Sol Crafter's Blog, page 18

Keller, by Trevor Luckman

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Title: Keller #1

Writer: Trevor Luckman

Penciler/Inker: Ryan Gutierrez

Colorist: Ashley Christensen

Letter: Fred C. Stresing

Summary: Martin Keller a 700 year old vampire has to deal with his new life after he undergoes a procedure that makes him human. Keller is now hunted by a group of vampires determined to kill him for betraying his race. As a civil war among vampires rages, he must protect himself and his friends without his supernatural abilities.

The Kickstarter from Rogue Paradigm is for the first issue, but just peeking at the images… well, it’s worth the $3500 they’re asking for. Kind of reminds me of the better issues of Sandman, a title I really enjoyed.

Good color, clear lettering (though the baddies talk like Death — black bubbles, white lettering, jaggedy font), and an interesting story: Vampire undergoes a procedure to turn him back into a human, which pisses off the Occidio, vampires that want to keep humans as their blood slaves and want to bring Keller down for betraying his own kind. He’s got a group of human friends — both mundane and magical — and he’s vowed to do whatever to protect his friends and his new human life.

Looks good, very actiony, and basically a title I really want to see in print. Go check ‘em out.

From Rogue Paradigm:

Is Keller to be an ongoing series?

Yes! Although this Kickstarter funds us to make Issue #1 there’s a long term plan for Keller including many years of issues. Keller is Rogue Paradigm’s first planned ongoing series and we have exciting plans laid out for the characters and story! But until we can lay out future plans, we need to get the funds to make at least one issue to get the comic into the marketplace.

What size is Keller going to be?

Comic book printing can be a very technical business having to do with dimensions, trim areas, and bleeding, but we will spare no expense to offer the best Standard Comic Book Printing size with full bleed pages at dimensions roughly at 6.875 x 10.500.

Over three grand! Where’s this money going?

Making a comic is an expensive business and generally without much profit at the end of the day. The money is being used to support our artists to take time off other paid projects so they can solely focus on Issue #1.

Also, the bulk of the money goes to paying for the best possible printing of Issue #1 and to get you the highest quality rewards promised.

Rogue Paradigm founder and writer Trevor Luckman is NOT taking one dollar from this project. All money goes to the Pencil/Inker, Colorist, Letterer, and fulfilling the highest quality product offered as rewards.

Do prizes after 15 dollars include the variant cover or the regular cover?

Good question! We forgot to mention this early on. 10 dollar pledge gets you the regular Keller cover. 14 dollar gets you the variant Keller cover. Any pledge 15 dollars and more you get to CHOOSE between a variant cover or regular cover. And any pledge after this amount also includes the comic being signed by the Keller Team!

ABOUT ROGUE PARADIGM

Founded in 2012 by writers and comic book enthusiasts’ Trevor Luckman and Ty Luckman, Rogue Paradigm hopes to impact the world of comics by attracting not only traditional comic book readers, but a whole new breed of comic book fan by specializing in unique and nontraditional comic book stories. By using Kickstarter, Rogue Paradigm hopes to get funding to launch several comic book projects in the near future.

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Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

EXCERPT: Bastian [novella m/m contemporary romance] Brownstone Diaries #2

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Title: Bastian

Series: The Brownstone Diaries

Author: Sol Crafter

Genre: mm contemporary romance

A/N: This excerpt is the start of the story. Looking for beta readers if anyone is interested. And of course, once it’s all done and published for real, there’s acknowledgements and a free good copy.

Summary: A bookshop clerk meets a lawyer and they both get a little crushy on each other. Like literally.

EXCERPT–

BASTIAN

By Sol Crafter

The shop was quiet and still as Bastian reached beneath the counter for some handi-wipes. His fingers felt grimy after he’d feather-dusted the books and rearranged some of the shelves. It was just another boring Thursday.

Quickly wiping his hands clean, he threw the wipes in the garbage and settled down on the stool behind the cash register. He had another hour before he could lock up and head home. Not that he had much to look forward to there. Dinner and maybe a bit of TV. Thrilling.

Bastian sighed and pulled out the graphic novel he’d tucked onto the shelf under the counter edge. It wasn’t the best, but he kind of wanted to finish it after investing so much time in it and having to special order it and all the drama he’d basically put himself through.

He’d probably read three pages when there was the cheerful jingle of the bells hanging from the door and he hurriedly looked up. He straightened his shoulders and tried to appear attentive. Then he got a good look at the customer and there was no way he could be anything else.

Standing in front of the double doors was a man in a gorgeous dark gray, nearly black suit and a dark maroon vest that matched his silk tie with an open gray trench coat over top. His brown hair was wind tousled and he pushed his silver framed glasses back up his nose with his finger as he stepped all the way into the store, his expensive Italian leather shoes clicking on the hardwood as he left the welcome mat. He was tall and broad shouldered and there was no way Bastian was hiding his ogling in any kind of real way, because holy crap, that was one good looking guy.

“Hello, can I help you?” Bastian asked. Covertly, he slipped his book back under the counter.

The man zeroed in on him and strode forward with a smile. “Yeah, do you think you can point me toward any copies of ‘Alice In Wonderland’ you have?”

Bastian stepped out from behind the counter. He hurriedly tugged his dark green bowling shirt straight and hoped he didn’t look as messy as he felt. “We have new and used copies. Do you have a preference?”

“I’ve been collecting copies for my niece Alice, so if you have some nice used copies… That would be wonderful.” He smiled, flashing a set of white-white teeth.

There was no way Bastian could help the heat that flashed through him. Dark brown hair, light caramel colored skin, and beautiful teeth–it was like all his buttons were being hit at once. There was even an authority vibe from the strong air of confidence shrouding the man and the fact that he had to be a good ten years older.

“Um, here, over here,” Bastian said, then winced internally. He sounded like a total idiot, all breathless and pitchy.

He hurriedly led the way over to the Classics section, wondering if the guy was checking out his ass or not. Just the thought of it made his heart trip-thud in his chest. He’d thought he was beyond the whole schoolgirl crush thing, but obviously not. “We’ve got five collectible copies of ‘Alice,’” he said, holding his hand out toward the dark cherry wood bookshelf and twisting around to give the guy a smile. “I remember glancing through them before they were shelved. Some of them have some very nice illustrations and one even has gold gilding.”

The man grinned at him, showing off crinkles at the corners of his eyes. “That sounds perfect.” He had a little bit of an upper-crust accent and that only added to the charm, and there was no way Bastian was indulging his English gentleman kink in his head, no way. Except he kind of was and more than anything he wanted the guy to put on a British accent and start talking about being a rogue demon hunter.

Bastian stepped sideways so the man could approach the bookcase and twisted his fingers together behind his back. He felt like his face was on fire and the hint of amusement in the man’s eyes only made him feel more self-conscious and eager to please.

“Thank you,” the man said, stepping toward the shelf and incidentally right into Bastian’s personal space. He was a few inches taller and broader across the chest, which had Bastian curiously eying the breadth of his shoulders and the tug and pull of expensive fabric over his biceps, which Bastian couldn’t help thinking might be muscular and strong and he wished the man wasn’t wearing the overcoat or the suit jacket or really anything at all.

Bastian hurriedly backed up a few steps, his high tops stumbling over each other. Here was this good looking older guy in real grown up clothes while Bastian was wearing a bowling shirt, skinny jeans, and white sneakers. He hoped his face wasn’t as red as he thought it was and he wished he’d gotten that haircut he’d been planning.

The man perused the shelves, his glasses glinting on his face as he turned his head, then carefully took down and flipped through the different editions. His hands were large and strong, the fingers elegant as he handled the books, his nails well maintained. “These are really very beautiful,” he said, sounding pleased.

Bastian shrugged like it didn’t matter even though he felt a thrill of delight. “We usually get something like those from private collections. People love old books and they hold onto them. It’s kind of sad, but it’s usually after the owner dies and their family is looking to make some money that we get a hold of them.” He gestured at the books as he talked. “I made the selections on those. It was a toss up between a vintage edition of ‘Lolita’ and ‘Alice.’ I chose ‘Alice.’”

“I think you made a good choice,” the man said, smiling at him. “I’m going to take these two,” he held up the leather-bound gilded edition and a whimsical, nearly cartoonish edition. “One looks pretty antique, and the other looks like it’s off the Saturday morning cartoons. I think Alice will be really happy to get them.”

“Will that be all?” Bastian asked, walking toward the front counter.

The man looked around, a regretful expression on his face. “I want to look around more, but this was my last stop for the day and I’m expected for dinner.” Bastian felt a ridiculous rush of disappointment at the thought that the man might be married. “My sister is so impatient. There’s no way she would forgive me if I was late because I was looking at books.”

Bastian smiled brightly, unable to resist a burst of hope-hope-hope. “So you’ll just have to come here again,” he said, rocking forward on his toes a little as he dug his fingers against the metal edge of the cash register.

“I think I will,” the man said, setting the books on the counter. The corners of his lips turned up as he looked at Bastian, his dark brown eyes so intense and focused that Bastian felt like he was the only thing the man could see. “I’ve always had a fascination for books and bookshops and… shopkeepers,” his voice dipped at the last, a deep growling purr.

There was no way Bastian could keep the blush off his cheeks and he didn’t really try all that hard, just ducked his chin and let his hair fall across his eyes. He started ringing up the books and put them in a paper bag. It was only after he’d finished his task that he looked up at the man.

