Mary Newman's Blog - Posts Tagged "fantasy"

Recently, I wrote an MM romance, His Warrior's Heart. This was an entirely new direction for me, as a writer. As my readers know, my normal genre is M/F Fantasy Romance with a menage thrown in once in a while just to keep it exciting.

The main character in His Warrior's Heart wormed his way into my heart by appearing in a couple of my previous titles as a side character. But he was so unhappy, withdrawn, and had angst written all over him (pun intended). I tried pairing him up in my head with a couple of different females, but there was just no chemistry. Then one night -- literally it was night and I'd gone to bed -- it hit me. Mango wanted someone who could understand and take care of him -- the warrior and the man. Who better to do so than another warrior. One who'd lived the same kind of life. And The Brethren series was born.

Mango and Galon really spoke to me, as a writer. They just fit together, and from them, another side character (That I actually hated as I wrote about him. I mean the guy's an asshole.) began asking for his own HEA. Once I got into his story, I could see why he was the way he was and he really did deserve happiness.

The second book in The Brethren series is a little different since it's kind of a menage with the main character having two mates: they're twins -- a male and a female. I know, but it works, just wait until you read it! The Healers' Warrior is set to be released in late August.

I'd actually started another story to be part of The Hashani series, and it just wasn't going anywhere. There was simply no connection between the two main characters and I was ready to pull my hair out and scream, but one of the minor side characters sat up and said "Me, me, me!" So I am now writing a third book in The Brethren series, which is also a menage, but involves three males.

I stepped out of my comfort zone and found a new direction. One that I find fits me well. Sure, I'll get back to the other book some day, but for now the voices in my head are shouting to me that love occurs however and whenever it wants.

A little something different this week:

Galon checked his preparations one last time – scented candles, wine, Silian chocolates, lots of pillows and cushions – he didn’t think he’d forgotten anything. He couldn’t believe how hard it was to try to surprise Mango. When someone lived in your mind with you, secrets were just not possible. He’d finally gone to Lord Marohi and Lady Cleona to help: Please! Distract Mango and keep him out of my head long enough to get things together for a romantic getaway. Lady Cleona had jumped at the chance to have a little fun with his mostly-taciturn mate.

All that was left was to go get Mango, keep him from reading his mind about what he’d done, and then enjoy an evening of no distractions, no assignments, no missions to save the galaxies – just he and Mango. They hadn’t been able to do something like this since Lord Marohi had allowed them to take off on an extended holiday after Mango had been injured. Injured so severely he’d almost lost the man he loved more than anyone else.

And how had that happened? How had he come to love Mango so much? Gods! He couldn’t even imagine his life without Mango now.

Galon felt a presence and whipped around.

“Damn it! Mango! I was supposed to come get you!” Galon crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

Apparently he looked silly because he got one of Mango’s rare full-out smiles.

“You were not ready for me, Galon?” Mango asked.

“Well, yeah, but I was going to come to you and put a blind fold on you and… well… You know you’re really hard to surprise,” Galon still felt like pouting.

“You will be pleased to know Lady Cleona and Lord Marohi succeeded until only a moment ago,” Mango said, coming to stand before him.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Mango nodded. “However, Manu has learned how to teleport and needed them.”

“Oh, Gods!” Galon couldn’t help but laugh. “Where did he go?”

“Lord Bendel’s office,” Mango replied with that adorable twitch of his lips. “Alone. I am sure they will eventually find everything.”

“Good thing I plan to keep you here for a couple of days,” Galon said, thinking there was no way he was going on a search and rescue mission for whatever Manu had ‘ported to wherever.

Mango looked past him at the piled cushions and candles, and raised a brow. Galon turned around to look, as well, with a critical eye, wanting to see it from Mango’s perspective. He’d purposely not used anything even resembling pink; not after the pink lover’s bower Lowe had gifted them with. He turned back to Mango, who was now watching him with those dark eyes. He could lose himself so easily in those eyes.

“You wished for an evening alone with me?” Mango asked. “Out here? Is our room at the palace not comfortable?”

“Our room is fine,” Galon sighed. “I wanted a place where we wouldn’t be disturbed by some emergency.”

“Galon, your logic is not sound,” Mango stated. “The Kawanas can reach us at any time simply by calling for us telepathically.”

“Yeah, but they won’t,” Galon shook his head. “Lord Marohi promised. Tonight and tomorrow are all ours – no calls, no missions.”

