Tracy St. John's Blog, page 229

Countdown to Alien Slave, Quote 2

    Another man stepped in front of her, moving in a blur to grab hold of her flailing legs.  He held her calves easily against one side of his body, rendering her helpless.  "We have paid for your time, Earther."  His rolling bass of voice thrummed through her body.   He'd not ordered her to do anything, but the command in his tone stilled her struggles.
     Terror made her own voice high and screamy.  "Not you.  Not Kalquorians.  It's in my contract!"

Releasing February 17

Countdown to Alien Slave - Quote 1

One week to go!  So here we go with the countdown:

Dani sighed and made her mind contemplate things other than the contract that she'd signed impetuously, desperate to get off Earth.  At the time, it had seemed a good idea.  Guaranteed meals, safe shelter, and escape from being captured by the Kalquorian race that had destroyed her home world were a fair trade for sex, which she'd always been ambivalent about.  Besides, Dani on Dantovon had a cute ring to it.  How could it not be fated?

First Four Friday - Unholy Union

Chapter 12

    Elaine's final duty at her job at the North Country Gazette was submitting to an interview with her replacement.  It felt strange to see Harris sitting behind what, until about lunchtime, had been her desk.

    "So what's next for Elaine Curtis?" Harris asked.  He'd been goofing with her the entire interview, using a pencil as a microphone and asking his questions like a breathless fan. 

Available from New Concepts Publishing, Amazon for Kindle, and Barnes & Noble for Nook

WIP Wednesday - Netherworld II: Blood Potion No. 9

The second of the Netherworld series is now under contract!

As you will remember, Dan was only starting to explore the world of BDSM in Netherworld:  Drop Dead Sexy.  He's still learning, but this big, sexy ghost is picking up on how to be a masterful Dom fast:


    I materialized in a sea of black-and-chrome, surrounded by motorcycles parked in front of the Beasts club.  The scent of exhaust mixed uneasily with the rotting vegetation aroma of the nearby marsh and the rotten-egg funk of Fulton Falls' pulp mill.  The thick bass heartbeat of heavy metal music, punctuated by yells and laughter, issued from the building.  A couple of security lights and the orange-yellow gleam of the streetlight behind me clearly showed the white designs painted over the black background of the painted windows.  On the left one was the head of a snarling tusked feral hog.  No Halloween mask ever looked more ferocious.  The right window's design was a hand giving the old single-finger salute.  Charming, especially when you considered the building sat right off Blount Highway, where heavy traffic ensured plenty of small children would be driven by.  The continuous wash of passing headlights proved my point.

    It sure looked like a good place for poltergeist play, the kind of mischievous spirit activity that might include lobbing rocks through the glass.  Maybe if it happened often enough, these fools would cease and desist in painting such rude pictures.

    Then again, they might sic their witch on me.  Not a pleasant idea.

    A rough voice, grumbly and warm, spoke up behind me.  "You're a bit overdressed for this party, baby girl."

I turned, only now realizing I still wore my sweet confection of an early 1900's dress.  As Dan slid into view, I got all warm and tingly.  My second boyfriend was as handsome as Tristan, though they looked nothing alike.  For those of you old enough to remember the Marlboro Man cigarette ads, you'll have a pretty good idea of the rugged deliciousness that is Dan Saling.

Unruly brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, a strong jaw, and face weathered to robust perfection made me feel all gooey inside.  Despite looking fit as a fiddle, Dan had died young in his late thirties of a heart attack.  He looks good.  He feels even better.  And he puts up with a lot of doo-doo from me.

I grinned, thrilled to see him.  His assignment spying on the Beasts had kept us apart for days at a time, probably no accident since Tristan wants me all to himself.  Then again, when Dan gets the chance, he keeps me from Tristan too.  It might have been fun being fought over by two hunkalicious men had I not loved them both so much and hated to see them hurt.  But I have issues with being tied to just one man.  Boy, do I have issues.

"You don't like my dress?"  I pretended to pout.

"I love it.  It's just a bit much to hang out with this bunch."

"Well, let me tone it down then."  With a thought, the dress and boots disappeared, leaving me in my birthday suit. 

Behind the concealment of his khaki trousers, I saw Dan salute me in a much better fashion than the painted hand on the building behind me.  "Oh baby, you just found yourself a whole heapa trouble."

His clothes disappeared too, and he marched right up to me, his divine divining rod leading the way.  Dan yanked me close for a bone-melting kiss, rough with furious passion.  I was swept up in the almost animal savagery he displayed as he plundered my mouth with a ruthlessness that made my knees buckle.

Dan broke the kiss, and without so much as a how-do-you-do, seized my upper arm and whirled me around.  Then his hand was on the back of my neck, bending me over a black leather motorcycle seat.  A flood of oil, gasoline and leather scents washed over me. 

Dan's feet nudged mine apart, opening me up.  I gasped as he shoved two thick-knuckled fingers in my pussy, thanking my stars that I'd gotten wet the instant I'd laid eyes on him.  My big man was eager and demanding, and it made me eager too.  I moaned as his fingers dove in and out of me.  Ladies, start your engines.  He had my motor revving in an instant.

I responded to his uncompromising dominance.  I'm submissive when it comes to sex, gladly handing over the reins to Tristan and Dan when hanky-panky gets going.  Tristan's an old pro at being a Master, but Dan's polite upbringing left him not exploring his take-charge tendencies until he met me.  He's still a little too careful for my tastes sometimes.

This was not one of those times. 

Tutorial Tuesday - Put Up Your Dukes 2

This is the second in a series on writing fight/violence scenes.  Last week, we zeroed in on how to be sure your violence wasn't gratuitous.  This week, we're talking the nitty gritty elements that make up the fight.

