Susan Laine's Blog - Posts Tagged "guest-post"
Guest Post: Brynn Stein
This is the third stop on my blog tour. I’m already having such fun, as I always do on these tours, talking about various aspects of writing in general, and Ray of Sunlight in particular and getting to know all of you. Thanks so much for following the tour. If this is your first stop, feel free to go back and comment on the other two, listed below, to be entered to win one of five prizes. More about that later.
Thanks so much for having me on your blog today, Susan. I haven’t been here before. Gorgeous place you’ve got here.
Today, I’d like to talk about Russ.
Russ is like a lot of my students. I work at a private special education school for kids with severe behavior problems. Most of them have attitude problems as well. Many of them, like Russ, feel the world owes them whatever they want, and when they don’t get it, the world is out to get them. They don’t take responsibility for their own actions and any time something bad happens, it’s always someone else’s fault. Our in-house therapist calls them ‘Teflon children’. Nothing sticks to them. Or at least it shouldn’t, as far as they’re concerned. Most of my students have been in and out of juvenile detention, just like Russ, and many of them feel they were punished unjustly. They’ll admit to doing whatever they did to get ‘sent away’. They just have so many rationalizations about it that they think the judge ‘should have understood’.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my students. Each and every one of them. Even when they’re acting like Russ does at various times throughout the story. Even when they won’t own up to their responsibility. Even when their answer to a simple question is “eat shit”. Even when they hate everyone and everything, including me, I always love them. And I don’t feel that I’ve written a negative caricature of them in Russ.
For, you see, one of the big reasons I stay in this very challenging field is because I often see in my students, the changes I describe in Russ. They find something to turn themselves around for; be that some interest, some organization, some activity or some person. It doesn’t happen all the time, and it doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, but it does happen.
I had one student who was so out of control when he first came to us that he broke the window out of my classroom. He’s now back at public school making straight A’s. He’s discovered a love of drafting, and he’s good at it. He knows he has to have a college degree for what he wants to do and he’s now willing to do what it takes to get there.
I had another student who was so irresponsible when he first came to our school that at seventeen he couldn’t be relied upon to get his little sister breakfast before coming to school. He couldn’t get himself up for school, even with an alarm. He wouldn’t do any work at school, but it was our fault when he failed. Then his girlfriend got pregnant and he instantly changed. He’s now a stay at home dad with a healthy, well cared for two year old. It’s not necessarily the impetus I would have wished for him, and he’s so bright I’d have loved to see him go to college, but the point is he’s now responsible and happy and willing to make sacrifices for someone else.
Russ finds his motivation in CJ. It’s not an instantaneous change across all areas of his life, but he does change. By the end of the book, he’s much more concerned with what CJ needs than what he does. It’s a total turn around, and while it’s not quite as rewarding to write about it as to see it in my real life students, it sort of feels like I’m sharing my students’ success stories with the readers in a way, so that’s rewarding in itself.
What about all of you? Do you know any young people, or even any older ones, like Russ? Anyone who feels the world owes them a living? Anyone angry and bitter at the world? Anyone who used to be that way but found a reason to turn their life around? Comment below for a chance to win.
Here’s how the giveaway will work. Visit as many sites as you want, as often as you want. Each comment will enter you to win one of the following prizes: 1st) An autographed paperback copy of Ray of Sunlight, 2nd) An electronic copy of Ray of Sunlight, 3rd) Your choice of audio or electronic copy of Living Again, 4th) An electronic copy of Through the Years, and 5th) an electronic copy of Haunted. The takeovers for Harmony Ink’s blog and Facebook page will be part of the tour, so comments on there will count. I will draw the winners during the FB takeover and will announce them then, but will come back and announce it to all the sites too. So, you don’t have to leave your email address here if you don’t want to, just remember to check back. You’re also welcome to leave your email in the comments if you’d rather or email me at brynnstein2@gmail.com with the subject heading of “just in case”, so I can contact you if you win, if you don’t want to have to stop back by the blog sites. You don’t have to be present at the FB takeover to win.
Thanks for playing.
Blog Tour Stops
3/3/2015 Bike Books Review http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.com/
3/4/2015 Grace Duncan http://www.grace-duncan.com/
3/5/2015 Susan Laine https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
3/6/2015 Jo Ramsey http://www.joramsey.com/blog/
3/7/2015 Alicia Nordwell http://ciasstories.blogspot.com/2015/...
3/8/2015 Jana Denardo https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
3/9/2015 Lex Chase http://lexchase.com/blog/2015/03/09/w...
3/10/2015 Sean Michael http://seanmichaelwrites.blogspot.ca/
3/11/2015 Charley Descoteaux http://cdescoteauxwrites.com/
3/12/2015 Anne Barwell http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
3/13/2015 Karenna Colcroft http://www.karennacolcroft.com
3/14/2015 Anna Butler http://annabutlerfiction.com/2015/03/...
3/15/2015 Nic Starr www.becausetwomenarebetterthanone.com
3/16/2015 Shae Conner http://shaeconnorwrites.com
3/17/2015 Jessica Davies http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com/
3/18/2015 Aidee Ladnier http://www.aideeladnier.com
3/19/2015 Emma Tett http://emmy-j.blogspot.co.uk/
3/20/2015 Harmony Ink Blog http://harmonyinkpress.com/
3/21/2015 Harmony Ink Facebook Page facebook.com/harmonyinkpress
Ray of Sunlight
Brynn Stein
Russ Michaels has his whole life ahead of him but no plans beyond dropping out of school as soon as he turns eighteen. He’s been in and out of juvenile detention for the last four years and thoroughly expects to end up in an adult penitentiary at some point. He hates life and everyone in it, especially this latest community service that he earned in lieu of juvie yet again.
CJ Calhoun has big plans. He wants to bring joy and happiness to sick and injured children for as long as he can by performing as a clown. The problem is, he has stage-four cancer and a horrible prognosis.
When circumstances throw these two polar opposites together, they find they have more in common than they imagined. CJ discovers Russ’s talent for art and arranges for Russ to create a mural in the hospital foyer, which leads to a tentative scholarship to the Art Institute. As life changes in ways neither of them could have expected, Russ must work harder than ever to better himself as CJ struggles with his deteriorating health.
Purchase Ray of Sunlight at the following links!
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
http://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Brynn Stein
Brynn Stein has always loved to write. Fan fiction, original fiction, whatever. While Brynn wrote in numerous genres—everything from mystery, to contemporary, to supernatural—she had always tended toward strong male characters. And then she discovered “slash,” male/male romance, and all those strong male characters were finally allowed to express their love for one another. It seems that there are always at least two characters clamoring to tell Brynn their story.
Brynn lives in Virginia near her two grown daughters who encourage her writing and provide a sounding board for fledgling stories. When she isn’t writing, Brynn teaches children with special needs. In free time, when such a thing exists, she reads anything she can get her hands on, and haunts bookstores. She draws and paints, and enjoys the outdoors—especially if she can get to the beach—and is always thinking about her next story.
Please feel free to contact Brynn at any of the following:
http://brynnstein2.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/brynn.stein
brynnstein2@gmail.com
Guest Post: Anna Butler
JUST GLUE SOME GEARS ON IT…
A couple of years ago I was at a big fan convention in Houston, invited there to run a writer’s workshop and a panel. I had a great time. One of the highlights was wandering around the convention centre admiring all the people who were *far* braver than I was, and who had turned up in costume. Darth Vader was there, with a few storm troopers as escorts. There were old school BSG Cylons, innumerable robots and more than one weeping angel from Doctor Who (they were just spooky), not to mention the comic book heroes and heroines scattered about.
The ones that caught my eye were the ones cosplaying in steampunk garb: jewel-coloured dresses and tight corsetry, top hats and goggles, one man in a romanticised military uniform (it looked very Ruritanian!) with his left arm encased in a copper and brass frame to mimic a robotic prosthetic. They were just brilliant.
So when I was looking for something that was a change of pace when I’d just finished drafting the second Shield book, I thought about the coffee shop novella, where a young man falls for an archaeologist working at the British Museum, that had been lurking unfinished on my hard drive. But heigh ho, how many contemporary coffee shop m/m romances are out there? What could I do with it to make it different?
And that’s where I remembered those wonderful cosplayers. I could make it a steampunk setting. Not so much about the aesthetics, so not all goggles and corsets, but a world where the city is powered by luminiferous aether, and aeroships and phlogiston guns are just part of the scenery. The young man who owns the coffeehouse might have been, say, a pilot in Queen Victoria’s Aero Corps and served in the Boer War, and the archaeologist he falls for would be an Aegyptology specialist. There would have to be some sort of adventure going on there and why not have it all mixed up with dicey politics and an odd system of government where a privileged few rules everything… Houses, say, based on family alliances and bonds, with an oligarchy in power.
And so the steampunk, coffeehouse, adventure/mystery m/m romance was born.
I probably made a hundred mistakes that an expert on steampunk would laugh at, but I hope that I avoided the worst sort of “just glue some gears on it and call it steampunk” mentality. I might have done just that, if my researches hadn’t led me to this wonderful video from Sir Reginald PikeDevant. He steered me in the right direction.
Here’s his advice, useful for every aspiring steampunker. Do enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE...
BLURB
When Captain Rafe Lancaster is invalided out of the Britannic Imperium’s Aero Corps after crashing his aerofighter during the Second Boer War, his eyesight is damaged permanently, and his career as a fighter pilot is over. Returning to Londinium in late November 1899, he’s lost the skies he loved, has no place in a society ruled by an elite oligarchy of powerful Houses, and is hard up, homeless, and in desperate need of a new direction in life.
Everything changes when he buys a coffeehouse near the Britannic Imperium Museum in Bloomsbury, the haunt of Aegyptologists. For the first time in years, Rafe is free to be himself. In a city powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston, and where powerful men use House assassins to target their rivals, Rafe must navigate dangerous politics, deal with a jealous and possessive ex-lover, learn to make the best coffee in Londinium, and fend off murder and kidnap attempts before he can find happiness with the man he loves.
(Cover by Reese Dante)
EXCERPT
The Boers had smuggled arms shipments though Germany and the Americas. They had cannons. Not popguns, but real laser-guided cannons, throwing out flechettes filled with phlogiston in a mercurial mix with aether and petroleum distillate. They didn’t hit very much, of course. To hit something moving as fast as an aerofighter takes skill and training. But they were enthusiastic about trying, and, heaven knows, tearing around the sky and throwing my ship into one maneuver after another while flechettes flashed past or exploded in a shower of sapphire and olive green sparks, was thrilling. Like flying through fireworks. Sometimes I had the little fighter standing on her nose or flipped over and flying upside down. Pure exhilaration.
But that particular day was a little too exhilarating. I’d dodged through one barrage, dropping a charge right on the heads of a gun emplacement, when another artillery unit got in a lucky shot. The shell glanced against the side of the aether chamber powering my fighter and cracked it open, sending me spinning out of the sky.
I had no warning. A loud bang, a flash of light, and the rudder wheel jerked out of my hands. The ship plummeted, venting aether and steam. I had been an aeronaut for almost ten years, but all my experience and skill didn’t prevent that instant where a man is too dazed and astonished to do anything but react. I yelled something most definitely unfit for the ears of the ladies, and my heart felt as if it were jumping right out of my chest.
Shock—it happens to the best of us.
It barely lasted a second. I grabbed the wheel and fought to get her nose up and keep it there.
Up you come. Up you damn well come!
