KZ. LOL

Tam said...

You can knit AND read Chris? Ack. I think I'd be one or the other. LOL

Chris said...

KZ - Yeah, the next kitty'll have to be either Havoc or Murder...

All yarn is kept in plastic tubs or zippered bags. The kitties are pretty good about leaving it alone while I'm actually knitting.

Tam - Well, I HAVE mostly been reading lately, no knitting involved...