The Devil is in the Details
Do your fight scene a favor.  Get into all the minutia you can imagine, even if it might feel you're going overboard.  Why?  Because as I wrote in last week's tutorial, this fight is important to your characters.  As they engage in battle, it should consume their complete attention.  So don't rush the conflict.  Give us not only the sights and sounds, but smell and touch as well.  Make your reader aware of the blades of grass standing at attention in the breathless air.  Let them feel the single drop of sweat running over your character's nose to hang suspended at the end of it.  Make them feel the force of the blow landed, how dull pain blooms in your protagonist's knuckles as his fist slams into his opponent's jaw, the reverberation shuddering up the wrist, through the forearm, along the elbow, all the way up until it dissipates somewhere near the shoulder blade. 
Along with putting your reader in the thick of the action, putting in so much detail also means a high word count, a little trick that tells your audience that this fight really, REALLY means something.  It's a way of waving to them and saying, "Hey, pay attention.  This is important."
That means you can't settle for something like He slapped her across the face, knocking her to the floor where she huddled and cried.  Depending on whose point of view you're coming from, you should give us his expression as he struck her, the look on her face as she fell, how it felt to deal or receive that blow, and if the blow came as fast as lightning or seemed to move in slow motion.  Also think of the emotions involved:  is the attacker as shocked as his victim that he's hitting her?  Is she thinking something along the lines of Not this again?  And feel free to document the reactions of any witnesses.  Even if a single slap is all that occurs in your 'battle', make it last for as long as you can.  Detail gives the fight its heft.

Accuracy is Everything
Because you're writing in such detail, you will have to pay close attention to getting your information right.  If you have a gun battle going on in your story, you better know how many bullets or rounds the firearms hold at a time, what caliber they use, etc.  If someone dies from a single knife blow, you have to do your research to discover the optimum place to shove that blade.  You can't fudge this stuff or readers will be writing ugly reviews and making fun of you.

Plausibility, Please
Not only do you have to get the technicalities right, you have to make your fight plausible.  When a character has been shot twenty times, one leg is broken, and half his ribs are smashed yet he still manages to leap on his foe and beat him senseless, you can be sure the readers have lost their suspension of disbelief.  To pull off a character fighting through just half these injuries to win the day, you must have already set up his overall good health, Navy Seal training, general toughness, and desperation to win the day.   Obviously, a battle-hardened soldier returning from active duty is more believable to win such a fight then a fresh-faced sorority girl. 
It also helps to know how people react to violence and injury in the real world.  In my work with the government, I have had the misfortune of seeing cops and psychotic drug addicts shot.  Let me tell you something:  the good guys do not shrug off bullets tearing through their bodies like Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwartzenegger in the movies.  The police officers I've seen shot, including the one whose body armor safely absorbed the bullet, screamed like rabbits – high pitched, vocal cord shredding shrieks.  It's the psychotic and drug addled men I've seen take bullets who either didn't notice it or were made angrier by the attack.  Be aware that normal people, even if they bulge muscle and machismo, will be tremendously affected if shot or stabbed.  They lose fine motor skills, develop tunnel vision, and panic like any one of us would.
So to review:  be detailed, be accurate, be knowledgeable, and keep it plausible.  That's what will keep your fight scenes dramatic instead of eye-rolling comedic.

Monday Man Time

I'm having a particularly hard time opening my eyes this morning.  So there's one extra bit o' meat in this week's lineup. 





Have a great week, all.

Six Sentence Sunday - Unholy Union

    She looked at the priest, her expression that of someone under a spell.  "I guess I'll see you later, Father."
    "Congratulations again, Elaine."  He looked Ash in the eye, wondering why the man made his skin crawl.  Was it because Elaine was so obviously enthralled by him?  He had no business being jealous; she wasn't his to be possessive of. 

Available from New Concepts Publishing, Amazon for Kindle, Barnes & Noble for Nook

Create a Kalquorian - New Polls Are Up

We have arrived at the final poll to create Conyod at long last.  Everyone's got a motto they live by, right?  Mine happens to be "Is there going to be booze at this party?"  Hey, I never said my motto was any good.

You will notice there is also a second poll up as to whether or not you want to  help create Dramok Erybet and Nobek Sletran as well, so don't miss voting on that.  

Results from the last poll:  you decided Conyod's life-changing childhood event was that a sibling disappeared and was never found.  His parents became overly protective as a result.  This was a close race all the way, and I had no idea what you would go with until the very end.  I love these nail biters!

Positions, Please 5

Rock-a-bye, Baby
The Rock allows both of you to have a delicious view of each other as you make love.  You're both sitting, though this is a woman-on-top position.  The woman puts herself in her man's lap as if she's going to do the crabwalk.  Once he's penetrated, she rocks back and forth, letting him slip in and out.  Vary the speed and feel free to lean forward to touch and kiss for maximum satisfaction.  With her weight distributed between legs and arms, this is a simple position even for those women with weaker arms.
As usual, I have to remind you I am not a licensed sex expert, so perform this position at your own discretion.

First Four Friday - Alien Conquest (Clans of Kalquor 3)

Chapter 16

The clan's new quarters had one round window in the sitting area that looked out on the port side of the ship.  Cassidy stared out at the large number of vessels gathering in space on this side of the defense grid.  She recognized them from schematics she'd seen in her grandfather's home:  Kalquorian destroyers.  No doubt every one of them had a full complement of hundreds of single-man fighters.

Available from New Concepts Publishing, Amazon for Kindle, and Barnes & Noble for Nook