The Lancaster luck was still with me. The laser shell hadn’t touched the petroleum distillate tanks or the phlogiston augmenter pipes. A little more of the famous luck… and yes! Just enough power in the pipes to trickle through to the engines. I’d get out of this mess. It might be a tight squeeze, but I’d get out of it.
As soon as I got her level again, I pulled in a big calming breath and got her limping back south on half-power. I wish I could say I straightened my shoulders and stared out of the cockpit window with the unwavering gaze, set chin, and steely resolve the illustrated newspapers employ to depict their heroes. But the truth is, I slumped in the seat and rested my head against the control panel while indulging in some heartfelt and inventive profanity. Very inventive profanity, if I do say so myself. Oddly, my breathing was hard and fast. Anyone hearing it would have thought I’d been running.
But there wasn’t time to indulge myself for long. I had to find somewhere to set the bird down, away from the Boers and close to help, before she fell out of the sky. I had to keep an eye on the instruments, of course, to make sure the phlogiston didn’t dip below the red line—that would mean serious, serious trouble—but mostly I stared out through the transparent aluminum canopy, searching the terrain ahead for somewhere safe to land.
My senior lieutenant, Ingram, brought his aeroship alongside mine. He was gesturing wildly through the clear canopy, but I sent him back with a sharp order to take command. Really, what was the boy thinking? He should be looking after my aeronauts, not flying alongside me waving like a coy village maiden spotting her errant lover. It wasn’t as if he could actually do anything, anyway, but watch me go down. He grimaced, waggled his wings, and curved away into a sky of the clearest, purest blue. Not a cloud in it but the man-made ones of smoke and electrified aether, shot through with dark actinic rays.
WHERE TO BUY THE GILDED SCARAB
Dreamspinner as an ebook and in paperback.
From an Amazon near you (Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk links for starters)
All Romance as an ebook
GIVEAWAY
Comment here and get an entry in a rafflecopter to win an Amazon gift card (drawn when the blog tour is over at the end of March).
a Rafflecopter giveaway
In addition, one commentator chosen at complete close-eyes-stick-a-pin-in-it random will get a little pack of Gilded Scarab loot and a free copy of FlashWired (a gay mainstream sci-fi novella).
ABOUT ANNA
Anna Butler was a communications specialist for many years, working in UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to running an internal TV service. She now spends her time indulging her love of old-school science fiction. She lives in the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo.
Find Anna:
Website and Blog
Facebook
The Butler’s Pantry (Facebook Group)
Pinterest
Twitter
A couple of years ago I was at a big fan convention in Houston, invited there to run a writer’s workshop and a panel. I had a great time. One of the highlights was wandering around the convention centre admiring all the people who were *far* braver than I was, and who had turned up in costume. Darth Vader was there, with a few storm troopers as escorts. There were old school BSG Cylons, innumerable robots and more than one weeping angel from Doctor Who (they were just spooky), not to mention the comic book heroes and heroines scattered about.
The ones that caught my eye were the ones cosplaying in steampunk garb: jewel-coloured dresses and tight corsetry, top hats and goggles, one man in a romanticised military uniform (it looked very Ruritanian!) with his left arm encased in a copper and brass frame to mimic a robotic prosthetic. They were just brilliant.
So when I was looking for something that was a change of pace when I’d just finished drafting the second Shield book, I thought about the coffee shop novella, where a young man falls for an archaeologist working at the British Museum, that had been lurking unfinished on my hard drive. But heigh ho, how many contemporary coffee shop m/m romances are out there? What could I do with it to make it different?
And that’s where I remembered those wonderful cosplayers. I could make it a steampunk setting. Not so much about the aesthetics, so not all goggles and corsets, but a world where the city is powered by luminiferous aether, and aeroships and phlogiston guns are just part of the scenery. The young man who owns the coffeehouse might have been, say, a pilot in Queen Victoria’s Aero Corps and served in the Boer War, and the archaeologist he falls for would be an Aegyptology specialist. There would have to be some sort of adventure going on there and why not have it all mixed up with dicey politics and an odd system of government where a privileged few rules everything… Houses, say, based on family alliances and bonds, with an oligarchy in power.
And so the steampunk, coffeehouse, adventure/mystery m/m romance was born.
I probably made a hundred mistakes that an expert on steampunk would laugh at, but I hope that I avoided the worst sort of “just glue some gears on it and call it steampunk” mentality. I might have done just that, if my researches hadn’t led me to this wonderful video from Sir Reginald PikeDevant. He steered me in the right direction.
Here’s his advice, useful for every aspiring steampunker. Do enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE...
BLURB
When Captain Rafe Lancaster is invalided out of the Britannic Imperium’s Aero Corps after crashing his aerofighter during the Second Boer War, his eyesight is damaged permanently, and his career as a fighter pilot is over. Returning to Londinium in late November 1899, he’s lost the skies he loved, has no place in a society ruled by an elite oligarchy of powerful Houses, and is hard up, homeless, and in desperate need of a new direction in life.
Everything changes when he buys a coffeehouse near the Britannic Imperium Museum in Bloomsbury, the haunt of Aegyptologists. For the first time in years, Rafe is free to be himself. In a city powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston, and where powerful men use House assassins to target their rivals, Rafe must navigate dangerous politics, deal with a jealous and possessive ex-lover, learn to make the best coffee in Londinium, and fend off murder and kidnap attempts before he can find happiness with the man he loves.
(Cover by Reese Dante)
EXCERPT
The Boers had smuggled arms shipments though Germany and the Americas. They had cannons. Not popguns, but real laser-guided cannons, throwing out flechettes filled with phlogiston in a mercurial mix with aether and petroleum distillate. They didn’t hit very much, of course. To hit something moving as fast as an aerofighter takes skill and training. But they were enthusiastic about trying, and, heaven knows, tearing around the sky and throwing my ship into one maneuver after another while flechettes flashed past or exploded in a shower of sapphire and olive green sparks, was thrilling. Like flying through fireworks. Sometimes I had the little fighter standing on her nose or flipped over and flying upside down. Pure exhilaration.
But that particular day was a little too exhilarating. I’d dodged through one barrage, dropping a charge right on the heads of a gun emplacement, when another artillery unit got in a lucky shot. The shell glanced against the side of the aether chamber powering my fighter and cracked it open, sending me spinning out of the sky.
I had no warning. A loud bang, a flash of light, and the rudder wheel jerked out of my hands. The ship plummeted, venting aether and steam. I had been an aeronaut for almost ten years, but all my experience and skill didn’t prevent that instant where a man is too dazed and astonished to do anything but react. I yelled something most definitely unfit for the ears of the ladies, and my heart felt as if it were jumping right out of my chest.
Shock—it happens to the best of us.
It barely lasted a second. I grabbed the wheel and fought to get her nose up and keep it there.
Up you come. Up you damn well come!
The Lancaster luck was still with me. The laser shell hadn’t touched the petroleum distillate tanks or the phlogiston augmenter pipes. A little more of the famous luck… and yes! Just enough power in the pipes to trickle through to the engines. I’d get out of this mess. It might be a tight squeeze, but I’d get out of it.
As soon as I got her level again, I pulled in a big calming breath and got her limping back south on half-power. I wish I could say I straightened my shoulders and stared out of the cockpit window with the unwavering gaze, set chin, and steely resolve the illustrated newspapers employ to depict their heroes. But the truth is, I slumped in the seat and rested my head against the control panel while indulging in some heartfelt and inventive profanity. Very inventive profanity, if I do say so myself. Oddly, my breathing was hard and fast. Anyone hearing it would have thought I’d been running.
But there wasn’t time to indulge myself for long. I had to find somewhere to set the bird down, away from the Boers and close to help, before she fell out of the sky. I had to keep an eye on the instruments, of course, to make sure the phlogiston didn’t dip below the red line—that would mean serious, serious trouble—but mostly I stared out through the transparent aluminum canopy, searching the terrain ahead for somewhere safe to land.
My senior lieutenant, Ingram, brought his aeroship alongside mine. He was gesturing wildly through the clear canopy, but I sent him back with a sharp order to take command. Really, what was the boy thinking? He should be looking after my aeronauts, not flying alongside me waving like a coy village maiden spotting her errant lover. It wasn’t as if he could actually do anything, anyway, but watch me go down. He grimaced, waggled his wings, and curved away into a sky of the clearest, purest blue. Not a cloud in it but the man-made ones of smoke and electrified aether, shot through with dark actinic rays.
WHERE TO BUY THE GILDED SCARAB
Dreamspinner as an ebook and in paperback.
From an Amazon near you (Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk links for starters)
All Romance as an ebook
GIVEAWAY
Comment here and get an entry in a rafflecopter to win an Amazon gift card (drawn when the blog tour is over at the end of March).
a Rafflecopter giveaway
In addition, one commentator chosen at complete close-eyes-stick-a-pin-in-it random will get a little pack of Gilded Scarab loot and a free copy of FlashWired (a gay mainstream sci-fi novella).
ABOUT ANNA
Anna Butler was a communications specialist for many years, working in UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to running an internal TV service. She now spends her time indulging her love of old-school science fiction. She lives in the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo.
Find Anna:
Website and Blog
The Butler’s Pantry (Facebook Group)
Guest Post: Jessica Walsh & Briana Lawrence
Seeking the Storyteller
By Jessica Walsh & Briana Lawrence
I know of the Storyteller, it whispers into the man’s ear, I’ve met him. If you promise not to kill me, I’ll take you to him.
Alix Andre DeBenit and Randall Fagan are Hunters, part of a hidden network of humans who track and kill the monsters lurking in our world so everyone else can pretend they don’t exist. But when a living shadow mentions someone called the Storyteller, Alix hesitantly decides to learn more.
They say the Storyteller lives in a massive library full of books that tell every being’s life story. He can read these books, rewrite them and change anything he wants, even if it’s already happened. That’s the power Alix wants, the power to bring his murdered family back and he’s determined to make the Storyteller do it.
He just has to decide if working with the very creatures he’s supposed to kill is worth it.
Purchase Links:
Amazon: Coming soon
Create Space: https://www.createspace.com/5376449
Etsy (signed copy with bonus): http://www.etsy.com/listing/186904208...
Will be available on other online sites soon!
Excerpt:
Haven covered his ears as he heard the scream again, this time sounding even more desperate. He didn’t know what the humans were hearing, but to him it sounded like the girl was in physical pain, as if actually being attacked. Did they really hate demons so much as to let something like that continue? “Can’t you just let him calm her down so she stops screaming?”
Idiot. Don’t draw attention to yourself. His dragon’s voice echoed in his mind as the blond Hunter turned a look of disgust in his direction.
“You don’t need to be concerned about them. But you can tell us what happened to Xaver.”
“She’s screaming over there and you’re going to waste time interrogating him?!” Dox’s own voice was nearing the point of hysteria. Haven could see the shadows on the edge of his cell straining, struggling to do something for him, but whatever he was trying they weren’t responding, not able to help.
Haven. Don’t.
“This is stupid. I’m not going to sit here and answer questions while she’s screaming.” Haven muttered, closing his hands into loose fists. He could feel the cold sliding down through his arms, swirling in the small space between his fingers as it spun and gained speed.
Haven! Don’t be so rash!
“Shut up.”
Alix frowned, “Who are you talking to?”
Haven!
