Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 9

I'm sick...and not of body...

I did another pass over the ending chapters of BA-3 and made it even more kinky than before. Got some voyeurism mixed into the double rape and vampire feedings...

Excuse me, Blood Angel feedings. I had also thought of adding a final chapter, but really like how this one ends, and so it stays.

I know it's nowhere near as monstrous as some of the other dark erotica I've read. Compared to a few writers I follow, I'm still pretty vanilla. Even with the extra horror I've added to the men's deaths. Too damn much empathy.

So now it's up to 15,600 words, and I've worked in a young man named Willem who will become a duòlos for Léonidès' pack, their familiar who can do the day work. Their current one is being raised to vampire level to be Gregory's partner.

Over the weekend I'll do another pass, then go through with Microsoft's Editor to proof it before adjusting it into proper format. At the moment, I'm using Courier 12 point font, double spaced. I'll shift it to Times New Roman, single space with links to each chapter. Then go through it, again. I've got 10 days, overall, which should be enough time.

I cleared my head by watching The Thin Man (1934) with William Powell and Myrna Loy and had fun with it. It's a Dashiell Hammett mystery, though not on the level of The Maltese Falcon. I think I'll now do After the Thin Man (1936). There were 6 total films in the series, and they're pleasant and funny.

Rewrite #1 done...

Blood Angel 3 is coming together. Lots of small changes and more than a couple of cut-and-paste bits, but it's smoother and more obvious in its meaning.

I've added about a thousand words. And I clarified the whole Oiym council coming to see Franz was the idea of Nethys, the de facto leader, so it's now at well over 14,700 total. I think I'll do another 3 passes on it before hitting it hard for typos and proofing.

It looks like the Houston job is back on. After a lot of back and forth between various people here, Houston and in London, it was decided I'd go down on the 8th and come back on the 12th in time to get cleaned up and ready to hit Newport.

It's all so crazy. The money will come in handy. I have insurance for car and apartment coming due at the beginning of October and planning for a trip to Taos for a family deal at Christmas. Which is going to cost a lot more than I expected, so every bit helps.

Doesn't help my book sales are way down. Not sure why except I'm doing a shit job of pushing them. I have someone handling publicity but not sure how to expand on that, and everyone who contacts me about selling more copies of my books wants more money. I ain't got it to spare.

I'm halfway thinking of lowering the BA series to $0.99 for each ebook, but they're worth double that. Others are selling books of similar length at $4.99 so it's something I'm not doing right. I just wish I could figure out what the trick to sales is.

Whiplash...

Aaaaannnnd, the job in Houston's been postponed to November. Fortunately, I'd bought a refundable ticket so got that back, and canceled the car and hotel without issue. I learned a long time ago to never get anything travel-related that is non-refundable. It costs more, sure, but in the long run it saves your ass in so many ways.

So I will be focusing on getting BA-3 out by Labor Day. I'd hole up in my bed all day, tomorrow, to work on it but I'm meeting people for lunch so have to make myself presentable. And deal with an issue at the pharmacy I use. I tried to get through on the phone but it's one of those times when you get put on hold and then find out there are three calls ahead of you. Easier to deal with in person.

I'll need milk and some other things, anyway, tomorrow.

I'm starting to wonder if Léonidès being so moral and caring works for a vampire story. Not that I can change him, much, at this point. But I could bring out more coldness and cruelty. Emphasize the terror he's wreaking on his choice of victim, even if they do deserve it. 

The two men he and Luahl rape and feed upon at the end of Revelations were part of a group who kidnapped and raped a young woman. Something that is always prevalent in war, even today. The stories about what Russian soldiers have done to women and children in Ukraine are enough to make you despise humanity.

I wonder if that's influencing me in ways I don't really know, yet? Writing Dirc and the Dyarvos Bones (and its precursor, Feeding the Beast) I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to making the guys Dirc and Irin hand over to the alien deserving of it. In many instances, they were innocents. 

But then again, in APoS everything stayed on the humanistic side. So maybe I'm just balancing that out with a touch of the monster in me. I will say it's become more obvious in the last few years...

Fortunately, what a monster requires to break free I'm not willing to do.

Potential delay of BA-3...

Looks like I may be going to Houston for a packing job, depending on the people accepting the costing. It's last minute so everything is more expensive--air fare, hotel, car...and it's leading up to the Labor Day weekend. I'll do what I can, but looks like I won't be able to get BA-Revelations up and ready to go till after I get back.