Galon looked over his shoulder again and ran a hand through his short, dark hair. Okay, so maybe he was just being silly. He’d just wanted to show Mango how much he meant to him, how much he loved him; let him know he wouldn’t change anything about their mating, no matter what kind of shock it was to find out his mate was a male.

He turned back to find Mango was standing much closer, yet not quite touching. Galon put a hand on Mango’s face, feeling the spark of desire he always felt for this man. That lip twitch was back. Gods, that was so sexy. He brought their lips together in a gentle kiss, tasting the spice of his mate. Mango put his arms around Galon’s waist, drawing him close.

“All night?” Mango asked. “And did you bring everything we would need?”

Galon reached into his jumpsuit pocket, retrieving the small vial of oil and showed it to Mango.

“Oh yeah, baby,” he smirked.

Release days are always exciting, at least they are for me. it's the day I turn my baby loose for the last time and let ya'll have your say.

The Healers' Warrior is the second book in The Brethren series, and if you've been following along on my other books, you'll recognize a few characters that wanted a part in this book. It is a stand alone, since I'm just not evil enough (yet) to leave you guys with a cliffhanger.

This book is a menage, but not really. There's hot man on man action, but since one main character is bisexual, there's also some hot man on woman action. The kicker: his love interests are twins. No twincest here, it's just they both happen to love the same guy. It works, really. give it a read and you'll see.

The Healers' Warrior

Happy reading, and if you do enjoy any of my books, please leave a review.

Interested in a scene from my newest book, "The Healers' Warrior"

The entry chime sounded just as Bostel had reclined on his bunk, and he felt like throwing something at the offending noise. He was off duty right now. What was so important they needed to bother him just as he’d managed to get comfortable? A feat that wasn’t so easy right now. Fuck! He stood up and adjusted himself in the tight pants he’d not bothered to take off yet. He so needed to get laid.
“What?” he growled when the panel opened.
“Gods, you’re sexy when you’re all grumbly,” Thurus pushed past him into his quarters.
He’d let him, of course. The smaller Hashani wasn’t big enough to push anyone anywhere.
“Shut the door, Bostel, I’ve got private business with you.”
“Oh yeah?” Bostel let the panel slide shut and turned to his guest. “Did you finally decide to lay off the mating business and let me take care of all your itches, little bit?”
“Little bit?” Thurus laughed. “That’s the best you can come up with? Damn, Bostel, I’m disappointed. I was hoping for something really fun and exciting. Like me.”
Bostel glared at the other male and deliberately went to his bunk and lay down again.
“I’m tired, I’m cranky, and I need sex. If you can’t help me with any of those, get out.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so,” Thurus came towards the bunk with a sashay that would have put one of the whores that worked with Bostel’s mother to shame.
It would be too much to hope he was going to put it to use, though. Bostel lay still and watched the other male approach.
“I’m not giving you any happy pills, Bostel. You’d be too loopy in an emergency, but I’ve got a sleep patch if you want it.”
“I don’t want a sleep patch,” Bostel growled, oddly disappointed.
What had he thought? Thurus was going to just hop onto his bed and climb aboard? Yeah, his luck hadn’t been going that way for over a year.
“You sure? I’ve got a couple with me.”
“No, they don’t work on me anyhow,” Bostel grumbled. “Don’t even make me relax.”
“Which brings me to my reason for coming here,” Thurus said. “You, sweetheart, have put our medical training on its ear. Care to explain your physiology?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
There, that said it all, didn’t it? Now the irritating pest could go away.
“In that case, I need a small sample of your DNA to run it. No biggie.”
Thurus pulled a slim package from the pocket of the hip-length, loose fitting, open robe he wore over a sleeveless jumpsuit and waved it at him. Did he have to get so damn close? Bostel felt like crawling further away on his bunk. He didn’t use force on his playmates. Didn’t have to. He’d yet to be turned down. Okay, Galon and Mango had turned him down, but that was different.
He watched the Hashani rip open the package and withdraw a vial with a stick poking out of it, and kneel on the edge of the bed.
“Open up, sweetheart.”
“Open up what?” Bostel eyed the vial and stick with trepidation. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to slide this little piece here out of its package,” Thurus said in a slow sexy voice, putting actions to his words. “And then I’m going to slide it into your…”
“Get away from me with that!”
This time Bostel did jump off his bunk and went to the far wall.
“Aw, is the big bad man afraid of a little swab?” Thurus’ grin was pure evil. “Come on, big boy, I know you’ve had worse than this in your mouth.”
Bostel choked. Thurus’ voice had all kinds of images flashing through his brain, and every one of them was making his pants even tighter. He caught the Hashani’s eyes sliding down to the very obvious bulge he had no way of hiding. Thurus sauntered over and pressed himself up against Bostel and tilted his head up, bringing an arm up around Bostel’s neck and grabbing the back of his head to pull it down towards him.
Just one little kiss. That wouldn’t hurt anything, would it? He wouldn’t find himself claimed and mated with just a single little kiss, would he? Bostel found himself bending his head, surrendering to the pressure Thurus was exerting. He opened his mouth to claim his kiss.
And the little fucker jammed that damn stick in his mouth, pulled it back out again, quickly slid it into the vial, snapped the end off and closed the vial with a click of finality.
“Thanks so much, sweetie. That’s all I needed.”
The Healers' Warrior

To celebrate the release of the third book in The Brethren series, here's an excerpt from "A Warrior's Strength":

“Take it easy with her, Jastl,” Galon instructed. “She’s got three times the power of a normal space skimmer, is highly maneuverable, and responds with barely a touch.”
“Damn, Galon,” Jastl said with a chuckle. “You talk about it like it’s your lover.”
Galon smirked at him, “Just wait ‘til you fly her. You’ll see.”
Galon touched Shiv on the shoulder and the two disappeared as silently as Mango had earlier. Jastl helped Adal into the skimmer, placed their bag in the small area behind the two seats, and climbed in. He waved a hand in front of him and the virtual controls appeared. He closed the skimmer’s top and engaged the passive restraints before glancing over at Adal. He heard the skimmer power up with a quiet hum
“Wanna see what this baby can do?” he asked.
“Just don’t crash,” Adal replied, cheekily.
Leaving it on manual controls, Jastl lifted straight up until they hovered just above the palace. He pointed it towards the towers in the distance and opened her up. The skimmer shot forward, pressing him back into his seat.
“Whoa!” Jastl said and grinned over at his mate. “Galon wasn’t kidding, was he?”
Adal had an excited grin, as well, letting Jastl know he wasn’t afraid.
“Can you pilot?” Jastl asked.
“Yes,” Adal said, nearly vibrating with eagerness.
“Okay, Angel, show me what you can do.”
“Really?” Adal asked, but took over the controls without waiting for a response.
“Yeah, just don’t crash,” Jastl repeated Adal’s words back to him.
Adal wore an expression of sheer joy, as he skillfully piloted the skimmer towards the towers. Jastl was impressed. His little mate wasn’t just good, he was very good. He’d have to let Mango and Galon know. Once they’d cleared the air space of the city, Adal giggled and performed a couple of maneuvers that had Jastl’s stomach roiling.
“Easy, Adal,” he warned. “I’ve never had air sickness before, but you’re pushing.”
Adal gave him a mischievous grin and increased speed. On second thought, maybe he shouldn’t tell Mango and Galon what his mate was capable of. As they neared the towers, Jastl saw a new cruiser lift into the sky and he whistled in appreciation.
“Follow her out, Adal,” he instructed.
“Wanna play tag?” Bostel’s teasing voice sounded over the com.
Before Jastl could respond, Adal answered.
“Catch me if you can,” he challenged.
All Jastl could do was grip the arms of his seat and pray the passive restraints held, as Adal sped past the cruiser, heading for space. Bostel’s laugh sounded over the com, as well as Galon’s curse. Adal allowed Bostel to almost catch them before he sped off again; repeatedly outdistancing the cruiser.
“Damn it, Bostel!” Galon snapped. “Jastl, what do you think you are doing?”
“Ah, come on, Galon, you’re in a cruiser. Can’t you catch me,” Adal teased.
“Adal? Why are you piloting the skimmer?”
“Jastl said I could,” Adal blissfully tossed Jastl under the skimmer.
Jastl groaned, knowing he was in for it now.
“If I’d known what you were going to do I’d have made Galon take you with him,” he growled. “Give me back the controls.”
“Nope,” Adal laughed. “Watch this.”
Adal pulled the skimmer into a high climb, before flipping it end over end and coming back down behind the cruiser.
“Fuck!” Jastl yelled.
“Not right now, I’m piloting,” Adal said, still laughing.
“Alright, Adal,” Galon’s amused voice came over the com. “Bring her in. Can you see the main cargo bay opening?”
“Yes,” Adal replied.
“Gently, Adal,” Galon instructed. “There’s not a lot of room in there because we’ve laid in some extra supplies.”
Adal deftly piloted the skimmer through the opening and set it down in the allotted space. Once the bay door closed and the tone sounded that it was safe, Jastl reached forward to release the passive restraints and open the top.
“I’m gonna be sick,” he muttered, stumbling out of the skimmer.
He went to his knees on the floor of the bay, before sitting and putting his head down, taking deep, gulping breaths and trying not to disgrace himself.