The metal around his wrists was the first to go, cracking from the cold and sliding off his skin like thin sheets of paper. In seconds Haven was moving forward and shoving his hands hard against the two bars in front of him. At the same moment, the gathering balls of ice broke apart, the cold surging up the metal and freezing it to the core in a matter of seconds. The now weakened metal shattered like glass that danced across the floor in sparks and shards. The two Hunters were stunned and Haven used that split second to run across the floor and duck around the one with the gun. Guns took slightly longer than swords to aim and that difference was a blessing to Haven as Alix tried to recover and aim. Haven made it across the room and used a second ball of ice against the lock on the metal door, shattering it in the same way at the bars of his cell. Haven kicked it open and ducked inside as the bullets whizzed past his head, just narrowly missing.
He found the girl in the cell, curled up in the corner shaking as if she were having a seizure. Her hands were clenched around her head and she had pulled her body into the tightest ball she could make, still screaming and shaking her head back and forth, pleading with whatever she was seeing and hearing to
STOP STOP STOP PLEASE STOP.
Haven stepped toward her and knelt down, forcing his hand to not be so cold as he lightly touched her shoulder, trying to wake her up.
You stupid boy, look out!
She moved at the touch, lashing out in his direction. Her eyes never opened but her body reacted, incorporating his touch into her dream as something she didn’t want. A hand and a kick flew in his direction and Haven jumped back out of reach, watching her with wide eyes. He knew the Hunters were probably at the door watching him, aiming their weapons, ready to fire. He knew he was being stupid and would probably get himself killed, but he couldn’t believe that someone would just let her scream like this.
To think that humans claimed that his kind were the vicious ones.
Stepping forward again he grabbed Cyn and wrapped his arms around her. There was something wrong with her skin. It felt too dry, almost scaly, and Haven suddenly remembered what Dox had said earlier. The girl had a demon inside of her, one that she could lose control of if she got too worked up. As if responding to his thoughts Cyn began thrashing in his arms, her screams turning louder, the fear shifting into anger. Her voice had a rougher edge to it, an animalistic growl that sounded deadlier with each yell. Haven could feel the ground shifting through the concrete, a soft hint of a rumble brushing against the walls.
In her dreams she was calling to the roots, begging for them to rescue her from this perceived threat. Haven did the only thing he could think of. He let the cold slide through his body and into hers as he restrained her arms.
The screaming stopped and the ground stopped shaking.
For a moment Haven had the horrible thought that he’d killed her, freezing her to death with a single careless thought in an effort to stop whatever she was seeing. However, a quick look at her chest as he loosened his grip revealed her shallow breathing. She was alive, at least, but Haven had given her enough cold for her teeth to start chattering and her lips to turn a tint of blue. He’d given her too much.
Briana Lawrence (left) & Jessica Walsh (right)
Briana Lawrence –
At the age of nine, like most kids, Briana Lawrence had a dream. She wanted to be the best “WRITTER” in the whole wide world. Her fourth grade class laughed and wondered how one hoped to become a “writer” if they couldn’t even spell the word. Back then her stories were created with crayons and construction paper. As she grew older they progressed into notebooks and colored ink pens of pink, blue, and purple. When she lost her older brother, Glenn Berry, in a car accident, she stopped writing.
Dreams, however, have a funny way of coming back.
Before she realized it she was grabbing her notebook and pens again. She would write stories that ranged from high school romance to her imagination running wild with the likes of Goku, Vegeta, and the other characters of Dragonball Z. This continued throughout college where she would always end up writing about the space exploits of the pilots of Gundam Wing and other works of fan fiction. Soon she realized that she wanted to do more than that. Her head was full of ideas, full of original characters and worlds that she wanted to share with others.
Thus, she stepped into an English Major with some Women’s Studies on the side.
She graduated Iowa State University in 2006 and moved to Minneapolis with her partner. Here, she tried to get into graduate school, but things didn’t pan out the way she wanted. She ended up working retail, her dream becoming buried by Black Fridays and other busy times of year. Once again, however, that dream returned. She went from immersing herself in geeky fan fiction to actually writing about the geeky things she loved for several anime and video game review sites. However, it was her discovery of National Novel Writing Month that made her go back to creating her own characters and plots.
Now, here she is, an author in the writing world.
Jessica Walsh –
My life is a flurry of writing, art and creativity. You can usually find me reading a book, scribbling notes in a notebook for future creations, typing on a laptop with music blaring in my ears or buried in my basement watching documentaries and sitting behind a sewing machine.
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and have boxes of old notebooks in horrible handwriting to prove it. Only recently have I stumbled back into writing and finishing my ideas.
Seeking the Storyteller is the first novel I’ve published; with my partner in crime and life, Briana Lawrence. I also write horror, fantasy, supernatural and occasionally romance pieces which I am currently shopping around through contests and publishers.
Blogs:
Jessica: http://snowtigra.blogspot.com/
Briana: http://brichibirants.wordpress.com/
Author Websites:
Jessica: http://snowtigra.wix.com/jessicawalsh
Briana: http://brichibi.wix.com/whisperedwords
Facebook:
Jessica: https://www.facebook.com/storytellerh...
Briana: https://www.facebook.com/BrianaLawren...
Your Goodreads author page?
Jessica: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Briana: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Your Twitter details?
Briana: https://twitter.com/BrichibiTweets
And any other information you wish to supply?
Our main page for books, art, cosplay, and everything: http://www.sewntogetherreflections.com/
By Jessica Walsh & Briana Lawrence
I know of the Storyteller, it whispers into the man’s ear, I’ve met him. If you promise not to kill me, I’ll take you to him.
Alix Andre DeBenit and Randall Fagan are Hunters, part of a hidden network of humans who track and kill the monsters lurking in our world so everyone else can pretend they don’t exist. But when a living shadow mentions someone called the Storyteller, Alix hesitantly decides to learn more.
They say the Storyteller lives in a massive library full of books that tell every being’s life story. He can read these books, rewrite them and change anything he wants, even if it’s already happened. That’s the power Alix wants, the power to bring his murdered family back and he’s determined to make the Storyteller do it.
He just has to decide if working with the very creatures he’s supposed to kill is worth it.
Purchase Links:
Amazon: Coming soon
Create Space: https://www.createspace.com/5376449
Etsy (signed copy with bonus): http://www.etsy.com/listing/186904208...
Will be available on other online sites soon!
Excerpt:
Haven covered his ears as he heard the scream again, this time sounding even more desperate. He didn’t know what the humans were hearing, but to him it sounded like the girl was in physical pain, as if actually being attacked. Did they really hate demons so much as to let something like that continue? “Can’t you just let him calm her down so she stops screaming?”
Idiot. Don’t draw attention to yourself. His dragon’s voice echoed in his mind as the blond Hunter turned a look of disgust in his direction.
“You don’t need to be concerned about them. But you can tell us what happened to Xaver.”
“She’s screaming over there and you’re going to waste time interrogating him?!” Dox’s own voice was nearing the point of hysteria. Haven could see the shadows on the edge of his cell straining, struggling to do something for him, but whatever he was trying they weren’t responding, not able to help.
Haven. Don’t.
“This is stupid. I’m not going to sit here and answer questions while she’s screaming.” Haven muttered, closing his hands into loose fists. He could feel the cold sliding down through his arms, swirling in the small space between his fingers as it spun and gained speed.
Haven! Don’t be so rash!
“Shut up.”
Alix frowned, “Who are you talking to?”
Haven!
The metal around his wrists was the first to go, cracking from the cold and sliding off his skin like thin sheets of paper. In seconds Haven was moving forward and shoving his hands hard against the two bars in front of him. At the same moment, the gathering balls of ice broke apart, the cold surging up the metal and freezing it to the core in a matter of seconds. The now weakened metal shattered like glass that danced across the floor in sparks and shards. The two Hunters were stunned and Haven used that split second to run across the floor and duck around the one with the gun. Guns took slightly longer than swords to aim and that difference was a blessing to Haven as Alix tried to recover and aim. Haven made it across the room and used a second ball of ice against the lock on the metal door, shattering it in the same way at the bars of his cell. Haven kicked it open and ducked inside as the bullets whizzed past his head, just narrowly missing.
He found the girl in the cell, curled up in the corner shaking as if she were having a seizure. Her hands were clenched around her head and she had pulled her body into the tightest ball she could make, still screaming and shaking her head back and forth, pleading with whatever she was seeing and hearing to
STOP STOP STOP PLEASE STOP.
Haven stepped toward her and knelt down, forcing his hand to not be so cold as he lightly touched her shoulder, trying to wake her up.
You stupid boy, look out!
She moved at the touch, lashing out in his direction. Her eyes never opened but her body reacted, incorporating his touch into her dream as something she didn’t want. A hand and a kick flew in his direction and Haven jumped back out of reach, watching her with wide eyes. He knew the Hunters were probably at the door watching him, aiming their weapons, ready to fire. He knew he was being stupid and would probably get himself killed, but he couldn’t believe that someone would just let her scream like this.
To think that humans claimed that his kind were the vicious ones.
Stepping forward again he grabbed Cyn and wrapped his arms around her. There was something wrong with her skin. It felt too dry, almost scaly, and Haven suddenly remembered what Dox had said earlier. The girl had a demon inside of her, one that she could lose control of if she got too worked up. As if responding to his thoughts Cyn began thrashing in his arms, her screams turning louder, the fear shifting into anger. Her voice had a rougher edge to it, an animalistic growl that sounded deadlier with each yell. Haven could feel the ground shifting through the concrete, a soft hint of a rumble brushing against the walls.
In her dreams she was calling to the roots, begging for them to rescue her from this perceived threat. Haven did the only thing he could think of. He let the cold slide through his body and into hers as he restrained her arms.
The screaming stopped and the ground stopped shaking.
For a moment Haven had the horrible thought that he’d killed her, freezing her to death with a single careless thought in an effort to stop whatever she was seeing. However, a quick look at her chest as he loosened his grip revealed her shallow breathing. She was alive, at least, but Haven had given her enough cold for her teeth to start chattering and her lips to turn a tint of blue. He’d given her too much.
Briana Lawrence (left) & Jessica Walsh (right)
Briana Lawrence –
At the age of nine, like most kids, Briana Lawrence had a dream. She wanted to be the best “WRITTER” in the whole wide world. Her fourth grade class laughed and wondered how one hoped to become a “writer” if they couldn’t even spell the word. Back then her stories were created with crayons and construction paper. As she grew older they progressed into notebooks and colored ink pens of pink, blue, and purple. When she lost her older brother, Glenn Berry, in a car accident, she stopped writing.
Dreams, however, have a funny way of coming back.
Before she realized it she was grabbing her notebook and pens again. She would write stories that ranged from high school romance to her imagination running wild with the likes of Goku, Vegeta, and the other characters of Dragonball Z. This continued throughout college where she would always end up writing about the space exploits of the pilots of Gundam Wing and other works of fan fiction. Soon she realized that she wanted to do more than that. Her head was full of ideas, full of original characters and worlds that she wanted to share with others.
Thus, she stepped into an English Major with some Women’s Studies on the side.
She graduated Iowa State University in 2006 and moved to Minneapolis with her partner. Here, she tried to get into graduate school, but things didn’t pan out the way she wanted. She ended up working retail, her dream becoming buried by Black Fridays and other busy times of year. Once again, however, that dream returned. She went from immersing herself in geeky fan fiction to actually writing about the geeky things she loved for several anime and video game review sites. However, it was her discovery of National Novel Writing Month that made her go back to creating her own characters and plots.
Now, here she is, an author in the writing world.
Jessica Walsh –
My life is a flurry of writing, art and creativity. You can usually find me reading a book, scribbling notes in a notebook for future creations, typing on a laptop with music blaring in my ears or buried in my basement watching documentaries and sitting behind a sewing machine.
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and have boxes of old notebooks in horrible handwriting to prove it. Only recently have I stumbled back into writing and finishing my ideas.
Seeking the Storyteller is the first novel I’ve published; with my partner in crime and life, Briana Lawrence. I also write horror, fantasy, supernatural and occasionally romance pieces which I am currently shopping around through contests and publishers.
Blogs:
Jessica: http://snowtigra.blogspot.com/
Briana: http://brichibirants.wordpress.com/
Author Websites:
Jessica: http://snowtigra.wix.com/jessicawalsh
Briana: http://brichibi.wix.com/whisperedwords
Facebook:
Jessica: https://www.facebook.com/storytellerh...
Briana: https://www.facebook.com/BrianaLawren...
Your Goodreads author page?
Jessica: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Briana: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Your Twitter details?
Briana: https://twitter.com/BrichibiTweets
And any other information you wish to supply?
Our main page for books, art, cosplay, and everything: http://www.sewntogetherreflections.com/
Guest Post: K. Lynn
Please welcome, author K. Lynn!
His Womanly Ways is unlike my usual fare of works. Going into the writing process, I knew that I wanted to do a genderswap book, but one that was unlike those I had read prior. I have always been interested in the genre, but I find most of it jumps straight to objectification rather than exploration. You're turned into another gender, so the first thing you do is feel yourself up and try to have sex with the nearest willing person? I don't buy that.
Essentially your body doesn't match your inner self anymore. That should cause some kind of journey to either accept or reject the situation. That's what I tried to do with His Womanly Ways. Alex didn't ask for this to happen to him, and the process is gradual, as is his acceptance of the changes. His mind doesn't match the image he sees in the mirror, and that's important to realize.
Alex is a womanizer. He makes no excuses for it. Yes, he picks up women at the local bar, leaving them with just a memory of a good night and a good lay, but he hasn't had any complaints yet. That is, until he picks up the wrong woman. Not satisfied to be tossed aside as just another notch in Alex's bedpost, she curses him, wishing he “knew what it was like for a woman.” And he's about to find out what she means, embarking on a genderswap journey that he can't stop.
Alex starts slowly gaining secondary female characteristics. Waking up with his cock gone, replaced by a vagina, was bad enough. Then it gets worse, as his body becomes more like a woman than the man he used to be. Alex tries to hide the changes he's going through, for fear that someone will discover his secret, but keeping this quite literally “under wraps” might be impossible before the curse runs its course.
With the help of his female best friend, Eve, Alex tries to deal with who he is becoming. He feels like he's lost his identity, his mind not matching the body he now has. But Eve sticks by him, and they become closer as Alex's changes progress. What started out as friendship may become something more before Alex's journey is over. Perhaps this curse was actually a blessing in disguise.
~~
About The Book: His Womanly Ways
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.ph...
http://www.amazon.com/K.-Lynn/e/B009P...
~~
About The Author: K. Lynn
K. Lynn has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. While in college, K. Lynn increased her involvement in LGBT issues and writing within the LGBT fiction genre. She has become a long-time fan of the authors that seek to explore the commonality that exists within all sexualities and genders. Most of K. Lynn's work features LGBT characters, many of whom are in established relationships and show how love perseveres through every trial and tribulation that life holds. She also has a particular interest in seeing transgender characters gain a larger foothold within the LGBT fiction genre, hoping that the market for these works expand in the future. Contact K. Lynn at writerklynn@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @WriterKLynn
His Womanly Ways is unlike my usual fare of works. Going into the writing process, I knew that I wanted to do a genderswap book, but one that was unlike those I had read prior. I have always been interested in the genre, but I find most of it jumps straight to objectification rather than exploration. You're turned into another gender, so the first thing you do is feel yourself up and try to have sex with the nearest willing person? I don't buy that.
Essentially your body doesn't match your inner self anymore. That should cause some kind of journey to either accept or reject the situation. That's what I tried to do with His Womanly Ways. Alex didn't ask for this to happen to him, and the process is gradual, as is his acceptance of the changes. His mind doesn't match the image he sees in the mirror, and that's important to realize.
Alex is a womanizer. He makes no excuses for it. Yes, he picks up women at the local bar, leaving them with just a memory of a good night and a good lay, but he hasn't had any complaints yet. That is, until he picks up the wrong woman. Not satisfied to be tossed aside as just another notch in Alex's bedpost, she curses him, wishing he “knew what it was like for a woman.” And he's about to find out what she means, embarking on a genderswap journey that he can't stop.
Alex starts slowly gaining secondary female characteristics. Waking up with his cock gone, replaced by a vagina, was bad enough. Then it gets worse, as his body becomes more like a woman than the man he used to be. Alex tries to hide the changes he's going through, for fear that someone will discover his secret, but keeping this quite literally “under wraps” might be impossible before the curse runs its course.
With the help of his female best friend, Eve, Alex tries to deal with who he is becoming. He feels like he's lost his identity, his mind not matching the body he now has. But Eve sticks by him, and they become closer as Alex's changes progress. What started out as friendship may become something more before Alex's journey is over. Perhaps this curse was actually a blessing in disguise.
~~
About The Book: His Womanly Ways
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.ph...
http://www.amazon.com/K.-Lynn/e/B009P...
~~
About The Author: K. Lynn
K. Lynn has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. While in college, K. Lynn increased her involvement in LGBT issues and writing within the LGBT fiction genre. She has become a long-time fan of the authors that seek to explore the commonality that exists within all sexualities and genders. Most of K. Lynn's work features LGBT characters, many of whom are in established relationships and show how love perseveres through every trial and tribulation that life holds. She also has a particular interest in seeing transgender characters gain a larger foothold within the LGBT fiction genre, hoping that the market for these works expand in the future. Contact K. Lynn at writerklynn@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @WriterKLynn
Indigent: A Book For Charity
Title: Indigent
ISBN: ISBN (13) 978-1512317404
Genre: Fiction – LGBT Anthology
Audience: Young Adult and Teen (age group 16+)
Edition: Quality Paperback, Pages – 464, $5.99 Ebook, $3.99
Authors: Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr, Mari Evans, Leona Windwalker, Shaye Evans, M. LeAnne Phoenix
Publisher: CoolDudes Publishing (PTY) LTD
Publication Date: 15 June, 2015
Distributor: Online distribution. Createspace. Amazon. Gumroad.
Marketing: Multilayered online campaign, including giveaways (Epub, Mobi and Kindle) and advertising. Social media campaign including Facebook and Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. ARC distribution.
Book Description / Blurb
"Five authors have joined together to produce stories evoking both loss and hope. Reaching deep within their fiery imaginations, these stories take flight and showcase dreams for a better today and future for LGBT everywhere. Embodying a diverse set of talents and stories, this volume sets out to grab the hearts of those who read the m/m genre and to offer hope to LGBT across the globe."
Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr’s “Indigent”, after which the anthology takes it’s name, brings the reader to witness an apocalyptic war between the good and evil that rages in one man’s mind. Soon he will know that his problems are insignificant compared to those of others.
Mari Evan’s “Stumbling into Forever”, involves a handsome young vampire who will learn that just a sip of blood is the difference between love and freezing to death.
Leona Windwalker’s “If Only the World”, takes rejection to another level. A heartbreaking story that is turned on it’s head by the kindness of strangers.
Shaye Evans’ “Rescued”, is a contemporary social statement about the aftermath of a young man’s life after his drink has been spiked at a bar.
M. LeAnne Phoenix’s “Higher Love”, takes us on an almost spiritual journey through the minds of two people who have never met, but have spo- ken on a telepathic level. When they do come together, that bond is already cemented but there is a price to pay.
Charities Supported
Our nature is to live and let live.
Often disregarding the plight of our homeless, our sick, our tired and our handicapped LGBT fellow beings. It gives us great pleasure in presenting this edition to assist our community members wherever they may be. Many of our community members have nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, and have no work. The proceeds collected from this book will go to rewarding several charities across the globe. These charities are passionate about what they do. Some take in the homeless and others provide a home for the aged and the handicapped. The charities whom we will be assisting are:
GALA, South Africa
Lost-n-Found-Youth, Atlanta, USA Youth Off The Streets, Australia The Albert Kennedy Trust, UK
GALA is a centre for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGB- TI) culture and education in Africa. Their mission is, first and foremost, to act as a catalyst for the production, preservation and dissemination of knowledge on the history, culture and contemporary experiences of LGBTI people.
www.gala.co.za
Lost-n-Found is Atlanta’s only non-profit organization dedicated to taking homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth off the street and into more permanent housing, Lost-n-Found Youth is dedicated to the advocacy and service of youth from 13 to 25 years old.
http://lnfy.org
Youth Off The Streets is a non-denominational community organisation working for young people aged 12-25 who are facing challenges of homelessness, drug and alcohol dependency, exclusion from school, neglect and abuse. We support these young people as they work to turn their lives around and overcome immense personal traumas such as neglect and physical, psychological and emotional abuse.
http://www.youthoffthestreets.com.au
The Albert Kennedy Trust supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans homeless young people in crisis. Every day they deal with the the effects homelessness can have on young people’s lives.
http://www.akt.org.uk
These charities require funding to assist desperate, needy members of our community and this book is a mere drop in the ocean of how we can reach out socially to them.
Indigent has been produced to entertain and delight and all the stories leave the reader with a “feel good” state of mind.
Author Information
Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr
F.E. Feeley Jr was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and lived there for twenty years before joining the military. He is a veteran of the US Armed Services; having done a tour in support of Operation Iraq Freedom in 2002-2003, he turned college student, pursuing a degree in political science. He now lives in Southeast Texas where he is married to the love of his life, John, and where they raise their 1½-year-old German shepherd, Kaiser.
As a young man, reading took center stage in his life, especially those novels about ghosts, witches, goblins, and all the other things that went bump in the night. His favorite authors include such writers as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice, whose work allowed him to travel to far off places and meet fascinating and scary characters. As a gay man, he wishes to be able to write good fictional literature for those who love the genre and to write characters that readers can relate to. All in all, he is a cigarette smokin’, whiskey drinkin’, rock and roll lovin’, tattoo wearin’ dreamer of a man with a wonderful partner who puts up with his crap and lets him write his stories.
Mari Evans
Mari is a wife and the proud mother of a very active daughter, two
dogs and two cats. She’s a very social kind of girl, who loves to talk. It’s both her best and worst quality.
From the moment she could read, she devoured books. Anything goes, as long as it has a happy ending.
There were always stories swirling around in her head and as a child she liked to lay in bed and let the characters have their story and happy ending. It wasn’t until 2013 that she actually tried to put one of the whole stories down and submit it to a publisher. To her own surprise and excitement it was accept- ed. This gave her the drive to keep going.
The decision to write m/m was made when a friend told a story about a young gay man that struck a chord, even as her husband had already encouraged her to try it earlier.
Now she found her passion, having already found the love in her family and friends, her life is completely chaotic, crazy but wonderful.
Shaye Evans
Shaye is a proud Australian and best selling author of the M/M Romance genre.
At age nineteen, Shaye found her love in the m/m genre when she read her first M/M and was instantly hooked, but it took her an entire year to begin writing her own. She has had five of nine short stories accepted to be published in 2014 alone. Something she is very proud to admit—and who wouldn’t be
When not writing or plotting her next piece, Shaye keeps busy by either reading one of over four-hundred books in her collection, designing her next book cover, or shopping. She one day dreams of being a paramedic and her books making it to the movies!
Leona Windwalker
Leona is a long time staunch supporter of human rights and environmental causes. Her favorite genre is m/m fiction and she particularly enjoys the sci fi, fantasy and action suspense sub-genres, especially if they have a nice seasoning of romance. She has far too many books on her Kindle, has overloaded her phone with even more, and when not reading, writing, being driven to distraction by her children, or being overlorded by her three cats, spends time trying to locate the portal that the sock monster uses to steal socks from her dryer.
M. LeAnne Phoenix
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas in the mid-1970's, Ms. Phoenix was
young and wild (and even free!) during the crazy wondrous decade known as the 1980's and the even crazier but now grungy decade of the 1990's. Music is second only to the muses that live and breathe to fill her mind with beautiful men, and music always helps them to tell their stories. She is never without her iPod or her computer no matter where she goes, although, she does like to hike and take pictures of the sky and the moon, and even the occasional shot of the sun through the branches of a tree.
An avid cat lover, Ms. Phoenix has been owned by many throughout her life, though her current owner is one Lily-Rose, who really would like for her to step away from the keyboard and pay her some attention! After all, hasn't she earned it?
Editor Biographies
Louis J Harris
Louis lives in Germiston, South Africa. He has published three novels, “Stars Fall”, “Revival”, and “Swimmer”, his short stories have appeared across the globe. He is the owner of CoolDudes Publishing and has been an affiliate member of the South African Professional Editors Group.
Kimi D Saunders (Leona Windwalker)
Leona is a long time staunch supporter of human rights and environmental causes. Her favorite genre is m/m fiction and she particularly enjoys the sci fi, fantasy and action suspense sub-genres, especially if they have a nice seasoning of romance. She has far too many books on her Kindle, has overloaded her phone with even more, and when not reading, writing, being driven to distraction by her children, or being overlorded by her three cats, spends time trying to locate the portal that the sock monster uses to steal socks from her dryer.
Links
Louis J Harris
louisjharris@cooldudespublishing.com
Kimi D Saunders (Writes as Leona Windwalker)
https://twitter.com/ShroudedDancer
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leona-...
Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr
www.authorfefeeleyjr.wordpress.com
Mari Evans
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mari-E...
Shaye Evans
https://www.facebook.com/ShayeLEvans?...
M. LeAnne Phoenix
mleannephoenix.com
FB: mleannephoenix
Twitter: @MLPhoenix
CoolDudes Publishing
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CoolDu...
https://twitter.com/search?q=cooldude... Twitter: (@lgbtpublisher)
https://www.pinterest.com/cdgaypub/
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108242351...
Events
To schedule author readings, signings, or other author events (virtual or live), please contact Louis J Harris at CoolDudes Publishing via email louisjharris@cooldudespublishing.com or by calling +27 83 784 9658
Guest Post: Anne Barwell
Soul Bonds by Anne Barwell
Thanks, Susan, for hosting me.
Vampire soul bonds are part of the mythos of The Sleepless City—the urban fantasy series which is a joint project between myself and Elizabeth Noble.
In The Sleepless City universe, vampires can only turn a human—make them a vampire—for a short period of time around the anniversary of when they were turned themselves. The older the vampire, the longer that ‘contagious’ period is. Vampires soul bond when one of the pair is contagious. They sense their soul mate is close by, and are driven to consummate their relationship. When they do so for the first time, they see mental images of each other’s past. To cement their bond, they bite each other on their inner thigh. This mark doesn’t fade like other wounds. Once soul bonded, they can also sense their partner’s emotions especially when he or she is in danger. One of the theories why these soul bonds happens is that having a soul mate helps them to keep sane during their long lives. However, not all vampires find their soul mate.
At least that is how it is supposed to work for vampires.
Because we would be writing three couples in this series, we decided early on that it would be more interesting if each soul bond experience was slightly different.
In book 1, Shades of Sepia, Simon Hawthorne and Ben Leyton soul bond. However, although Simon is a vampire, Ben is human so theirs works a little differently. Simon can mark Ben, but not vice versa although they are soul mates. Their empathic link is a little different too, with Simon’s sense of Ben being stronger, although Ben can feel Simon’s emotions when they are very strong, and knows something is wrong when Simon is in danger. When they bonded Ben saw flashes of Simon’s memories, although Simon didn’t see Ben’s. Simon was also not contagious, so Ben is still human.
In book 2, Electric Candle, Jonas Forge and Blair Turner soul bond. Although they are two vampires, their bond isn’t quite what they expected given the legends about it, but where’s the fun in that? As time goes on, they’re learning more about it, and how they fit together.
The soul bond that takes place in book 3, Family and Reflection, is one that is very rare and frowned upon. It also brings consequences neither of the couple anticipated.
Family and Reflection
Book 3 of The Sleepless City, Sequel to Electric Candle
For as long as Lucas Coate can remember, werewolves have been taught to mistrust vampires. Lucas is an exception—he has close friends who are vampires. The werewolf pack in Flint—and their leader, Jacob Coate—have made it clear that Lucas’s association with vampires is barely tolerated, and another transgression will be his last. When Lucas finds out about the plague of werewolf deaths in the area, he wants to help even though his own life may already be in danger.
Declan has been away from Flint for ten years, but he isn’t surprised to learn that the internal politics of the Supernatural Council haven’t changed for the better. When a series of burglaries hit close to home soon after he arrives, Declan—a vampire and professional thief—is their prime suspect, although for once, he isn’t responsible. With the council keeping secrets, no one is safe. Time is running out, and for Lucas and Declan, everything is about to change.
Buy links:
eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
Excerpt:
Declan turned the page of his book, read the first paragraph, then shook his head. He wasn’t sure why he’d bothered, as he couldn’t for the life of him remember what had happened on the previous page, let alone in the last few chapters. He closed the book with a thump, got up from the table, went over to the fridge, and opened it.
He wasn’t hungry, but if he had been, the mold-covered plate on one of the shelves would have put him off whatever else had taken his fancy. Someone really needed to have a word with Lucas about leaving his science experiments to breed. Declan lifted the plate somewhat cautiously and sniffed it, then wished he hadn’t. City coroner or not, this wasn’t… normal. Normal people cleaned out their leftovers before they got the chance to become strange new life forms.
Even if, in this case, his definition of normal was a werewolf.
But, despite his reaction, Declan couldn’t bring himself to throw the—whatever it was—away. To him it was disgusting, but to Lucas it might be some new discovery crucial to whatever he was currently working on. And Declan didn’t want to upset Lucas. In the short time they’d known each other, he’d become quite fond of Lucas, and enjoyed the time they spent together.
Declan sighed. He returned the offending thing to its previous resting place, ignoring the visions of reanimated zombie leftovers creeping up the stairs to attack him in the middle of the night, and instead got a wineglass out of the cupboard. He poured himself a decent-sized portion of his favorite red beverage and settled back down on the chair he’d recently vacated. As much as he enjoyed a good vintage wine, there were times when one had to quench one’s other thirsts. He sniffed the glass and savored the aroma before swallowing.
Hmm, not bad. It was amazing the standard of blood available to purchase through the right sources. It made it so much easier to feed than it used to be, and less messy too.
He heard the light step on the stairs and human heartbeat long before Ben reached the kitchen and stood awkwardly in the doorway.
“Hello, Ben,” Declan said. “Don’t worry, you’re not disturbing me.”
“If you’re sure?” Ben Leyton ran one hand through his thick dark hair. He looked tired. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d make a Milo and see if that helps.”
“I heard Simon having a nightmare earlier. He never did sleep well on anniversaries.” He’d known Simon Hawthorne a long time; Jonas Forge had introduced them shortly after Simon had been turned. Declan had also helped Simon through a dark part of his life, triggered by the events he suspected had prompted this particular nightmare, given the time of year. “I also don’t mind if you turn on the light.”
Although Declan didn’t need much light to see, especially with the full moon casting its glow into the room, Ben would appreciate more illumination.
“Yeah, well, they’re the worst times for most people, I guess.” Ben flicked on the light switch before walking across the kitchen. He filled the kettle and put it on to boil before reaching into the cupboard and bringing down a green can. “Do you want some? It’s a chocolate drink.”
“Thank you but no.” Declan indicated the glass in front of him.
The loud howl almost made him jump, and only years of practiced self-control stopped him. Even so, Declan’s hairs stood on end on the back of his neck, and the howl sent a shiver through him.
Lucas howled again. Frustration, anger, and loss all rolled into a sound that was pure wolf.
Declan knocked his glass over, spilling its contents. Without thinking, he moved at vampire speed, catching what was left of the blood in his palm and drinking deeply.
The glass fell to the floor, smashing into tiny pieces. He ignored it and finished the blood, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. A low growl escaped his lips. He knew his eyes were completely green. They tended to do that when his fangs extended.
When he looked up, Ben was staring at him, his eyes wide. “I’ll clean up the mess, shall I?” Ben said hurriedly, already heading for the broom.
“Don’t worry,” Declan said. “I’ll do it. Make your chocolate drink, mon ami. It’s my mess, so my responsibility, yes?”
Bio:
Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She shares her home with two cats who are convinced that the house is run to suit them; this is an ongoing "discussion," and to date it appears as though the cats may be winning.
In 2008 she completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching. She has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and now works in a library. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction Club and plays violin for Hutt Valley Orchestra.
She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as "too many." These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of "spare time" is really just a myth.
Anne’s books have twice received honorable mentions and twice reached the finals in the Rainbow Awards.
Blog: http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
Website: http://annebarwell.wordpress.com/
Coffee Unicorns: http://coffeeunicorns.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anne.barwell.1
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115084832...
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Dreamspinner Press Author Page:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/Auth...
Thanks, Susan, for hosting me.
Vampire soul bonds are part of the mythos of The Sleepless City—the urban fantasy series which is a joint project between myself and Elizabeth Noble.
In The Sleepless City universe, vampires can only turn a human—make them a vampire—for a short period of time around the anniversary of when they were turned themselves. The older the vampire, the longer that ‘contagious’ period is. Vampires soul bond when one of the pair is contagious. They sense their soul mate is close by, and are driven to consummate their relationship. When they do so for the first time, they see mental images of each other’s past. To cement their bond, they bite each other on their inner thigh. This mark doesn’t fade like other wounds. Once soul bonded, they can also sense their partner’s emotions especially when he or she is in danger. One of the theories why these soul bonds happens is that having a soul mate helps them to keep sane during their long lives. However, not all vampires find their soul mate.
At least that is how it is supposed to work for vampires.
Because we would be writing three couples in this series, we decided early on that it would be more interesting if each soul bond experience was slightly different.
In book 1, Shades of Sepia, Simon Hawthorne and Ben Leyton soul bond. However, although Simon is a vampire, Ben is human so theirs works a little differently. Simon can mark Ben, but not vice versa although they are soul mates. Their empathic link is a little different too, with Simon’s sense of Ben being stronger, although Ben can feel Simon’s emotions when they are very strong, and knows something is wrong when Simon is in danger. When they bonded Ben saw flashes of Simon’s memories, although Simon didn’t see Ben’s. Simon was also not contagious, so Ben is still human.
