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Freewrite Friday #1: Chatha

So I was trying to think of something to post today…and it coincided with Frodo going to his riding lesson. Wait. It makes sense.  Half an hour, boy riding a horse, me with my beloved ipad…  So I found a prompt from (see below) and mashed out about 500 words, tidied, primped and posted. So this is my first Freewrite Friday

MC: barbarian and hermit

Main event: flashback

Chatha  hadn't meant to touch him.

Her hand had gripped her sword, bloodless and determined and she'd had no intention of reaching out and stroking the gilded beauty of his skin. But like all her best intentions…she failed.

He was surprisingly warm.

That was her first reaction. And a natural one. He was a statue mounted in the centre of a golden dome, a treasure buried under rock and long abandoned ancient buildings.

Chatha drew in a slow careful breath and ran her fingers in a light sweep down the perfection of his thigh.  It was a shame that she would have to hack up and melt down his beauty, but she was practical. His weight in gold would buy her luxury for the rest of her life.  Buy her slaves, land, pretty concubines to pander to her every whim…

"I'm worth more than that to you."

Chatha's hand jerked to the dagger at her waist, unsheathing it, her flesh alive with power and strength.  There was no one in the golden dome but her…and the statue.  The living statue?  She circled around him, her heart fast, a slick of sudden sweat down her spine.  No, it couldnt be him. She knew that the old civilisations had held wonders that people could hardly dream of, nor understand. Yet, their time had passed.  Mountains had fallen since.  Her gaze stayed on the impossible and unmoving beauty of his face.  He wasn't in her head.

"I am in your thoughts, Chatha of the White Cliffs."

Chatha rapped out a blessings, protecting her soul against the mind demons. Was that what he was? She gritted her teeth, hardly believing that she could be pulled into trap.

"Not a trap."

His voice was silky, smooth, holding a warmth, a promise unlike any she had heard before. She watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, half expecting him to turn, to stare at her with those full-gold eyes and what…?

Her heart hammered and she took slow back steps away from him, until her spine hit the cold metal of the curved wall.

His fingers flexed.

Sweet wings of Argasta, she hadn't imagined that.  Nor the low twisting groan of moving gold. She couldn't allow herself to blink, to breathe as the statue stepped down from its plinth.

The cold slither of her sword mixed with the warm, liquid twist of gold. Her arms were rock. Sure and proficient.  She'd survived because of her skill.  It would save her now.

"You need have no fear of me."

His mouth didn't move, but there was a curl to his lips, a smile that promised something other than fear, something dark and threaded with pleasure.  Her mouth dried.  She had to ignore the low ache in her belly.  He was a mind demon.  He would make her think, make her do anything.

His smile deepened, spiked with lust.  "Now you understand."

 

And I think I'll continue this next week

I know, not exactly following the prompt…but it's a prompt

Filed under: Freewrite Friday, Writing

ROW80: Wednesday

I haven't done too badly since Sunday.  Being away for the Saturday in Nottingham, I knew I had to catch up on Simulacrum.  I managed to hack out 2k for that on Sunday and 1k Monday and Tuesday.  It's currently at just over 20 000 words.  I have to have it finished by the end of next week at the latest.  That's another 10k.  So if I can pull another thousand words a day, at least,  I can make it. The deadline to sub it to Samhain is 1 Feb, so I know I'm cutting it fine.

I also added a few words to my post apoc m/m story and thrashed out the relationship of my characters with CPs who know what they're doing with regards to writing m/m.

ROW80 is working for me.  I think having this accountability – regardless of how many words are produced -  is really helping me focus

Filed under: ROW80, Writing

Blast from the Past: Buying Mackenzie's Baby

I wrote this one about six years ago and it was published by Samhain in September 2006.  I'm Blasting the Past with it today because to my complete shock, it's #2 overall bestseller at Fictionwise.   I even took the screen grab hehe.  So here's the blurb and a snippet of Buying Mackenzie's Baby.

Flat broke and desperate, Kate Hartley runs to her ex-husband for help. However, his help comes with a high price. One she can't refuse.

