Calvin Westbrook's Blog, page 4

Draft Cover Reveal – A Treasured Find

There are many times when I believe that everything happens for a reason, or something good comes into your life at just the right moment. This was certainly the case this evening, when I started to look for a cover image for one for the books I am writing. After I signed up for a website named PixBay, I almost immediately came upon an image that perfectly represented one of the locations in the story. What was even more exciting was that I didn’t need to pay any royalties to the owner of the image, and I was free to modify it as I saw fit. So after working on the image in Paint.NET for half an hour, I was able to create something that I think is a perfect start to promoting the book upon it’s eventual release.

So without further ado, I would like to share with you the draft cover of A Treasured Find, the first story in the Treasured series which stars a young witch in training named Caleb Grimaldi and his royal genie soulmate Varron Severaine.

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Hope you liked this image. I will have more information about my latest writing efforts very soon.

Rainbow Snippets Double Edition – September 17th 2016

It’s time once again to post a snippet of an up and coming work on Rainbow Snippets. For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

You may notice that I didn’t post a Rainbow Snippet for the last few weeks, so I decided that this week I would give you two snippets to make up for the lack of content. The first segment is from A Treasured Find series, and was co-written by AuldMisdione, the deviantArt user who helped me bring the characters of the story to life.

This is set during the scene where Caleb and Varron are being married in the Northern Kingdom on the second Christmas Eve after they met.

The two men took their hands from the stone, and faced each other. The master of ceremonies, Arlkaros the Grand Djinn, floated through the air, and landed beside the stone. His silver white long hair flowed out like a cloth, and his piercing green eyes left everyone spellbound. His eight foot tall stature dwarfed everyone, and his golden genie styled outfit was more splendid than any that was present in the room.

“These two men have declared their love for each other, and performed the sacred rights of our tradition. They have also offered a request to change their chosen names in accordance with our traditions, which I will happily allow. With the power vested in me by the Grand Djinn, I now pronounce them both as crown princes of our realm. I present to you, Prince Varron Osiris Grimaldi Sevarine, and Prince Caleb Ignatius Grimaldi Sevarine.

Arlkaros waved his arms to show the two men when he spoke their names.

“May you guide your people well, and love them with the same affection you show to each other. You may now kiss your Hiraeth.”

Caleb and Varron didn’t need telling twice. The two men embraced, and joined their lips together in a passionate kiss.

AuldMisdione also commissioned a picture of an event which takes place after the wedding. In this picture, Caleb is being transformed into a genie to reign alongside his new husband, but keeps his witch powers as part of the bargain.

The second segment is from a new story in development, A Prince’s Rescue.

It is the tale of Anthony Ambrose, the crown prince of Wonderland, who travels to the world of Earth to rescue his mate, a Cheshire shifter named Darius Spade. In this scene, the two men have been reunited, and Darius doesn’t appear to want to be rescued.

Warning bells sounded in Darius’s mind. He knew that someone from Wonderland would eventually track him down sooner or later. It had been a miracle that he had been able to avoid his past life after the terrible events that forced him to leave, and if he had anything to say about it, he wasn’t going to be going back.

“My Darius, I have finally found you,” said the prince, his rich voice sending waves of lust down through the young man’s body.

Anthony reached out to touch his mate’s hand, but Darius snapped it back and stared daggers into the lion shifter’s eyes.

“How did you find me here? I was told you wouldn’t be able to find me.” Darius’s voice sounded panicked, and he felt a strong wave of long buried tears n the verge of his tear ducts.

Anthony froze, and his expression soured.

“Why wouldn’t you want to be found mia demus?”

Darius ignored the sentiment, and continued to have an internal freak out.

“I don’t care what you have to say to me, I’m not going back to Wonderland.”

Once again, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed these little snippets, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final releases.

Rainbow Snippets – August 6th 2016

In this week’s Rainbow Snippet, we revisit the A Treasured Find series for the third time in a row. It focuses on a treasure hunting witch named Caleb Grimaldi, and a handsome genie prince named Varron Sevarine. Earlier this week, me and the co-creator of the characters commissioned two pictures of the characters from very talented artists.

In this first picture by Penn92Evans, Varron has visited Caleb aboard a magic carpet, and offers to take him for a ride.

In the second picture by Somdude424, Caleb has been taken to visit Varron’s homeland, and has a bit too much of the peach wine that they drink with their meal. Needless to say, he’s getting a little bit frisky with his princely genie.

Now that the art show is out of the way, it’s time to head to the business at hand. In this short segment, Caleb is going through a temple during a treasure hunt, and is about to face a riddle.

Caleb reached the large stone door that stood at least twenty feet high, and gave a sigh of relief. Like every other puzzle he had encountered so far, he knew that the long journey through the cave was to test his worthiness as a treasure hunter.

With that in mind, he would not give anyone or anything the satisfaction of pushing him away from his goal. Reaching into his pocket, he drew out the piece of parchment he had taken from the final puzzle room, and gazed it at in the dim light.

“The final door that bars your path,

Shall not respond to strength or wrath.

To reach your prize, all that you shall need,

Is a word of power to perform the deed.

When inside, a veil of treasure shall blind your eyes,

But your vision shall you need to gain the strongest prize.”

Looking around the door, Caleb saw that it was framed by crimson coloured iron, and several symbols and hieroglyphics were painted across its surface. Even without his years of experience, he would have guessed that the magical protection that guarded this place would be stronger than anything he had ever faced. From what he gleamed from the verse, he couldn’t simply barge his way into the room, nor could he use explosives or a weapon to break the seal.

All it would need was the right word.

For those of you who don’t know,  Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

On a side note, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.

Rainbow Snippets – July 30th 2016

For those of you who don’t know,  Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

In this week’s Rainbow Snippet, we revisit A Treasured Find. It focuses on a treasure hunting witch named Caleb Grimaldi, who is invited to the home of a legendary treasure hunter with his controlling sorcerer boyfriend Michael. After undertaking a hunt on the propety and retrieving a mysteruous vessel, Caleb accidentally frees Varron Sevarine,  a handsome genie prince who is eternally grateful for the selfless act. Over time, the genie helps to build Caleb’s confidence, so he can break free from Michael’s controlling grasp.

Earlier this week, the co-creator of the characters commissioned a picture of the two characters first meeting from a talented young artist named Juacamo. In this picture, Varron has been broken free from the shackles that hold him to the bottle, and as you can see he is very emotional at the prospect.

In this short segment from the prologue, Varron’s parents are holding each other close to survive the pain of not knowing where the bottle that holds their son was taken.

When the two men broke apart, they looked into each other’s eyes, and let a small tear fall.

“Don’t ever leave me my beloved,” said Ephraim, his voice choked with affection and grief.

Ceispen guided his husband to their bed, and gently pushed him down onto its golden cotton covers.

“For as long as I breathe my beautiful lionheart, I shall always be with you.”

As the remaining sun fell out of the horizon, the rulers of the Northern Kingdom rested in their chambers, and prayed for the day that their son would return to his rightful home, so he could live and rule by his fathers’ sides.

On a side note, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.

Rainbow Snippets – July 23rd 2016

For those of you who don’t know,  Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

In this week’s Rainbow Snippet, we revisit A Treasured Find. It focuses on a treasure hunting witch named Caleb Grimaldi, who is invited to the home of a legendary treasure hunter with his controlling sorcerer boyfriend Michael. After undertaking a hunt on the propety and retrieving a mysteruous vessel, Caleb accidentally frees Varron Sevarine,  a handsome genie prince who is eternally grateful for the selfless act. Over time, the genie helps to build Caleb’s confidence, so he can break free from Michael’s controlling grasp.

In this short segment, Varron has returned home for the first time in five hundred years, and is greeted by a familiar face.

The young prince walked out in the wilderness of the garden and took a long deep breath, relishing in how good it felt to be home. He would have savoured it for several minutes, were it not for a loud noise that shattered the peace of the tranquil garden. The roar of a wild animal. Before the genie could move, he was pounced to the floor by an enormous lion with a shining black mane, and deep golden eyes that held centuries of wisdom in their depths.

