Calvin Westbrook's Blog, page 6

Rainbow Snippets – March 12th 2016

It’s hard to believe it is has been nearly a week since I posted my last Rainbow Snippet, but here we are again. 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.

This week’s Rainbow Snippet is from a supernatural mystery and romance novella  named A Treasured Find. It was partially inspired by some of the magical worlds I have loved to read about from authors such as Amber Kell and Maggie Walsh, the mystery focused aspects of Pretty Little Liars and the stories of treasures from around the globe. 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 Sestercius,  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, Caleb is sat at the banquet before the hunt is due to take place. He is feeling fairly unloved because of Michael’s neglect, and is about to receive a gift of an unexpected nature.

 

Just as Caleb rested his arms on the smooth surface of the table, a whirlpool of magical water rose up from the river’s surface. Atop the whirlpool, was a breathtakingly handsome merman. His upper body was sculpted golden man, with pert nipples, several scars probably from a hard fought war and a tattoo of a seahorse on his left shoulder. His hair was long and smooth, and seemed to be a mixture of seaweed green and dishwater blonde. At his waist, his human half ended, and a lower body of an orca whale was formed as his tail.

“Good evening good sirs, my name is Aquarius, and I will be your waiter for this evening.” said the merman, in a voice that oozed sexual charm.

 

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 – March 6th 2016

The great thing about being an author is that there is always a place on the Internet to share your work, and people can offer you their feedback almost instantly.

Recently, one of my author friends Dawn Sister recommended that I check out a Facebook group named Rainbow Snippets, where you share six sentences of a work that has LGBT related content. I decided to join up to the group, as I have been more creatively inspired of late. With that in mind, I have decided to offer my first Rainbow Snippet today, it might be slightly later than I planned, but better late than never.

This Rainbow Snippet is from a supernatural romance named Blitzen’s Gift. It was inspired by one of the finest poems known to the literary community, Twas The Night Before Christmas. It focuses on a young radio DJ named Ryan Yorke, who is brought into the world of a group of reindeer shifers, including it’s handsome alpha Blitzen Krin.

In this sample, Ryan is being confronted by Comet, one of the herd’s Betas, after the shifter has become suspicious about the way that Ryan is trying to help Blitzen find the man who broke his heart.

 

Ryan was taken aback. He had expected more of an accusation from the other man.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, trying to redirect the conversation away from where he was sure it was about to lead.

“You know that Blitzen is sensitive when he talks about Nikolas, and yet you are insisting on trying to find him. Do you want him to suffer any more than he has to?”

“I’m not trying to make him suffer!” Ryan replied, his voice a bit louder than he intended. All he wanted was to put things right, and no one seemed to want to help.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, and are looking forward to another snippet as well as the final release.

Belated Happy New Year

I know it is slightly late, but I would just like to wish everyone in the writing and reading community a Happy New Year. My latest job has sadly come to it’s end because of budget cuts by the company, but I am hoping to turn things around once I got used to the idea of being unemployed.

I will still be searching for a job, but in the meantime I can focus on my writing as well as other personal projects. I will also be doing more excerpt posts, showcasing books that I have enjoyed reading and mentioning fellow authors who deserve recognition for the work they put into their creations.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

Unedited Sample #2 – A Treasured Bind

Just in time for Christmas, I thought I would share another short sample of the story in the works that has characters created in collaboration with AuldMisdione.

In this segment, a genie named Varron Sestercius has returned home after many years imprisoned in a bottle, and the experiences he feels at being liberated.

 

In a puff of light purple smoke, Varron Sestercius appeared at his ancestral home. The Northern Kingdoms hadn’t really changed in the five hundred years that he had been away, but it wasn’t as if the genie had expected there to have been any dramatic changes that would have occurred. As he looked around, and saw the shining cream domes above the palace walls. In his younger years, Varron had flown around them for hours on end, much to the despair of his parents, who feared he would fall to the marketplace that had been assembled underneath them.

Although he spent the majority of his time floating in the air, Varron loved to feel the soft blades of the kingdom’s grass beneath his feet. This was of course, when he wasn’t forced to wear the slippers that came with the imprisonment he had suffered for half a millennium. After finally being liberated from the accursed bottle, Varron couldn’t wait to land on the fresh green pasture. Along with the beautiful kingdoms and the strong bonds of friendship he had forged in the palace, Varron had missed this simple pleasure most of all, and hoped to never be without it for the rest of his life.

With a majestic wave of his hand, Varron watched at the slippers vanished in a flash of golden smoke, leaving behind his naked feet in all their glory. Closing his eyes in anticipation, Varron descended towards the ground and rested upon the freshly mown lawn. For several minutes, the genie relished the ability to touch something other than cheaply made velvet, wriggling his toes with delight at the tickling sensation caused the evergreen blades.

Five hundred years had seemed like an eternity, regardless of his status as an immortal being, so he would be forever grateful to the witch who had selflessly relieved him of his burden. Many people would have been tempted to rub the bottle, which would have invoked it’s curse, and made Varron their loyal servant until he had granted them three wishes. It might not have been an original hex that he had been placed under, but as a magical spirit who thrived on giving others their personal freedoms, having his own be taken away was a fate worse than his improbable death.

With a jump of joy, Varron moved himself on the dusty road which led up to the bridge which seperated the mainland from the palace of the Northern Kingdoms. He wondered how his family would respond to his sudden return, and what had happened to Lorenzo, the man who had banished him inside a cursed vessel. Varron had nothing to antagonise the prince of the Eastern Kingdoms which would have justified such an unworthy punishment.

If a genie chose to go into a bottle or a lamp, they did so of their own free will to keep the stories of the magical creatures alive in the hearts of man, and to give purpose to the powers that had passed down to them for thousands of years. Many genies often gave thanks to the first men and women to hold the power of wishes in the palm of their hands, as without their noble actions, they would likely never have been born.

Although the general consensus of their kind would suggest otherwise, many genies considered their powers to be ascended from a higher place, and the ability to conjure the impossible or to give people their hearts desire was something to be cherished. As such, they would never cast aside their morals aside or corrupting the spirits of the people who summoned them from their temporary homes. Admittedly there were individuals who embraced the darker side of making other’s desires become reality, but for most part they were divided from those who followed the path of benevolence.

As Varron stepped up to the bridge, he smiled as he saw it’s crumbling structure before his eyes. Although it was impossible for the structure to collapse due to the magic holding it together, everyone in the kingdom preferred it to be this way, as it gave a sense of character to the otherwise perfect world that filled their surroundings. It reminded them of the vulnerability of the people who benefited from the wishes they made come true, and the honour of being the one to ensure their wounds were treated with selfless acts of caring, and unconditional love.

 

Hope you enjoyed this, and I’ll hopefully have more for you next year.

Unedited Sample – A Treasured Bind

As a pre-Christmas treat, I thought I would share a short sample of a story that is currently in the works. It is the first that I have made with characters that were in made in collaboration with AuldMisdione.

In this segment, a young witch named Caleb Grimaldi has just entered a dining room at the home of a famous adventurer. But not everything is as you might expect.

 

When they got to the dining room, Caleb’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

The room must have been at least half a mile wide, and maybe two miles long. Scattered across the landscape were tables made of pure crystal, each one twice as large as any he had ever seen.

On the floor, which was covered in a soft grass that seemed to sway in an invisible breeze, a large river snaked around the tables. At various places along the body of water, wooden carved bridges were stationed, each of them engraved with symbols of ancient magic from the deepest forests. All of these fixtures seemed to sparkle and sparkling in the light of a mysterious moon like object, which hung without supports in the space which occupied the ceiling.

Caleb knew that most of the room had likely been constructed using magic, but it was still breathtaking. The various guests that had entered along with Caleb and Michael didn’t seem to pay any mind to their surroundings. They must have been so used to the parlour tricks of the adventurer, that they wouldn’t have given a second glance even if an impossible object had materialised within their presence.

After a moment of talking amongst themselves, the other guests began to walk across the bridges to the crystal tables and took one of the equally magnificent crystal  dining chairs as their chosen destination. Caleb and Michael walked in their stead, the latter not really paying attention to his lover, or to the spectacular place he found himself walking through at that moment in time.

As Caleb walked through the room, he saw several wonderful things flowing in the river. There were several plants such as duckweed and reeds, but also several creatures of the ocean such as salmon, jellyfish and even the occasional crab walked skittishly across the rocks that had settled at the base of the water bed.

Taking a seat at a large crystal seat by the edge of the water, Caleb was reminded of the Kingdom of Ravandar he had visited on one of his many travels. Although he had been begrudged to go into one of their ocean temples to retrieve a sunken treasure, he would never forget the beautiful scenery he witnessed as he travelled to and from it’s resting place.

Just as Caleb rested his arms on the smooth surface of the table, a whirlpool of magical water rose up from the river’s surface. Atop the whirlpool, was a breathtakingly handsome merman. His upper body was sculpted golden man, with pert nipples, several scars probably from a hard fought war and a tattoo of a seahorse on his left shoulder. His hair was long and smooth, and seemed to be a mixture of seaweed green and dishwater blonde. At his waist, his human half ended, and a lower body of an orca whale was formed as his tail.

“Good evening good sirs,” said the merman, in a voice that oozed sexual charm. “My name is Aquarius, and I will be your waiter for this evening.”

Caleb wondered how much the handsome merman was being paid to work at this celebration, because unfortunately the merfolk were not treated with the greatest of respect on land, even though they were practically royalty when in their ocean homes. The various guests seated at Aquarius’s table all gave him their requests for their drinks, all the while conversing amongst themselves about the state of the magical economy, and which sorcerer had just lost his place in the recent magical council elections.

As each order was made, Aquarius produced a small scrap of parchment from inside a kelp purse around his neck, and with a wave of his hand, the writing appeared on each page in a stylish Celtic font. When Aquarius had finished with each one, the page fluttered away towards the nearest dumb waiter, where it travelled upwards towards a makeshift tavern on the second floor.

“And what can I get for you, my handsome witch?” Aquarius asked, tapping Caleb on his shoulder with one of his strong muscular arms. The magical acolyte jumped nearly five feet into the air, causing the merman to blush with surprise, then gather the fresh piece of parchment which had fallen into the butter dish.

When he had regaining himself, Caleb blushed at his accidental predicament.

“I’ll just have a mineral water.” he said, knowing that he would likely need to be the designated driver, so to speak.

“An excellent decision,” replied Aquarius, “Our water comes from the peak of one of the elven mountains, at the spring where they brew the magic that brings the summer breeze to the whole continent. Many people I have spoken to, say it is one of the most delicious beverages they have ever tasted.”

With that, the merman waved the order up to the tavern, then nodded his head in respect. Before anyone could ask him anything else, Aquarius leapt from the magical rising water, and crashed back into the river from whence he came. A large cascade of the resulting splash flew through the air, and landed all over Michael.

In spite of himself, Caleb began to laugh. His boyfriend gave him a pointed stare, which caused the witch to stop almost immediately. After grumbling about the attitude of merpeople in general, Michael waved his hand, and chanted a small verse in his native sorcerer tongue. A gust of wind surrounded him, and in moments he was completely devoid of the unwanted water.

After he had composed himself, Caleb wondered how the merman was going to bring their drinks over to their table, because unless he was part octopus, he would only be able to carry two drinks in his arms, and a tray would not be practical when swimming through the currents of the river. His silent question was answered almost at once, as a tray laiden with the order flew just above the river’s surface, no doubt guided by the magical powers of the waiter, or the barkeeps held up in the tavern.

The tray stopped just short of Caleb’s table, and then floated up onto the cotton cloth which protected it from harm. Each of the guests picked up their chosen beverage, until only a seashell shaped glass remained, filled with the brim with crystal clear water that shimmered with the residual magic of an elven spring.

Caleb smiled. The merman could have asked for the drink alone, but to offer someone a seashell glass was in their culture, a symbol of sexual attraction. He knew that merpeople would often flirt with whoever they could find, as swimming the deepest oceans rarely left time for finding a lasting companion.

Although he knew that Michael would lose his mind if Caleb ever tried to go with another man, at least while they were together, he was flattered that Aquarius had taken the time to make him feel appreciated. He loved the sorcerer, but the merman had been more romantic in the space of five minutes, than Michael had been in the past three months.

