S.A. Archer's Blog, page 7

Fireflight - Unbreakable

 During the writing of Bloodhound, Unbreakable by Fireflight was one of my favorite songs for the earthborns, especially Malcolm. I love the beat and the energy in this song and I wanted to share it with you. Can't you just see Malcolm, after all his gone through with his dad and the goblins, facing his past and becoming stronger as he overcomes the pain that once consumed him? Can't you imagine Kieran, trying to find his strength in the face of his past with the vampires, and his confusion over the attraction and anger he holds for London?



enjoy: Fireflight - Unbreakable

New Release! Bloodhound - Rise of the Unseelie #4

 At last! Bloodhound has been released! We're committed to 90 days exclusive on Amazon, before rolling it out to the other vendors.



 Readers of Enchanted who've been curious about the Unseelie side of the story events will find their answers in this novelette. There's a lot more to it than just that though! We continue to see the change and growth in the young bloodhound, Malcolm. Plus there is a lot more of the dark and intriguing Unseelie leader, Donovan. We hope you enjoy the story!

Sneak Peek of Bloodhound - Rise of the Unseelie #4

 Bloodhound is out with the beta readers and editors, so should be ready for release in the next week or so! We're so excited to bring you the next installment of The Sidhe story that we wanted to give you a little taste of it right now. Here's the first chapter. Hope you enjoy it!




If you read Enchanted, you will certainly see a lot of crossover into this Rise of the Unseelie story. 








Bloodhound

by S.A. Archer and S. Ravynheart




Chapter One




“You’re so dead, mate!” Bryce shouted over the explosion of gunfire.



Malcolm flung himself back from the onslaught with a growl. “You suck!” Blood splattered on the telly as his man on the video game got massacred for the fifth time in a row. “That’s it! No more Mr. Nice Guy.” He hit the rematch button. “This time I’m bringing out the railgun. See how you like that.”



They jostled into each other as they jumped and dodged with their computer guys in a no-holds-barred, two-player combat to the death.



Again.



It didn’t even matter that Bryce crushed him on the stupid video game. Not really. Leastwise for the last few hours Malcolm hadn’t thought about magic at all. Pretty much, anyway. Donovan was the only one who didn’t think Malcolm’s bloodhound ‘magic’ was lame. The other Sidhe did, even if they played it off like it wasn’t any big deal. Like Malcolm wasn’t too awful weird, just kinda twitchy. But for the last couple hours, he’d just been one of the lads with Bryce, playing this video game like they were just regular 17-year-olds. And Malcolm sorta forgot for a tiny bit that they weren’t just that.



All up until a high-pitched whistle sliced over the racket from the game.



It was one of those annoying sounds that echoed in the brain and not just the ears. Malcolm winced, trying to ignore it as he mashed the buttons at a rapid-fire rate. “What is that? Car alarm?”



“What’s what?” Bryce twisted his controller as if that could make his guy dodge for cover faster. “Got me in the leg, you creep!”



“You don’t hear that? For real?” Malcolm paused the game. Even hunching his shoulders against the constant peal couldn’t stop the sound from jangling his nerves. “That whistle?”



Bryce listened and then shook his head. “I don’t hear anything. It’s probably nothing. Come on.” He unpaused the game. A fresh explosion of noise covered most of the magic, but not the whistle.



Malcolm hardly noticed when he dropped the controller. The first sparks of panic prickled all though him as he jumped up and yanked the power cord out of the wall, shutting up the telly. “Is that Kieran? Where is he?”



“Hey! I was winning!” Bryce scowled.



Malcolm turned in a circle, tilting his head this way and that, studying the magic around him. Through the walls and floor Malcolm saw glowing silhouettes, like seeing heat signatures, only his senses were geared to magic. Flames flickered around Bryce constantly, though no one else saw that. In the flat across from them Dawn twinkled with her healing sparkles. On the floor below the fey mingled in a sea of rainbow hues. Trip’s darkness floated around her like scarves on the wind as she danced in the club with a group of elves. “He’s not in the club.” Malcolm twisted around. “Where’s that sound coming from?” He blinked as the sudden silence startled him. “It just stopped. Only…” The whistle had been wrong. Desperate, like panic. “Where’s Donovan? He’s not in the club either. Is Kieran with him?”



“Who cares?” Bryce reached to plug the telly back in, but Malcolm stepped on the cord. “Will you move your bloody foot?” He swatted at Malcolm’s leg.



“No! Just wait.” Malcolm listened harder, but couldn’t hear anything of Kieran over the clatter filtering up from the fey in the Glamour Club. Even scrunching his eyes closed tight and gripping the sides of his head, Malcolm couldn’t shift through the racket. Sometimes it was all too much; never ending chaos that blared and flashed and buffeted against him. A minute ago, he’d been able to ignore it. Now it was everywhere around him and inside him and pick-pick-picking at him. And right now, reaching for the itty, bittiest thread through all the masses of magic crowding and pounding into his mind, made him want to scream.



Instead, he ran from it. Malcolm raced from Bryce’s flat and up the flight of steps to the roof. A little further from the magic roiling up from the fey in the club. Bryce chased him though, with his ever-present crackle of flame and campfire scent. Malcolm spun in a full circle, actively listening, but hearing nothing of Kieran’s sound magic. Which was wicked bad. Kieran was one noisy chap, constantly buzzing or humming or whirring or something else loud and usually obnoxious. Only now…



Nothing.



Heart pounding, panic mounting, Malcolm shook his head. “Kie’s in trouble. I know it. Where’s Donovan?”



“How would I know?” Exasperated and impatient and totally not getting it. “Malcolm, forget it. You’re freaking out over nothing.”