Varron didn’t resist against the lion, and instead stroked his back as well as he could. The large cat gave a deep purr, and rubbed against Varron to welcome him home. When it was satisfied, he stepped back from the genie, and in a flash of golden light, the lion shifted into a tall male genie. He had the same black hair and golden eyes as his animal form, and wore a red shirtless vest with white pantaloons.

This man was Ephraim Sevarine. He was the husband of the king, and Varron’s second father.

“Is this a trick?” said the man, “Are you really here?”

The prince got his feet, and gave a wide smile.

“I am Dad. I’m home.”

The second king’s eyes flooded with tears, and he walked slowly over to the younger genie. As soon as he was close enough, Ephraim closed his arms around Varron and held him tight.

“Welcome home, my beautiful son.”

On a side note, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.

Rainbow Snippets – July 9th 2016

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

This week’s Rainbow Snippet is from my work in progress supernatural urban fantasy novel named The Shifting Secrets: Written in Blood, or more correctly, it’s sequel which has yet to be named.

This segment is set seven years before the present day of the novel, in which Alex is called to the alpha of the werewolf pack Byron for an unknown reason.

Talon’s Claw was very quiet when he walked through the main doors. Even Janet the receptionist had nothing to do. She already knew of Alex’s summon, so she gave him the key card to access the Alpha Floors on the lift, then returned to playing her game of Solitaire on her iPhone.

When the doors open wide on his destination floor, Byron was stood in the corridor, waiting for him to arrive. As Alex approached, he looked slightly apprehensive, as if he were waiting for a storm that would never arrive.

He eventually noticed Alex had arrived, and turned to face him.

“You came” he said, after a few moments of silence.

“As soon as I got the message, is something wrong?”

Byron opened the door to his office, and Samantha Fields stepped out into the corridor.

“Mum? What are you doing here?” Alex asked.

His mother smiled widely.

“Me and Byron have something to tell you honey” Sam said, brushing the hair from her eyes.

Alex titled his head in confusion, imitating the very animals he helped protect.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Bryan put his arms around Samantha, and she relaxed graciously into his muscular arms.

“Alex honey, I’m Byron’s mate.”

If there was a record for a jaw hitting the floor, Alex was damn sure he would have broken it. He looked from his mother to the alpha wolf, and back again several times, but they both were certain of their affirmations. He looked down at the floor, unable to process the sudden wave of information immediately. So did this mean that Byron was not only going to be the alpha of the werewolf pack, but also his stepfather.

 

Once again, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.

Rainbow Snippets – June 18th 2016

Hi everyone. It’s been a few weeks but I am finally back to posting Rainbow Snippets! I was all ready to post one at the end of May, but unfortunately my lifelong companion known as depression decided to flare up once again. I am pretty much back to my normal state of mind now, and hopefully I can pick up where I left off.

For those of you who don’t know,  Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

In this Rainbow Snippet, we return to Blitzen’s Gift, which has now reached around 20,000 words. This scene is set in the first few chapters, when Ryan and Blitzen meet for the first time. A word of warning, this scene may leave you needing a form of release.

Ryan took Blitzen’s hand, and was about to answer, when the contact between the two men caused an explosion of lust inside of Ryan. Before he could stop himself, he had let go of Blitzen’s hand, wrapped his arms around the man’s chest and kissed him full on the lips.

For a moment, the two men were frozen in place. Ryan teased the man’s lips with his tongue, until they slipped apart to allow entry to his warm inviting mouth. Realising what he had done, Ryan pulled away from Blitzen and turned his face away in shame.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” he said, waiting for the man to begin a barrage of insults toward him for being so reckless.

He felt a warm hand touch his face, and he slowly looked up to see Blitzen’s expression. The man didn’t look angry, instead he was softly smiling like when they first met.

“Don’t apologise. It was a wonderful kiss. I think you can now consider your debt repaid.”

Ryan blushed brighter than the ripest radish. How could the man be so calm over something so lustful and invasive toward his personal privacy?

Before he could do anything else, Blitzen bent down, and kissed him in return. The man’s forceful tongue brushed the back of his throat, making his already aching manhood brow uncomfortably against his jeans. For several minutes, the two men brushed up against each other, lost in a sea of lust that seemed to grow deeper with every passing moment.