The morning after a high society party finds Kate Hartley in her ex-husband's bed. Just a stupid mistake; something to put behind her… Until she discovers that she is pregnant.

Mack had never wanted children; had only married her in a rush of lust. Kate knows this. Nothing would drive her to ask anything of him. Nothing. But she's homeless and flat broke. And it isn't only her welfare now.

However, Mack has his own agenda. Kate had fooled him once; married him for his money. Whored herself… It was why he had divorced her. But now his grandfather has threatened his mother's home if Mack doesn't marry and produce an heir.

He had vowed never to marry again. But Kate Hartley is his only choice.

And pay back can be sweet…

Excerpt

The sudden fury in his face stopped the rest of her sentence. "Don't even think of telling her."

"I just thought–"

"Do I have to buy your silence? Is that what this is about?" Mack stood and began to pace. "I should have known better than to trust you with that information. But then I keep forgetting what kind of woman you are."

Anger made her hands clench. Muscles tight, she rose from the sofa. "And what am I?" she demanded.

Mack raked his dark gaze over her and her skin flushed. "The colour fits." She held down a shiver at the icy burn of his eyes. "A siren, a demon. Tormenting me."

She couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped her. "Hardly."

Her amusement made something harden in Mack's face, intensified the fire in his eyes. "Playing innocent?" The softness of his voice sent prickles over her skin. He moved closer and Kate had to stop herself from backing away. Her heart hammered. "And all the while, scheming, finding weaknesses."

His thumb traced the thin strap of her dress, followed it down over her breast. His touch on her bare skin, smooth, skimming, made her head light. Kate had to remember to breathe. "I should have realised what a formidable opponent you were, from the very beginning."

"Mack."

"But you had a veneer of fragility. So beguiling."

Circling her, his fingertips stroked her skin. His mouth close to her ear, the heat of his breath, the almost press of his lips. Kate's legs ran liquid. Damn it, he could not do this to her. She couldn't let him create this need, this ache to have him. Right there. He traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. Kate gasped.

"But so wanton." His fingers tugged at the zip low on her back.

Rational thought burst back into her brain with the cool wash of air over exposed skin. "Mack, this is wrong." She pulled free, desperate to hold the loosened dress. Something still burned in him and it made her take a nervous back step. "You know that."

"Since when has that stopped me?" His smile was wicked and his dark gaze slid over her legs, over her hips and stomach, narrowing on the hands that clung to her dress. Finally, it reached her face. Her skin had scorched in his wake and now she met his fiery gaze. Kate tried to deny what it did to her, the rush of heat under her skin, the sudden need pulsing through her veins. She tried to deny it. And failed.

The red silk of her dress slipped from her fingers.

Thank you for reading!

Filed under: Buying Mackenzie's Baby, Samhain Publishing

ROW80: Sunday update

I'm not as far as I would like on Simulacrum, mainly as I got thwacked by 2 bunnies Thursday and Friday.

So I wrote about 1k on Simulacrum, an 1100 word outline, with snippets of scenes for an SF erotic rom and 1k on a post apoc m/m story.  Seriously, me writing m/m? It scares me as I'm terrified of getting it wrong, of making one of the heroes a woman with dangly bits… I blame ChrisQ and MargieL for sending me hypno rays with boy love attached.  *shakes fist* lol

The rest of today will be devoted to laundry and Simulacrum…not necessarily in that order…

Filed under: ROW80, Writing

Six Sentence Sunday: Kingdoms

Yes, this has also been a while.  Seriously 2011? New leaf.

So,  just for Hailey Edwards – who is also a member of the Men Who Wear Leather Skirts Fanclub – here's the first paragraph of Kingdoms.

The Beast was watching her again.

Through the smoke of candles, the bustle and noise of the attending slaves, the endless talk of her councilmen, he leaned against a smooth-stoned pillar and watched her.  His dark eyes were unblinking and heavy with something she couldn't name.  Hunger?  No the Beast had his fill of any woman in the palace compound.  It was more akin to…anticipation.

