Edward Hoornaert's Blog, page 6
February 16, 2021
No Scars on the Outside #mfrwhooks
We’re continuing today with another snippet from Ed’s next book (available now for presale!), The Seven-Foot Cupid.
Both Ember and Tyler are Encroachment Officers, or encros, though for different settlements on this colony world. Encros are the tough people who handle the tough jobs like exploring, dealing with wild animals, and blazing trails through the wilderness.
Here Ember tells him about the accident that has made her self-conscious about her face.
Tyler took a deep breath and let it out slowly. On a fresh planet that was still being explored, everyone knew someone who’d been hurt or killed in an accident. Most people in the Encroachment Service had suffered personally. That made each accident no less tragic or hard to recover from, though.
“Yet you’re back on the job.”
“Yes,” she said simply.
That one word, spoken as though discussing the weather rather than heroism, humbled him.
Some of life’s moments were special. They stayed sharp in the memory, like the smell of fear following the sudden silence of a flitter’s lift rotor, or the feel of the crippled flitter tossing you around as though trying to turn your innards into a milkshake. Those moments struck a chord in your heart and made you want to reach out to someone whose suffering was similar so you could learn how in all the black holy hells they were handling life better than you.
“The most amazing thing is that you’re able to talk about it,” he said. “What’s your secret?”
Her response was as simple as her Yes. She shrugged.
Yet she’d told a stranger about her fall. Was it easier to talk to a stranger?
Something told him she was the one he could open up to. He moved to the middle of the bench. When she didn’t retreat, he lifted his hand toward her face but didn’t touch. Instead, he hovered, giving her time to object or draw back.
She didn’t.
He cupped her cheek, so smooth and feminine, and moved slowly to her nose. “No scars.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. Their eyes met. Maintained contact. “On the outside, no.”
Be sure to visit the hooks by other fine writers in the Book Hooks blog hop.
Book One in the Passion Island Trilogy
Ember Dayle prides herself on handling anything her newly colonized planet can throw at her. After an injury, she’s determined to prove herself again. She gets her chance when ordered to explore a mysterious cave on a wilderness mountain. Until that’s done, the last thing she needs is the distraction of a man.
Tyler, an explorer from her town’s fierce rival, is sent to explore the same cave. Like Ember, he’s been in an accident . . . but he was the only survivor. When he meets her, he’s drawn not only to her beauty and toughness, but by her ability to deal openly with her accident.
Booker is a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret group that hopes to make the colonists stronger, healthier, and smarter by matching people with compatible genes. His first assignment — Ember and Tyler. His strategy — lock them in an abandoned cabin together.
He doesn’t realize he’s locked them in with the fiercest, most intelligent native beast ever discovered. Can love help them survive?
February 13, 2021
The most romantic music ever written?
It’s Valentine’s Day, so here’s my vote for the most romantic music ever written. Share it with your special person, and enjoy.
Effing Feline wishes you happy V-day #wewriwa
I, Effing Feline, wish you a blah blah happy Valentine’s Day. May you find your blah, blah, blah, if you haven’t already blahed him. (In case my attitude isn’t clear, here’s what we cats think is the only thing this holiday is good for:
That’s right — catnapping!
Pandora Dayle is the acting director of Quak, a veterinary-slash-research facility on a new colony planet. There are lots of beasties learn about. In last week’s snippet, you met Harry the gator.
With one patient taken care of, she put away the syringe and grabbed a couple of huge pills from a medicine bottle. Then she tiptoed into the quarantine’s back room.
She’d yet to discover anything that would soothe the mobeave’s temper. She’d never dared enter its cage, because with its fierce claws and teeth, a wrong move could be serious. Even fatal. No other creature yet discovered on Addoray was as dangerously armed.
“Hi, Moby. Ready for your medicine?”
The five-foot long, vaguely beaver-like beast didn’t respond. That wasn’t unusual, but it was unusual that the quadruped’s hind legs rested on the pool’s bank while its head was completely submerged.
“Washing your face, are you? Good for you. A handsome guy—or girl, sorry—with infected cuts can’t keep yourself too clean.”
She donned work gloves and grabbed a couple finger fish from the wall fridge. After stuffing a pill down each of the fish’s mouths, she tossed them through the slit at the top of the transparent cage. The mobeave was constantly hungry.
Effing Feline here again. Ordinarily, I’d show you the blurb for Pandora Uncaged, book 2 in the Passion Island trilogy. Not today. Instead, here’s the brand new cover for book 1, The Seven-Foot Cupid, which will be released March 8. (Sorry for all the delays with this release. Sigh.)