Once again, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.

Rainbow Snippets – May 14th 2016

It’s time once again to post a snippet of an up and coming work on Rainbow Snippets For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

In this week’s Rainbow Snippet, we feature a WIP that has been created in collaboration with AuldMisdione named Paws and Effect. When Felix Driftwood is thrown into a parallel world, he discovers that he is a witch, and that in order to survive he must learn how to use his powers. As part of his initiation, he is asked to create a familiar. Through a set of unusual circumstances, he accidentally creates a handsome anthromorphic half familiar and half genie named Trenvick who proves to be something of an enigma. Can Felix and his new companion find a way to tame his emerging powers, or will a figure from the past seek to remove him from the magical world?

If you are curious as to what the characters look like, AuldMisdione asked for a picture of them from resident deviantArt maestro GeekGirl8, which you can see below. Please visit the original deviation here to show your support to them both.

 

This snippet is set after Trenvick has been summoned for the first time. It is the middle of the night, and Felix cannot sleep.

As he gazed at the ceiling of the bedroom, Felix’s mind was racing like a quadbike on an empty motorway. His first spell had been a relative disaster, and that was putting it lightly. Instead of creating a ordinary familiar, whose powers would be limited to his own, he had created one with the near infinite powers of a genie.

Although Trenvick seemed to be fairly non threatening, he wondered if it was a front to hide his true chaotic nature. No longer able to lie down and wonder about the uncertainty, Felix got to his feet and wandered into the living room, the last place he had seen the handsome man with feline features reside. 

When he arrived, he saw the room was empty, and that the antique shampoo bottle that was Trenvick’s home was lying on the sofa.  As he walked closer, he could hear a soft sound coming from inside the vessel. When Felix picked it up, he realised that it was a gentle snore that could also have been a rumbling purr. The sound seemed to give Felix a sense of comfort that hadn’t surfaced in many years, and for that moment at least, his fears about his new familiar seemed to fade to the back of his mind.

Once again, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed these little snippets, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final releases.

Rainbow Snippets Double Edition – May 7th 2016

It’s time once again to post a snippet of an up and coming work on Rainbow Snippets For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

You may notice that I didn’t post a Rainbow Snippet last week, so I decided that this week I would give you two snippets to make up for the lack of content last weekend. In this first Rainbow Snippet, we return to the world of The Shifting Secrets – Written in Blood. After a traumatic event has taken place, Alex is given a weretiger bodyguard named Nilas Petavoah. This snippet is set the day after, and Alex is getting frustrated at the other man’s closeness.

“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass!” Alex shouted, “I know that I asked for protection, but not to the extent where you have to check for assassins in my bathroom towels!”

Neither man spoke for several moments. When his exasperation had abated somewhat, Alex looked at his bodyguards face. If Nilas was offended, he didn’t show it. Sighing, Alex decided to take the moral high-ground.

“I’m sorry. I’m guess I’m still scared shitless about what happened.”

The tiger’s expression didn’t change, and Alex hoped that he take the apology on board. Grabbing his phone from the dresser, Alex looked over to Nilas.

“I’m going down to the gym for a while. Are you coming?”

A curt nod was his only response. Slight frustration pulled through him, but he kept it bottled. There was no sense in trying to antagonise your bodyguard, even if he drove you up the wall.

The second snippet is taken from the second half of Frozen Heart, which will hopefully be completed before the end of the year. It is set during the time when Jason and Glenn are inside the snow covered wilderness inside the snowglobe.

Without thinking, Jason grabbed Glenn by the hand and pulled him closer. The genie tried to edge away from his embrace, but Jason wouldn’t allow him to leave.

“Master please, don’t,” Glenn said, his voice choked with emotion.

“Glenn, all I am asking for is one kiss. If you don’t want me after that, I will understand, but I cannot hold this back any longer. I’ve wanted to hold you in my arms since the moment we met, but I was so afraid of being hurt again that I pushed myself away from the truth.”

Tears began to fall freely from the genie’s eyes.

“That’s why we can’t do this, in less than three days I’ll be gone, and you’ll be left with a broken heart.”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’ve tried to tell myself over and over that it won’t work between us, but I can’t get you out of my mind. I don’t know what it is between us, but I know it can’t be wrong to let ourselves explore it.”

