Samantha MacLeod's Blog, page 37
July 17, 2016
Hey, I’m Moving!
I’ve been living in Buffalo, New York for the past three years.
Yup, Buffalo gets a fair amount of snow…No more!
Come August (as in, next month) we’re moving to…
drum rollMAINE!
That’s right. Buffalo just isn’t quite cold enough for us.
This changes absolutely nothing with The Trickster’s Lover, which still comes out September 6th and will still be available for pre-order on Amazon on August 9th.
This also changes nothing with my other upcoming publications “Tam Lin” and “John Cutter.”
So what does it change?
Well… the sequel might take a bit longer…
Sorry!
July 15, 2016
Actual Real Live Book!
I got my first actual, real, print copy of The Trickster’s Lover in the mail today.
Yay!!!!!!!
Wow, it’s pretty awesome to actually see the novel in all its 507 page glory.[image error]
It’s a real book!!!!!If you’re wondering, Kit Foster is my graphic designer and he made the book look pretty. I used CreateSpace for the printing, which was so straightforward that even I could figure it out (actually, I figured it out while visiting my family in Colorado, so it was pretty damn user friendly).
AND you’ll be able to order an actual, real, print copy of the book on August 9th!
July 6, 2016
The Moon
Here’s a 900 word flash fiction story, just for you. Enjoy!
They’d been betrothed as long as he could remember. Ever since he was a small child, barely able to speak, he’d known his life’s path. Maturity. Marriage. The crown.
Some may have chafed at the foreknowledge, struggled to change their destiny. He merely shrugged. The forces binding him to his future felt too large, and far too powerful. It would be like fighting gravity, or old age.
So he showed kindness to his betrothed. He gave her gifts, small tokens he hoped would help endear her to him. When she turned five he gave her a golden bracelet; when he learned she’d lost it in the woods, he shrugged.
When she turned ten he gave her a diamond necklace. This too was lost, he heard some months later. It was no matter to him. Diamonds were easily acquired.
When she turned fifteen he gave her a fine silver diadem inlaid with emeralds and sapphires to match the deep blue-green of her large eyes. She blushed as she opened the elaborate box, murmuring her thanks. He never saw it again.
And when she turned twenty, the age of consent, the age of marrying, he gave her the moon.
It was no easy task, acquiring the moon. There were several tricky procedures, a long voyage, and great expense. There was even some risk to his person, which he hoped may qualify as mildly heroic, the kind of thing that would prove he’d make a good husband.
The moon itself he found disappointing. It was much smaller than he’d expected, small enough for him to lift, although heavier than it looked. And it did not shine.
His guide, the magician, snorted when he commented on the moon’s lack of luminosity. “The moon shines with reflected light, boy,” he said. This magician was one of the few people who still called him boy. “Even you should know that.”
He decided not to comment on the magician’s insolence. Instead, he shook his head and ordered the moon be wrapped and presented to his betrothed.
A day later she requested his presence for the first time. He experienced an unusual sense of unease as he waited for her, pacing in his antechamber. They’d hardly ever spent time together.
An attendant announced her presence at his door, then swept gracefully from the room. She entered, carrying the moon in her arms.
“My lord,” she said.
“Yes?”
“It’s the moon,” she said. “My lord.”
He frowned. “The moon? Is there a problem?”
She met his eyes for the first time. “I cannot accept the moon,” she said. Her voice contained a hard edge. Perhaps that was the way she always spoke.
“What? Why not?”
She looked down at the heavy, dusty rock in her arms. “You can’t take the moon from the sky,” she said. “Just look what you’ve done to the tides!”
He blinked. He had no idea what he’d done to the tides; tides were not his concern.
“People need the light of the moon,” she continued. He noticed a hard line between her delicate blue-green eyes. “The harvest moon. The strawberry moon. You can’t take those from the world. I will not accept it.”
Silence fell between them. He was not accustomed to being refused.
“Fine,” he said. “If the gift is unacceptable, I’ll return it.”
He stepped off his dais, crossed the room to stand before her. He extended his arms, and she rolled the moon into them. Their hands brushed; her fingers were warm.