Ember Dayle prides herself on handling anything her newly colonized planet can throw at her. After an injury, she’s determined to prove herself again. She gets her chance when ordered to explore a mysterious cave on a wilderness mountain. Until that’s done, the last thing she needs is the distraction of a man.
Tyler, an explorer from her town’s fierce rival, is sent to explore the same cave. Like Ember, he’s been in an accident . . . but he was the only survivor. When he meets Ember, he’s drawn not only to her beauty and toughness, but by her ability to deal openly with her accident.
Booker is a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret group hoping to make the colonists healthier and smarter by helping people with strong genes fall in love. His first assignment: Ember and Tyler. His strategy: lock them in an abandoned cabin together. With nothing else to pass the time, maybe they’ll find love.
He doesn’t realize he’s locked them in with the fiercest, most intelligent native beast ever discovered. Can love help them survive?
February 9, 2021
Fractures #mfrwhooks
Today we have not one but two hooks for you:
A cover reveal, as designed by the talented Danielle Fine (who also edited the book):A short snippet.
Both Ember and Tyler are Encroachment Officers, or encros, though for different settlements on this colony world. Encros are the tough people who handle the tough jobs like exploring, dealing with wild animals, and blazing trails through the wilderness.
Here Ember tells him about the accident that has made her self-conscious about her face.
“It was just a silly training assignment,” Ember said. “Not even anything important. My vest malfunctioned. I landed on my face.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes, ouch. Did you know there are fourteen bones in the human face? I broke twelve of them. I cracked my skull, too. Five surgeries later, this is how I look.”
He grimaced. After a moment, he said, “I came out of my latest accident with just a broken arm and three cracked ribs. You’re eight broken bones ahead of me.”
Beyond that single ouch, he offered no sympathy. He wouldn’t have wanted anything beyond a simple acknowledgment of pain, and he suspected she wouldn’t, either. Westerlin encros were tough and he imagined Eastie encros were, too. Injuries were part of the job. An encro had to heal fast and come back for more. “Sometime we’ll have to compare fractures.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. He hoped she wasn’t reliving her horror.
His thoughts were the opposite of horror. He was imagining feathering his fingers over all the places she’d broken a bone.
“I think I’d like that,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve been able to talk about my accident as though they’re a normal part of life.”
Be sure to visit the hooks by other fine writers in the Book Hooks blog hop.
Book One in the Passion Island Trilogy
Ember Dayle prides herself on handling anything her newly colonized planet can throw at her. After an injury, she’s determined to prove herself again. She gets her chance when ordered to explore a mysterious cave on a wilderness mountain. Until that’s done, the last thing she needs is the distraction of a man.
Tyler, an explorer from her town’s fierce rival, is sent to explore the same cave. Like Ember, he’s been in an accident . . . but he was the only survivor. When he meets her, he’s drawn not only to her beauty and toughness, but by her ability to deal openly with her accident.
Booker is a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret group that hopes to make the colonists stronger, healthier, and smarter by matching people with compatible genes. His first assignment — Ember and Tyler. His strategy — lock them in an abandoned cabin together.
He doesn’t realize he’s locked them in with the fiercest, most intelligent native beast ever discovered. Can love help them survive?
February 6, 2021
Effing Feline likes punny gators #wewriwa
I, Effing Feline, am as grouchy as a tarantula. Why? Because these days Ed is as grouchy as an alligator. Why? Because his writing is stuck.
Thing is, I don’t like gators. Not even gators wearing clothes . . .
. . . or glasses . . .
. . . or even, as it today’s snippet from Pandora Uncaged, a WIP by my pet human, a gator in pink.
Pandora filled a syringe with antibiotic liniment and pressed her palm to the panel that opened Harry’s cage. Then she went to hands and knees and crept into the cage. Harrison’s gators were rare here on Passion Island — this was the only one in captivity — so she’d had to learn by painful trial and error that Harry lashed his powerful tail at anything that loomed over him. If she kept her face at his level, though, he was a pussycat, and one of her favorite animals here at Quak.
As she treated the gator’s infections with the liniment, she chided him in a soothing voice. “Harry, Harry, I’m sorry to tell you the beauty sleep didn’t take. With a face like yours, how do you expect to find a nice lady gator once you’re well?”
She bent her ear close to his head. “What’s that you say? How do I know you aren’t a lady gator looking for a handsome guy?”
And a few more to finish the scene:
“Excellent question, Harry. I have no idea.”
