Guest Blog: Coming Home by Kay Fraser

UFI welcomes Kay Fraser Author of Coming Home. Thanks for Joining us!!

I guess I should start this post off with a disclaimer. I'm definitely not a blogger. I enjoy writing immensely, but I could never really write about myself or my life. Stranger still, I'm a huge techie (I am, by trade and training, an applications developer), and yet, I know nothing about the blogging tools (or shall I say, CMS tools?) out there. What a silly contradiction I am. That being said, when asked to post something as part of this whirlwind blog tour, it would be sufficed to say that I was a bit at a loss. One of the prompts I received was to list what one would find in my 'library', and after a moment of thinking, decided that that was as good a place to start as any.

My 'library' is a wonderful little reflection of me. It's eclectic, and documents the phases of my life. They show fickle changes in taste and mood, I would say. I can see when the collection first started, about two decades ago. Like many writers, I'm a huge bibliophile. At that time, I was big into history. I dove head first into buying books from authors like Sharon Kay Penman, Mary Stewart, and Antonia Fraser. From there, I ventured into historical non-fiction, wanting the learn more about the actual events that inspired all the books I'd been reading. Thinking back, I spent a fortune back then (especially on a non-existent student's salary) buying those nicely bound volumes about the Crusades and the Black Death and such. These were pretty, heavy, hardcover books that took up a lot of space, and at the time, I absolutely loved them. It wasn't until later that I realized what a pain in the ass they were to move when I changed houses.

My historical phase never really died out, I don't think, but it eventually took a backseat to other genres. Of course, I always went back to it, but I did venture quite a bit into romance (although I don't own too many myself since I'm more inclined to borrow them from the library), science fiction/fantasy (from authors such as Brandon Sanderson, Lynn Flewelling, and Terry Goodkind ... (and yes, I can see your eyes rolling on that last one), supernatural/urban fantasy (i.e. Kelley Armstrong), and even non-fiction (i.e. Malcolm Gladwell).

As you can see, my 'library' is all over the board, so when someone asks me what's my favourite, I can't say exactly. I love all the books I buy (which now cover well over two walls of bookshelves), and I would say that all of them shaped my tastes and developed me, all in their own way, as a writer.

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Author Bio: Not knowing what she wanted to be when she grew up, Kay Fraser graduated from university with an eclectic selection of bachelor’s degrees (Biology, Education, and Computing Science). When she isn’t busy working full-time as a systems analyst in the corporate sector, she can be found: pretending to be an amateur foodie by trying new restaurants, appeasing her competitive nature by competing in marathons and triathlons, managing her aggression issues by training for her third degree black belt in taekwondo, and of course, indulging her soft ooey-gooey center by writing stories with a healthy dose of romance. She currently has two M/M romantic short stories (A Fairy’s Tale, and The Other Side of Midnight) published under the pseudonym G.O. Noce.

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Coming Home
Breathless Press

Christopher Whyte never aspired to hold a respected position in the Langholm household. After all, during his youth, he had once been caught trying to pickpocket the former earl of Langholm. Yet somehow, through the magnanimous nature of the family and some unexpected circumstances, he has become valet to the new earl. However, with the new earl's arrival come the bittersweet memories and unwanted emotions that Kit had thought buried long ago. Then, an unexpected offer gives Kit a new perspective on his situation, and he must make a choice: a life of security and stability away from his new master, or one of unrequited love with him? 

Alexander Harrington, the new earl of Langholm, knows he shouldn't have come back. After having fought in the Crimean War, the man he had once been no longer existed. As the Christmas season nears, he is only further reminded of how far removed he is from the idealistic youth he once was and how foreign his home now feels. But it is his new valet, a man he vaguely remembers from childhood, begins to rouse something within him—something sweetly tempting, yet undeniably forbidden. And when the reality of losing Kit becomes all too real, he is forced to confront and beat his past demons. Can a Christmas miracle restore his long lost faith before Kit is lost to him for all time?