The evening progressed in much the same way. Michael was busy trying to talk to anyone who would accept his attention, and to some of the few citizens of the magical community he happened to have met. Whether this was through his wheeling and dealing in the upper circles, Caleb didn’t know, and that moment, he couldn’t really have cared less.

Five minutes after their drinks arrived, Aquarius returned and asked for their choice of main course. Most of the table chose to opt for the lobster, crayfish and caviar platter, but Caleb opted for the lamb korma, a decision which made the merman smile once more.

“Creamy and sweat, just like yourself,” he said, winking with one of his deep turquoise eyes. It was at that point at the witch blushed brighter than a beetroot, which only made the masculine half man grin even wider.

When he had sent the orders on their way, Aquarius leapt back into the water once again. Michael held up an umbrella to prevent himself from getting soaked, but to add insult to injury, he was hit with another set of waves that came from the opposite direction.

After they had chosen their main course, Caleb had decided to sit down by the riverbank until it arrived, and flick some of the water across to the other side with his right hand. He hoped that this would summon the beautiful merman back to their table, as speaking with Aquarius would be more entertaining than watching Michael stroke his ego by talking only about himself, and occasionally his beloved grandmother.

Besides, he partially hoped that if Michael saw Aquarius flirting with Caleb, it would arose a hint of jealousy in the sorcerer. He didn’t want to bring any harm to the aquatic adonis, but it would never hurt to make Michael wake up and smell the coffee, even if it was being served cold.

Almost as if he had been waiting for the right moment to strike, Aquarius’s head broke the surface of the water, and playfully flicked some of it at the witch. Caleb looked down at him, and casually returned the favour. Before the two could continue their playfight, another set of trays came down the river, this time carrying their main courses.

With another stunning grin, Aquarius’s head vanished into the water, leaving the witch to return to his table, and eat the meal that had been prepared. As he watched Michael completely ignoring him once again, Caleb wondered if he would even care if he kissed Aquarius right in front of him. But no matter how much he was tempted, Caleb knew he could never go through with it. Regardless of Michael’s apparent disinterest in him, he wasn’t going to cheat on the man he had fallen in love with, even if the feelings weren’t returned.

With a sigh, Caleb continued to eat his main course, and imagined what it would be like to make love with a merman.

 

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet. I’ll hopefully have some more to share with you before Christmas.

November Praises and Mentions

It seems like a long time since I wrote my last blog post, and after checking my site, it seems that I have been absent for four months. The one thing about modern life is how busy everything seems to be, and that is certainly true in my case. I got a few part time jobs which drained me of my energy for a while, but now I am back and ready to roll once again.

The first part of Frozen Heart has now been available for nine months, and has received a fair amount of attention from the reviewing public on Goodreads and Amazon. One of the best reviews was from fellow indie author Dawn Sister, whose is in the process of writing her first book to be published as we speak.

She wrote –

“Oh I did enjoy this book. It has some very interesting characters and a nice take on the classic genie story.

Glenn has been trapped for fifty years in a once treasured possession, a snow globe, that then comes into the possession of the unwitting hero of the story, Jason. He inherits the snow globe along with other artifacts, from his uncle and unleashes the now very bitter genie. He’s been stuck in a snow globe for fifty years and his heart has frozen.

Jason has seven days to thaw Glenn’s icy interior and exterior and the events take place over Christmas, to add to the atmosphere.

Anyway, this is well worth a read.”

I think you will agree it was a very pleasing review, especially as the story has not yet reached it’s conclusion.

Another piece of good news is that I came across someone on deviantArt by the name of AuldMisdione who shares my passion for genies. He has a wide selection of characters, both anthromorphic and human shaped that I helped create during our wild and wonderful conversations. I always remained anonymous on his side, because he didn’t know how artists and fellow authors would react to published individuals sharing ideas with independant creators.

After some discussion, we have come to an agreement that I can use alternate universe versions of the characters I helped to bring to life in any of my future stories. All he asks for is that his name be acknoledged at the beginning of any work they are featured in, rather than asking for monetary compensation for their usage. I believe this is only fair, and as such, cannot wait to bring these new characters to life with short stories and original fiction.

To finish up this post, I would like to thank AuldMisdione for his genorosity, and to Dawn Sister for such a considerate review of Frozen Heart. Hope to see you soon!