Lying on her side and supporting her chin on a hand, she reached her other hand up to pet his/her head. The skin felt warm and loose, as though his hide were a size too big. She couldn’t tell if the gator liked the strokes, but she did.
“Tell you what. Tomorrow I’ll bring you a pretty pink ribbon, and if you’re female, I’ll tie it around your neck. Is that a deal?”
Effing Feline here again. You know that cats like puns, right? What’s that? You didn’t know? Well, we do, very much — especially with tartar sauce and lots of minced salmon. Thus, here’s one gator I do approve of:
Do you think if Ed threw an in-vest-igator into his story he might get unstuck?
Be sure to visit the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.
Pandora Dayle is her family’s black sheep. Ten years after running away from home, she’s rebuilt her self-respect at an isolated facility for saving animals native to her colony’s planet. Her redemption feels as fragile as a dream, but she’ll be okay if nothing traumatic happens.
But when the best friend from her innocent childhood arrives, her insecurities mushroom.
Aidan used to be Pandora’s best friend. Since his teen years, he’s held heroic jobs—police officer and now Search and Rescue leader. He adored innocent young Pandora so much he compares every woman to her idealized memory, and finds them wanting.
But when he rediscovers the real thing, she’s not at all what he expected.
Booker, a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret organization, receives his second assignment: get Pandora and Aidan to mate. They’d been close friends, so his strategy is simple: He flies Aidan to her island and orders him to impregnate Pandora.
What could possibly go wrong?
February 2, 2021
Closing the door might spook her #mfrwhooks
Today we have another hook from my WIP, The Seven Foot Cupid.
Ember Dayle and Tyler Estrella are both sent, from rival settlements, to see if any dangerous predators have snuck into a newly drilled skylight in to an important cave. When they discover a pile of bloody bones in the cave, Tyler realizes he and Ember will have to cooperate, despite their politics. She, however, is less sure about that.
“Even if the doe fell through the skylight,” he said, “something was strong enough to drag it all the way here. I’ve never had to hunt down a predator that large. You?”
She looked him in the eye. “The only large predator on Addoray is man.”
“Why do I feel like you mean me personally?” He said it with a self-effacing laugh. “Because I’m a big bad Westerner?”
Her eyebrows squished together in a frown. She stroked the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.
“You keep rubbing your nose,” he said gently. “Did you hurt it when you fell?”
She jerked her hand to her side then shrugged self-consciously. “May we continue this conversation inside, please?”
Once inside, he flicked his flashlight to globe mode and balanced it atop his rucksack beside the door. He left the door wide open. Partly because of the stale, crypt-like smell, and partly because closing it might spook her.
Be sure to visit the hooks by other fine writers in the Book Hooks blog hop.
Book One in the Passion Island Trilogy
Ember Dayle prides herself on handling anything her newly colonized planet can throw at her. After an injury, she’s determined to prove herself again. She gets her chance when ordered to explore a mysterious cave on a wilderness mountain. Until that’s done, the last thing she needs is the distraction of a man.
Tyler, an explorer from her town’s fierce rival, is sent to explore the same cave. Like Ember, he’s been in an accident . . . but he was the only survivor. When he meets her, he’s drawn not only to her beauty and toughness, but by her ability to deal openly with her accident.
Booker is a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret group that hopes to make the colonists stronger, healthier, and smarter by matching people with compatible genes. His first assignment — Ember and Tyler. His strategy — lock them in an abandoned cabin together.
He doesn’t realize he’s locked them in with the fiercest, most intelligent native beast ever discovered. Can love help them survive?
January 30, 2021
Effing Feline hates dentists #wewriwa
I, Effing Feline, hate dentists. Don’t you? They’re always asking you to open wider and then they have the nerve to poke around where only fresh salmon should dare to go.
But I know someone who loves the dentist, which makes me wonder about his mental health. I’ll tell you who after this message from my sponsor, Pandora Uncaged, a WIP by my pet human.
Pandora Dayle is the acting director of Quak, a veterinary-slash-research facility on a new colony planet. There are lots of beasties learn about. In last week’s snippet, you met some of them, called slytherins, they of the messy eating habits. Today we meet another of the native creatures, and we hear from a second, though we don’t meet it face to face quite yet.
When Pandora Dayle’s vision went black, she breathed a sigh of relief. The midday tropical sun was so ferocious today she wouldn’t have ventured out except for her sacred duty to her patients.
A growl, deep enough to make things on the supply shelf rattle, sounded from the windowless building.
“Good afternoon to you, too, Harry,” she said cheerfully as she flipped on the lights. “Get enough beauty sleep last night?”
The rare Harrison’s Pseudo Reptile rumbled out a huff of breath.
From farther inside the building came a growl . . . more of a stuttering bleat, really, with interesting hints of musical overtones. Pandy gave the ear-to-ear grin that only her beloved animals ever saw. At first, the new animal’s growl had scared her — too much like a beast attempting human speech — but now she appreciated its musical beauty.
When Harry the gator rumbled out another snarl, she chuckled. “I swear, sometimes it seems like you two critters are talking to each other so you won’t feel lonely.”
Effing Feline here again. I’m sorry to tell you (no, I’m not, because the kid pulled my tail once!) that Ed’s youngest grandson actually enjoyed his first trip to the dentist. The kid is, obviously, touched in the upper works.
It helps, of course, that he had no cavities.
Be sure to visit your dentist every six months. And while you sit in the waiting room, check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.
Pandora Dayle is her family’s black sheep. Ten years after running away from home, she’s rebuilt her self-respect at an isolated facility for saving animals native to her colony’s planet. Her redemption feels as fragile as a dream, but she’ll be okay if nothing traumatic happens.
But when the best friend from her innocent childhood arrives, her insecurities mushroom.
Aidan used to be Pandora’s best friend. Since his teen years, he’s held heroic jobs—police officer and now Search and Rescue leader. He adored innocent young Pandora so much he compares every woman to her idealized memory, and finds them wanting.
But when he rediscovers the real thing, she’s not at all what he expected.
Booker, a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret organization, receives his second assignment: get Pandora and Aidan to mate. They’d been close friends, so his strategy is simple: He flies Aidan to her island and orders him to impregnate Pandora.
What could possibly go wrong?
January 25, 2021
There’s one thing we can agree on #mfrwhooks
Today we have a short hook from my WIP, The Seven Foot Cupid.
Ember Dayle and Tyler Estrella are both sent, from rival settlements, to see if any dangerous predators have snuck into a newly drilled skylight in to an important cave. When they discover a pile of bloody bones in the cave, Tyler realizes he and Ember will have to cooperate, despite their politics. She, however, is less sure about that.
She went so motionless and quiet that he turned his light in her direction. Her face was pale. Staring at the pile of bones, she crossed her arms over her stomach and hugged her elbows.
“If we get the chance,” he said as non-judgmentally as possible, “you’ll have to tell me about the fall that shook you up so badly. Sometimes talking helps.”
“Breathe space atmo, Estrella.”
A chuckle was his only answer. He liked her spirit. Her face, too, though her nose seemed a little off. When she noticed his stare, he forced himself to look away. “There’s one thing I’m sure we can agree on. Our job just got a lot more interesting.”
She hesitated, as though not wanting to agree. Or maybe she still needed time to recover from her fall.
Be sure to visit the hooks by other fine writers in the Book Hooks blog hop.
Book One in the Passion Island Trilogy
Ember Dayle prides herself on handling anything her newly colonized planet can throw at her. After an injury, she’s determined to prove herself again. She gets her chance when ordered to explore a mysterious cave on a wilderness mountain. Until that’s done, the last thing she needs is the distraction of a man.
Tyler, an explorer from her town’s fierce rival, is sent to explore the same cave. Like Ember, he’s been in an accident . . . but he was the only survivor. When he meets her, he’s drawn not only to her beauty and toughness, but by her ability to deal openly with her accident.
Booker is a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret group that hopes to make the colonists stronger, healthier, and smarter by matching people with compatible genes. His first assignment — Ember and Tyler. His strategy — lock them in an abandoned cabin together.
He doesn’t realize he’s locked them in with the fiercest, most intelligent native beast ever discovered. Can love help them survive?
January 23, 2021
Effing Feline eats fastidiously #wewriwa
I, Effing Feline, am a very neat, and careful eater, even for a cat. You’ll see why I mention this when you read today’s snippet from Pandora Uncaged, my pet human’s WIP.
In previous snippets, you’ve met the story’s main characters — Pandora (heroine with a murky past), Aidan (hero through and through), and Booker (a 7-foot tall apprentice cupid). Now you’ll meet some of the alien animals at the Colonial Wildlife Containment Center, aka CWCC or Quak.
It’s part animal hospital, part research facility. Unfortunately, the planet’s humans are too busy colonizing the planet to give full attention to the native creatures, so Quak is woefully understaffed. There’s no longer even a full-time director. Instead, Pandora, as Quak’s longest-term employee, is acting director.
Here we meet one species of native creature called slytherins. Pandora is calling them out to eat.
