Anyplace Else

By Kim Fielding

Grant Beaudoin should be thrilled to escape Minneapolis at Christmastime and grateful to lounge on a Hawaiian beach. Instead he is mired in self-pity and drowning in too much tequila. His twin is marrying the perfect man, while Grant is stuck in middle management with no love life in sight. A walk into the rain forest leads to a meeting with a doomed man who has a story about a holiday that predates Christmas. Grant comes to realize that difficult endings can lead to new beginnings—and perhaps a brighter future.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
• Release date: Dec 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781635331653

Kim Fielding

Kim Fielding is pleased every time someone calls her eclectic. Her books span a variety of genres, but all include authentic voices and unconventional heroes. She’s a Rainbow Award and SARA Emma Merritt winner, a LAMBDA finalist, and a two-time Foreword INDIE finalist. She has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and currently lives in California, where she long ago ran out of bookshelf space. A university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full-time, she also dreams of having two daughters who occasionally get off their phones, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a cat who doesn’t wake her up at 4:00 a.m. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others. Blogs: kfieldingwrites.com and www.goodreads.com/author/show/4105707.Kim_Fielding/blog Facebook: www.facebook.com/KFieldingWrites Email: [e-mail] Twitter: @KFieldingWrites

Book preview

Anyplace Else

By Kim Fielding

Grant Beaudoin should be thrilled to escape Minneapolis at Christmastime and grateful to lounge on a Hawaiian beach. Instead he is mired in self-pity and drowning in too much tequila. His twin is marrying the perfect man, while Grant is stuck in middle management with no love life in sight. A walk into the rain forest leads to a meeting with a doomed man who has a story about a holiday that predates Christmas. Grant comes to realize that difficult endings can lead to new beginnings—and perhaps a brighter future.

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By Kim Fielding

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GRANT BEAUDOIN leaned back in the lounge chair, watched the blue-green waves dance, felt the floral-scented breeze skim playfully over his bare torso and legs, and wished he were anyplace else. He mustered a weak smile when the cute waiter strolled over.

Another margarita, sir?

That would make three today. No, four. And it was barely midafternoon. I probably shouldn’t, Grant admitted.

The waiter tucked his bamboo tray under one arm. Tell you what. I got something special I’m gonna have Kane mix up for you. I guarantee it’ll make you feel happier.

I should feel happy already. It’s December and I’m sitting on a tropical beach getting a mild sunburn instead of freezing my ass off in Minneapolis.

Sometimes it takes more than good weather and pretty scenery to lighten the heart. How about that drink?

Grant shrugged, thinking it also took more than booze plus guava and pineapple juice—or whatever the overpriced special drink included—to lighten a heart. Sure. Why not? He’d leave the waiter a good tip for his efforts to cheer him. Of course, he’d have tipped well anyway because the kid was adorable and attentive and because, back in college, Grant had waited tables to pay the rent. No matter how gorgeous the setting, it was hard work.

The waiter grinned before heading back to the bar. He navigated the beach well, although Grant wondered if he got tired of the sand. It was the sugary-fine kind that worked its way into pockets and under clothing. It was probably going to give Grant a rash in the most unfortunate places. Stupid sand, he grumbled. Stupid beach. Stupid Hawaii.

Maybe he should have joined the rest of the wedding party in their drive across the island to Volcanoes National Park. The excursion had been organized by Grant’s brother’s fiancé, Filip, who also had the idea to get married in Hawaii at Christmastime, who arranged plane tickets and hotel rooms for family and close friends, who was so amazing and perfect and wonderful that Grant would have collapsed long ago from fatal jealousy were it not for the fact that Filip and Ulysses were so perfect together. People used to have a hard time telling Grant and Ulysses apart—they were identical twins—but lately that problem had disappeared because Uly was the one always beaming blissfully. Grant mostly scowled.

