Weekend With D.H. Starr and Ally Blue

This past weekend I had the distinct priviledge of hanging out with D.H. Starr and Ally Blue in Asheville, N.C. We wined, dined, relaxed at a spa, enjoyed incredible sweets and coffee at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and talked a lot of shop.

Ally and I arrived a few hours before Doug, had dinner, and went to a wine shop to stock up for the weekend. Back at the hotel, we discovered neither of us had brought a corkscrew, so we wound up with a cheap plastic one from the front desk. Then... well... Ally and I did our darnedest, but couldn't get the cork to budge.

Authors are nothing if not creative, and I remembered having seen a gym on our floor. I figured, if we needed someone strong, we'd find them there. So away Ally and I went, traipsing down to the gym and nearly scaring a poor young man out of his wits when he turned around to find two grinning women holding a bottle of wine. It made us both feel better than he had some difficulty removing the cork, too. But... we got our wine! And we also recorded our first "dirty slip of the tongue" for the weekend. The first of many. Ally, Doug, and I decided that we all had to work that line into our current WIPs. The line? "Would you uncork my bottle?" The line must be full of innuendo, and fluttering lashes are a plus. Hee. Can you imagine Lucky from Diversion using that line on Bo? Of course, Lucky would be more like, "Shut up and uncork my fucking bottle already!"

Several more noteable lines followed. Remember, all these were said in perfect innocence:

"Your little thing doesn't squirt very well" (room deodorizer)

"And it shoots up in there?" (no idea)

"I like it to be done fast" and "They make 'em loose here" I will tell you that the second quote is in regard to scrambled eggs.

"This is too hard" (butter) and "I like a dollop of butter in every single crevice" (waffles)

"Were they originally detachable?" (I forgot the context)

"Yeah, that's what I was looking at too!"

"I can't be over him because I was never under him."

"Everything gets harder" (getting older)

"I don't have the patience to not use my teeth" (opening pill packets)

"Y'all don't mind if I take off my pants, do you?" (taking off pants)

"I don't know what I did that got me up there."

"Ok, I've got. It's in."

"It just comes out all over the place!"

"Did you put it in?"

"Was he as good as last time?" (massage therapist) 

"That one protrudes more" (wine cork)

"The expensive ones are bigger" (wine cork)

"We're not giving nothing away for free!" (on leaving things behind in the hotel room.)

"The guy who does me in New York" (referring to massage therapist)

"I don't like huge stacks of meat" (Carnegie Deli sandwiches)

 "It got stuck and I broke it" (a piece of chewing gum stuck in the pack)

My goal is to write a PWP, incorporating all those sayings from this weekend. Wish me luck!

We had an incredible time, and decided to make our Martin Luther King, Jr. weekends an annual event. 

Here's a link to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, where they make their own chocolate. I had a mint brownie, and molasses ice cream. Yummy! If you're even in Asheville, I highly recommend stopping by. 

Next up, Shoji Spa! Ahhh... what a way to relax! One hour in a hot tub, and a fifty minute massage!

Thank you, Doug and Ally, for an awesome weekend. My muse has now returned and I'm ready to work on Corruption, the sequel to Diversion and Collusion. 

While I was there I got sneak peeks at Doug and Ally's upcoming releases. Watch closely, readers, you're in for a real treat! I hope to post more about their novels a bit closer to release day. 

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