In book 2, Electric Candle, Jonas Forge and Blair Turner soul bond. Although they are two vampires, their bond isn’t quite what they expected given the legends about it, but where’s the fun in that? As time goes on, they’re learning more about it, and how they fit together.
The soul bond that takes place in book 3, Family and Reflection, is one that is very rare and frowned upon. It also brings consequences neither of the couple anticipated.
Family and Reflection
Book 3 of The Sleepless City, Sequel to Electric Candle
For as long as Lucas Coate can remember, werewolves have been taught to mistrust vampires. Lucas is an exception—he has close friends who are vampires. The werewolf pack in Flint—and their leader, Jacob Coate—have made it clear that Lucas’s association with vampires is barely tolerated, and another transgression will be his last. When Lucas finds out about the plague of werewolf deaths in the area, he wants to help even though his own life may already be in danger.
Declan has been away from Flint for ten years, but he isn’t surprised to learn that the internal politics of the Supernatural Council haven’t changed for the better. When a series of burglaries hit close to home soon after he arrives, Declan—a vampire and professional thief—is their prime suspect, although for once, he isn’t responsible. With the council keeping secrets, no one is safe. Time is running out, and for Lucas and Declan, everything is about to change.
Buy links:
eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
Excerpt:
Declan turned the page of his book, read the first paragraph, then shook his head. He wasn’t sure why he’d bothered, as he couldn’t for the life of him remember what had happened on the previous page, let alone in the last few chapters. He closed the book with a thump, got up from the table, went over to the fridge, and opened it.
He wasn’t hungry, but if he had been, the mold-covered plate on one of the shelves would have put him off whatever else had taken his fancy. Someone really needed to have a word with Lucas about leaving his science experiments to breed. Declan lifted the plate somewhat cautiously and sniffed it, then wished he hadn’t. City coroner or not, this wasn’t… normal. Normal people cleaned out their leftovers before they got the chance to become strange new life forms.
Even if, in this case, his definition of normal was a werewolf.
But, despite his reaction, Declan couldn’t bring himself to throw the—whatever it was—away. To him it was disgusting, but to Lucas it might be some new discovery crucial to whatever he was currently working on. And Declan didn’t want to upset Lucas. In the short time they’d known each other, he’d become quite fond of Lucas, and enjoyed the time they spent together.
Declan sighed. He returned the offending thing to its previous resting place, ignoring the visions of reanimated zombie leftovers creeping up the stairs to attack him in the middle of the night, and instead got a wineglass out of the cupboard. He poured himself a decent-sized portion of his favorite red beverage and settled back down on the chair he’d recently vacated. As much as he enjoyed a good vintage wine, there were times when one had to quench one’s other thirsts. He sniffed the glass and savored the aroma before swallowing.
Hmm, not bad. It was amazing the standard of blood available to purchase through the right sources. It made it so much easier to feed than it used to be, and less messy too.
He heard the light step on the stairs and human heartbeat long before Ben reached the kitchen and stood awkwardly in the doorway.
“Hello, Ben,” Declan said. “Don’t worry, you’re not disturbing me.”
“If you’re sure?” Ben Leyton ran one hand through his thick dark hair. He looked tired. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d make a Milo and see if that helps.”
“I heard Simon having a nightmare earlier. He never did sleep well on anniversaries.” He’d known Simon Hawthorne a long time; Jonas Forge had introduced them shortly after Simon had been turned. Declan had also helped Simon through a dark part of his life, triggered by the events he suspected had prompted this particular nightmare, given the time of year. “I also don’t mind if you turn on the light.”
Although Declan didn’t need much light to see, especially with the full moon casting its glow into the room, Ben would appreciate more illumination.
“Yeah, well, they’re the worst times for most people, I guess.” Ben flicked on the light switch before walking across the kitchen. He filled the kettle and put it on to boil before reaching into the cupboard and bringing down a green can. “Do you want some? It’s a chocolate drink.”
“Thank you but no.” Declan indicated the glass in front of him.
The loud howl almost made him jump, and only years of practiced self-control stopped him. Even so, Declan’s hairs stood on end on the back of his neck, and the howl sent a shiver through him.
Lucas howled again. Frustration, anger, and loss all rolled into a sound that was pure wolf.
Declan knocked his glass over, spilling its contents. Without thinking, he moved at vampire speed, catching what was left of the blood in his palm and drinking deeply.
The glass fell to the floor, smashing into tiny pieces. He ignored it and finished the blood, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. A low growl escaped his lips. He knew his eyes were completely green. They tended to do that when his fangs extended.
When he looked up, Ben was staring at him, his eyes wide. “I’ll clean up the mess, shall I?” Ben said hurriedly, already heading for the broom.
“Don’t worry,” Declan said. “I’ll do it. Make your chocolate drink, mon ami. It’s my mess, so my responsibility, yes?”
Bio:
Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She shares her home with two cats who are convinced that the house is run to suit them; this is an ongoing "discussion," and to date it appears as though the cats may be winning.
In 2008 she completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching. She has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and now works in a library. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction Club and plays violin for Hutt Valley Orchestra.
She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as "too many." These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of "spare time" is really just a myth.
Anne’s books have twice received honorable mentions and twice reached the finals in the Rainbow Awards.
Blog: http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
Website: http://annebarwell.wordpress.com/
Coffee Unicorns: http://coffeeunicorns.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anne.barwell.1
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115084832...
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Dreamspinner Press Author Page:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/Auth...
Guest Post: Jana Denardo
Thanks to Susan for having me on her blog to talk about my novel Soldiers of the Sun. While technically it’s the third in a series, all of the stories are stand-alone starting with the novella The Darkest Midnight in December and the short story, Snowbound. The series is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in an alternate 1930s where people are aware demons stalk the earth. The soldiers of the sun are demon hunters.
Probably the best way to get to know the boys is to let them tell you what it’s like to be part of a Soldiers of the Sun team, especially one waiting to be assigned a new member so I’ll let them take it away.
Caleb – I’m the leader of the group and it’s something I take seriously out there. I expect all the members to be their best but ultimately I’m the one who has to make the toughest choices. It’s good though because I can trust Agni and Temple to do what they do best. They have never disappointed me.
Agni – Good to know. Sometimes the hardest part is remembering a team only works when we work together. I don’t have the ego that says I can’t take orders. I’ve seen teams like that and they are usually quick to lose a member. I worried a little about that when I first met Temple since he’s so loud and always in motion. I worried about nothing. The hardest part of dealing with Temple is getting him to exercise. He’d rather just depend on his big gun to get him out of trouble.
Temple –You’re such a wet smack, Agni. It is tough working in a team sometimes because your teammates pick on you until you think about feeding them to the demons.
Caleb – Temple, Agni, must you?
Temple – Of course we must. To be fair, the teasing isn’t out there in the field. I know I can trust them. My biggest fear there is accidentally plugging my partners. That chopper of mine puts out so many bullets, it’s a real danger. And I’m really worried about our new partner. We know nothing about him.
Caleb – General Taglioferro hasn’t even told me yet what to expect. I think our new partner will be another long range fighter like Temple as Agni and I do better close up. It always helps to have a balance in styles.
Temple – I’m also worried about the new partner finding out about us pitching woo. That could kill the team instantly.
Agni – Always so positive but you make a good point.
Caleb – We’re careful. I don’t think we have much to worry about there. Temple might just have to put the kibosh on his flirting for a while.
Temple – With you two, yes of course. But does that mean I can’t flirt with the muffins?
Agni – Could we stop you?
Temple – Absolutely not!
Caleb – We knew that.
Jana: With that, I’ll leave these three to get back to work. Let’s do the novel giveaway now to top off the night. We all have our favorite character tropes and group dynamics. Temple allowed me to combine characters of two like working with, the sarcastic wit and someone trying to cope with a rough childhood. I also love working with diverse groups which is what I could do with this team. So what are your favorite sorts of characters?
Excerpt
Preparing to leave his little apartment within the walls of the Order of the Sun, Temple nearly slammed into his teammates Caleb and Agni. Caleb had his hand raised, presumably to knock. Temple eyed them sourly. “What are you two doing?”
“Taglioferro asked us along to meet your new partner,” Caleb replied, running his sword-calloused hand over his slicked-back blond hair. The gesture made Temple a little dry mouthed. Shaking the dirty thoughts out, Temple realized it made sense his teammates had joined him. Caleb was the team leader, after all. Surely he needed to be there.
“And since you’d be late to your own funeral, we’re here to hurry you up.” Agni made hurry-along motions exaggerated by the newspaper he had in hand—Temple’s paper, which he’d forgotten to pick up. Agni handed it to him. Temple set it on the door-side table, but not before he saw the headline about a couple of deaths of desperate men who’d died after drinking radiator fluid down at the Mon wharf. They had pulled out the potato they were using to detoxify the alcohol a little too soon. Under that was an article about another demon attack on a speakeasy. Hadn’t he and Caleb just cleared a speakeasy the other night?
“You’ll notice I am on time,” Temple grumbled, trying to lock his door. After a few moments of fussing with the key, a metallic clank echoed down the hall, telling him he was doomed. “Damn it, it broke again. Why do we have to live in such falling-down housing?”
“The building has been here a century. It’s bound to have problems.” Caleb shrugged. “Come on. I’m excited to meet our new teammate.”
“I’m nervous,” Temple said, walking down the old stone corridors. The Soldiers of the Sun’s complex had been built with castles in mind, well fortified but dark and cold. “How do I explain what happened to my last partner?”
Caleb shot him a look. “It’s not your fault Li died.”
Did Caleb think Temple blamed himself? Of course he did. Temple had said it more than once. Li had been the love of his life, and Temple watched him bleed to death. Caleb probably worried Temple wasn’t dealing with his guilt. His partners knew him pretty well, but he wished they were easier to hoodwink. He wasn’t well. The closeness he’d felt since all of them had become lovers was good, but it never lasted.
“We were outnumbered,” Caleb said as he opened the exterior door. The wind caught them in its maw, blasting through the open door. The sulfurous stench of the steel mills rode the frigid air.
“Then why does it feel like it is?” As Temple’s shoulders slumped, Caleb favored him with a sharp look. Agni’s face was inscrutable as always. After a brief silence broken only by the whistle of the wind through the buildings, Temple said, “Taglioferro is an understanding guy. He knows what we get up to, but it’s not always easy to find someone with our talents who wouldn’t want to beat us for being shirt lifters.”
“Mostly it means we have to be discreet,” Agni said, turning his cool gaze on Temple. After a second his nose wrinkled. “You’re right. You have a problem.”
Temple made a face. “Go to hell.”
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Buy Links:
Soldiers of the Sun - eBook http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
Soldiers of the Sun - paperback - http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
Amazon: Soldiers of the Sun http://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Sun-Ja...
Author Bio - Jana is Queen of the Geeks (her students voted her in) and her home and office are shrines to any number of comic book and manga heroes along with SF shows and movies too numerous to count. There is no coincidence the love of all things geeky has made its way into many of her stories. To this day, she’s still disappointed she hasn’t found a wardrobe to another realm, a superhero to take her flying among the clouds or a roguish star ship captain to run off to the stars with her.
Where to find me:
http://jana-denardo.livejournal.com/
http://twitter.com/JanaDenardo
www.facebook.com/jana.denardo
Website: (coming soon) http://www.janadenardo.com/
Guest Post: Tatum Throne
Prisoner by Tatum Throne - Available Thursday 10th September, 2015
What would you do if gladiators held you prisoner?