“Um, that’ll be $357.50,” he said. “And if you wanted to come here again, I’m sure you could find something to interest you.” Like me, went completely unsaid, though he thought it really loudly.

“Here you go,” the man slid four crisp hundred dollar bills across the counter. “I caught a glimpse of some really interesting things in here. I’m fairly certain that you’ll be seeing more of me in the future.”

Bastian hurriedly made change and passed it over. Their fingers brushed and he couldn’t stop a little hitching gasp. He met the man’s eyes and felt such an intense want that he didn’t think he hid it very well or at all. “It would be my pleasure if you came again,” he said, his cheeks burning.

The man glanced at his watch and frowned regretfully before meeting Bastian’s eyes again. “I wish I could stay longer now, but I’ve really gotta go.” He started walking toward the door, then turned back toward Bastian. “I promise I’ll be back.”

“I’ll see you next time!” Bastian called, waving his hand and watching him go. Then once the door closed behind the man, he dropped his hand into his lap and his straight spine bowed and he thumped his forehead against the counter several times. “Smooth, real smooth.”

If there was one thing he’d never managed to outgrow, it was his ability to act like a total spaz. For as long as he could remember, he’d always gotten flustered and stupid around people he liked even just a little bit.

It had to be the most embarrassing personality trait ever.

/ EXCERPT

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Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

The Mighty Titan, by Joe Martino

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Title: The Mighty Titan

Writer/Creator: Joe Martino

Penciler: Luca Cicchitti

Penciler: Cory Smith

Inker: Jeff Austin

Colorist: Keith J. Betancourt

Letterer: Johnny Lowe

Cover art by: Jerry Ordway, Jamal Igle, John Byrne, Bob McLeod, and Phil Jimenez

5 Issue Miniseries that wraps Joe Martino’s cancer in a superhero shell. Who will protect The Mighty Titan’s alter ego from cancer?

 

From Joe Martino: “The Mighty Titan is my newest creation that essentially takes my cancer (and other) experiences and wraps them in a superhero shell. This isn’t autobiographical. I have researched and talked to other cancer survivors to try and get the feeling of what other people have experienced. The plan is to do a 5 issue mini-series with the possibility of it continuing. I created Titan in 2004 during my first bout with Kidney cancer. It was a tough decision to take some of my personal experiences and put them to paper in order to entertain and possibly allow people a glimpse of what some of us go through while battling this potentialy deadly disease.

“Make no mistake, this is still a cool, fun superhero book with vile villians, giant Mechas and some really great mythological creatures. But there is certainly an underlying theme of fear and loss.”

THE MIGHTY TITAN –

The story of the world’s strongest protector and how he deals with the idea that of mortality.

“Imagine for a moment that you were the worlds strongest protector. Imagine that no knife, bullet or bomb can harm you. Then imagine in that moment you are told you have cancer.

“Titan is a character who is for all intents and purposes, invulnerable. He cannot be harmed by any means known to man. His alter ego doesn’t have such luck. Titan’s alter ego is dying. What now?”

I was all set to beg some money for the man and kick the butts of everyone I could reach toward the Kickstarter page to throw down some money, but it looks like he’s hit his goal. Congrats Joe!

Since that’s the case, I want you all to look down at the art below. I want you to picture just how much awesome this book is brimming with. Then when it becomes available, you can line up with me to buy a copy.

 

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Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

NOVEL: From Diamond to Coal, by Sol Crafter – Chapter Seven [science fiction]

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

From Diamond to Coal
Title: From Diamond to Coal

Author: Sol Crafter

Genre: science fiction, mm romance

Rating: teen+

Landing page: From Diamond to Coal



Summary: William Neeley is a genius. At the age of 15 he started Cyber Angel Industries and has since completely changed the face of the modern world. From personal shielding technology to enhanced musculature to home electronics, William has a finger in every pie and is quickly becoming the world's most wealthy individual.



He shares his life with his husband, Alan Trent, and their young son Morgan.



William always strives to maintain his image of "normal life," though he is diverted at every turn. Whether he's posing half-naked on billboards, creating massive death rays, or Alan is becoming the President of the United States, or Morgan has grown wings, or he's accidentally torn a rip in the space time continuum... he will always say that his life is nothing but normal.



Welcome to his world.




All of the chapters being offered for free have only received the lightest of editing. The paid copies will be worth the money, though I know that I personally love getting stuff for free and ARC copies are the best :)



If you spot any errors, please let me know in the comments. You'll receive my forever gratitude. Plus, you know, any feedback on the story would be cool too. I've been in fandom, I've learned to grow a semi-thick skin.


Chapter One -- 2218 words (9 ms pages) Chapter Two -- 7258 words (30 ms pages) Chapter Three -- 3810 words (16 ms pages) Chapter Four -- 3936 words (16 ms pages)


Chapter Five -- 8045 words (33 ms pages) Chapter Six -- 4093 words (10 ms pages) Chapter Seven -- 6135 words (15 ms pages)Chapter Eight

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

“So, is this going to be my thing from now on?” he asked sardonically.

Alan gave him a stricken look and William felt a twinge go through him.

Alan looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was ashen but for two spots of color high on his cheeks. He looked exhausted, as though he hadn’t slept in days, or as though he had been wrung empty by terror and had nothing left to give.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” William said. His hand shook when he lifted it up and he could feel sweat dotting his brow at the effort of lifting his arm at all.

Alan reached out and caught William’s hand, holding it close against his chest. He didn’t say anything. His lips pressed together in a tight line.

William closed his eyes for a long moment, trying to escape from that expression on Alan’s face. “I’m still here. They didn’t get me.”

“But it was so close,” Alan’s voice was whispery. “You could have died and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“But I didn’t die and we’ll be more careful from now on.” William licked his dry lips and tried to seem as alive as possible. “We were incredibly lucky, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean we should give into fear and just stop living.” He saw Alan’s expression shifting and thought that maybe he was getting through to him. “I have to make jokes about it to keep from screaming.”

“I understand,” Alan said, “but it just jolts through me every time I’m reminded that I could have lost you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Alan leaned forward over the hospital bed to brush the hair from William’s forehead. “You always are.”

William frowned unhappily. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. It made him sit there in tense stillness, just watching Alan.

They sat in silence for what felt like hours.

“You know what we should do,” Alan suddenly said, “we should have them come in and paint the apartment.”

William gave him a shocked look. Carefully, he said, “You want to repaint already? It wasn’t all that long ago that they did it last time.”

Alan looked at him. “When this is all over and whoever has been trying to kill you is caught, we are going to have the apartment painted. We might also need new carpeting and drapes.”

“Oh, okay,” William said slowly. It looked like Alan was cracking around the edges. “I’ll have James light a fire under someone’s butt. You can pick out our new paint and carpet colors.”

“How about you just stay in your hospital bed and rest and I’ll arrange everything. I do know where all your phone numbers and everything are.” Alan gave him an exasperated look. “Have you ever seriously thought about getting a personal assistant? If there was someone people could turn to when you were incapacitated, I think everything would go a lot more smoothly.

“But if I have a PA that knows all the future plans and knows everything, why does anyone need me?” William asked. “They could decide to assassinate me at any time because they’ll have the keys to all the coffers.”

Alan gave him a flat look. “Why do you have to be like this? It’s not like your money is all kept in a personal savings account or something. You have a whole accounting division that handles your money and everything. If your PA wanted to steal some money, sure, they could do it, but it would be such a small amount to the rest of your fortune.”

“I know.” William sighed. “I just don’t like the thought of someone I don’t know following me around everywhere I go.”

“Isn’t that basically James?” Alan asked, quirking his eyebrow.

William laughed. “Yeah, except he thinks computers are like possessed by the devil and I don’t think he could learn the things necessary to make a good PA. Naw, James would be perfect for the following around part, but he just doesn’t have the educational background for the rest.”

“What you should do is clone yourself,” Alan said. “You’d have a PA you were perfectly comfortable being around, the other you would know everything necessary to run the company, and it would be great.”

“No it wouldn’t,” William said. “We’d probably end up killing each other because while there was two of us, there’s only one of you. And I am very jealous about you.”

Alan leaned forward to press a kiss against William’s lips. “You don’t have to feel jealous. You’re the only one for me.”

“Ah,” William cooed, “that’s very cute of you. And by the way, it made me think about this project we’ve got going in the B Lab.” He waited a second for Alan to say something, but the other man just looked at him. “We’ve been working on what we’ve termed a uterine replicator. It’s a machine that recreates the exact conditions of the human womb. We’re thinking about offering a service whereby childless couples can have children without having to use surrogate mothers.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you’re not messing around with human experimentations, are you?” Alan suddenly sounded deadly serious. “You know that that’s illegal.”

“I know, and no, we’re not playing around with human experimentation. We’re just building a machine to give life; it’s no big deal,” William assured him.

“Well, whatever you’re doing, just be careful you don’t start trying to bend any laws, okay?” Alan stood up and began adjusting William’s blankets around him. “I’m a congressman and I don’t think it will go too well for me when I have to admit that yes, my husband is a convicted felon.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” William said. “So, you’re heading out?”

Alan grabbed his jacket from off the back of his chair and slipped it on. “It’s something I can’t really miss without, you know, losing my job. I should be back tomorrow. Will you be all right?”