I am looking into what to do for the avatar. I'd like to keep the current look for this book, so I've asked the photographer if he has any more shots of the intense guy in this photo. I want a single shot, no one extra in it. If he doesn't, I have another manipulated photo I've licensed from him that I could use. It's just more different than I'd like.

So...to put it simply, I have a total of six sections of Blood Angel written in one stage or another.  BA-1 Léonidès and BA-2 The Prussian are available in ebook form. BA-3 Revelations, BA-4 Journey to Compromise, BA-5 War Feasts, and BA-6 New Orleans are in first draft form. BA-7 is still percolating, but it's set in modern times and I have ideas for it.

Once all of them are done, if I was to put them into a paperback format they'd be a good novel length. Not Stephen King length, but solid. Still...that's a ways off. I'll be doing good to get 3 and 4 out by the end of the year...maybe 5. Six is going to be an undertaking...

But I am enjoying it, again, no matter how much I gripe. I like writing gay erotic suspense and horror. Good-looking men in trouble...their virginity threatened and sometimes taken...when they have it.

I guess I've found my niche, and working outside of it isn't going to do me a damn bit of good.

On a side note...

I ran across this photograph and it gave me a serious case of the palpitations. Because he is gorgeous. Dark hair and eyes. Clean features. Cool expression that runs the balance between inviting and standoffish. He appeals to me in ways I cannot explain, because it's not just his beauty. It's the whole aura. I would need to know nothing about him to want to meet him.

But then...after a moment...I noticed little things that were off. His tie's knot is weird. And his belt buckle has no belt. And his ears are not evenly placed. All of which points to the image being AI generated. Maybe part of this new "AI Boyfriend" program going around.

To my shock, figuring that out actually hurt. I'd been so superficially drawn to him, getting to believe he's not a real person I could meet is so very disappointing.

It's funny...but I don't really get that way about men whose photos or films I like. I met David Schwimmer, who I had a crush on throughout Friends, and in person he was fine but I didn't get crazed. Same for Tim Curry and Michael York. Keanu Reeves I didn't really get to interact with, but he struck me the same in person as he had in Speed.

The only time I did get tongue-tied by an actor was when Sophia Loren came by Book Soup's Newsstand to collect Italian newspapers for her husband, Carlo Ponti. And it wasn't just me; the busy restaurant, next door, went dead quiet while she paid. But then...she was fucking gorgeous.

I've seen and met more than a few porn stars, in passing. One notorious one stood behind me in CalFed Bank in WeHo, waiting to deposit a huge number of bills. Apparently he'd danced in a club the night before and that was his tip money. In person, he just looked like your typical college jock, not really interesting...but in photos, totally different.

And when Matt Damon had come into Heritage Book Shop, back when he was with Wynona Ryder, he'd given off the same vibe. Lumpy and boring. But I loved him in the Bourne series.

This guy...if he was real and I ran into him, I'd turn into a teenage girl and make a fool of myself. Which I have done before...like with Clint Black, in Houston...Jesus, forty years ago.

I think I'm more hurt at thinking that could never possibly happen with the man in this image...

Zam-bam-wowie...

When a story decides to be told, it's getting told. Doesn't matter how dark or light it wants to be...and for me, this one got pretty rough. It ends with a double rape and murder by Léonidès and Luahl, but with two young men spared because Léon uses them to dig at Luahl. One is Willem, the other is Franz.

On top of that, when the story's done, it's done. And I do think BA-3 is done, at just under 14,000 words. Right now it's written through to the point where Léon has finalized control over Luahl, which is shocking since he's a member of the Oiym Council so supposedly impervious.

We'll see what happens when I return to do a rewrite after a few days. I'm at the point where I need a bit of space to lessen the connection I have to the story. See it with a clear eye.

BA-4 is already in first draft but it needs a solid rewrite to align it to changes I made in the old storyline. I'd been so sure Léonidès would have turned Franz and regretted it, I filled his journey to track down Gabrielle with references to that. Also, some of the names are wrong. But those are easy fixes.

I had an odd thought come up about The People v. Simon Halloran while fixing lunch. That's how these things happen. I'm focused on doing something manual and all of a sudden up pops a minor conversation with a character.

Simon is wondering how the story would work if, instead of him being a quiet gay man who's gone through life staying out of trouble, he's the opposite? A loud and out gay man who's worked in porn and written books like mine. Or done graphic novels like Etienne or Tom of Finland.

He does approach Paley, wanting to take him back to his hotel room and service him after sketching him, and it goes downhill from there. The fight would be over homophobia being so solid a part of the system of justice and an attempt to put a faggot in his place. I'm not sure about that, but it is something to consider.

Never say never...

One chapter left...