Here you go, sir. The waiter set a tall, narrow glass on the metal table beside Grant. The straw matched the chartreuse liquid, and a plastic sword speared pieces

Reviews for Anyplace Else

[schatzi_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It seems that the reviews for this story are pretty mixed, and I can understand that. However, in the end, I did enjoy this story - I wouldn't say that I loved it, but I liked it.Grant is spending the holidays in Hawaii, but he's not thrilled about it. His twin brother, Ulysses, is getting married to a great guy (Filip, who also happens to be - or at least says he's- a Croatian witch), and Grant can only think about how unhappy he is. He doesn't have a boyfriend, he hates his job, and he can't even remember when he felt passion for anything. Given an odd drink served by a waiter, Grant finds himself wandering in the rain forest by himself and coming across a peculiar man named Perun (aka Predimir), who isn't exactly a man. At least not anymore.Once I saw that Kim Fielding had written this story, I expected something good, and I got it.What worked for me:-I love that this isn't set within the Judeo-Christian framework (said as a Jew, though an atheist one), which seems to dominate December, at least in the "western" world. There are so many other traditions that view the solstice and/or winter months as magical, mythical, and/or spiritual! So I was thrilled to see a story that was "different." And I mean, let's be honest, that is what Kim Fielding does best, and that's why she's one of my go-to m/m authors.-Mythology and gods and magic, oh my! This ties into the first point in this section, but I just love it. Some of my favorite m/m authors (Kim Fielding, Ariel Tachna, Kelley York [although she writes f/f too]) just go so freaking far out of the box and I love it. -I like how Grant's interaction with Predimir made him take a hard look at his life. Grant knew that he was unhappy with where he was currently, but he hadn't done anything to take a step past that. He was content to be unhappy with his life, mostly, until he met Predimir. The whole "I quit my job" thing was a bit of a "whoa wait what" moment, but this is a short story, so I could mostly forgive that. What didn't work for me:-Grant and Predimir totally had instalove going on in this story. After the brief meeting in Hawaii, Grant apparently couldn't get him out of his mind. When he does find him, Grant pledges his eternal devotion - it even says so in the story - to Predimir, even though the two of them barely know one another. They've had minimal interaction at this point. I know that instalove is a trope prominent in short stories for expediency's sake, but I just wish they'd skipped the whole "love" part and Grant had just said that he wanted to hang around with Predimir. But I guess that wouldn't have worked, since I think the stories are supposed to be HEA or at least HFN in this anthology. But I just think it would have worked better with this story, maybe with a brief epilogue set many years in the future showing they were still together and now in love or something. Hell, I don't know.This book isn't heavy on the romance, which some might find disappointing. I am totally okay with it though, and I enjoyed that there was a story in the collection that was so different. Magic? Myth? Hallucination? Fantasy? I don't even know what to call this story or what, exactly, really "happened" in it and what didn't, and that alone makes it great in my eyes. I debated between 3 and 4 stars, and I ended up going with 4 because this story had me riveted to the end.

[serenayates · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Talk about “Bah, Humbug” – Grant has that down to an art form. He is in Hawaii, with nothing to do but attend his twin brother’s wedding and enjoy himself, and he manages to produce such a cloud of misery around himself, that I was beginning to scowl just reading about his mood. Sheesh! I wasn’t sure anything would enable him to have a happy ending.

But then, based on the recommendation of a very cute cocktail waiter, Grant wanders off into the rain forest adjacent to the resort and has an encounter that changes his life. The man he meets makes all sorts of claims and one is more outrageous than the next. At first Grant is incredulous, then a little scared, but when he has had some time to consider what he has learned, his perspective changes. So does his understanding and that is when he begins to see himself and his life in a different light.

If you like mysterious stories, if you want to find out more about what happens when a modern-day man meets an ancient legend, and if you’re looking for a read that provides great perspective life and what makes it worth living, then you will probably like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

[Lisa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I normally really enjoy her books. Maybe this was just too short. wish I had not wasted a monthly read for it.