“Is that all?” he asked.
She nodded, her gaze on the tiled floor. “Of course. My lord.”
His discomfort grew, creeping through his stomach and across the back of his neck. It occurred to him there may be something she was not telling him. He took a deep breath. “Do you have any, uh, additional concerns?” he asked.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red. “Of course not,” she said, quickly. Very quickly.
His heart sank. An hour ago it wouldn’t have occurred to him to wonder if she had any thoughts at all, about anything. Now he was disappointed she wouldn’t share them.
“Do you… Do you love another?” he asked.
The flush across her high cheekbones deepened. She stared fixedly at the floor. “I do not,” she said.
He sighed. The moon was quite heavy; his arms were beginning to ache. But she held it, and he would hold it as well.
“As this gift was unacceptable, is there something you would prefer?” he asked.
She turned to the far wall, whispering something he could not quite make out.
“Excuse me?” he asked, trying to lean toward her without dropping the moon.
“I said I hate jewlery,” she whispered.
He blinked again, so surprised he took a step backward. “You… what?”
She sighed and met his eyes. This time he felt heat rush to his own cheeks. “I hate jewlery. It serves no purpose. I cannot abide things that serve no purpose.”
He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I see,” he said.
“If that’s all,” she said. “My lord.”
He nodded, cleared his throat. “Of course.”
She curtseyed low before leaving the room, the dust of the moon patterned across her delicate dress. He watched her go.
“Something useful,” he muttered. He would need to give her something useful as a wedding present.
He had no idea what that might be.
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July 4, 2016
“John Cutter Entertains a Visitor” Coming out in September!
My short story about a prospector in the Colorado Rockies in the late 1800s and a very unexpected guest is going to be published in the September edition of Typehouse Literary Magazine!
I am THIS EXCITED!!!Now, I write erotica and romance.
This story is neither of those things.
It’s dark, mysterious, and a bit sad. And, if you’ve read The Trickster’s Lover, you’ll recognize the stranger. (If you haven’t read The Trickster’s Lover, hopefully you’ll be so intrigued after reading this story that you’ll pick up the novel!)
Yup, it is a bit sad. You’ve been warned.Hey, published in erotica and literature?
Yup.
I swing both ways.
June 30, 2016
June 29, 2016
Book Review: Receiver of Many by Rachel Alexander
You know those books that keep you up hours past any reasonable bedtime because you just have to know what happens next? Those books that make want to run up to strangers in the street, grab them by their shoulders, and say, “You have got to read this?!?”
This is one of those books.
Receiver of Many is Rachel Alexander’s sweet, sexy, and beautifully written re-telling of the Hades and Persephone myth. And it is so good on so many levels.
First, her characters are amazing. Yes, they’re gods – but I’ve read books with human characters who weren’t half this nuanced or well-developed. Hades and Persephone both have understandable motivations and reasonable fears. They both struggle with their insecurities and try to become better, uh, gods.
They’re also surrounded by a fantastic cast of supporting characters. I was especially fond of Thanatos, or Death – he’s awesome.
Yup, lookin’ at you, buddy!But it’s not just the characters. Rachael Alexander’s world-building is absolutely lovely, especially her vivid and beautiful depictions of the Underworld. She’s clearly done her research; Receiver of Many is infused with historical details that make the novel feel like Bronze age ancient Greece. And her version of the River Styx is now the only one I will ever imagine.
Plus, the plot is fantastic. Sure, like all the other introverted book lovers out there who spent most of junior high in the Mythology section of the library, I’m familiar with the details of the Hades and Persephone myth. But this novel kept me guessing. Yeah, you know pomegranates are going to feature prominently, but it’s one hell of wild ride to get there.
Now, if you’re a romance fan, you’ve probably noticed many romance novels follow the same set of rules.
Okay, okay – guidelinesThese “guidelines” typically have the novel begin with an initial attraction between the two romantic leads, and then a series of contrived circumstances (or occasionally outright stupidity from one or both characters) that keeps them from doin’ it. After many pages of tension and separation, the book ends with sex and/or a wedding.