It’s the year 4044. On Earth, Trevor Sley’s job is to save the world, and he’s failed. All quadrants will go dark in six months. After working a long night, Trevor is accused of murdering his missing roommate, Hunter. With no choice, he runs … right into a wormhole.
Kelin is a seasoned gladiator who sees a human cross through a wormhole. Defying the Elite, he goes after the imprisoned male. He’s going to need this human to milk his venom after fights or he could die from the toxicity. Will the male obey willingly or will he have to chain him?
Life on Gelvek is dangerous. Trevor quickly discovers that he needs Kelin to survive. Despite their intense attraction, he is afraid of the gladiator. Will his gladiator live or will he lose him and their unborn child in the arena?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of hot alien gladiator sex with males from Earth and male pregnancy.
Excerpt
“Undress.”
The alien’s command sent a shiver down his spine. He slowly eased out of his jeans and torn shirt. The room was cool and made his nipples pebble hard. He saw the way the alien looked him up and down as though he were interested in what he was seeing. He was well muscled from years of working out. As the water started to fill the tub, the alien turned back to it and added something to the water.
“Get in.”
Trevor did as commanded and sat into the water. He felt all his aching muscles ease. The alien looked at him, pouring something into the water that made it even hotter. Trevor sighed, easing his hurting muscles into the water. To his surprise, his cock got rock hard, sticking up over his abdomen. The gladiator looked at his cock as it swelled against his abs. Embarrassment had heat moving up over Trevor’s neck. He couldn’t remember any man looking at him that way.
He was a man used to his privacy and this felt so invasive and oddly arousing. The alien went over to the wall, got a soft cloth and came back. “Here. For you. I will be in the other room when you’re finished.”
Trevor was disappointed when the alien left. He wanted him there. He wanted him to watch. He wanted to feel the alien’s gaze upon him as he stroked his cock off hard. That thought had him running his hand down his abdomen and over his swollen prick, giving it several stroking pulls. Before he could help it, he was lost in the feel of his hand slowly twisting and pulling up and down over his prick. He moaned softly and heard it echo within the room. He bit his lip, trying to suppress the urge to groan a second time.
“Kelin.”
He liked the sound of the alien gladiator’s name upon his tongue and wanted to hear it again. He moaned a second time, biting his lip and trying to keep from being too loud. The water sloshed against the tub. Before he could stop it from happening, he heard the alien enter the room.
“Are you all right?”
He froze when he saw what Trevor was doing. He licked his lips nervously. His animalistic eyes looked as though they were unsure what he was going to do. “Are you in need?”
Trevor bit his lip. He was so far off the edge that he nodded his head once. The gladiator rushed across the room and pulled him up out of the water, giving him a hard kiss. The heat of his forked tongue moved across his mouth. He tasted exotic, pure and raw. Sensations rushed through his body as he felt the alien’s big hands grab his ass and pull him against his body. It was all too much. The feel of his cock rubbing against the soft fabric of the gladiator’s clothing nearly sent him over the edge.
Kelin reached down, stroking his cock several times. Trevor loved the feel of it vibrating in his palm. Trevor grabbed powerfully onto the alien. He didn’t want to let go anytime soon. Kelin stroked him harder and harder. He picked him up, swinging his legs up into his arms. As he did, the alien’s mouth descended upon his cock and sucked him in hard. The feel of his cock disappearing into the alien’s mouth was too much.
“Slow. I’m going to come.”
A moan vibrated through the gladiator’s mouth, sending vibrations down his cock. It was all the pressure he needed. As Kelin sucked, Trevor came hard. His dick pulsated roughly, sending wave after wave of jizz down the alien’s throat. Kelin moaned, sucking wildly as though he was surfacing from a long time in the desert. He groaned, taking all of him in deep.
Buy Links
http://luminositypublishing.com/produ...
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Gladia...
What would you do if gladiators held you prisoner?
It’s the year 4044. On Earth, Trevor Sley’s job is to save the world, and he’s failed. All quadrants will go dark in six months. After working a long night, Trevor is accused of murdering his missing roommate, Hunter. With no choice, he runs … right into a wormhole.
Kelin is a seasoned gladiator who sees a human cross through a wormhole. Defying the Elite, he goes after the imprisoned male. He’s going to need this human to milk his venom after fights or he could die from the toxicity. Will the male obey willingly or will he have to chain him?
Life on Gelvek is dangerous. Trevor quickly discovers that he needs Kelin to survive. Despite their intense attraction, he is afraid of the gladiator. Will his gladiator live or will he lose him and their unborn child in the arena?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of hot alien gladiator sex with males from Earth and male pregnancy.
Excerpt
“Undress.”
The alien’s command sent a shiver down his spine. He slowly eased out of his jeans and torn shirt. The room was cool and made his nipples pebble hard. He saw the way the alien looked him up and down as though he were interested in what he was seeing. He was well muscled from years of working out. As the water started to fill the tub, the alien turned back to it and added something to the water.
“Get in.”
Trevor did as commanded and sat into the water. He felt all his aching muscles ease. The alien looked at him, pouring something into the water that made it even hotter. Trevor sighed, easing his hurting muscles into the water. To his surprise, his cock got rock hard, sticking up over his abdomen. The gladiator looked at his cock as it swelled against his abs. Embarrassment had heat moving up over Trevor’s neck. He couldn’t remember any man looking at him that way.
He was a man used to his privacy and this felt so invasive and oddly arousing. The alien went over to the wall, got a soft cloth and came back. “Here. For you. I will be in the other room when you’re finished.”
Trevor was disappointed when the alien left. He wanted him there. He wanted him to watch. He wanted to feel the alien’s gaze upon him as he stroked his cock off hard. That thought had him running his hand down his abdomen and over his swollen prick, giving it several stroking pulls. Before he could help it, he was lost in the feel of his hand slowly twisting and pulling up and down over his prick. He moaned softly and heard it echo within the room. He bit his lip, trying to suppress the urge to groan a second time.
“Kelin.”
He liked the sound of the alien gladiator’s name upon his tongue and wanted to hear it again. He moaned a second time, biting his lip and trying to keep from being too loud. The water sloshed against the tub. Before he could stop it from happening, he heard the alien enter the room.
“Are you all right?”
He froze when he saw what Trevor was doing. He licked his lips nervously. His animalistic eyes looked as though they were unsure what he was going to do. “Are you in need?”
Trevor bit his lip. He was so far off the edge that he nodded his head once. The gladiator rushed across the room and pulled him up out of the water, giving him a hard kiss. The heat of his forked tongue moved across his mouth. He tasted exotic, pure and raw. Sensations rushed through his body as he felt the alien’s big hands grab his ass and pull him against his body. It was all too much. The feel of his cock rubbing against the soft fabric of the gladiator’s clothing nearly sent him over the edge.
Kelin reached down, stroking his cock several times. Trevor loved the feel of it vibrating in his palm. Trevor grabbed powerfully onto the alien. He didn’t want to let go anytime soon. Kelin stroked him harder and harder. He picked him up, swinging his legs up into his arms. As he did, the alien’s mouth descended upon his cock and sucked him in hard. The feel of his cock disappearing into the alien’s mouth was too much.
“Slow. I’m going to come.”
A moan vibrated through the gladiator’s mouth, sending vibrations down his cock. It was all the pressure he needed. As Kelin sucked, Trevor came hard. His dick pulsated roughly, sending wave after wave of jizz down the alien’s throat. Kelin moaned, sucking wildly as though he was surfacing from a long time in the desert. He groaned, taking all of him in deep.
Buy Links
http://luminositypublishing.com/produ...
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Gladia...
Guest Post: Kim Fielding
The Sacrifice and Other Stories
by Kim Fielding
A sickly man seeks recovery in a seaside cottage.
A temple slave tends a man due to be sacrificed.
A soldier releases a genie.
In seven fantasy short stories and novellas, men find passion with other men in the most unexpected places, and even the gravest circumstances may open the door to hope and love.
This anthology includes two brand-new short stories. In “The Sacrifice,” Rylo is a temple slave tasked with comforting a man who is scheduled to be killed in the morning. In “Chasing Away Cold,” Daku builds an ice sculpture of the god Jarli in order to ensure the end of winter. The collection also includes three novellas and two additional short stories, gathered for the first time in a single volume. “Treasure” introduces Jules, a young man who travels to the quirky seaside town of Urchin Cove to regain his health—and finds an unexpected treasure washed up on the beach. Xolani, a soldier in “Three Wishes,” picks up a small glass bottle and unleashes a surprise. Another soldier, Volos in “Guarded,” will risk everything to save Prince Berhanu. In the sequel, “Mato’s Tale,” an unassuming innkeeper gets a chance for adventure. And in “The Downs,” Enitan is unjustly banished and comes to discover that the demons he must face aren’t the ones he expected.
Join Kim Fielding on journeys through imagined worlds where magic is commonplace and romance lies just around the next bend. All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers.
***
Available now for preorder from Amazon. Releases November 27.
http://www.amazon.com/Sacrifice-Other...
***
Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her husband, her two daughters, and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
You can find Kim
On her blog: http://www.kfieldingwrites.com/
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/KFieldingWrites
On Twitter: @KFieldingWrites
Or via email: kim@KFieldingWrites.com
***
For more on Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers or to donate directly to them: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
***
Excerpt (from “Chasing Away Cold”):
She knelt, scooped a handful of snow, and stood to hold it before her. “This is nothing special—simply water that has frozen and melted and frozen again. But sometimes something very important may come from nothing at all. It depends on the heart of the maker.” She dropped the snow and pressed her hand against Daku’s chest. “The contents of a heart can change everything.”
Although he didn’t understand, he nodded. Then he gave her the cup and turned to complete the ice man.
He took particular care over the face: a narrow chin and broad cheekbones, far-set eyes with a slight downward tilt at the outside, a strong nose, and lips stretched in a wide smile. The ice man’s hair was straight, falling well below his shoulders.
“You’ve made him beautiful,” Yalamay said. Daku couldn’t say whether she’d gone and returned or had been standing there the entire time.
“He is beautiful. I only… I only tried to show that.”
Yalamay nodded as if this made perfect sense. “I knew you were the right one for this.”
Aside from Daku’s mother, people rarely praised him, and Yalamay was always sparing with her commendations. Daku should have preened under her rare words. But he was too preoccupied with what he had created. The ice man looked so real, so joyful. And in a few short hours he would be destroyed.
Daku swallowed with difficulty, but he managed a small smile when Yalamay patted his back. “Thank you for letting me do this,” he said.
“I won’t always be here, my boy. And none in the tribe but you could make Jarli so well.”
“Don’t go!” Daku cried, as if she could somehow stop death.
She chuckled. “I am pleased to be appreciated. But Daku, everything changes eventually. Winter becomes spring becomes summer becomes autumn becomes winter. Youngsters grow old and babies are born. Even hard stone is worn away”—she gestured at the rock on which the ice man stood—“but new plants grow.” She gestured toward the forest. “Someday this world will see changes that are so far beyond the tribe’s dreaming. But a few things remain unaltered. Do you know what those things are?”
“The gods?”
Her laughter startled a nearby crow from its branch. “Oh no, my boy. Gods and goddesses change too. More slowly than humans, perhaps, but no less inevitably. But the world contains magics even more powerful than gods, and the strength of those magics never changes. What are they?”