 

 

Frozen Heart in the Smashwords Sale

If you are interested in reading Frozen Heart, you may be pleased to learn it is now available in Smashwords July Summer/Winter Sale. If you use the coupon code listed on the book page, you can receive the book for free.

Thank you for all the support you have given me, it really means alot.

Frozen Heart Book 1 Now Available

Afer some months of writing and refining, the first book in my Frozen Heart series is now available to be read. It is available on Amazon and Smashwords, so if you’re in the mood for the beginnings of a supernatural romance, I highly recommend you take a look.

Amazon UK – Link

Amazon US – Link

Smashwords – Link

I’m going to take a short break, then I’ll start writing the second book, as well as my other projects. Hope you enjoy Frozen Heart, I’ll see you soon!

Free Short Story – Jackpot

When I released my first eBook back in 2011, I originally only posted them as free downloads. As time passed, I decided to post one of my short stories onto Amazon Kindle, and with that my journey into selling eBooks began.

As I am now writing to a different standard than I did some years ago, I have decided to post one of my premium short stories for free on my blog. With this being said, I would like to thank everyone who purchased it, as without your kind donations, I would not have had the confidence to move onto bigger projects.

Without further ado, here is Jackpot, the very first short story I ever published on Kindle.

Thank you once again for reading my work. I will hopefully have some new content for you to read very shortly.

Blog Story – A Drop of Desire (Part 1)

Several authors I know have created stories specially for their blogs, and publish them later as fully fledged works. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and today I can reveal that I have finished the first part of my very first blog story. It is named A Drop of Desire, and involves a human named Bryen and a vampire named Cairo.

With a shuddering creak, the door to the bar opened and Bryen stepped through. There was a little drizzle falling around the alleyway, but he did his best to shake his instinct to stay under cover. Bryen knew that needed to get home as quickly as possible. If he didn’t, who knew what the enchanting vampire he had met would do to him next.

It wasn’t to say he didn’t find Cairo attractive, but it definitely felt that their relationship was going too fast. Their encounter had only counted as the first date, and the vampire had drunk some of his blood. What would happen on the second, or even the third? Bryen didn’t want to think about it.

Taking a deep breath through his nose to help brave the storm, Bryen smelled something he didn’t want to sense. Something that smelled remarkably like the remains of the blood Cairo had left on his neck, only it was ten times as pungent.

Forgetting all his fears, Bryen ran forward to try and find the source. He hoped it wasn’t another vampire, because he had enough experience with the undead to last him a lifetime.

As he moved along the alley, the smell grew stronger. If it was someone in need, and not one a supernatural being, they needed help fast. When he turned the nearest corner, Bryen almost tripped over a large dead weight. Steadying himself on a drainpipe, he looked around and saw to his horror, that Leo was slumped face down on the floor, and two large puncture marks had been jabbed into his jugular. Blood had poured around him like a sauce around a prime steak, and several gashes on his wrists added insult to the already grievous wounds.

“Leo!” Bryen shouted, and turned the man so he could see his face.

Almost mercifully, Leo’s facial features had been untouched but his eyes were close to glazing over. He was going to die from the loss of blood, and there was nothing that he could do. Bryen felt his body begin to retch, and large salty tears fell from his eyes. He was so absorbed in his grief, that he didn’t sense the unnatural breeze that blasted through the alleyway. Despite his broken state, Bryen shivered, and was stunned to feel a solid weight rest itself on his shoulder.

Spinning around, he saw the seven foot figure of Cairo holding his hand around his frame. Despite his casanova attitude earlier in the evening, he now looked ready to fight to the death.

“My sapphire, what is wrong?” he asked, his words offering both sympathy and an urgent request.

Bryen was almost too shocked to answer the caring undead man, or to push away the uncomfortable feeling of being given a pet name. He needed someone to rub his back, and tell him it was all just a dream. He needed reassurance that he hadn’t met a gorgeous long haired vampire and fallen in lust with him.

Most of all, Bryen wanted someone to slap his face, and tell him that his best friend wasn’t steps away from death’s door.

Hope you enjoyed the first part of this story. If you did or didn’t, please leave some feedback so I can grow as an author. THe next part should be arriving in the next few days. Thanks for reading!