William just looked at him for a long moment. Here was a man that was willing to miss work to stay in the hospital with him. It just seemed to make the whole situation a lot less lonely to him.

“You go to your thing and have fun,” William smiled. “Have a couple of glasses of wine with your friends and come back tomorrow to regale me with tales of rampant excitement.”

Alan shook his head. “Did you just think that when you said it, or have you been practicing that line in your head for the past hour?”

“It’s one of those things,” William said. “Whatever drugs they’re giving me, they make me a lot more verbose than I usually am.”

“You’re like a stereotypical science nerd now!” Alan crowed, pointing a finger at him.

William was glad to see that Alan was beginning to come back from his terrible shock. He didn’t want to avoid dying by an assassin only to lose Alan anyway.

“So I guess that means you have a thing for nerds, huh?” William asked flirtatiously.

Alan bent over the bed to give him a lingering kiss. “I’ll take that up with you later, but I really have to go.”

“All right,” William said. He watched Alan start to walk away. He couldn’t help calling out, “Maybe I’ll look around and find my old glasses and my school uniform. We can play around.”

Alan gave him a look over his shoulder, shaking his head. “I cannot believe you. You’re going to tell me something like that right when I have to go to work?”

“I never said I would always fight fair.” William shrugged.

He watched Alan leave, the door clicking shut behind him, and couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips.

Sure, he’d almost died, but it wasn’t like it was the first time or anything. He for sure figured it wasn’t going to be the last either.

He snuggled down into his covers. He felt horribly weak and all he ever wanted to do was sleep. It was a real chore just to stay awake.

He hated to admit it, but it had probably been a good time for Alan to leave. He figured he only had a few more minutes before he was going to completely fall asleep. And he hated to drop off right when he was talking to someone. It just felt so incredibly rude.

He rested his head on the pillow and wished he was back in his own bed.

The hospital had gone all out with their VIP rooms, which seemed more like expensive hotel rooms than hospital rooms. There were couches along one wall, there were vase of flowers in the dresser. And it just seemed a lot less hospital than anyone might have thought.

He would still much rather be in his own bed though. The hospital always just gave him a creepy vibe.

The room he was in might have looked incredibly nice, but in his head he kept seeing the sterile room he’d spent so much time in as a kid. There was always that sense of loneliness and despair that just kind of hung over everything, just this pall of misery. Even the doctors and nurses had reeked of it and he couldn’t help giving in to his instinct to cringe away.

It was an instinct that had always stuck with him.

William forced his eyes closed. The faster he fell asleep, the less time he would have to spend knowing exactly where he was. If he could have physically escaped he would have, but instead he would just have to imagine himself somewhere far away from here.

 

If there was one thing he hated about having been poisoned, it was the fact that now Alan was looking at everyone with suspicion. He had also declared that there would be no more takeout food until the assassin was found. William’s objections had been completely overruled when James said he liked that idea.

So they were stuck eating food made by their personal cook.

William might have offered to cook dinner himself, but he was awful at knowing what to put together. His meals were always a little imbalanced, and even though Alan had never complained, it was always kind of there. Plus, Alan was treating him as though he were made out of glass, which meant he wouldn’t let William do hardly anything. So cooking dinner was right out.

“Can James at least go and get us a pizza?” William pleaded, leaning his cheek against Alan’s chest so he could look up at him with wide eyes.

Alan gave him an exasperated look. “Fine, I trust that James isn’t going to try and kill us.”

“Yay!” William clapped his hands and jumped off the the couch. He had to pause a moment as a wave of dizziness went through him, but he shook it off quick enough to hold a hand out at Alan to keep him from getting too worried. “I’m fine,” he said.

He could feel Alan watching his every move as he hurried out of the living room toward the bedroom that had become James’ office. He tapped, and when he heard James say “Come in,” he pushed the door open. James had had another desk added to the office and now he and Byron were sitting facing each other. William wasn’t a hundred percent sure what they were doing, but he knew it had something to do with running the security department for all of CyberAngel Industries.

“Hey, Alan has finally relented. Do you think you can go down and pick us up some pizza? I’m dying for some Hawaiian.” William made kicked puppy dog eyes.

James glanced from his computer screen to the folder he had spread open in front of him. Then he looked at Byron. “Think I can trust you enough to go pick up a bunch of pizzas?”

Byron touched his chest. “You really trust me to do it?”

James quirked his lips. “You’re going to the pizza place and picking up a bunch of pizzas. It’s not exactly brain surgery.”

William watched them teasing each other as James scrawled the pizza order out on a piece of paper. They were acting like they’d known each other forever. It was actually pretty cute.

“Ooh, get some spicy chicken wings too, and Alan likes bread sticks,” William interjected.

James sighed, but added to his list. He lifted it up to read over it real quick, then handed the list to Byron. “Here’s the order. We’re not going to call ahead in case someone’s cracked the phone system. Go in yourself and place the order, wait until its done and bring it back.” He opened one of his desk drawers and riffled around before pulling out a credit card that he passed over to Byron. “Use this to pay.”

“I thought we have accounts with most of the restaurants in town?” William asked.

“We don’t want to use any of those accounts until we can be sure someone’s not monitoring them,” James said.

“You’re paranoid.” William shook his head.

“And you’re alive, and I plan on keeping you that way,” James said. “And you will do what I tell you to do as long as it keeps you safe.”

William made a face, but didn’t object. Agreeing to let James be in complete control of his safety, up to and including giving him the power to veto the places he was allowed to go, had been one of the ways to get the man to work for him. Plus he knew that James was just trying to look out for him.

Byron grabbed his jacket off the coat rack near the door. When he slipped it on, there was hardly any way to tell that he was wearing a shoulder holster. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

William watched him go, waiting until the front door clicked shut behind him. Then he turned to James with a grin. “So, he seems to be working out for you.”

James shrugged. “He’s a good kid. He seems to be picking things up fairly quick and I think he might be ready to work alone pretty soon.”

“Ooh, so I’ll get to have him all to myself.” William crossed his arms and gave James a serious looking. “How are you doing, really?”

“What do you mean?” James asked.

“I mean that I wasn’t the only one that almost died a couple of times, and I know you take all those risks and stuff way too seriously. Are you going to need a vacation soon?”

“Not while there’s someone actively trying to kill you,” James said. “Maybe after this is all over I might take a week or two off.”

“I’ll pay for you to go wherever you want,” William said, “you deserve a great vacation.”

“I’m going to need a vacation after it really sinks in just how many people I’ve hired and started on training. You’ve got your own small army.”

“Cool.” At James’ raised eyebrow, William shrugged. “I always wanted to have the ability to take over a small country. Having an army of my own is a step in the right direction.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of scary?” James asked.

William smiled and started walking toward the door. “All the time,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll let you know when Byron comes back with the food. That is, if he doesn’t run to you first thing with his tail all a waggle.”

He pretended not to hear James yell, “Don’t call him a puppy. We don’t want to scare him off before he’s even gotten out of his probationary period.”

William laughed and headed straight toward his bedroom. He passed Alan reading through some kind of blue congressional report, and if he didn’t quite sneak, he still managed to avoid catching his attention.

Once he was in the bedroom with the door closed and he could be sure that no one was observing, he allowed himself to flop on the bed and just shake for awhile.

It was harder pretending to be well than he had thought it would be. Honestly, he probably should have still been in bed.

William curled up on his side on the bed and gazed at the wall. Spots danced in front of his eyes and he wondered if he was going to pass out. It hadn’t happened yet, so he figured that as long as he held still he would be all right.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. He didn’t really want to take a nap, but he just felt so exhausted.

Hopefully he would hear the sounds of Byron coming back. He really did want some of the pizza, even if his stomach was making protesting motions now. It was just that every time he thought about eating, he remembered the horror of losing control of his body and later having his stomach pumped. His brain kept calling up an image of Alan’s worried face hovering over him at the hospital.

He hated seeing that look on Alan’s face and knowing that he put it there.

 

Sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, he fought to keep his hand from shaking as he nibbled half-heartedly at his pizza. He felt as though all the blood had been drained out of him and more than anything he wanted to lie down right there on the floor.

“Are you okay?” Alan pressed a warm hand against William’s forehead, checking for fever.

William met his concerned eyes and gave him a tired smile. “I’m all right,” he said. “I just feel kind of tired.”

“Maybe you should go to bed,” Alan suggested.

“I just want to sit here for awhile with you.” William leaned his head back against the couch, closing his eyes for a moment. It was a real effort to keep from dropping his slice of pizza and it was kind of a relief when Alan took it away and solicitously wiped his hand with a napkin. “Thank you.”

Even though it was just the two of them–James and Byron had taken the other pizzas to the rest of the staff–William still felt as though he was surrounded by family. There was just something so nice about not feeling alone.

He felt Alan brushing a hand down the side of his face and he could hear the other man breathing in the stillness. “You really scared me, you know.”

“I’m sorry,” William said frankly.

“It wasn’t your fault. But when this guy is caught… you’re not going to be mad if I use all of my pull to make sure the guy gets persecuted to the fullest extent of the law, will you?”

William opened his eyes a crack to look at him. “Don’t you mean ‘prosecuted?’”

Alan didn’t even try to look innocent. “I meant what I said. I’m going to make sure this guy is sorry he was ever even born.”

“I’m not going to stop you,” William said. “Though I’m not sure how much of him is going to be left once James tracks him down. He’s been quietly stewing away. He’s been hiring tons of security personnel and I think he was drawing the diagrams of some kind of death machine in his office.”