I've been looking back at some of my posts on Facebook and realized that were I not a writer, I would definitely be seriously considered for medication. Really. There are voices in my head and they talk to me. I talk to them. We argue. They pout. They stop talking to me. I get mad and stop writing what they say and start listening to other voices in my head.

The upside is when I write down everything the voices in my head are saying, get it all polished, edited, and published with a pretty cover - you guys buy it and it's called a novel. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, I'm being facetious. But only because I've been struggling for the past month or more with the fourth book in a series and can't seem to get it together to finish. It's well over half way there and it's stalled out big time. My solution was to finally put it aside. Just hit SAVE and file it away in a folder for later and begin something new. I've had several ideas running around in my head wanting their turn in the sun (or on my computer monitor as the case may be) and I'm letting one of them out. I've managed 5k words on my first day, and feeling as if I'm actually being productive. Finally.

I have no idea if this is normal for a writer, but it's my normal. I couldn't force it since everything I wrote seemed to be total crap. Letting the voices in my head out when they're ready seems to be a better fit for my writing style. Someone called it "pantsing" and I'm good with that. If it works, it works.

So the current WIP is coming along and I'm hoping to get it out sometime after the new year. Thinking it's going to be a novella of around 45k or 50k words. It's an M/M fantasy romance because I like HEAs and love writing fantasy. M/M because that's what the voices in my head told me.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

I've got two WIPs going at the moment. One is completely written, in the editing stages, and waiting on its shiny new cover. The other is about halfway written on the first draft. Guess which one is giving me fits?

Yeah, the one that's already written. The cover is well in hand and I'm happy with the sketches I've seen so far. The book, itself? I want to pick my laptop up and throw it through the window. All I have to do is edit the darn thing and do a final read through. Why is that so hard? Each time I open the document to do that, I get lost in something else, side tracked, called away, or whatever. My head's not in it and I don't seem to be able to get it there.

I'm thinking one of the reasons is the two WIPs are so far apart in subject matter, it's just really difficult to leave one world and get into the other. The first book is more a novella at only 50k words. It's got some adventure, some romance and some fun. The second is one of the darkest things I've ever written and it absolutely wrings me out when I work on it. Trying to switch between the two is like going from gut wrenching sobbing to lollipops and rainbows. If messes with my head.

I'm working on a solution. One which will, hopefully, allow me to polish up the first so it's ready for publication. I'm putting the second WIP away for the moment. I've saved it, backed it up on a thumb drive, and closed the document to file away. I just can't bounce so far on the emotional scale and still be a functioning writer. Once the novella is released, I'll put my head back in the wringer and finish up the novel. Even if the characters in my head are pouting about being put in the corner for a time out.

I guess the title is self-explanatory. That's what I've been doing this past week. More reading than writing, though.

Reading is one of my ways of gaining inspiration for continuing to write. No, I don't copy other people's works - that's not inspiration, that's plagiarism. Big, major no-no. But reading what others have written and going off into their worlds helps me recharge and get my imagination flowing.

That's kind of imperative for the kinds of books I write. Imagination. Although I do draw ideas from real life, writing fantasy/scifi types of stories means my imagination must be in full gear in order to build a different world. That can be a drain, sometimes. I'm coming to realize I don't really suffer from writer's block so much as I just have no energy to write. I still have ideas and make notes, but pulling everything together into something cohesive is just beyond me when I'm feeling as if my energy level is too low.

Hence, the reading part. I've come across some great books and a couple that were kind of eh, but I'm slowly recharging my batteries so I can continue the current WIPs. Yes, that's plural. There's two of them. Hopefully, both will be released sometime later this year.

In the meantime, I'll do a lot of reading, some note taking, maybe pull a couple of ideas together to add to either story, and continue posting updates, opinions, and snippets into my life on both this blog and the new one I've started on WordPress. If you haven't checked that site out, you really should.

The main site is here:
https://marynewmanauthor.wordpress.com/
and the page with buy links and a bio is here:
https://marynewmanauthor.wordpress.co...

“No, Mamma, I can’t.”

“Of course, you can, my love. You just need to trust in yourself.”

Peri leaned forward just enough to see over the edge, before backing up a step and shaking his head. Mamma put her hand on his shoulder and offered a gentle smile.

More:
https://marynewmanauthor.wordpress.co...