Well, Receiver of Many breaks all those rules. Beautifully. And believably. Hopefully I’m not giving too much away to say there’s sex right off the bat (you do know the myth, right?), and then the characters have to learn how to live with one another.
Which brings me to philosophy.
Yes, philosophy matters to me; if a book is sexist or otherwise troubling, I have a hard time enjoying it. That’s why I couldn’t stand Twilight, and I had to put down Hardwired. It’s also why I stopped reading the Wheel of Time series (the female characters were all so terrible). So a book isn’t going to get my full approval unless it’s got a strong supporting philosophy.
And Receiver of Many gets it, on every level.
The story is sex-positive, with strong, believable, and charismatic male and female characters. The ultimate conflict between Hades and Persephone is their struggle to learn to live together, honestly and as equal partners, in two worlds that constantly try to raise one above the other. For a story about gods and myth, their challenges were incredibly realistic and touching.
Which means this book was so freaking good it gave me a serious book hangover.
Check it out here.
You can thank me later.
June 27, 2016
Hey, GoodReads!
The Trickster’s Lover is now on Goodreads.
Yup… shit just got real. Check it out here.
Yes. Yes I do.Now you can add The Trickster’s Lover to your “Want to Read” shelf!
You can also check out my fantasy/romance flash fiction stories on Goodreads by clicking here.
And if you totally can’t wait until September 6 to read an urban fantasy/paranormal romance about Loki, leave a comment. We can talk about getting you an Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review of the novel on Amazon and Goodreads.
June 16, 2016
Release Date for The Trickster’s Lover
Mark your calendars, my internet friends!
The Trickster’s Lover, my novel about surviving graduate school, falling in love, and preventing Ragnarök, comes out Tuesday, September 6th and will be available for pre-order on Amazon beginning August 9th.
YAY!!!!!!
It is THAT EXCITING!If you want to be as excited about this as The Dude above, check out the book blurb or this preview.
And if you just can’t wait that long to read an erotic romance featuring the Norse god Loki – hey, I can’t blame you – then let me know!
Post a comment and we’ll talk about getting you an Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review of the novel on Amazon and Goodreads.
June 15, 2016
Book Review: Loki, Nine Naughty Tales of the Trickster
This is a book about Loki.
I have a bit of a thing for Loki (see: this. This. Also, this). Ergo, this review is going to be skewed by my tendency to be reduced to an absolute screaming fangirl whenever Loki comes up.
Did someone say LOKI?!?Having said that, I had a blast with this little book.
The author, Mike Vasich, did a great job capturing Loki’s personality. And, as someone who knows the original Norse myths pretty well (as in, I literally have a Master’s degree in religion and I teach a class about Norse myth), I had a lot of fun seeing what he did with the source material.
Could you read this book even if you knew nothing about Norse myths? Absolutely. It’s easy to follow what’s going on, even if you don’t already know the myth of Thrym’s wedding.
I’ve only got two complaints about this fun little collection, and one of them is that I wanted more Loki.
Vasich starts the story of Thrym’s wedding in the middle of the wedding. I wanted more! I wanted to see how Thor and Loki got there in the first place. And he doesn’t go into bloody, lip-sewing details with the dwarves Brokk and Eitri – again, I wanted more!
I also wanted more when it came to the sex. Yes, these stories are naughty – but I write erotica, so I suppose my “naughty” bar is set pretty high.
Naughty, you say?But ultimately, I’m not going to hold this against Vasich or the book because, like I said, I’m a crazy screaming fangirl.
My second complaint is this: The book’s chronology is a total mess. Vasich, to his credit, openly admits this, and he makes a good point – the chronology of the original Norse myths is also a total mess.
But the messed up chronology makes this fun book more confusing than it should be, and I’m going to give it four stars (out of five) because it really wouldn’t be that hard to re-arrange the stories so the time line made sense. (If you’re reading, Mike Vasich, send me a text. I’ve got some ideas.)
Still, overall this book was a fun ride. Check it out for yourself here.