“I don’t think this is something I should be hearing,” Alan said.

“Then do like you normally do and pretend I’m talking about some TV show or something.” William sighed tiredly. “Maybe I should go to bed. Carry me?”

“Only if you want to end up on your face on the floor.” Alan stood up and held out a hand. “I’ll walk you.”

William groaned and held up his hand, letting himself be pulled to his feet. He leaned against Alan’s side and was led to bed like a sleepy child. He even allowed himself to be tucked in and kissed on the cheek.

He might have demanded better kisses, but he was already asleep.

* * *

Somehow their wedding day managed to creep up on them, and the next thing William knew he was wearing a tuxedo and standing in front of thousands of people, most of whom he didn’t know. He could feel nervous acid bubbling in his belly.

“What would you do if I suddenly just ran?” he asked RJ out of the corner of his mouth.

“Well, the traditional role of both the best man and the maid of honor is to marry the bride or groom if things don’t work out. I really kind of like Jessica, so I don’t want to end up marrying Alan today. He’s a nice guy and all, but he’s really not my type.” RJ smiled and nodded at his current girlfriend who’d managed to end up with a place of honor in the first row. Mostly because William didn’t have any family of his own and had ended up grabbing whoever he knew to fill the spaces.

She smiled back and gave him a little wave. She was a pretty woman with vibrant red hair and Irish green eyes. When she talked, she sounded a bit like Audrey from “Little Shop of Horrors.” She was very sweet and she made RJ happy, which was good enough for William.

“I think maybe Alan would object if he came out here and ended up having to marry you,” William said. “So I guess I’ll just have to stick around.”

“Sorry dude.” RJ patted him on the shoulder in mock-commiseration.

William gave him a wry look. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re sobbing away on the inside.”

“It’s where my feelings live,” RJ agreed.

There was a sudden upswelling of music and William felt as though the entire world had frozen. And when Alan posed in the double doors… it felt as though everything had just suddenly clicked into place.

It was the strangest sensation to just have all his nerves melt away and to know that everything was going to be all right. He straightened his shoulders and flashed Alan his best smile, liking the way the other man seemed to light up and his steps became easier as he paced down the aisle.

If it had been left up to William, they would have just signed some paperwork and had the judge pronounce them married, but Alan had insisted on a full church wedding. So here they were, in one of the most beautiful churches in the country, putting up with a horribly public display that he probably wouldn’t have traded away for anything. Not when it made Alan so happy.

The Reverend George Oakley was resplendent in the new outfit William had ended up paying for. William didn’t quite know what to call the robe thing, but it sure was shiny and the wedding planner had insisted on silk.

William had never been religious, but Alan had been raised Catholic, and though he’d shifted away from traditional Catholicism, he really held to his faith. And though William didn’t share his beliefs, the fact that Alan could be so devout was actually kind of charming.

Alan came to stand beside him and took his hand. “Are you scared?” he whispered.

“Not when you’re here,” William said. “Let’s do this thing.”

They turned to face the reverend and the ceremony began

 

Later, William wouldn’t be able to remember half the stuff that had gone on, but he at least had the professionally filmed wedding video. In truth, the only thing he really saw was Alan, and all he knew was that Alan was holding his hand and all the lights were really bright around them.

It was probably one of the greatest days of his life.

After the ceremony, the reception involved a lot of five star food and dancing–he took great pride in being able to tell Alan that he was the one that arranged the chicken dance. Why? Because he could.

Their cake was a beautiful monstrosity of white butter cream and eight different flavored tiers. He made sure to have the little grooms on top wrapped up in tissue and put aside by Byron as a keepsake. After dozens of pictures were taken of the cake.

“So, what do you think of this whole being married thing so far?” he asked Alan. They were dancing in the very center of the dance floor, surrounded by other couples, though he felt as though it were just them.

“Too early to tell,” Alan grinned.

William shook his head, then moved closer to Alan so he could press their cheeks together. He had to bow his head a little, and Alan had to tip his chin up to meet him, but it was nonetheless absolutely perfect.

“Is it completely schmoopy to say that I actually kind of liked the whole big wedding thing?” he asked.

“Completely schmoopy,” Alan agreed. “I’m glad you liked it. Today has been absolutely perfect.”

“We should get married again. It was a lot of fun.”

“You’re talking about us getting married to each other, right?” Alan laughed at William’s growl. “Kidding. Kidding. So, do you want to get out of here?”

“God yes,” William chuckled. He tugged Alan by the hand toward the door.

“Whoa, who would have thought you’d be so excited to get to our honeymoon?” Alan kept up with him though as they made their way through the crowd toward where RJ was grazing at the buffet table with Jessica. She was about a foot taller than him with her high heels on.

“Hey, dude, we’re going to head out,” William said, tapping his shoulder.

RJ looked around in surprise. “Already? The party’s barely even started.”

“Yeah, but we’ve got, you know, that thing.” William winked.

“Are we in the ninth grade or something?” RJ shook his head. “I’ll gather up the farewell crowd and you guys can do the whole run to the limo thing like in the movies.”

“No,” William said firmly. “There’s not a universe in which I would ever let that kind of embarrassment happen. Besides, security isn’t letting us do that whole thing. We’re going to creep out the back. I just wanted to let you know so you didn’t wonder where we’ve gone.”

“All right, all right,” RJ said. “I just think that maybe the whole magic of a wedding has completely missed you.”

“Whatever.” William slapped him on the shoulder. “See you later.”

“Yeah.” RJ grabbed him in a sudden tight hug, only laughing when William “eeped” at the surprising tightness. “Congrats on being the first one to get married.”

“At least you’re not offering me your condolences.” William tugged his jacket straight. “Eat enough for the both of us. I’ll talk to you next week when we’re back from the honeymoon.”

“Yeah, yeah,” RJ waved his hand, “get out of here.”

William grinned and went to grab Alan, who had wandered off to talk to some man with a bad comb over. He didn’t say anything about them leaving, just patted Alan’s arm.

“Oh,” Alan flashed him a quick smile, then turned back to the man, “listen Peter, I’ve gotta go. Call my office sometime in the next couple of weeks and we can arrange something.”

The guy’s dark eyes flicked over William, then away. “Yeah, sure. Congratulations by the way.”

“Thanks.” Alan quickly shook his hand, then turned to grasp William’s arm. They hurried toward the Employees Only door that lead past the kitchen and down a rather sparse hallway toward an exit that opened out in the parking garage.

James stuck close to them, and he had about a dozen security people moving ahead and around them. It maybe should have felt a bit claustrophobic, but William was willing to put up with it to keep from getting shot or something.

“How come the richer you are, the more desolate hallways enter into your life?” William asked apropos of nothing.

“I don’t know,” Alan said, “it’s just one of those things we kind of have to put up with.”

They waited in the hallway after James sent four guys to check things out in the parking garage. He’d already called for the car to come around.

William leaned against Alan’s side. “I’m pretty excited. I’ve never been to Australia before.”

“It’s going to be kind of a long flight,” Alan reminded him.

“Yeah, but we’ve got a private plane.” William gave him a rather dirty grin. “We can have a lot of fun the whole way there. You know, get the party started before we even get to the hotel.”

“When did this side of you start showing up and where was I?” Alan asked.

“It was always there,” William said. “And now it’s all yours.”

“Nice.”

They waited. And waited. And waited.

William glanced at his watch, then turned to James. “We’ve been waiting out here for an awful long time, haven’t we? Maybe you should call those guys and see what’s going on.”

James adjusted his radio. “Donner? Fitz?” There was no reply, just the hiss of dead air. “Donner? Fitz? Please reply.”

William felt uneasiness go through him. “Maybe we should go back the way we came?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.” James shared a look with Byron, who began herding them back toward the reception area.

It had felt like it only took a couple of seconds for them to get to the door, but it seemed like hours hurrying back down the hallway. William could hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears and he kept hold of Alan’s hand, not wanting to be separated if something happened.

James strode ahead to open the heavy security door that lead into the kitchen. Only when he pushed on it, nothing gave. “I think it’s locked.”

“How…” William licked his lips, glancing around nervously. “How could they do that? I thought you left some guys in the kitchen to keep a handle on things.”

“I did.” James drew his gun, holding it two-handed and pointed toward the ceiling. “There’s no way someone should have been able to lock this door.”

“What are we going to do?” Alan demanded. His grip on William’s hand was a bit too tight, but William didn’t even think to object. He just moved closer to his new husband.

“There’s a stairway down the other corridor,” James said, leading the way.

They trailed after him with a grim faced Byron bringing up the rear, his own gun drawn.

William hadn’t realized how maze-like all the same colored hallways were and more than anything he wished he had a weapon of his own. He hated feeling helpless.

They passed by several doors until suddenly the hallway ended with a heavy door with STAIRS painted on the front in large Army green letters.

“Here we are,” James said.

He approached the door with what should have been ludicrous caution, except that when he pushed it open, there was a loud CRACK! and plumes of noxious smoke filled the hallway.

William covered his mouth and nose with his hands, but couldn’t help choking and coughing. He squeezed his eyes closed at the stinging pain and felt tears trickling down his cheeks.

Then all the lights went out.

In the darkness, William felt Alan wrap his arms around him and start guiding him toward the door. William was coughing so hard he was glad to be led into the relatively clearer air of the stairwell.

He coughed hard, half-bent over, and wondered if he was going to throw up. His lungs felt like they were on fire and his eyes stung horribly.

It took him a long moment to realize that he was the only one coughing.

Giving one more hacking cough, he spit to clear his throat. He raised his eyes and found that it wasn’t Alan that had lead him to safety. It was a man in a gas mask. He was just kind of standing there, his eyes terribly calm behind the mask. He was holding a big knife.

William stumbled away from him, his movements graceless as he tried to hold in his coughs. “Wha… Who are you?”

“You’re a disgusting worm,” the man rasped. Even through the mask, he sounded like a three pack a day smoker. “The world’s golden boy… Heh, I’m going to show the world exactly what you’re made out of. A piece at a time. Do you think dear Alan is going to find you nearly so pretty when you’re all chopped up?”

It was the image of himself all chopped to pieces that forced recognition on William.

He’d never seen the man himself, since he’d never been caught. But he could still remember the horror of coming home one day and finding Melissa spread out across the bed and the floor. Her face had been nearly untouched, but the rest of her…

“You… you’re the one… you…” He couldn’t even talk. He could feel his whole body trembling and he had to cough, but he kept his eyes locked on the man–the monster.

“She was a sweet girl,” the man mused, “much better than you deserved. So I took her away.”

William felt his gorge rising, but he fought it off. There was no time for him to fall apart now; he would save it for later.

“She was a real sweet girl,” the man said. “She tried to fight me. Then she tried to say that you were going to come and save her. Right up until the end, she was sure you were going to swoop in and save the day. I almost hated to disappoint her.”

When the man stepped toward him, William backed away. But there wasn’t much room in the stairwell and it was pretty much a given when his back hit the wall that he was going to end up slashed with that razor sharp knife.

It was like a switch went off in William’s brain. Every part of his being was screaming out that there was no way he was going to let things happen like this. No way at all.

His throat still tickled and burned, so he didn’t even try to give out a defiant yell or anything. He just let instinct take over, letting all the training he’d put himself through have free reign. It was oddly freeing.

The men that had trained him might have questioned his form, but they would have applauded the result. A truly epic win.

With a couple of flashing fists and a jabbing knee, the knife had been sent spinning off to clang against one of the rails. The man howled in pain as William broke his arm in two places then hit him with a palm strike in his sternum, cracking bone and pulpating muscle and tissue.

There was a clatter of footsteps and the door was flung open. In charged a bunch of his personal security with James and Byron stumbling after.

“Freeze!”

There was some confusion when they realized that he was the one standing, and his attacker was supine.

“Mr. Neeley, are you all right?” one of the men asked, stepping toward him.

William waved at his eyes, not wanting to touch them and spread the reaction. “I think so. My eyes and lungs are burning, but I’m all right.”

He let himself be hustled out of the stairwell, James striding after him. He found Alan being restrained in the corridor.

Alan broke away from security and rushed over to wrap his arms around William. “You’re all right. Oh, God, you’re all right.”

“Yeah, he wasn’t so tough when he wasn’t trying to hit me from far away.” He could tell from the ashen look of Alan’s face that he was quietly panicking. William pressed his hand against Alan’s cheek. “I’m all right, I promise. But we should probably get ourselves checked out by the medics.”

Alan shook himself. It was as though he were coming back from somewhere far away. “Yeah, let’s go do that.”

William stuck close to Alan as they were taken out of the corridor and into the parking garage where an ambulance was waiting. James went with them and Byron was already sitting on the bumper of a second ambulance, a clear breath mask over his face. A medic was flushing his eyes with saline solution from a long tube attached to a plastic bottle.

William wasn’t too surprised to find himself in the same position not long after. A quick eye flush, some oxygen, and a ride to the hospital.

What a way to get married.

/ CHAPTER

From Diamond to Coal
Title: From Diamond to Coal

Author: Sol Crafter

Genre: science fiction, mm romance

Rating: teen+

Landing page: From Diamond to Coal



Summary: William Neeley is a genius. At the age of 15 he started Cyber Angel Industries and has since completely changed the face of the modern world. From personal shielding technology to enhanced musculature to home electronics, William has a finger in every pie and is quickly becoming the world's most wealthy individual.



He shares his life with his husband, Alan Trent, and their young son Morgan.



William always strives to maintain his image of "normal life," though he is diverted at every turn. Whether he's posing half-naked on billboards, creating massive death rays, or Alan is becoming the President of the United States, or Morgan has grown wings, or he's accidentally torn a rip in the space time continuum... he will always say that his life is nothing but normal.



Welcome to his world.




All of the chapters being offered for free have only received the lightest of editing. The paid copies will be worth the money, though I know that I personally love getting stuff for free and ARC copies are the best :)



If you spot any errors, please let me know in the comments. You'll receive my forever gratitude. Plus, you know, any feedback on the story would be cool too. I've been in fandom, I've learned to grow a semi-thick skin.


Chapter One -- 2218 words (9 ms pages) Chapter Two -- 7258 words (30 ms pages) Chapter Three -- 3810 words (16 ms pages) Chapter Four -- 3936 words (16 ms pages)


Chapter Five -- 8045 words (33 ms pages) Chapter Six -- 4093 words (10 ms pages) Chapter Seven -- 6135 words (15 ms pages)Chapter Eight











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NOVEL: From Diamond to Coal, by Sol Crafter – Chapter Six [science fiction]

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

From Diamond to Coal
Title: From Diamond to Coal

Author: Sol Crafter

Genre: science fiction, mm romance

Rating: teen+

Landing page: From Diamond to Coal



Summary: William Neeley is a genius. At the age of 15 he started Cyber Angel Industries and has since completely changed the face of the modern world. From personal shielding technology to enhanced musculature to home electronics, William has a finger in every pie and is quickly becoming the world's most wealthy individual.



He shares his life with his husband, Alan Trent, and their young son Morgan.



William always strives to maintain his image of "normal life," though he is diverted at every turn. Whether he's posing half-naked on billboards, creating massive death rays, or Alan is becoming the President of the United States, or Morgan has grown wings, or he's accidentally torn a rip in the space time continuum... he will always say that his life is nothing but normal.



Welcome to his world.




All of the chapters being offered for free have only received the lightest of editing. The paid copies will be worth the money, though I know that I personally love getting stuff for free and ARC copies are the best :)



If you spot any errors, please let me know in the comments. You'll receive my forever gratitude. Plus, you know, any feedback on the story would be cool too. I've been in fandom, I've learned to grow a semi-thick skin.


Chapter One -- 2218 words (9 ms pages) Chapter Two -- 7258 words (30 ms pages) Chapter Three -- 3810 words (16 ms pages) Chapter Four -- 3936 words (16 ms pages)


Chapter Five -- 8045 words (33 ms pages) Chapter Six -- 4093 words (10 ms pages)Chapter Seven -- 6135 words (15 ms pages)Chapter Eight

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

If there was one thing William really hated, it was waking up in the hospital. It was just one of those things that always drove him just a little bit crazy.

Maybe it was the sound of beeping machinery. Maybe it was the scratchy feel of rough cotton sheets. Or maybe it was the smell, that astringent medicine smell that always made his skin creep.

He’d spent way too much time in hospitals to ever be comfortable in them.

William opened his puffy eyes to a world of blurs and color. They’d removed his contact lenses, which made it hard for him to see, but considering the soreness of his cheeks and eye sockets, he figured he had black eyes as well

“S’cks,” he said.

“What was that?” Alan demanded, a head-shaped blob floating up over him. “Are you finally awake?”

William tried on a smile, though it hurt more than he would have ever thought. “‘M ‘wake,” he said. “W’at happ’ned?”

“You were in a car accident,” another voice said. Strong and male, with that odd hint of caring that only a doctor could have. “Do you remember what happened?”

William blinked a moment. He kind of remembered being in the car, but it felt like it was something that happened a long time ago. His one concern was, “Wh’re’s James? He okay?” He felt dread pooling in his belly.

“He’s fine,” Alan hastened to reassure. “He was a bit beat up — like you — but he’s okay.”

William sagged in relief. He hadn’t even realized he was drawing up all tight until then. “G’d,” he said. “I’ma sleep now.”

“Okay, you do that,” Alan said. He leaned over William, his face abruptly coming into blurry focus, and pressed a kiss against William’s forehead. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“‘Kay,” William said. His heavy eyelids fluttered closed. He just had time to wonder how Alan had gotten home so fast before he was sound asleep.

* * *

The second time he woke up, he realized that something must have been really wrong with him.

“Was I in a coma?” he asked. He was sitting up in bed, his head heavily bandaged, and from what Alan had said, shaved as well. He still felt a bit shaky and he had a hard time using his right arm, which was in a sling. Not quite broken, but close enough that it twinged every time he forgot and tried to use it.

Alan gave him a look that was like a silent scream. “Yeah, you were.”

“For how long?” William asked.

Alan drew in a quavering breath. “For close to three months.”

William’s mouth fell open in shock and it took an effort on his part to shut it. “I missed the wedding,” he said dumbly.

“You almost died!” Alan cried, shaking his head. He picked up William’s left hand and held it like it was something precious, like William was something precious. “For a while there, they were seriously thinking you weren’t ever going to wake up. Then there was talk that when you did wake up, you might just be a vegetable.”

“Wow,” William said, blinking. He’d been pretty close to death a few times before, but from Alan’s face, this time must have been pretty serious.

“So you can understand if I’m not too upset that we missed our wedding,” Alan said. “I’m just glad that you’re alive.” He pressed a kiss against William’s fingers and it seemed almost as though he was planning on never letting go of his hand.

“I’m glad I’m alive too,” William said. “I’m sorry I scared you so bad.”

There were tears in Alan’s eyes when he carefully wrapped his arms around William and hugged him. “You don’t have to be sorry. I’m just glad you’re still alive.”

William pressed his cheek against Alan’s and closed his eyes.

 

There was just something so jarring about realizing that he’d lost nearly three months of his life. Not only were all his projects pushed back, but he’d also missed the wedding, and even though Alan said it was okay… William knew that it wasn’t okay.

His arm ached deep down to the bone and he felt incredibly weak, but he had RJ bring him a secure laptop as soon as the doctor stopped threatening to take it away.

“So, what happened?” William asked.

“It was very sudden,” James said. “The guy jumped the light and struck us, so at first it was assumed that he was drunk or something.”

“But?” William didn’t even glance up, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

“Things smell to me,” James said. “He had terminal brain cancer and was worried about leaving his family destitute. A week before the ‘accident,’ two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was deposited into his bank account.”

William whistled, his eyes locked on the screen. His mind was whirring away a thousand miles a minute. “Who hired him for the murder-suicide by out of control truck?

“That’s what I’m still trying to figure out,” James said.

William finally looked up at him. James had been awkward around him from the moment he’d woken up. He’d tried to assure the bodyguard that it hadn’t in any way been his fault, but James still insisted on walking around with a pair of tragic eyes. It was getting to the point of ridiculousness.

“Hire some people, move some people around, do whatever you need to do,” William said. “Just don’t tell Alan that it was a deliberate assassination attempt.” He shook his head. “He gets so upset about that kind of thing.”

“And it’s kind of upsetting that you don’t,” James said.

“I try to,” William said. “I know that I would be very upset if anyone ever tried to hurt Alan, but for myself… it’s just one of those things where I just don’t see the reason to let myself get too upset. I mean, you’re always there to protect me, right?” He smiled.

James snorted. “I was right there with you, and you still almost died.” His hands clenched tight on his phone; the plastic creaked in protest. “When I figure out who tried to kill us, I’m going to make them wish they were never born.”

“Yeah, you do that,” William said, going back to his computer. He was using the time when he wasn’t allowed to leave the house to flesh out his idea for a neural implant. The only problem he had so far was figuring out what kind of carrier wave the interface was going to use — there was no way a human brain would be able to survive a direct connection to the internet as it was. Which meant he was going to have to come up with a completely new technology.

“That’s all you’re going to say?” James said, quirking an eyebrow.

“I trust you,” William said. He furrowed his brow, trying to figure out how he was supposed to make installation of the interface as painless as possible. He highly doubted that people were going to want to use something that required invasive brain surgery — not only would the cost be prohibitive, but people were rightly afraid of the idea of drills coming anywhere near their skulls. “Are you going to hire that one guy you were talking about?”

“Who, Byron?” James asked.

“Yeah, him. You were saying you wanted to take him on for training.”

“He is really very bright,” James said musingly. “It would be a real waste if we just let him get away from us.”

“So call him already,” William said. “We’re probably getting to the point where I’m going to need two personal bodyguards, right?”

“You do seem to have a lot of life or death situations pop up unexpectedly,” James said musingly.

William gasped and gave him a wounded look. “That is totally not my fault. I don’t think I really do anything that gets anyone so riled up that they seriously have to kill me. I just think that I’m surrounded by a bunch of people that take things much too seriously.”

“Yeah, but that won’t stop someone from managing to end you one day,” James said. “I’ll call Byron and have him come in for an appointment.”

“Coolios. I’m going to go back to doing this, okay?”

James waved a distracted hand at him, already dialing his phone. “Yeah, you do that.” He started walking toward the door.

William stayed looking at his computer screen, but a slight smile curved his lips.

James had been driving himself crazy with guilt over the whole “William was almost killed thing.” But now that he had a project to take his mind off of things, he would manage to get himself back together. And that was really all William wanted: for things to go back to the way they had been.

He hated the fact that Alan was tiptoeing around him and acting like he could shatter at any moment. He knew he wasn’t delicate, but Alan was running scared and it was completely messing everything up.

* * *

Byron Hughes was a handsome young man that still had a half-finished look to his face; age would turn him into someone extremely eye-catching. He was wearing a black suit with a blue and gray striped tie. William thought that maybe he’d gone out and gotten himself a new haircut just for the occasion, which was actually pretty funny.

He stood in front of William, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. His hands were behind his back and William thought he was probably wringing his fingers together nervously.

“It’s okay to relax, you know, I haven’t killed and eaten anyone for the last week,” William said, quirking his lips.

Byron blinked at him quickly, then gave a bark of laughter. His shoulders loosened a little, though he still looked as though he were about to pee his pants. “Sorry I’m so tense,” he said. “It’s just that I really want this job.”

“I don’t know why you’re so worried.” William raked a hand through his hair. “You do realize that James has already given you the job, right?”

“I… I know that.” Byron licked his lips. “You’re still the boss though, so I figure that if you take a dislike to me I’ll end up out on the street.”

William snorted. “I don’t know why everyone wants to think that I’m some kind of ogre or something.” He waved toward one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Sit down, relax a little. I promise not to bite you.”

Byron hurriedly sat down, his back ramrod straight. It wasn’t like he was sweating or anything, but it was obvious that he was incredibly nervous. He honestly looked as though he thought William was going to attack him at any moment.

William glanced at James, who was leaning against the wall next to the door. The bodyguard rolled his eyes as though to say, “I told him to relax.”

“So, what exactly do you think you’ll get out of working for CyberAngel Industries?” William asked. He hated having to be professional, but job interviews were pretty much one of those times when he just couldn’t weasel his way out of it.

“I’ve only heard great things about CyberAngel Industries, and everyone I’ve talked to has said that your company offers some great opportunities for personal advancement.”

“What exactly does that mean?” William raised his eyebrows.

“Well, you offer additional schooling for those that need it. Your employment packages are great. And it seems as though everyone that works here ends up better for it in some way.” Byron tilted his chin. “It just seems as though your company is offering everything I’m looking for, and I would be really proud to be a part of it.”

“Huh.” William rubbed his chin. “You’re really enthusiastic about working with James, and I think I don’t mind the idea of you being one of my personal bodyguards.”

He looked at James. “You better get this guy right into training. We don’t want to waste someone with that much passion.”

“Will do,” James said.

Byron gave a disbelieving grin. “Does that mean I’m hired?”

“Go with James and he’ll take you to HR to finish up the last bits of paperwork.” William picked up a blue gel pen and pulled a pad of paper closer to himself. He had some ideas he really wanted to work out while he had a chance. “If you do as well as James says you would, you’ll be following me around pretty soonish.”

“Come on,” James said, pushing away from the wall. “I’ll give you a guided tour.”

Byron started to follow him, then turned back to say quickly, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”

William waved his hand. “Yes, yes, you’re welcome.”

He watched Byron hurry after James and had to smile a little. There was something so funny about a grown man acting like a gosling with its mother. He figured it was going to be good for both Byron and James.

William shook his head and began drawing a rough sketch of his idea for a new kind of helicopter on the pad of paper. He’d already thought up the name “Dragonfly” and his mind was buzzing away with what he hoped were good ideas.

He couldn’t wait until Alan finally relented and let him back in the lab.

It seemed that since the accident, Alan had become pretty paranoid about the idea of William getting hurt. So until his arm didn’t twinge with pain when he tried to pick up anything heavier than two pounds, Alan had told him he wasn’t allowed in the lab.

William might have objected, but there was a haunted look in Alan’s eyes that he really didn’t like. So if his staying safe and sound took that look away… well, he was out of the lab for the next couple of weeks.

At least the office people were happy he was getting caught up on his paperwork. They’d been harping on him for months even before the whole coma thing. There was even some big talk about him getting a personal assistant, but he’d been resisting pretty hard.

He just didn’t like the idea of someone he didn’t really trust getting involved with nearly all aspects of his life. Maybe if it was someone he trusted… but there currently wasn’t anyone on staff like that, so he was stuck doing everything himself.

“My life is pain,” he said out loud, then had to laugh at the ridiculousness.

He went back to playing with his idea.

* * *

Coming home was like walking into a military headquarter in the midst of a war or something. There were people running in and out, white boards lined the walls, and he usually ended up getting yelled at for something he didn’t do.

The date of the wedding had been set back, and now the plans were in full swing.

The only silver lining about the whole thing was the fact that he didn’t have to do anything. Alan’s staffers were handling everything and all William had to do was sign the checks at the end of the day. He was pretty all right with that.

“So, how was your day?” he asked, wandering over to the couch Alan was sitting on. The young staffer sitting there didn’t even hesitate to leap up and out of the way.

Alan turned to give him a tired grin. “Seems to be going okay. I’ve got a session on Wednesday, and there’s some data for me to go over, but that’s all workday stuff. Honestly, I think I’m doing okay. What about you?”

William shrugged. “I’ve come up with a couple of plans that are just about ready for the lab. I’ve caught up with about twenty years worth of paperwork, which has made my people totally love me. Oh, and James hired himself a new slave.”