Are you ready for a leathered-up man…?

The rest of today's Six Sentence Sunday participants can be found here

Filed under: Six Sentence Sunday, Writing

ROW 80: Wednesday Update

Birthdays and a lingering case of the bleurghs has slowed me down a bit but since Monday I've got about 1400 words on Simulacrum, a smidge of words on Kindgoms (a wip I should not be working on, but Ladon… *happy sigh*) and 400 words today on Frequency (a wip I should be writing a bit later in the month).  I found a fab new app for my ipad – iA Writer – that modifies the ipad's keyboard and makes dialogue and moving around the text actually, you know, possible.  It was all tappity tapped out in 45 minutes in the coffeeshop.  My ipad now has a distinct latte aroma…

So, I'm happy with my progress the past couple of days.

Filed under: Writing

Happy New Year!

Yes, I admit to being sluggy towards the end of 2010 with keeping this blog updated. It was my bad. Sorry.

Stuff…was going on.

Anyway, to get up to date with me:

I sold a Quickie to Ellora's Cave called Magnetism, the first story in Planetary Bodies.  I'm writing a series of linked books.  Eeep, I'm so nervous about that. I'm normally a stand alone book writer.  The second book, Friction, should be finished soon, and I'm having fun scribbling down stuff for the third book, Current.  Yep, I stole my titles from terms in physics  – the other two in the series being Fusion and Frequency.  I never quite realised how lewd the science could be…

So after reading this article in the Guardian this morning, Abandon your resolutions. Stop looking for your soulmate. Reject positive thinking. I'm going to promise to change little things and garner results by inertia

 

Filed under: Ellora's Cave, Magnetism, Planetary Bodies, Writing

Six sentence Sunday: Friction

Wip#2 is almost complete – I hope to have the first draft out by Monday/Tuesday – so here's my Sunday Six from that this week

Thorne was Director of Operations.  He probably knew more about her life than she did.  "You tell me."

"So you believe I observed your every move?"  He paused and there was a stillness to him that forced her pulse to jump.  "That I know exactly when and where and who fucked my wife?"

Filed under: Writing

Six Sentence Sunday: Magnetism

Yes, I'm jumping around in my wips, but this story is compete (almost). I'm writing the sequels–yes, me with sequels!!–before I tackle the edits and sub it.

"You're some—" she waved her hand and the sheet slipped to expose her breast.  Hastily, she recovered herself, her face burning "—figment."

"I'm real."  His head dipped and his mouth ghosted hers, so close their lips almost touched.  She felt his mouth lift in a smile.  "And naked."

Filed under: Writing

Thursday Thirteen – 13 possibly unexpected things about being a bodyguard

Wow, I haven't done this in a while, mainly as the Mister Linky code didn't work on WordPress.com.  But it's late, I'm sick with a cold, I can't sleep and I have a Ronan Keating earworm from hell…so I have to do something!

So from one of my evil plot bunnies that won't leave me alone:

Thirteen possibly unexpected things about being a bodyguard

1.  Never wear a polyester suit.  Or a black one, apparently.

2.  Always over compensate and wear a belt and braces.  All those useful little things need a home to clip to…and the braces keep your trousers up.

3.  Ignore the no black rule for shoes.  They must be lace ups and parade gloss shiny.

4.  No jewellery.  Nose rings are out.

5.  Make sure your trousers aren't fighting with your ankles and don't have a collar that strangles your neck.

6.  Bodyguards must not stink.

7.  Bad breath is also a big no-no.  Give garlic a 48 hour ban

8.  No smoking, nose picking or playing pocket billards.  This last one will not apply to my heroine.  Just saying.

9.  A bodyguard should never look bored.

10. Don't flirt with others whilst on the job.

11. Don't chew gum.  Or blow bubbles.

12. Never be late.

13.  And lastly, always, always remember you're hired help. Erm, my heroine will forget this last golden rule…

All this useful information came from The Bodyguard's Bible

 

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Filed under: Writing