SLEEP

Right now, I'm sitting on my couch. I've just finished Game of Thrones. And I'm sleepy. Not due to GoT, just because it's 9:30 at night, I've been up since early this morning, and as usual I didn't sleep well last night. You'd think I'd go to bed, right? Wrong.

For whatever reason, I fight sleep.









2:30 a.m. is my normal bed time. And by that I mean the time my body refuses to stay awake any longer and I pass out. I don't know why I do this to myself. It certainly isn't healthy. I'm no doctor, but I suspect my lack of sleep (I average five hours or less a night) are factors of my weight gain and sluggishness throughout the day. The sleep I do get isn't fulfilling due to my knee, both pre and especially post surgery. I wake several times throughout the night in order to rearrange my leg into a more comfortable position. So what do you think is the first thing that pops into my head every morning? If you guessed, "Man I can't wait to go back to bed." You guessed right.

 And yet, the next night comes and the cycle continues. I don't go to bed. I stay up doing ... hell I don't know. I know I spend a lot of time on the internet, some of it researching for writing stuff, some of it not. But other than that I have no clue what I do every night. My dogs are smarter than me. They settle down and go to sleep while I stay awake.






Speaking of writing, my lack of sleep is affecting it as well. I can't concentrate very well, so I'm not having much luck getting words down. That sucks a giant bag of ... lemons.

Why do we do this to ourselves? I say "we" because I know I'm not the only one who does this. *waves Hi at other sleep fighters* Why avoid going to sleep when we know if we get that eight hours (or however much your body requires to be healthy) we'll wake up refreshed, clear headed, and with energy to carry out our day? I don't have the answer to that for you. For me, I think it's being irresponsible. A few minutes ago, I was thinking fondly of the days when my Tom was here. On workday nights we were in bed and asleep no later than 10:30. Neither of us had any trouble getting up in the morning and I know I certainly didn't move around in the zombie like state I do these days.

I'd like to get back to being responsible and going to bed at a smart time. So I'm challenging myself. This week, my goal is to have electronics and lights off by 11:30 every night. I'm interested to see if by the end of the week, I have more energy than I do most days. I think I will. If you're a sleep fighter, I invite you to join me! Let's get some of that restorative slumber, together. Except not really together, you'll be in your bed and I'll be in mine.

So grab your woobie, your pillow and your special blankie and join my pup Chunky for a nice, eight hour nap.

Good night!

Christa

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH CHRISTA?

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Or Ambrollins, as we wrestling shippers like to call them.

Are you curious as to what I've been working on lately? Well let me share with you! As mentioned, I'm working on a starting a series. It will be set in the world of professional wrestling, which is why I've been posting my Hot Wrestlers of the Week. I figured a little bit of eye candy along with some bits of wrestling knowledge will help readers get into the series. And as I've mentioned before, wrestling is so deliciously homoerotic, how could I not write about it?


As this is my first attempt at outlining an entire series, I knew I'd need to go about it very carefully. I created a series bible to keep track of all the story outlines and characters.

I'd hate to give a guy brown eyes in book 1 and then compare his eyes to a summer's sky in book 4.


But speaking of my characters, I've got a great cast of people. They're different ethnicities and have varied backgrounds. That's the type of crew I like to read and write about. And yes, in the crew I have men and women, gay and straight. However, after asking for advice in the always fabulous M/M Book Rec group, I decided to keep the gay stories separate from the hetero. Not because of any negative reasons. Simply to make it easier for consumers to know what they're are buying. So the part of the series that I am working on now is gay romance. I even have a series name! My lovely bestie Amanda came up with Champions of Desire. I love it! All of the stories in Champions of Desire will be interconnected, but you will be able to read them as stand alones. And as for the as yet unnamed m/f books, you will not need to read them in order to follow along with what's happening on the m/m side. They will be completely separate, so no one on either side will feel as though they are missing out. I think this is
the best plan.



Anyhoo, I'm working on the first book now. It's tough because I've got guys from other books clamoring in my head for my attention. Especially the guys from books 3 and 4. Pipe down boys! I can only write one book at a time. In book 1 you'll meet Chance aka The Chancellor and Devin. Chance is a vet with Frontier Professional Wrestling. He's smart, doesn't take any shit, and is very much in the closet. Devin is a young signee with FPW. He's got a slight case of hero worship for The Chancellor. And he wouldn't mind doing a little private mat wrestling with Chance, if you know what I mean. *insert douchey wink*

Chance aka The Chancellor

Devin

So when will you get to meet these yummy fellas? I'm shooting for the end of June / early July. You'll keep your fingers crossed for me that I stay on track, right? Thank you kindly. Alright I must go. I left Devin walking around their hotel room in tiny little shorts, tempting the hell out of Chance. Better get back to them, I don't want Devin's legs to get cold. 

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Christa

I love my book baby.

HOT WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Neville

This week's Hot Wrestler of the Week is a newbie. Well, he's not actually new to wrestling, but he is new to the main roster for WWE. He debuted two weeks ago as Neville. I'm not sure why they dropped his first name, I prefer Adrian Neville for sure. But he's got gorgeous new gear, a super cool entrance and his in-ring work is as stellar as ever. Plus, he has muscles in places I didn't know the body could have muscles. Ladies and gents, I give you the tiny but mighty, Neville.

STATS

From: Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Age: 28
Promotion: WWE
Height: 5'10
Weight: 194

Neville is just starting out on a new phase in his career. He wrestled for years in Europe, the American indies and Japan. In 2012 he was signed to work in NXT, the training ground for the WWE. But now he's been called up to the most visible wrestling show in the world, WWE Monday Night RAW. I wasn't there for his first match, but I was very excited to be in the crowd for his second match against the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins. I definitely marked out when his music hit. Here's the two shitty pictures I took!

Why was I so excited to see Neville? Well, he's one of those wrestlers that is a real crowd pleaser. His tagline is The Man That Gravity Forgot and he seriously deserves it. His arsenal includes all sorts of death defying moves that he makes look easy.

I'm somewhere in the crowd watching this!

The height this man gets on his high flying moves is insane. I don't think he ever did gymnastics. Which means he self-trained himself to flip and tumble through the air like a freaking acrobat. Amazing. Also, check out those back and thigh muscles!

 But it's not just his high flying moves that make him stand out. He's also freakishly strong. A few weeks ago he dead lifted 266 pound NXT champ, Kevin Owens, into a German suplex. Jeepers! My eyes could barely believe what they were seeing when they saw it. But of course, there's a gif to prove it happened.

 I'm sure that big things will happen for Neville now that he's on the big stage. After all, he was the NXT Champion. He defended the title in some great matches before eventually losing to a guy I think might be getting a turn on the HWOTW rotation soon. But I'm okay with him losing that title, because it means he got to move up to the main roster.

 

And with him on the main roster, more people will get to see his wonderful talent, which includes one of the most bad ass finishers I've ever seen, The Red Arrow.

Did you miss it? Here it is again. 

So yeah, I'm pretty pumped for Neville. But high flying moves and freakish strength aside, there's another reason why I think he's wonderful. As talented as he is and with that amazing body, he still has moments of self doubt. Back when he was wrestling as Pac, he did an interview on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling Podcast. He spoke of being insecure with his looks and nervous about his performance and how he will be received by his peers and fans.

This man who to me looks like a freaking super hero, worried about being rejected and felt like he shouldn't try to reach for the top. It's crazy right? His incredibly endearing confession spoke to that part of me that is insecure about my writing and downplays the love the readers have for it. Seeing him achieve success after success has helped inspire me to stop being so freaking hesitant and just go for it. You should give the interview a listen, if only to hear his lovely accent. 

But I know, you're a busy person and podcasts are long. So instead, check out a few more pics of Neville, along with a video of him doing his thing. Enjoy!

This man has muscles under his armpits! I didn't even know that was a thing.

He's very flexible. He must do yoga.

I love to see a guy doing push ups with such perfect form.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Christa

With the exception of the two shitty ones, none of the pics, gifs, and video are my own. All were found on the interwebz and used to showcase The Man That Gravity Forgot, Neville. Also, to hear the part I referenced on The Art of Wrestling, skip to about the 52 minute mark.