Not waiting any longer, Jason jumped forward into Glenn’s arms, and placed his lips upon that of the other man. For a moment, the two men remained locked in a state of shock, but the attraction they had suppressed for so long finally made itself known.

Jason pressed his tongue against Glenn’s lips, demanding entrance into his softly covered mouth. Moaning with pleasure, the genie complied to the dominance, and gently licked Jason’s tongue as it passed his frozen lips.

Slowly and carefully, Jason pulled himself away from the other man, and remained still for several moments. Glenn’s cheeks flushed, and his emerald eyes were shining with the beginnings of some carnal desire.

Once again, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed these little snippets, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final releases.

Rainbow Snippets – April 23rd 2016

It’s time once again to post a snippet of an up and coming work on Rainbow Snippets For those of you who don’t know,  Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out here.

In this Rainbow Snippet, we return to The Shifting Secrets, which has now reached over 13,000 words at last count. This scene is set after Alex and Lanley first met, and the young human is trying to help his shifter friend calm himself down. It does have more than six sentences, but the scene does deserve to be read in it’s entireity to understand.

“Lanley, are you alright?” Alex asked, his voice being as soft as he could manage despite his anxiety.

The shifter turned to face him, and Alex jumped, only out of instinct rather than actual fear. The other man had let his animal side began to show. This was evident by the trace of fangs and a muzzle breaking through Lanley’s human masquerade. His sapphire eyes had bled into the beginning of a dark golden hue, giving the impression of a reaction taking place within a test tube. Alex couldn’t tell exactly what kind of shifter his new friend was, but he was sure he must have bee n some kind of feline, making him a rarity around Shinelake.

“Do I look alright?” Lanley snapped, and turned back to face the mirror, his face a picture of total collapse.

“Is this because you are afraid of being discovered as a shifter?”

The man snarled, and threw his fist at the mirror, shattering it in pieces where it stood. Seeing what he had done, fresh tears blossomed from the corners of his eyes.

“I know they know what I am, but I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me lose control!”

Lanley’s voice was choked with the effects of his pent up emotion. This had the effect of making some his words escape his mouth with a growl, rather than audible speech. Alex walked carefully forward, so not to trigger the shifter’s instincts to defend himself.

“I promise you won’t lose control Lan,” he said, in the manner that a mother would sooth her crying son.

A soft growl escaped Lanley’s mouth. Then he looked at his friend with a similar expression to a dog trying to comprehend his owner’s command. It wasn’t uncommon for shifters to lose some of their coherence to human speech in this way. It wasn’t easy to witness, and sometimes harder to understand. When Alex finally reached the other man, he reached and drew the man into a warm embrace. As he did, he massaged the deep muscles embedded within his shoulder. A fresh bout of warm purring escaped the shifters body, and he relaxed into the human’s small yet capable frame.

Without thinking twice, Alex pressed his lips to the shifters face, making sure to reach his cheek, rather than the open mouth. In this moment, it wasn’t about sexual release, it was about comforting a stranger, who was at war with his own fragile emotions.

The purring grew louder as Alex brushed his lips across Lanley’s golden skin. He made sure to lick, to help imitate the touch of a fellow shifter. Under his fingers, Alex felt the man relax, and the animal within begin to retract its defences. When Lanley was human again, at least in appearance, he drew his lips to Alex’s. The gentle contact thanked his friend in ways that words never could.

A gasp escaped Alex, and brushed his fingers through Lanley’s strands of gold. When they drew apart, Alex felt his own desire and Lanley’s animal magnetism work their metaphysical magic. Coming to their senses, the two men pulled themselves apart. They did mourn the loss of each other’s contact for a moment, then gave a slight smile.

“I’m sorry” Lanley said, “I don’t usually get like this, and I don’t kiss every guy I happen to meet.”

Alex smiled, and brushed the creases out of his t-shirt.

“Glad to hear it. Although I admit you are the most handsome guy that I have ever kissed.

Lanley blushed, and wiped the tears from his deep blue eyes.

Once again, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.