“‘Twenty years worth of paperwork?’” Alan raised his eyebrows comically.

“That’s what it feels like anyway,” William said. “It seems like every time I’m nearly caught up, I come in to find another stack of paperwork piled up on my desk. I don’t think it’s fair.”

“It’s part of running a big company,” Alan said. “Thousands of people depend on you for their paychecks.”

William reached out to lift Alan’s arm up so he could snuggle close against his side. Alan settled his arm around his shoulder. “Life is hard,” William sighed.

Alan pressed a kiss against the top of his head. “And that’s with your super genius IQ. Just think how things might be if you were just one of us normal people.”

William laughed. “Who ever said you were normal? You’re special to me.”

They sat there for a long moment, just enjoying the peace. Around them, staffers were still being ordered around by the rather militant wedding planner Alan’s assistant had dug up from somewhere. The sound of her voice barking out orders should have been grating on the nerves, but William chose to ignore her.

“What do you think about Chinese food?” William asked.

“I think that, considering your diet, it’s a wonder you’re not hugely overweight,” Alan said.

William lifted his head to mock-glare at him. “Don’t knock the Chinese food. I’ve been craving lo-mein all day.”

“So you ate some for lunch, didn’t you?” Alan raised his eyebrows.

“Whatever,” William said, “I want it again. Can you call that place I like?”

Alan gave a weary sigh, but dug his phone out of his pocket. “At some point, you’re going to have to learn how to order your takeout food on your own.”

“That’s what I keep you around for,” William said.

Alan dialed and held the phone against his ear. “I just don’t like the thought of going out of town for a few days, then coming back to find you starved or something.”

“Please,” William rolled his eyes, “if things got that desperate, I have people that cook food for me. And by the way, you should order dinner for all these people. They look like they’ve been worked to the bone and probably need some kind of sustenance.”

“On it,” Alan said.

William listened to him order enough food to feed a small country, his voice a soothing murmur in William’s ears. They had accounts set up with their favorite restaurants, so they never had to bother with digging out the credit cards or anything. The convenience factor alone made it worth the effort.

At the end of the month, the restaurants sent him a bill and he had the accountants pay them off. So far, none of them seemed to have tried to scam him or anything, so he considered it a win.

“There,” Alan hung up his phone, “the food should be on the way.”

“Awesome,” William said. He was starving, since he’d missed lunch again. It was just something that always seemed to get away from him.

Food was nothing in the face of scientific genius.

 

Fifteen people all sitting around eating Chinese food. It gave William an odd, warm feeling of family. It wasn’t the kind of thing he’d experienced since he was a kid.

He loved his mother more than anything, but she was one of those people that never should have had kids. She was more of a friend than a parent, and it showed in the way she’d cared for him.

She’d always tried her best, but everything was just a little out of sync with her. As a result, he’d missed out on a lot of the things other kids took for granted. He hadn’t realized he was missing out at the time, but it was just one of those things.

She simply hadn’t known how to deal with a child. So it was kind of lucky that he’d learned at such a young age not to act like a child.

He’d pretty much raised himself, and he hadn’t seen anything wrong with that at the time. It had just seemed perfectly natural to him — having to cook his own meals and wash his own laundry and tuck himself in at night. That was the way of the world and he had never once just thought “Hey, something here isn’t right. Life with my Mom isn’t like it is on TV shows like, at all. So either TV is lying to me about how life is supposed to be, or my Mom…” Nothing like that ever happened. He’d just thought, “All families are different.”

Sometimes he thought that maybe he should be mad at her for how she raised him, but then he couldn’t help thinking that it was a tough childhood that had made him into the person he was today. So if none of that stuff had happened… would he still be the same person, or would he have lived some completely different kind of life?

Glancing at Alan out of the corner of his eye while he still saw all the people filling their living room in a rough semi-circle around the couch, he thought that he was feeling what real family was like. It was a heady sensation that had him wondering how people could even stand to have it burning them up inside all the time.

William stirred hot garlic chili sauce all through his lo-mein noodles. He liked his food a little spicy so hot sauce was usually the very first thing he reached for at the dinner table.

He tasted his noodles. Flavors burst across his tongue, every bite another piece of ecstasy thrumming all through him from the very center of his being. He was surrounded by voices laughing and talking and somewhere in the background he thought he heard a dog (Kudos) barking, but it seemed a very far away thing.

William pressed a hand against his chest. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might just burst out through his ribcage. It would be a gigantic mess for Alan to clean up.

Without even realizing when he started, he found himself listening to his voice laugh. It felt like it wasn’t coming out of him at all and he felt very distant from his body and all the lights in the room got very bright. It was like people and furniture were bathed in a spotlight that set a corona dancing around each of them. Their whole bodies were illuminated.

He wondered if it hurt to burn like that.

William turned his head to face Alan. His voice came out high and quavering, very weak sounding. “Alan, something’s wrong with me, Alan,” he said.

He wanted to reach out and smooth the worried frown from Alan’s face, but he was worried he would miss and poke him in the eye or something. He just couldn’t handle that kind of thing; he clasped his fingers tight together, feeling how the tips suddenly felt frozen and cold. In fact, his whole body went cold.

A sudden shiver went over his whole body and he couldn’t really explain it. The room wasn’t cold or anything and he didn’t think it was because of anything weird, it was just this sudden shiver that was actually so strong it overruled his self-control.

Then all of a sudden it wasn’t a shiver anymore… it was a seizure and he was on the floor surrounded by panicked people and his every muscle had decided to seize up all at once. It was frightening to have his body act on its own and to not be able to stop it. His limbs jerked and twitched and he could feel his muscles drawing tight under his skin.

There was the clamor of voices around him. He thought he heard Alan shouting, but his brain was so scrambled he couldn’t understand his words.

Tears trickled from his eyes and the heels of his feet thumped on the floor and his whole body jerked around. He could feel his heartbeat thudding through his whole chest, the sound thunderous in his head.

His heart beat louder until even in the midst of his seizure he opened his mouth wide in a silent scream.

It felt as though every nerve in his body was sent firing all at once. It was just this burst of sight and sound and pain that he couldn’t even stand it.

Everything shut down all at once.

/ CHAPTER

From Diamond to Coal
Title: From Diamond to Coal

Author: Sol Crafter

Genre: science fiction, mm romance

Rating: teen+

Landing page: From Diamond to Coal



Summary: William Neeley is a genius. At the age of 15 he started Cyber Angel Industries and has since completely changed the face of the modern world. From personal shielding technology to enhanced musculature to home electronics, William has a finger in every pie and is quickly becoming the world's most wealthy individual.



He shares his life with his husband, Alan Trent, and their young son Morgan.



William always strives to maintain his image of "normal life," though he is diverted at every turn. Whether he's posing half-naked on billboards, creating massive death rays, or Alan is becoming the President of the United States, or Morgan has grown wings, or he's accidentally torn a rip in the space time continuum... he will always say that his life is nothing but normal.



Welcome to his world.




All of the chapters being offered for free have only received the lightest of editing. The paid copies will be worth the money, though I know that I personally love getting stuff for free and ARC copies are the best :)



If you spot any errors, please let me know in the comments. You'll receive my forever gratitude. Plus, you know, any feedback on the story would be cool too. I've been in fandom, I've learned to grow a semi-thick skin.


Chapter One -- 2218 words (9 ms pages) Chapter Two -- 7258 words (30 ms pages) Chapter Three -- 3810 words (16 ms pages) Chapter Four -- 3936 words (16 ms pages)


Chapter Five -- 8045 words (33 ms pages) Chapter Six -- 4093 words (10 ms pages)Chapter Seven -- 6135 words (15 ms pages)Chapter Eight











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Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

ANIME: Why Isn’t There Different Anime On TV?

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

WHY ISN’T THERE DIFFERENT ANIME ON TV?

I love to watch anime, but there’s very little of it that I want to watch on TV. Everything lately just seems geared toward dudes and there’s very little girls programming.

I enjoy watching mechas and battling toys or whatever sometimes, but after you’ve seen “Fullmetal Alchemist,” “Death Note,” “Dragonball Z,” and “Yugi-oh” all the way through, you start craving a new show line up. You want to see something in a different genre.

I remember when I was a kid, rushing home from school to watch “Sailor Moon.” It was like the girls version of Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles — the can’t miss show — which I also watched. There were pretty princesses having girl problems, arguing with each other, winning through the day with the power of friendship, and they got to beat up beautiful baddies. It actually kind of seems like an early rendition of the last season of Buffy when there were a bunch of Slayers, only they were planetary space princesses that killed youkai.

Then a few years after “Sailor Moon,” there started being episodes of “Inuyasha” and “Cardcaptor Sakura” to watch. There was “Hamtaro” for a chunklet of nothing but cute fluff. My childhood was filled with awesome anime that was neither too childish or 100% action or angst or whatever “Death Note” is.

Nowadays there’s nothing I really want to watch. I’ve either watched all of the episodes already or I just don’t care. I don’t want to watch “Pokemon” or any other show involving balls or cards or games and nothing much else. There’s Toonami back again, but it’s nothing I want to see, and rather than showing all of “Fullmetal Alchemist,” then switching to another show, they just repeat the series again. Over and over and over.

