Open mouth, insert foot firmly inside of it…

In conjunction with the release of the Dreams & Desires Vol. 2 anthology (available February 1st!!), I’m sponsoring an online Bachelor Auction, where I’m auctioning off a virtual date with five uber hot cover models.

All proceeds from the auction will go directly to benefit victims of domestic violence, so please help support an amazing cause while winning yourself a handsome hunk!

The prize:
Each bachelor has put together a prize pack of personalized items to send to the winner, plus, if you win the auction, you will be invited to an exclusive online Valentine’s chat party, February 16th (Sat) at 1pm PST/3pm EST, where your bachelor will accompany you as your virtual date!

Here’s how the bidding works:
1. go to my website www.gemmahalliday.com and pick out the perfect bachelor for you
2. send an email to gemmahalliday@gmail.com with the word “Bachelor Auction Bid” in the subject line
2. In the body of the email tell me a) which bachelor you’re bidding on and b) how much your bid is
3. check back here to make sure you haven’t been outbid!

Bidding will run from Jan.15th – Jan.31st
Happy bidding and good luck!!

Now, considering it would be bad form to bid on my own auction, I’m still getting my dates the hard way. This week I met a new guy. Didn’t know much about him beforehand, but his pictures looked decent, he could string a few sentences together in a pleasing way, and he had a house on the beach. (Always a plus!) So, Beach Bum asked me out for coffee on Wednesday at this little place around the corner from my house. Perfect. Wednesday arrives, I do the hair and make-up thing and arrive at the coffee place a few minutes early. Always prepared, I pull out the Nora Roberts book I’m currently making my way through and settle in to read a few pages while I wait. Points for him that he didn’t leave me waiting long. He shows up, he’s actually better looking than his photos (that never happens!), sits down and apologizes for being late. More points. Wow, his score is rising rapidly. Then he takes a look at he book I’m reading and asks how it is. I respond with, “Good plot, but it’s a little slow going for me.”

He smirks.

Beach Bum: “Aren’t all those kind of books sort of like that?”

Me: “Those kind of books?”

Beach Bum (still smirking): “Yeah. She writes those really…” (scrunching his nose up like he’s smelled bad cheese) “… girly books, right?”

Me (trying to maintain a poker face): “ Those girly books?”

Beach Bum (thinking he’s so clever, smirking taking over entire face): "You know, those trashy romance kind.”

(Did you hear that? It was his stock plummeting lower than the recent Dow Jones.)

Me: “You know, before you go any further, you should probably know that I’m a romance writer. I write those kind of books for a living.”

Beach Bum laughs. Then sees my deadpan face.

Beach Bum: “Wait, you’re serious?”

Me: “Like a heat attack.”

Beach Bum goes red, smirk vanishes as he attempts to pull his size twelve boot out of his mouth.

Beach Bum: “Oh. Well, uh, that’s cool. That’s... wow, you write books. That’s great. That’s…” (picking up the Nora Roberts, examining it closely now) “…wow. That’s amazing, you’re an actual author. I’d love to read one.”

My turn to smirk.

Me (extracting Nora from his hands): “I don’t think so. You’re way too…” (I scrunch my nose like I’ve smelled his gym socks) “…guy for my books.”

Score one for the Girly Girls.

~Gemma "Trigger Happy" Halliday