At first his mind was as blank as a fresh layer of snow. But Yalamay looked at him expectantly, and Daku remembered the conversation he’d had with his mother earlier in the day. “Love and courage.”
“Very good! There are others too, but I think those are an excellent start.”
***
A Rafflecopter Giveaway
by Kim Fielding
A sickly man seeks recovery in a seaside cottage.
A temple slave tends a man due to be sacrificed.
A soldier releases a genie.
In seven fantasy short stories and novellas, men find passion with other men in the most unexpected places, and even the gravest circumstances may open the door to hope and love.
This anthology includes two brand-new short stories. In “The Sacrifice,” Rylo is a temple slave tasked with comforting a man who is scheduled to be killed in the morning. In “Chasing Away Cold,” Daku builds an ice sculpture of the god Jarli in order to ensure the end of winter. The collection also includes three novellas and two additional short stories, gathered for the first time in a single volume. “Treasure” introduces Jules, a young man who travels to the quirky seaside town of Urchin Cove to regain his health—and finds an unexpected treasure washed up on the beach. Xolani, a soldier in “Three Wishes,” picks up a small glass bottle and unleashes a surprise. Another soldier, Volos in “Guarded,” will risk everything to save Prince Berhanu. In the sequel, “Mato’s Tale,” an unassuming innkeeper gets a chance for adventure. And in “The Downs,” Enitan is unjustly banished and comes to discover that the demons he must face aren’t the ones he expected.
Join Kim Fielding on journeys through imagined worlds where magic is commonplace and romance lies just around the next bend. All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers.
***
Available now for preorder from Amazon. Releases November 27.
http://www.amazon.com/Sacrifice-Other...
***
Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her husband, her two daughters, and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
You can find Kim
On her blog: http://www.kfieldingwrites.com/
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/KFieldingWrites
On Twitter: @KFieldingWrites
Or via email: kim@KFieldingWrites.com
***
For more on Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers or to donate directly to them: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
***
Excerpt (from “Chasing Away Cold”):
She knelt, scooped a handful of snow, and stood to hold it before her. “This is nothing special—simply water that has frozen and melted and frozen again. But sometimes something very important may come from nothing at all. It depends on the heart of the maker.” She dropped the snow and pressed her hand against Daku’s chest. “The contents of a heart can change everything.”
Although he didn’t understand, he nodded. Then he gave her the cup and turned to complete the ice man.
He took particular care over the face: a narrow chin and broad cheekbones, far-set eyes with a slight downward tilt at the outside, a strong nose, and lips stretched in a wide smile. The ice man’s hair was straight, falling well below his shoulders.
“You’ve made him beautiful,” Yalamay said. Daku couldn’t say whether she’d gone and returned or had been standing there the entire time.
“He is beautiful. I only… I only tried to show that.”
Yalamay nodded as if this made perfect sense. “I knew you were the right one for this.”
Aside from Daku’s mother, people rarely praised him, and Yalamay was always sparing with her commendations. Daku should have preened under her rare words. But he was too preoccupied with what he had created. The ice man looked so real, so joyful. And in a few short hours he would be destroyed.
Daku swallowed with difficulty, but he managed a small smile when Yalamay patted his back. “Thank you for letting me do this,” he said.
“I won’t always be here, my boy. And none in the tribe but you could make Jarli so well.”
“Don’t go!” Daku cried, as if she could somehow stop death.
She chuckled. “I am pleased to be appreciated. But Daku, everything changes eventually. Winter becomes spring becomes summer becomes autumn becomes winter. Youngsters grow old and babies are born. Even hard stone is worn away”—she gestured at the rock on which the ice man stood—“but new plants grow.” She gestured toward the forest. “Someday this world will see changes that are so far beyond the tribe’s dreaming. But a few things remain unaltered. Do you know what those things are?”
“The gods?”
Her laughter startled a nearby crow from its branch. “Oh no, my boy. Gods and goddesses change too. More slowly than humans, perhaps, but no less inevitably. But the world contains magics even more powerful than gods, and the strength of those magics never changes. What are they?”
At first his mind was as blank as a fresh layer of snow. But Yalamay looked at him expectantly, and Daku remembered the conversation he’d had with his mother earlier in the day. “Love and courage.”
“Very good! There are others too, but I think those are an excellent start.”
***
A Rafflecopter Giveaway
Guest Post: Elizabeth Noble
Hello and thank you Susan for hosting me today. The first chapter of
RINGED LOVE
is posted on Dreamspinner Press, so over the next two weeks I’ll be offering the first one hundred or so words of each subsequent chapter.
Today’s excerpt is from Chapter 3
EXCERPT
Todd swiveled his horse around and headed to the end of the wagon train. The man driving the last wagon, one belonging to Todd and Nick, was a burly guy Todd judged to be in his early fifties. He said he was a farmer. What Todd liked best about him was his no-nonsense, don’t-give-him-crap sort of attitude. Kells sat on the bench seat beside him, staring at the woods. Todd scrambled around trying to remember the man’s name—Jeremy or Jason, something with a J.
He waved at Faye and met her a few yards behind the wagons. “Nick is scouting ahead. Have you seen any people following us?”
Faye shook her head. “No, but I can’t shake the feeling we’re being watched. A few times I thought I saw something shiny through the trees, but couldn’t get close enough to tell.”
BLURB
New Colorado Protectorate fell with the assassination of Chancellor Clarke. Like many others, Todd and Nick Ruger left the land of their birth and made a home to the north in Yellowknife. Their world was ever changing. The time came to say a sad farewell to some of their friends and loved ones, but they were taken in with open arms by others and in turn offered shelter to yet more. Through the years they remained steadfast in their duty as sentries to protect and defend those that needed it the most.
Time marches on but through it all they hold each other dear and cherish the love they’ve shared. There are still angry ghosts, Windigos and water spirits to contend with. Their lives change, offering them new roles. When the time comes, they do what sentries have done for generations prior and teach others the skills to carry on as sentries. The Rugers lives were rich and their hearts full with their devotion and love for each other. The tradition of the sentries lived on forever. It was the legacy of Todd and Nick Ruger. That was the way it was always meant to be.
Sales Link: http://bit.ly/1pVSbMl
BIO
Elizabeth Noble started telling stories before she actually knew how to write, and her family was very happy when she learned to put words on a page. Those words turned into books and fanfiction that turned into a genuine love of M/M romance fiction. Being able to share her works with Dreamspinner is really a dream come true. She has a real love for a good mystery complete with murder and twisty plots as well as all things sci-fi, futuristic, and supernatural and a bit of an unnatural interest in a super-volcano in Wyoming.
Elizabeth has three grown children and is now happily owned by an adorable mixed breed canine princess and her sidekick, tabby cat. She lives in her native northeast Ohio, the perfect place for gardening and winter and summer sports (go Tribe and Cavs!) and stargazing all year long. When she’s not writing she’s working as a veterinary nurse, so don’t be surprised to see her men with a pet or three who are a very big part of their lives.
Elizabeth received several amateur writing awards. Since being published two of her novels have received honorable mentions in the Rainbow Awards. Her novel Jewel Cave was a runner up in the 2015 Rainbow awards in the Gay Mystery/Thriller category.
Website: http://www.elizabeth-noble.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.no...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
TOUR STOPS
May 16 Kris Bethke https://kristbethke.com/
May 17 Susan Laine https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
May 18 Meg Harding http://megharding.wordpress.com/
May 19 Jamie Lynn Miller https://jamielynnm.wordpress.com/
May 20 Charlie Descoteaux https://cdescoteauxwrites.com/
May 23 Grace R. Duncan http://www.grace-duncan.com/
May 24 Sarah Madison http://www.sarahmadisonfiction.com/
May 25 Rick R. Reed http://www.rickrreed.com/
May 26 Skylar M. Cates https://skylarmcates.wordpress.com/
May 27 Lou Sylvre http://sylvre.rainbow-gate.com/
May 30 Ki Brightly https://brightlybooks.wordpress.com/
May 31 Shira Anthony http://www.shiraanthony.com/
Today’s excerpt is from Chapter 3
EXCERPT
Todd swiveled his horse around and headed to the end of the wagon train. The man driving the last wagon, one belonging to Todd and Nick, was a burly guy Todd judged to be in his early fifties. He said he was a farmer. What Todd liked best about him was his no-nonsense, don’t-give-him-crap sort of attitude. Kells sat on the bench seat beside him, staring at the woods. Todd scrambled around trying to remember the man’s name—Jeremy or Jason, something with a J.
He waved at Faye and met her a few yards behind the wagons. “Nick is scouting ahead. Have you seen any people following us?”
Faye shook her head. “No, but I can’t shake the feeling we’re being watched. A few times I thought I saw something shiny through the trees, but couldn’t get close enough to tell.”
BLURB
New Colorado Protectorate fell with the assassination of Chancellor Clarke. Like many others, Todd and Nick Ruger left the land of their birth and made a home to the north in Yellowknife. Their world was ever changing. The time came to say a sad farewell to some of their friends and loved ones, but they were taken in with open arms by others and in turn offered shelter to yet more. Through the years they remained steadfast in their duty as sentries to protect and defend those that needed it the most.
Time marches on but through it all they hold each other dear and cherish the love they’ve shared. There are still angry ghosts, Windigos and water spirits to contend with. Their lives change, offering them new roles. When the time comes, they do what sentries have done for generations prior and teach others the skills to carry on as sentries. The Rugers lives were rich and their hearts full with their devotion and love for each other. The tradition of the sentries lived on forever. It was the legacy of Todd and Nick Ruger. That was the way it was always meant to be.
Sales Link: http://bit.ly/1pVSbMl
BIO
Elizabeth Noble started telling stories before she actually knew how to write, and her family was very happy when she learned to put words on a page. Those words turned into books and fanfiction that turned into a genuine love of M/M romance fiction. Being able to share her works with Dreamspinner is really a dream come true. She has a real love for a good mystery complete with murder and twisty plots as well as all things sci-fi, futuristic, and supernatural and a bit of an unnatural interest in a super-volcano in Wyoming.
Elizabeth has three grown children and is now happily owned by an adorable mixed breed canine princess and her sidekick, tabby cat. She lives in her native northeast Ohio, the perfect place for gardening and winter and summer sports (go Tribe and Cavs!) and stargazing all year long. When she’s not writing she’s working as a veterinary nurse, so don’t be surprised to see her men with a pet or three who are a very big part of their lives.
Elizabeth received several amateur writing awards. Since being published two of her novels have received honorable mentions in the Rainbow Awards. Her novel Jewel Cave was a runner up in the 2015 Rainbow awards in the Gay Mystery/Thriller category.
Website: http://www.elizabeth-noble.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.no...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
TOUR STOPS
May 16 Kris Bethke https://kristbethke.com/
May 17 Susan Laine https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
May 18 Meg Harding http://megharding.wordpress.com/
May 19 Jamie Lynn Miller https://jamielynnm.wordpress.com/
May 20 Charlie Descoteaux https://cdescoteauxwrites.com/
May 23 Grace R. Duncan http://www.grace-duncan.com/
May 24 Sarah Madison http://www.sarahmadisonfiction.com/
May 25 Rick R. Reed http://www.rickrreed.com/
May 26 Skylar M. Cates https://skylarmcates.wordpress.com/
May 27 Lou Sylvre http://sylvre.rainbow-gate.com/
May 30 Ki Brightly https://brightlybooks.wordpress.com/
May 31 Shira Anthony http://www.shiraanthony.com/