More anime needs to be available on regular American TV. Maybe there needs to be a whole nother cartoon channel, one that shows anime and live action anime shows, but doesn’t slip into the trap Cartoon Network has fallen into lately in making cheap live action shows with no tie-in to, you know, cartoons. And everyone has pretty much heard my hate rant about the current live actions shows on Cartoon Network, so we’re not even going to go into that.

It would be nice to be able to watch shows like “Paradise Kiss,” “Ouran High School Host Club,” “Serial Experiments Lain,” “Ranma,” “YuYu Hakusho,” and “Yami no Matsuei” on the TV. (By the way, YnM needs more episodes. I need MOAR!)

I like being able to watch anime mixed in with regular shows and I like to watch shows on the TV, not on my computer. It doesn’t tie up my computer and everyone in the room can watch it on the big screen, and I like the idea of channels.  I like being able to watch a bunch of different shows and not having to go through and pick and choose what I’m going to watch. I like to have a pre-set schedule so I can just turn on the TV and start watching.

I wish Netflix offered dedicated channels of shows as feeds you could have on a playlist you make. Like you pick a number of shows you want to have listed on your personal channel, and the list would show one episode of each show. That way you can watch the episodes in order.

My dream playlist:

Big Bang Theory

Venture Brothers

South Park

Metalocalypse

Sailor Moon

House

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Family Guy

American Dad

Criminal Minds

CSI: Crime Scene Investigators (Vegas)

Bones

Breaking Bad

Robot Chicken

Recess

Megas XLR

Looney Toons (the new one. I seriously love it)

Animaniacs

Tiny Toon Adventures

Mad TV

Spongebob Squarepants

Absolutely Fabulous

Franklin & Bash

Rizzoli & Isles

Cupcake Wars

I find that even though I love watching serialized shows, once I see all the episodes and the series is wrapped up, I feel no real desire to watch the show again. Meanwhile, the shows that have largely disconnected episodes are shows that I can happily watch time after time.

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All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

EXCERPT: Leviathan, by Linnea Kingsley [fantasy, mm]

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Title: Leviathan

Author: Linnea Kingsley

Genre: fantasy, mm

Story rating: Mature

Excerpt rating: PG

Summary: A young man finds himself in a very strange situation with a very strange companion.

Coming soon to a store near you (on the Internet.)

Leave a comment if you want an early copy and are willing to offer constructive feedback.

EXCERPT –

Taeyon had been traveling for what felt like days when he found the beautiful glade, the grass lush and green, inviting him to stop. He dropped his pack next to a large tree with overhanging branches ornamented with lacy white puffs and wandered around the area, breathing deeply the scent of flowers and the ripe purple berries on the overgrown bushes framing the glade, and there in the center of it all a peaceful spring bubbled up from the depths of the earth, smelling of mountain and sky, the water caught in the rough bowl shape of smoothed rocks.

There was no thought involved. He just kicked off his boots and tugged off his socks, then sunk his bare feet into the tall grass, wriggling his toes. Already he felt somewhat refreshed, though he had far to go before he would be completely at ease. Traveling for so long had brought aches to his shoulders that he had never experienced before and the soles of his feet had become callused from walking. He didn’t regret the necessity of his journey, but more than ever he missed his home and the hearth his mother always kept tended.

He missed the sound of her voice and the gentleness of her hand as she brushed roughened fingers through his hair and sang songs in the Old Tongue that sent a shivery chill down his spine. He missed his father and the stories he would tell of life in the army and all the commonsense lessons Daeson would impart as they went about chores on the farm. Most of all, he missed the carefree days he would spend down at the lake, swimming and fishing with his friends, frolicking in the sunshine, their bare skin taking on a golden cast as they relished the bright days of summer.

He walked over to the spring and knelt down, the knees of his trousers crushing the blades of grass and the leaves of the wild dandelions and daisies. He felt the moisture in the plants soaking through the cloth of his pants, small spots of dampness against his kneecaps.

Taeyon leaned over the spring, seeing his own face reflected in the lightly rippling surface. He reached out a hand and brushed his fingers through the icy water, raising it up to his mouth for a quick taste. Clean, clear water.

He bent down further to use his cupped hands to scoop up some of the water, raising it to his lips. It was as he was sipping that he spotted a strange movement beneath the surface. It was a large shadow moving around, much too big to be a fish, though he thought he caught a glimpse of dappled silver scales.

Curious, he leaned closer and closer, peering down beneath the surface, squinting to try and see. He leaned down so far that his chin almost touched the water, his bare toes digging into the grass of the bank as he leaned his weight on his left hand to maintain his balance as he tried to see what was moving around inside the spring.

There was no warning, no change in the size or shape of the shadow to show that it was getting closer, just a sudden rush upward and he didn’t even have time to cry out before he was plunging down and down, an iron grip clasped tight around his right arm.

He kicked his feet and tried to use his other hand to free himself, but whatever had him was too strong. All he ended up doing was blowing most of the air out of his lungs and he could feel himself going weak and he could not break free. He was helpless in the face of such immovable strength.

His struggles weakened and finally stopped, the last of his air escaping him in a burst of bubbles. He felt himself sinking down and there was nothing he could do to stop it as all the light was pulled from his world and he was left empty, swirling into the darkness far below, a strengthless passenger in the shell of his own skin. His eyelids fluttered and fell closed.

/ EXCERPT

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All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

Adding Shortlinks to WordPress Tweet Button Through Jetpack plugin

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Okay, so I changed up my Twitter button on Jetpack so I could use a short link and add “Via HarperKingsley0″ my Twitter name. Took me about two minutes once I found out what I needed to do.

Go to Plugins => Installed Plugins => Jetpack => Edit => modules/sharedaddy.php => sharing-service.php. It should look like this “jetpack/modules/sharedaddy/sharing-service.php.”

Just click the code and run a Find for “Twitter” then scroll down until you find the code you need to change. Replace the “get_permalink” with “wpme_get_shortlink” and add “via=USERNAME&” after the frame address. Like this:

via=HarperKingsley0&url=’ . rawurlencode( apply_filters( ‘sharing_permalink’, wpme_get_shortlink( $post->ID ), $post->ID, $this->id ) ) . ‘&counturl=’ . rawurlencode( str_replace( ‘https://’, ‘http://’, wpme_get_shortlink( $post->ID ) ) ) . ‘&count=horizontal&text=’ . rawurlencode( apply_filters( ‘sharing_post_title’, $post->post_title, $post->ID, $this->id ) ) . ‘: ” style=”width:97px; height:20px;”>’;

else

return $this->get_link( wpme_get_shortlink( $post->ID ), _x( ‘Twitter’, ‘share to’, ‘jetpack’ ), __( ‘Click to share on Twitter’, ‘jetpack’ ), ‘share=twitter’ );

}

public function process_request( $post, array $post_data ) {

$post_title = apply_filters( ‘sharing_post_title’, $post->post_title, $post->ID, $this->id );

$post_link = apply_filters( ‘sharing_permalink’, get_permalink( $post->ID ), $post->ID, $this->id );

The only problem is that I don’t think my Tweet numbers are showing up correctly. Anyone know how to fix it and keep my short link and Twitter showing?

[ Found the Twitter user name info at site and the short link info at Skip's Stuff. I discovered both through a Google search; I have no affiliation with either. ]

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All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

Videos of the Day

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Videos gathered from around the YouTubes. Enjoy.

 

Three versions of “Somebody That I Used to Know.” I didn’t much like the original version, though I did like the words. So the acapella version really made me happy. That ones pretty awesome.

Look at him and listen to his voice sing ^_^

Star Wars! Star Wars! Star Wars! And all I could think while watching this was “Tell it to him, Darth! Rub that beard into the truth and make him suck it!” That’s right, Star Wars is Very Serious Business.

College Humor with their parody “Some Study That I Used to Know.” A look back at high school and all the things learned that cannot be unlearned, or that were just so entirely worthless that it was just  a waste of time. Very funny and very on point, even though I’m one of those people that believes people should learn as much as possible about a bunch of different things. Because if you retain a little bit of a lot of things, well, then you’ll be pretty smart at the end of it all.

More Matthias Harris, this time showing off his instrument skill as he sings “Jealousy.”

And a good rendition of “Boyfriend.”

Some Avengers, of course, because that’s totally what the world needs more of. And cartoon ones even.

The post Videos of the Day appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.

I’ve implemented audio posts for the vision impaired

Harper Kingsley - Author of sci-fi and fantasy, loves to babble about books, movies, comics, and whatever

Audio

Over the next few days, I will be working to add podcasts to big chunks of my blog. I’m not going to go back through and pod everything, but I will be doing my free reads for sure.

Hopefully I’ll be keeping my podcasts up to date with future posts, though there might be cases when the post goes up first and the audio comes a day or two later. Why? Because I’m currently living at my dad’s house and there’s always someone being loud as hell (me!), which makes it really hard to record anything.

This will probably be the only post talking about this in such a frank manner. Why? Because I’m kind of a wuss and I have a clinical case of social anxiety. To that end, I created the heteronym “Audiophobe.” And Audiophobe is willing to read anything. That’s not to say you would want to listen to it, because as is evident if you hit the audio on this post, “Audiophobe” sounds like a little kid. Still, it’s better to have the audio and wince a bit, then not to be able to enjoy the complete awesomeness at all. Amirite? Yeah.

Here’s the feed URL: http://www.harperkingsley.net/blog/feed/audiophobe/

Enjoy.

The post I’ve implemented audio posts for the vision impaired appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.