Wishing on a Blue Star

Featuring: In the Light, A Five Dark Realms Tale

Dreamspinner Press

Genre: M/M paranormal dark tale

Length: Anthology, 400 pages

Release Date: January 25, 2011

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Blurb:

A Special Project by Dreamspinner Press & ManLoveRomance Press. Edited by Kris Jacen.

How much impact can someone have on your life if you’ve never met them face to face?

In this electronic age of E-mails, electronic publishing, and social networks, quite a lot.

Through his emails, stories and blog, author Patric Michael has touched numerous hearts, minds and lives from the start of his career and further as he now takes us along on his journey to battle cancer.

Along the way, Patric shows us a side of life that not many truly see– how we are all a part of something larger than just ourselves, and how we are each touched by others for the betterment of all.

Now, those that have been touched by Patric and his words have joined together to give something back, to him and to us all through something he values highly – words.

In this compilation, gay short stories, poems, and anecdotes combined with excerpts from Patric’s blog and a few entertaining, educational group posts reveal, and celebrate, the man who has touched so many hearts and minds.

This collection, sometimes erotic, sometimes irreverent, and always poignant, is a gift from all our hearts to celebrate Patric and give strength (and a little levity) to others. The price reflects this; no one is receiving royalties or payment from the sales. Use it to celebrate life, celebrate words, and possibly inspire someone who needs it.

Reviews

Rated: 5+ Stars by Reviews by Jessewave

Wave only reviewed the five stories that stood out for her due to time and space constraints. However, In the Light was one of the five she talks about in the review.

“This story was another one that I enjoyed a lot, because although it was sad, dark and sombre and at times it was like someone had walked over a grave, it was also funny as Grant and Wey laughed about their sexual escapades with the Fallen Angels and other beings…I think if you enjoy paranormal stories you will definitely like this one.”

Excerpt of In the Light

“Something’s wrong.”

To Weylyn, when something went wrong, his manager or his roadie fixed it. He didn’t have intimate knowledge of how to fix anything. Except maybe someone’s broken libido. He could fix that well enough.

When his cell phone rang, neither of them jumped. They looked at each other with the expressions people had when they knew the ringing of the phone was a harbinger of things they did not want to hear. On the first ring, Weylyn decided he wouldn’t answer it. On the second ring, he realized he’d better. On the third ring, he picked it up and said, “Hello?”

“Weylyn! It’s Grant. How are you?”

The pleasant voice on the other end of the line made Weylyn frown. Grant was a fellow werewolf from a neighboring pack. They’d hung out in the past, drinking and picking up guys at a local bar. Grant had always been good company and a great friend. Weylyn hadn’t ever had sex with him, but that was mostly because Grant swore Weylyn wasn’t his type. But they’d been friends for years, despite Weylyn’s often long absences from home while on the road. And even though they’d been friends for years, it wasn’t like Grant to call in the afternoon when Weylyn was sure to be sleeping.

“I’m good, Grant. Just hanging with Drake. What’s up?” Weylyn couldn’t keep the cautious tone from his voice. Something smelled wrong, and he had a very good sense of smell.

“I’m at a bar, and I thought I’d see if you could meet me so we could have a few drinks and get caught up. I don’t get to see you very often anymore.”

Weylyn’s eyes went wide with shock. Something definitely was wrong. Grant’s voice sounded just a hair too casual, and the werewolf never drank during the day, even the late afternoon. He and Drake exchanged worried looks. As much as he rarely stirred before dusk, he’d have to now. He needed to discover what was wrong with Grant.

“Sure, Grant. Just give me some time to shower and get there,” he told his friend in a voice carefully devoid of worry. “Where are you?”

“I’m hanging out at In the Light. It’s a bar in the Shadoworld. I think you’ve been here before,” Grant said. “I’m sure you’ve told me about playing here.”

Weylyn’s frown deepened. He had played the bar before, several times. And he’d never liked it. Being a musician meant he often had to travel the Five Dark Realms, going where the gigs took him. The Shadoworld always gave him the creeps. The realm existed on a plane between the Darkworld and the Afterworld. Its nebulous origins were said to have come about because of Fallen Angels. The Angels’ home was the Shadoworld, but they moved between the realms as befit the jobs they did, alleviating suffering and saving children who had died from an eternity in the Afterworld. Weylyn had never understood who, besides the Fallen Angels, lived in the Shadoworld, or why they would want to. The place always screamed “haunted” to him.

“Yeah, I’ve been there a couple of times,” Weylyn admitted, a little grudgingly. He wished Grant had chosen a bar in the Darkworld. He hated being at the mercy of a portal for travel. He preferred cars, motorcycles, and limos. Even cabs were better than a portal, although considering how most cabdrivers drove, not by much.

“Good! Then I’ll see you soon?”

Grant’s voice held a note of insistence that rang alarm bells in Weylyn’s head.

“Yeah, sure. Save me a stool, and don’t eat all the peanuts, would ya?” Weylyn joked, trying to act as natural as he could with every nerve ending screaming at him that something was very, very wrong.

“I won’t. Bye, Wey!”

Grant hung up, and Weylyn turned to Drake.

“I gotta go,” he said gruffly.

Drake brushed a lock of hair off Weylyn’s forehead and leaned in for a quick kiss that normally would have heated his blood. After the call from Grant, Drake’s sexiness couldn’t even rouse a lick of interest in Weylyn’s libido.

“I know. I heard,” Drake murmured. “What do you suppose is wrong?”

Slipping out of bed, Weylyn padded naked toward the bathroom. “No clue, but I sure as fuck do not like this.” He looked over his shoulder, his gaze catching Drake’s. “You’ll set me up with a portal?”

Drake nodded with a crooked smile. “Do you even have to ask? It will open a couple of blocks from the bar, just in case of trouble. When you’re ready to leave, it will appear in the same place and bring you right back to this room.”

“Cool.” Weylyn let out a heavy sigh. “If I need you…” He let his voice trail away, and he swallowed hard, unable to put into words the plethora of dire circumstances that flitted through his ever-imaginative brain.

“You know how to get me there in a matter of moments.” Drake smiled at him in a way that Weylyn knew should have been reassuring. Unfortunately, the darkness that had settled on him just before his phone rang sucked away any attempt he made at thinking everything would be okay. All of the signs pointed to the opposite.