R. Cooper's Blog - Posts Tagged "holly-and-oak"
what I've been up to
Where have I been? Well... after His Mossy Boy came out, I settled in to finish a project I've been working on (gays in space) and then move on quickly to a new Beings story (Clematis, you naughty fairy!). That was the plan, anyway.
But then some things got in the way, as things do. Uh, the area where I work and live was on fire for about two weeks, among other things. SIGH. But I did not have the mental space to work on something long after that. So I moved on to shorter projects.
All the shorts that were up on Amazon are now also up on Smashwords, for anyone who does not like to deal with Amazon. :) Vincent's Thanksgiving Date has a new cover (yay!) and My Man Godric will have a new cover soon.
I also did a little fundraiser for fire relief. Thank you so much to everyone who participated!!! <3
I wrote a tiny ficlet of a story set in the Beings 'Verse (for Piper Vaughn, who wondered about the fairy on the soap opera that Zarrin and Tim watch) called Spring's Not So Secret Secret, and then, since the mood struck me, I wrote a short story (short novella??) set in the same world as A Little Familiar, but with new characters.
Holly and Oak is not a Halloween story. It's not even a Christmas story, although it takes place around Yule/The Winter Solstice. Two witches taking part in a very ancient ritual, with a lot of history between them. And there's ice cream!
(A small town run by its very traditional and conservative coven. A rebellious scion of an old house. The beloved son of another. A ritual that pits them against each other, year after year. And a longing that is getting harder and harder to deny. Plus ice cream. And mistletoe!)
It should be out at the end of this month/start of December. !!!
Now I am back to work on Clematis, as much as I can with the holidays here. Oh, that pretty boy. So much to learn. I am already crying about his broken heart.
Happy Holidays!
(P.S. I don't know about you, but I had to have ice cream handy when writing Holly and Oak so you might want some around when you read it. :) )
But then some things got in the way, as things do. Uh, the area where I work and live was on fire for about two weeks, among other things. SIGH. But I did not have the mental space to work on something long after that. So I moved on to shorter projects.
All the shorts that were up on Amazon are now also up on Smashwords, for anyone who does not like to deal with Amazon. :) Vincent's Thanksgiving Date has a new cover (yay!) and My Man Godric will have a new cover soon.
I also did a little fundraiser for fire relief. Thank you so much to everyone who participated!!! <3
I wrote a tiny ficlet of a story set in the Beings 'Verse (for Piper Vaughn, who wondered about the fairy on the soap opera that Zarrin and Tim watch) called Spring's Not So Secret Secret, and then, since the mood struck me, I wrote a short story (short novella??) set in the same world as A Little Familiar, but with new characters.
Holly and Oak is not a Halloween story. It's not even a Christmas story, although it takes place around Yule/The Winter Solstice. Two witches taking part in a very ancient ritual, with a lot of history between them. And there's ice cream!
(A small town run by its very traditional and conservative coven. A rebellious scion of an old house. The beloved son of another. A ritual that pits them against each other, year after year. And a longing that is getting harder and harder to deny. Plus ice cream. And mistletoe!)
It should be out at the end of this month/start of December. !!!
Now I am back to work on Clematis, as much as I can with the holidays here. Oh, that pretty boy. So much to learn. I am already crying about his broken heart.
Happy Holidays!
(P.S. I don't know about you, but I had to have ice cream handy when writing Holly and Oak so you might want some around when you read it. :) )
a new release at last! Holly and Oak
If you are in the mood for a short about ridiculous pining witches (and ice cream) set around the Winter Solstice, you are in luck--I wrote a thing.
Set in the same universe as A Little Familiar, which makes that officially a series, so I gave it a series name. A Little Familiar and the new Holly and Oak are both part of the Familiar Spirits series. (*muffled excited screaming*)
Once a year, the town of Ravenscroft celebrates the winter solstice by watching the Oak King symbolically slay the Holly King to ensure the death of winter. To most people, it’s a pagan ritual that has lost all meaning in the modern world, harmless fun during the week of Christmas. To the coven who founded the town, it’s a magic so important they entrusted it to the two strongest witches in generations.
Will Battle and Chester Sibley are opposites in every way, or so Ravenscroft residents insist. Quiet, polite Will is the town’s beloved adopted son, popular and admired. Defiant, outspoken Chester is disliked and avoided despite being a direct descendant of the town’s founders. It’s no wonder Will is the embodiment of spring and life as the Oak King and Chester was given the cold, dark Season of Holly. No one in town seems to realize their nice, well-mannered Oak King has iron at his core and their fearsome Holly King only wants to make people happy. Perhaps that’s also why not even the other witches suspect that Chester has been in love with Will for almost his entire life.
That’s how Chester wants it. He might dream of Will, but he’s learned to keep his dreams to himself. The trouble is Will. For all that he smiles and nods, Will has started quietly rebelling against both the town and the coven. With only days until the winter solstice, he issues Chester a challenge—to finally ask for what he wants. If Chester tells the truth, he risks losing Will and upsetting the ritual that has made the town prosperous. But there is more between them than magic, no matter how powerful or ancient, and Chester would do anything for Will, even, just maybe, coming in from the cold.
Holly and Oak now available on Amazon and Smashwords as well as iTunes!
Set in the same universe as A Little Familiar, which makes that officially a series, so I gave it a series name. A Little Familiar and the new Holly and Oak are both part of the Familiar Spirits series. (*muffled excited screaming*)
Once a year, the town of Ravenscroft celebrates the winter solstice by watching the Oak King symbolically slay the Holly King to ensure the death of winter. To most people, it’s a pagan ritual that has lost all meaning in the modern world, harmless fun during the week of Christmas. To the coven who founded the town, it’s a magic so important they entrusted it to the two strongest witches in generations.
Will Battle and Chester Sibley are opposites in every way, or so Ravenscroft residents insist. Quiet, polite Will is the town’s beloved adopted son, popular and admired. Defiant, outspoken Chester is disliked and avoided despite being a direct descendant of the town’s founders. It’s no wonder Will is the embodiment of spring and life as the Oak King and Chester was given the cold, dark Season of Holly. No one in town seems to realize their nice, well-mannered Oak King has iron at his core and their fearsome Holly King only wants to make people happy. Perhaps that’s also why not even the other witches suspect that Chester has been in love with Will for almost his entire life.
That’s how Chester wants it. He might dream of Will, but he’s learned to keep his dreams to himself. The trouble is Will. For all that he smiles and nods, Will has started quietly rebelling against both the town and the coven. With only days until the winter solstice, he issues Chester a challenge—to finally ask for what he wants. If Chester tells the truth, he risks losing Will and upsetting the ritual that has made the town prosperous. But there is more between them than magic, no matter how powerful or ancient, and Chester would do anything for Will, even, just maybe, coming in from the cold.
Holly and Oak now available on Amazon and Smashwords as well as iTunes!