Round holes in the cage’s back wall came alive. Seven warm-blooded, two-foot long, otter-shaped beasts shot out of the dens and flattened their bodies to help them glide safely to the cage floor.
Well, almost safely. When they landed, they fell over each other in haste to get to their food. They slithered across the floor as though it was a race—and for them, it was.
The winning slytherin jumped into the food trough and rolled over, coating itself in gelatinous slop until its glossy, dun-colored fur was hidden. Other creatures leaped into the trough to lick the food off the first slytherin, which writhed in pleasure. Half the food splattered out, dirtying her clean floor. A slytherin leaped toward the splatter and rolled in it, spreading the mess farther.
Effing Feline here again. I want all of you to know that I find these creatures eating habits disgusting. One should eat fastidiously, shouldn’t one? And lick one’s own paws after eating?
Ed wants me to warn you that he may be dilatory in commenting on your posts this week. Life does sometimes intrude, it seems.
Be sure to visit the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.
Pandora Dayle is her family’s black sheep. Ten years after running away from home, she’s rebuilt her self-respect at an isolated facility for saving animals native to her colony’s planet. Her redemption feels as fragile as a dream, but she’ll be okay if nothing traumatic happens.
But when the best friend from her innocent childhood arrives, her insecurities mushroom.
Aidan used to be Pandora’s best friend. Since his teen years, he’s held heroic jobs—police officer and now Search and Rescue leader. He adored innocent young Pandora so much he compares every woman to her idealized memory, and finds them wanting.
But when he rediscovers the real thing, she’s not at all what he expected.
Booker, a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret organization, receives his second assignment: get Pandora and Aidan to mate. They’d been close friends, so his strategy is simple: He flies Aidan to her island and orders him to impregnate Pandora.
What could possibly go wrong?
January 16, 2021
Effing Feline’s pet peeves #wewriwa
I, Effing Feline, have many things that bother me, and I’m sure you want to know what they are. Here’s a partial list of my pet peeves:
DogsLoud noisesFur ballsDry cat foodDogsFur that doesn’t taste goodPolitics on televisionPeople who pet cats as thought we’re dogsDogsToday, another snippet from Pandora Uncaged, Ed’s WIP. You’ve met Booker, the Apprentice Cupid who has flown Aidan to the remote island where Pandora works. He hopes to mate them by rekindling their teenage passion. Here’s Aidan’s first glimpse of Pandora in fifteen years. (10 sentences plus two bonus sentences.)
Just before a jarring thump told Aidan the flitter had landed, he spotted Pandora. Wind from the rotors ran riot through short hair bleached by the sun to a toasty brown. Neither the style nor the color matched his memories , but no matter how much she’d changed, he’d recognize those wide eyes of hers.
As a teenager, he’d taken her eyes for granted, not realizing he would never see a more captivating pair. Her eyes dominated her thin face. They were so large that sometimes the whites were visible all the way around pupils that were light hazel, almost green. When she’d stood near him for a kiss and looked up by raising her eyes—not her head, just those spectacular eyes — she’d taken his breath away.
And now, standing on the beach, she took his breath away all over again.
She still looked shy, though she wasn’t…or at least she hadn’t been. She was uncertain of herself. Vulnerable, even, in a way that had made him want to wrap his arms around her, feel her heartbeat against his, and protect her from a world too harsh for an adorable pixie who was too sensitive for her own good.
Youthful innocence and desirability — that was, or rather had bee, Pandora.
Effing Feline here again. I’m sure you loved my list of pet peeves. However, one thing I’ve learned in my many years of blogging is that I must limit how much I talk about myself (no matter how fascinating!) and try to pretend to be interested in you boring humans.
So, why don’t you tell me some of your pet peeves? And for purr’s sake, try to make them interesting enough to keep me awake!
Be sure to visit the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.
Pandora Dayle is her family’s black sheep. Ten years after running away from home, she’s rebuilt her self-respect at an isolated facility for saving animals native to her colony’s planet. Her redemption feels as fragile as a dream, but she’ll be okay if nothing traumatic happens.
But when the best friend from her innocent childhood arrives, her insecurities mushroom.
Aidan used to be Pandora’s best friend. Since his teen years, he’s held heroic jobs—police officer and now Search and Rescue leader. He adored innocent young Pandora so much he compares every woman to her idealized memory, and finds them wanting.
But when he rediscovers the real thing, she’s not at all what he expected.
Booker, a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret organization, receives his second assignment: get Pandora and Aidan to mate. They’d been close friends, so his strategy is simple: He flies Aidan to her island and orders him to impregnate Pandora.
What could possibly go wrong?