...For a solid first draft of Blood Angel-3. I'm leaning towards the subheading being Revelations, because Leòn finds out more about not only Franz but also about Luahl, one of the Oiym. It involves a young French peasant named Willem, whom Luahl plans to feed upon, but which Leòn messes up.

This image of a French peasant purports to be from 1870, yet I get the feeling it's really later...like 1900 at the earliest. Still, it shows how strong Willem must be in order to handle the work of his family's farm, and how he's dressed. And he is Luahl's preferred victim type.

The man does like to needle my guy and thinks he's found a way to really fuck him over...but it don't happen like that. Because Leòn don't take to being picked at.

Which led to something else happening in this part of the story that I was not expecting. Something I have never even thought of putting into a book. But Leòn does it without a thought...and I'm still processing it. Especially since it gives him a bit of control over Luahl.

The chapter that's left to finish is mainly wrapping up loose ends and setting the stage for Leòn to go looking for Gabrielle with his proposition. That part of the story is already in first draft form...as is its followup.

The part set in New Orleans after Katrina is in screenplay format and centers around Gabrielle, so I'm not sure how to work with that, yet. But I have time. The next two sections will need some reworking to fit in with the new direction of the story.

But first of all is getting Revelations in order to publish. As of now, I'm at over 13,000 words...and will probably add another 2000. That's an acceptable length for a novella. I may even take some of the beginning of BA-4 and add it to the end, because that one is on the massive side.

But no matter what, it looks like I may get this done by the end of the month.

Almost done with a first draft of BA-3

I can't believe it. I am closing in on a workable first draft of Blood Angel-Three. Right now it's sub-headed Franz Revealed, but that's kind of a wimpy title. And this book gets vicious. For me...

Here's the rest of the first chapter, paring up with what I posted on the 11th.

-------

Franz was perfect for me. His golden beauty was matched by my dark good-looks, and don’t be surprised I say that. I’m not allowed any lies or false modesty. It’s merely a statement of fact. And we carried the same Blood Angel lineage. Granted, that made him a distant cousin, but it was well out of the range one might consider to be incest. So when I’d sent the telegram, I’d had no doubt the council would agree. 

Now they were enroute to see for themselves...or explain themselves or something, and I had little time to make certain Franz was in top shape to face their questioning. 

Of course, that had already been underway. After I’d laid him in my bed, still unconscious, and before Gregory and I’d had our little sojourn in the pond, I’d asked Tellis to sew the wound in his shoulder closed. While he worked best in his garden and the fields, I had also seen him mend trousers and shirts with a needle and thread, to the point the repair could not be seen without looking for it. 

“My father was a tailor,” he’d said when I’d mentioned it, as he was repairing my cloak. That was back in the time of Francis the first, in France. Of course, we didn’t know at the time he would be the first; we only referred to him as The Father of Letters. 

“I would have followed,” Tellis continued, in our Norman tongue, “as was his command. He thought my love of the fields and grain silly for a gypsy to want. Contrary to our nature. So...” And he’d pulled the needle up in a dramatic gesture. 

“Why do you continue with it?” I’d asked, because I’d seen him wandering through meadows and fields on moonlit nights and even during storms, as if offering prayers. And he never fed there; only in the alleys of villages and towns. 

“This is my contribution to our pack, until we settle.” 

“You think we will? We’ve been more like your gypsy clans, the last few centuries.” 

He’d shrugged. And even after we'd established the chateau as our home and provided him with fields to tend, he’d continued to tailor our clothing.So I brought him to Franz’s room...

Well, my room. I had kept the furniture light, in it; just a four-poster bed with curtains, side tables for candles, chairs, and a desk. A wardrobe held my clothing, carpets from Persia were spread over my floor, and thick velvet draperies covered the windows.

The moment he saw Franz lying under my duvet, he gave me a look of pure shock.I quickly said, “He’s been unconscious so knows nothing of us. He is the owner of the horse you are tending. I want him to heal, as well.” 

He sighed and asked, “What do you want me to do?” 

“There is a wound in his shoulder that should be closed. It might be best to handle now. The less fuss, the better.” 

He looked hard at Franz and said in a voice so soft it almost could not be heard, “I sew clothing, not humans.” Then he cast me another look of uncertainty. “If you’re going to turn him, he will heal on his own...” 

“I don’t know that I will, yet. I need permission and have only just sent off the request. I don’t want his wound to have a chance to fester before I hear from the Oiym.” 

He eyed me, for a moment, then sat beside Franz and lifted the bandage away. “That’s a very neat hole...” He did the same for the gash to his head. “What is this red stain on him? It’s not blood.”

“Bromine.” 

He nodded. “Reyndahl told me of this.”His fingers trailed from the wound in Franz’s head down his face to stroke the artery in his neck, then he looked at me.“I remember the first time I touched you,” he said, softly. “It was an odd sensation, like I was holding someone with blood unbelievably rich and exquisite, far beyond those I’d fed upon, till then. And since. It even held a bit of haughtiness. You don’t forget the first time you touch a Blood Angel.” 

I just drew in a deep breath. “I would prefer silence on that matter.” 

He gave a slight nod of his head. “Will we be departing from you, now?” 

“No!” shot out of me so fast, I didn’t have time to even think of it. “You and all the others, you are so much more than merely my pack. You’re friends. Lovers. Family to me. Why would you think I’d toss that away?” 

“Considering how your sister treats her court...” 

I huffed. “She surrounds herself with idiots.” 

“Not all.” 

“Well...save one,” I said, grinning. 

“Who is another Blood Angel.” 

“You are surprisingly aware.” 

“We talk to each other, Léon. All of us. Even Gregory, who often says more without saying anything. When I woke, this evening, I found him sitting in the corridor, with Meron. The way they held each other...” 

“What’s going on, here? Are all of you lonely? In need of mates?” 

“Léon, I work with animals and plants. I’m easiest with them. That Doric and I have connected in a way that is more than sexual is a surprise, to me. It kept me from loneliness, and Doric, as well. But I sense it in Loronce, who wants Stephane to want him, and Stephane, who wants Reyndahl to love him, and Renydahl, who wants a female mate as well as a male and doesn’t know how to work it out.” 

“I think he wants an outlet for his sexual needs more than a relationship.” 

“Which he gets. He doesn’t kill all of his conquests. But then...men are more prone to evil than women, so their endings are easier to excuse.” He took another look at Franz’s wound and nodded. “I’ll get my thread and needle, soak them in that bromine, and close it as best I can. I doubt it will be much healed before you hear from the Oiym.” 

I’d only smiled at him then gone off to meet with Gregory.

Different directions again...

Well...in my world of creativity and exploration, I have found that Blood Angel-3...which was going to be a huge uproar where Léonidès accidentally turns Franz into a blood angel and it backfires, massively...isn't going that direction.

Oh, it was going to be so rough and raw and insanely erotic, and I had it all roughed out. But when I actually started writing it, the direction shifted to where the Oiym come and talk him out of his infatuation by showing Franz is a straight horn dog who got four girls pregnant before his father shipped him off to be a cuirassier with the Prussian military.

Problem is, the Oiym can't let the guy go back into the normal world; he knows about vampires, now. So Léon decides to track Gabrielle down and offer Franz to her in exchange for Dmitriy. 

After all, she likes boys and he likes girls, and she's been looking for a mate since Dmitriy revealed he was gay after she turned him. He and Léon already like each other, so he thinks she will be willing to release the guy to him. We'll have to see how that goes.

This slashes probably 4000 words out of the story...and transitions into Leon's hunt for Gabrielle much more smoothly. Right now I'm at just under 10,000 words and have one...maybe two more chapters to write.

I think it's going to include Léon getting the upper-hand on one of the Oiym who doesn't like him--Luahl, another gay BA. How I will do that, I don't know, yet...

But I got some ideas for the story to reject...

It's Tuesday???

Shit, half the day, today, I thought it was Wednesday. I finally noticed my phone was telling me it's Tuesday, and I was irritated. I had the idea I was finally to hump day...and I'm not. Which makes no sense because I don't work a schedule, like that.

I did more writing on BA-Franz...to the point where the Oiym have arrived to Leonides' chateau near Metz in France. So far it's just about 7000 words, but it's coming together. Putting it on a back burner for so long may have helped it settle in my mind.

Working on Blood Angel is helping me so much, right now. Aiming to finish the various parts then blend them into a single paperback book gives me purpose. I was having a hard time keeping any sense of that when working on PvSH. It was so chaotic, and it made me chaotic. But BA is mainline erotic horror and gives me a lifeline to my inner core.

I really feared I had lost that with PvSH. Self confidence damaged. Unable to focus. I've wondered so many times if I should get myself tested for ADHD. I have trouble paying attention, difficulty organizing tasks, very impulsive, and so damned forgetful. Can't blame it on age because I've been this was for decades. I often start projects then lose interest, and organization? Forget it. The only symptom of it I don't have is hyperactivity.

I'm meeting with my doctor in November. I may add that to my list of questions for him.