Everybody always thought it was nothing. Like Malcolm was some kind of nutter. “It’s not nothing!” Malcolm snatched Bryce by the front of his shirt and jerked him close. “Call Donovan!”

Bloodhound - Rise of the Unseelie #4 Coming Soon!

 Donovan rescued the earthborns. Protected them. Gave them shelter from the predators who would feast on their blood and Sidhe magic.




 That time is over.




 Time for the earthborns to train. To fight back. To reclaim what is theirs.




 Time to show the world what it means to be Unseelie.







Bloodhound

Rise of the Unseelie #4

Coming Soon!

Disciple - Dear X (You Don't Own Me)

 For me, I find music is a powerful inspiration when I am writing. As we are working on finishing up Bloodhound, the fourth book in the Rise of the Unseelie series, one of the songs I have in Malcolm's playlist is Disciple's "Dear X (You Don't Own Me)". This song seems perfect for Malcolm at this stage in his life, when he is beginning to recover from the trauma of a year of abuse in the goblins' cave and starting to find a strength within himself.



When you look through the Glamour Club music videos for Malcolm, you can see the emotional journey he's been on. At only seventeen, he's still got a lot of growing and maturing ahead of him. Between the abuse of his past, and the challenges of his magic, the road ahead is still a rocky one. Donovan has been a rock for him and is giving him a foundation on which to build. Sounds all well and good, until you remember that Donovan was the head of the Unseelie Elite and a deadly force to reckon with.



Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at Archer[at]sidhetouch.com . I'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions about Glamour Club videos and casting calls, or anything about the stories. Reader comments and questions have already helped to shape the series. I would love to make this a more interactive world for you to feel immersed in.





enjoy: Disciple - Dear X (You Don't Own Me)

Casting Call: London (take two)

 A wonderful fan suggested the lovely and talented Anna Silk for the Casting Call for London, the lead character in the Touched series. We can't agree with them more! Anna has the same kick-ass attitude and inner drive as the character of London Eyer. We'd love to see her added to our fantasy cast. I have to agree with the comment that she would be prefect opposite Matt Bomer, who we picked for our fantasy casting of the Unseelie playboy, Kieran.



Check out an excerpt of Enchanted where the two first meet. Watch for London and Kieran to run into each other in the near future. It'll be just like old times. Yeah... that bad. And that good. *winks*

Heavy Metal is So Unseelie

 Our awesome and lovely Glamour Club DJ @RegencyEmma suggested this song for the Unseelie. In real life, Emma is a sweet and awesome supporter of the Sidhe, giving us Glamour Club song suggestions and shout-outs on Twitter. It's hard to think about the Glamour Club on this blog without thinking of her! (See how many song suggestions she's made?) So of course, Ravynheart and I had to bring her fictionally into the 'real' Glamour Club itself. She had a cameo is Eyes of Magic, as the fairy DJ who keeps the music flowing when there isn't a live band. Watch for her to show up again in Bloodhound, the next of the Rise of the Unseelie books.



Do you have a song suggestion or a casting call suggestion? Let me know at Archer [at] SidheTouch.com



Thanks for today's song suggestion Emma!



Enjoy: Black Veil Bride - Never Give In

Casting Call: Bryce

 For our fantasy cast, we have selected Lucas Till as the actor we'd love to see in the role of the Unseelie firebrand, Bryce. The character of Bryce makes his first appearance in Aftershock, when Donovan finds him locked up for arson. Because he was untrained in his magic he couldn't help accidentally setting things alight. Since joining the Sidhe of the Glamour Club he's gained a lot of control. Bryce appears throughout the Rise of the Unseelie urban fantasy series.





Here's a snippet from Eyes of Magic, when Malcolm is first introduced to Bryce...





For the rest of the afternoon Kieran played tour guide, giving Malcolm the lay of the club. Flats on the second floor, and all of the ‘earthborn’ Sidhe stayed there. Counting Malcolm, there were just five of them so far, but there were enough flats for more. Donovan wasn’t an earthborn and had his own place somewhere on the basement level. The Glamour Club pretty much filled up the main floor, with some offices and storerooms in the back. The best was the lower level, which was one massive training area with a boxing ring, tumbling mat, punching bags, balance beam, targets, and a whole wall mounted with all manner of weapons. The place smelled like sweat and magic.



Malcolm whispered in awe, “Bloody brilliant.”



The only one other person besides them in the whole basement was a redheaded fellow who pitched fist-sized balls of fire at a metal target. Flames flickered over his entire body, but didn’t catch his clothes on fire. Each fireball he flung whooshed through the air and then burst on the metal target. Kieran called out to him, “Hey Bryce, meet Malcolm.”



Flames licked over him even as he reached out to shake hands. Malcolm jerked away, but Bryce just laughed, “Kinda twitchy, isn’t he?”



Malcolm backed off from him as Bryce went back to blasting the paint off the target. Blokes with flames coming out of their skin shouldn’t be practical jokers.

The Sidhe book trailer

 We've made a teaser trailer for the three lines in The Sidhe urban fantasy series: Rise of the Unseelie, Champion of the Sidhe, and Touched. We hope you find it intriguing. Enjoy!















The video is also available on YouTube, if you'd like to see a larger version. 

Feel free to share or link to the video.

A Song For Kieran and London in Enchanted

 The guys from the Rise of the Unseelie urban fantasy series make an appearance in Enchanted, the latest book in the Touched urban fantasy series. Kieran and London have one wild evening. I can't tell you much without giving away spoilers, but today's Glamour Club song is a fun one and fits really well with the action in Enchanted, with Kieran's sexy/ playful style, and with what the future holds in store for these two. 



enjoy: Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger