K.A. Merikan's Blog, page 7
October 16, 2013
‘Stung’ coming on the day before Halloween :)
The release of our newest novel, Stung is approaching fast. It’s been simmering on the backburner since January, but now it’s time for the countdown to begin. The book will be out on October 30th.
We are incredibly happy to expand the Zombie Gentlemen universe with Stung. The stories are all overlapping in small ways, and this book in particular was inspired by certain events that occur in “The Copper Horse”, a pony play/slavery trilogy, which will be released by Storm Moon Press.
The cover of Stung came out exactly how we envisioned it. From the very first draft of the manuscript, we kept dreaming about using this particular photograph by Nikos Vasilakis (you might want check out his website and DA gallery, he’s an amazing artist) and now that it’s on the cover, it couldn’t have been more perfect for us 
It’s such an eerie, yet sensual image, with the tongue resembling a piece of raw meat and dribbling honey. Exactly the right image to represent our novel. Hot and scary.
There is no need for further introductions, as along with the cover, we decided to post the blurb and a short excerpt. Enjoy! ;D
— If you want honey, prepare to get stung. —
October 1907, Honeyhill
Twenty years after the Plague
Victor is a man of delicate sensibilities, not fit to do backbreaking labour on a farm ran by the mob. Upon arrival in Honeyhill, he decides he needs an anchor, an alliance with one of the guards, if he wants to survive. That anchor comes in the form of Crunch, a hunky ex-sailor with a pair of tight leather trousers and a ruggedly handsome face.
But from day one, Victor knows he won’t last long with the hard physical work assigned to him and the torment he suffers at the hands of a sadistic guard. He needs to run, and his new alliance might prove to be a burden instead of solace.
If Crunch wants Honeyhill liberated, he needs to focus on his job, not on protecting Victor, one of many new arrivals on the farm. Distraction is the last thing he needs after months of undercover work. But it’s hard not to get seduced by Victor’s big brown eyes and fingertips that don’t know work. Hundreds of people depend on Crunch keeping his identity a secret, revealing it could be fatal for both him and Victor, and a failure of his mission.
Thankfully, Victor would never be dumb enough to try and escape through a forest that’s swarming with zombies. Would he?
***
“Stung” is a standalone book and a part of the “Zombie Gentlemen” universum.
Themes (may contain SPOILERS): zombies, prisoner/guard, beekeeping, gore, deception, undercover agent, captivity, romance, brutality, forced labour camp, murder, farm, torment, forbidden romance, Victorian
Erotic content: explicit m/m sexual scenes (including dubious consent)
Genre: dystopian homoerotic thriller
Length: Novel
EXCERPT
The train stopped. Only this time, no one fell on Victor. He didn’t have to fight his way up to the surface of the crowd that was squeezed into the cattle wagon beyond its capacity. Blindfolded, with his hands bound behind his back, he was fighting for his life like a drowning cat, ready to go beyond all measures to keep his head high so that the foul-smelling bodies wouldn’t choke him. He couldn’t be certain, but judging from the cries and overheard conversations, some people were less fortunate than him. Only a few hours into the journey, a man died of a heart attack at the other side of the wagon, his body now lost on the floor below. Whenever Victor felt threatened, or his throat dried so much it hurt, he kept thinking about his most prized possession. It was his late mother’s engagement ring, which he managed to hide in a small pouch sewn into the inner side of his shirt by whoever owned the garment before. As long as he had the ring, he would afford hope.
Victor got to his toes, trying to get his chest above the tightness of the bodies around him, so that it could expand more, letting him breathe properly. No use.
Shouting from the outside made Victor swallow. He had no clue where they were being taken, but it couldn’t be anywhere good. He couldn’t believe it was happening to him! He had plans, a home, nice clothes that were ripped off him and replaced with some old rags…
Suddenly, the struggle to raise above the others was gone as the wagon filled with cool air and the crowd moved, carrying Victor with it. He frantically clutched at the fabric of someone’s skirt, but the stream of people came to an abrupt stop with a loud bang that made Victor’s ears ring. The air filled with a new smell, smoky, a bit like fireworks.
He froze with fear, but no one died, and the gun proved useful in keeping the crowd of prisoners from trampling over each other. It was all a chaos of limbs and bodies before someone pulled the piece of cloth off Victor’s eyes, and he was immediately blinded by a flood of light. All the captives were being rushed out of the wagons with shouting and prodding, so he kept his gaze down, on the dirty boots of the man walking in front of him. At least he could breathe properly again. He couldn’t even remember the last time he smelled pine, and the fresh scent of nature blended into a balm for his soul. He kept moving, but tried to look around as much as possible, and what hit him right after the smell was a constant, sharp buzzing from somewhere beyond his immediate surroundings. He half expected it to stop, or change tune, like in the case of all machines he knew, but as their sad cavalcade advanced along a sun-bathed dirt track, the low tremor in Victor’s ears was a constant companion.
Once his eyes got used to the bright light, he started taking in details. They were unloaded at a remote train station in the woods, or rather, at the end of a track that led to nowhere. As soon as he realized there were no solid buildings around, his stomach knotted, and he couldn’t stop himself from scanning the broad treeless strip for stray zombies. Forests, the countryside, were places he always associated with the presence of the undead, so he tried sliding his hands out of the binds around his wrists, but the rope wouldn’t give. The guard who tied them was certainly proficient at it. Victor’s head emptied when he noticed the familiar open jaws he had only seen in the zoo. The terrain was protected by a tall, iron hedge, something that didn’t seem solid enough to stand between people and carnivorous beasts. But as there was nothing he could do other than obey men with shotguns, he cast his gaze down and marched, even though fear kept creeping up his back, urging him to look out for danger.
As the captives were being herded towards a group of wooden buildings, Victor couldn’t stop looking to the undead walking between the trees just over a dozen yards away. His breath hitched, and he stumbled to the side when one of the monsters crooked its head, trying to bite through the iron bar. He fell out of the row with a yelp, his back immediately covering in cold sweat, but the nearest guard didn’t tolerate any nonsense and roughly pushed Victor back in line, straight into a young, shivering woman whose breasts were uncovered by a torn blouse.
“Watch where you’re going, knobhead!”
“But… there are z–zombies.” Victor tried so hard not to stutter, but his voice was trembling.
“There’s a metal fence. Are you blind or somethin’?” The guard sneered at him, patting the big, black shotgun in warning, a clear sign that weakness would not be tolerated.
Victor’s stomach cramped, and he had to blink to get his eyes back into focus. Everything seemed far too bright after the dark days in the wagon. He had no idea where he was. All he knew from the scraps of conversation he overheard on the train, was that most of the people he was taken with were indebted to the Dals, a powerful family that ruled a whole district of Bylondon with an iron fist. It made him want to cry in rage, as he did nothing that should have earned him a fate such as this.
The sunshine, the delicate rustle of leaves, or even the fresh autumn air could not console Victor. From a dirt road leading through the forest, they went on to one that was neater looking, and led along never ending rows of trees with succulent, red apples pulling the branches down with their weight.
“New transport!” another guard yelled to someone at the front and the half naked woman next to Victor broke into a sob, but he was too stunned to make himself care. This couldn’t be happening to him. He had money, he had a father who ran a successful business.
Between the trees of the vast orchard, he noticed a group of people picking the fruit, their thin bodies tanned by the sunlight that was unnaturally strong for October. To his right, by the edge of the pine forest was a collection of wooden buildings, some of them two stories high. There were also sheds, all circled by an additional row of fence, topped with barbed wire.
Victor rushed to the side of the group, so he could see more of what awaited them ahead, and the glimpse he got, made his heart sink. There was a dozen of armed men, some with crossbows, others with swords or machetes, and none of their faces was even remotely friendly. One stepped in front of the others. From the way he moved in confident strides, Victor assumed he was the leader. The man scratched his bald head and took his time to assess the group with a sneer on his wrinkled face. The grimace showcased an ugly scar across his bulbous nose.
“Welcome to your new home, or as we call it, Honeyhill.”
More to come on 10/30/2013 ;D
October 8, 2013
Halloween Discount! :)
With Halloween coming up, we want to help you get a chill with zombies and clowns. The only thing I regret is that I cannot offer you zombie clowns. That’s the only thing that would be better. So without further ado, the two discounted titles:
2.99$ > 0.99$!
(Available from now to the 1st of November 2013)
In “Off with Their Heads” , you’ll get to meet Xavier, an anarchist artist, a punk of the Victorian times, and through the eyes of a young medical student, Clint, find out why on earth he’s trying to steal ten zombie heads from the university. Not to mention that when Clint first sees Xavier, he cannot take his eyes off the tattooed stranger.
In “Clown’d”, you get a hot and pervy Halloween night where Kyle‘s boyfriend pulls out all the stops, to take him on a night filled with gangbang, helium balloons, and facepaint. Oh, and clowns. Hunky, horny clowns.
***
You can find the full blurbs when you click the titles and here’s a list of vendors:
Clown’d
Off with Their Heads!
September 27, 2013
What are the Merikans up to
So far, we have written a total of 75 k words this month, despite the fact that Agnes was away for a week and during that time, we were both completely cockblocked writing-wise. At the moment, we’re deeply immersed in translating/re-writing a six-year-old manuscript. The story follows the son of a mafia boss who, ripped from his comfort zone, has to quickly readjust to the rigid way of life he thought he managed to escape from. But what if danger lurks in the most unlikely of places, his handsome mentor? Kat calculated what we have written about those two so far and it comes up to a staggering 800k. Rewriting the first book of their story feels like visiting old friends. It’s hot, it’s dangerous. It’s Guns n’Boys
All our books are finally available on All Romance eBooks ;D You can find them all HERE.
The Scavengers series is now available as a bundle on Amazon, ARe and Smashwords. Soon, at other major retailers. The whole story is 88K.
Blood. On the Rocks. is now regularly updated twice a week. New chapters are added just like before, on Saturdays, but additionally, mid-week, we post entries from the blog of one of the characters. He will appear in this week’s chapter, so look out for a flash of red ;D
Currently, we are editing Stung , a novella set in the world of Zombie Gentlemen . More info to come
Special Needs 2 , the book that concludes the story of Liam and Ryan, will be released sometime in November. It amounted to around 130k so be ready for a big fat book he he
September 1, 2013
Rainbow Bash’d is out! :)
Rainbow Bash’d is now out! 
We’re holding a Giveaway at Sinfully Sexy Reviews, where you can also find our guest post about Rainbow Bash’d – When a combat boot on your face means ‘I love you’, as well as Monique’s review of the story!
Available on:
Smashwords
Amazon
Get ready for a hot and bumpy ride! :>
August 25, 2013
‘Rainbow Bash’d’ and ‘Blood. On the Rocks.’ vol.1
We are having a busy weekend here at the Merikan residence ;D Rainbow Bash’d, the prequel to Clown’d will be released on
01/09/2013
We are trying out the Smashword pre-orders, so you can now download a sample HERE, and the book should be available for pre-order on Kobo, B&N and Apple within the next few days.
*
We have also released the first bundle of the online serial we publish at Blood. On the Rocks. It turned out to be a chunky 70 K As promised, the story stays available for free on the site, but the ebook is an option for those who prefer to use an ereader, or simply want to support our writing. For them, we added an extra snippet that isn’t necessary for understanding the plot, but nicely rounds the book up. For more information about our further plans for BOTR, read THIS POST. The first volume of the serial will be available on all major retailers, such as:
August 13, 2013
Rainbow Bash’d – teaser
We are currently editing the book, and since it’s coming soon, here’s a little taste of what you can expect ;D
*
Kyle bit his lip, unable to look away from the computer screen. It made him feel like an old lecher, even though he was just nineteen. His cheeks were burning, as he watched the video he bookmarked a few days ago. He had lube and tissues on hand by the computer, along with a generous helping of shame. What he was about to watch went against everything he always fought against, yet it had his cock hard in no time. Deep down, he knew people couldn’t choose their own turn-ons, but being the president of the LGBT club at his university didn’t go hand in hand with watching what he was about to see. It shouldn’t even go dick in hand.
He bit his lip when the models went right into action. He swallowed hard, already feeling his heartbeat quicken. He liked to massage himself dry first, so he slid his hand down his chest, straight to his cock. Glued to the screen, he was imagining himself in just the same situation. His toes were curling. His ears and lips were pulsing. His…
“Yo, Kyle! I forgot my freaking car keys, can you believe it?” A moan from outside was followed by loud banging on the door. It would be enough to kill anyone’s boner. Fucking Jeff! Why couldn’t he just freaking leave for once and let him get on with it?
Kyle got up so abruptly, he spilled lube all over the keyboard, and that wouldn’t be so bad, if it wasn’t for the movie that was still playing on screen. Kyle’s lungs emptied when he heard the rattle of the key against the lock. Jeff was opening the door. Time was running out. Kyle’s heart went up his throat and all he could think of was that turning off the computer had priority over pulling his pants up.
Jeff barged into the room as soon as Kyle pulled the plug, falling on his ass in the process. He stopped mid-way to his bed, giving the whole scene and Kyle a once over. Kyle was ready for a snarky comment, but all he got was a burst of laughter so loud, it must have been heard by the whole corridor. He rolled his eyes and pulled up his jeans, all the way up from his ankles. With that, he could deal, it could have been worse. Jeff could have actually seen the porn flick.
*
August 1, 2013
Rainbow Bash’d – coming soon
Kyle and Dan, the kinky couple from Clown’d will soon return in a prequel, and there will be at least one more installment of the XXX’d series. The book will be out later this month. For now, here is the blurb and the cover by Kkohaku.
— The Strange Case of Dr. Proper and Mr. Slut —
Kyle promised himself that when he goes to college, things would change. He wouldn’t be the gay boy willing to hop into bed with any guy who wants to experiment. This was his life on the line after all. He would never find a proper boyfriend this way.
So Kyle did everything in his power to be angelic. He became the poster boy for acceptable gayness and the president of the LGBT club. But the side of him that wants to fulfill all those dirty, kinky fantasies is about to rear its ugly head when the LGBT club gets a new member.
Dan is the big, bad boyfriend-to-be Kyle always dreamed of, but will Dan still treat him seriously when he finds out about Kyle’s most secret fantasy? One that goes against everything Kyle stands for in real life.
*
Rainbow Bash’d is a standalone story in the XXX’d series, a prequel to Clown’d.
*
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: college, insta-lust, repressed fantasies, fitting in, Pride, preppiness, self-acceptance, self-image issues
Genre: erotica, contemporary
Erotic content: sizzling hot graphic language, mock-homophobic humiliation, rape fantasy role play, bondage, toys, spanking, dirty talk, boot licking, skinhead
Length: ~15,000 words
This week, Agnes blogged about her favourite vampire book series, which is neither Twilight, nor The Vampire Chronicles. To read why she thinks vampires are better with guns, and what is the most beloved vampire novel in Poland, check out her post on Blood. On the Rocks.
July 24, 2013
Special Needs – book two
Behold, the cover for the final book of Special Needs is ready! ;D Artwork is by the brilliant Kkohaku, cover design by Book Cover Masterclass. I love how Ryan turned out. And yes, there are pirate cats and bananas on this cover ;D The book will be available sometime this fall.
— Caretaking. Like a boss. —
So, Ryan isn’t disabled. Okay, he is, but he’s only got a foot missing, that’s hardly a reason to pretend he’s paraplegic and ride around in a wheelchair! Now Liam has to deal with being lied to since the moment they met, and he is not a happy camper. He doesn’t understand why sweet, innocent Ryan would do such a thing. What if there are other things his boyfriend lied about? Or ex-boyfriend for that matter.
Ryan is in a state of complete panic at the sole thought of losing Liam, his first proper boyfriend ever. But the show must go on and after the fire in his hotel, Ryan can’t only focus on his love life. He’s a serious businessman after all. Marketing, networking and promoting will be his new love life. Who needs a boyfriend anyway, when in the end, every guy is either a devotee, or freaks out about his transability? Yet… maybe if Liam stayed around the hotel, they could at least make up and become friends.
There is one more option to consider – walking. If Ryan started walking, would Liam want to be with him again? But how far can he bend to Liam’s wishes before he breaks?
“Special Needs” is book two out of a two part series.
*
Genre: contemporary erotic m/m romance, dramedy
Erotic content: explicit m/m sexual scenes (including fetishism and role play)
Length: ~90,000 words
Themes (highlight for possible SPOILERS): disability, deception, alternative lifestyles, fetishism, tattoos, self-image issues, financial trouble, boss/employee, abduction, transability, communication issues, self-harm, BIID
July 18, 2013
Special Needs – cover development and sneak peek of the cover for volume 2! :D
I loved getting the drafts for this one and seeing the development. Kkohaku did such a fantastic job What I wanted was a cover that had a comic book feel to it, with psychedelic colors, an abstract beachy background. With the crazy palms, I hope it just screams ‘California!’
And now we’re working on the cover of Special Needs 2 and I already have a sketch for it, so here’s a sneak peek )
July 17, 2013
Blood. On the Rocks. cover art development :) – by Kat
I blogged about the development of the cover art for Blood. On the Rocks. HERE
A sneak peak close up:
