Anna Butler's Blog, page 27

November 18, 2016

Cover Reveal: Brandi Evans’ “Operation Better Tomorrow”

obt-coverreveal-banner

Title: Operation Better Tomorrow

Author: Brandi Evans

Release Date: November 29th 2016

Publisher: Loose ID

Genre: MM Romance

The interview of a lifetime.

When Aaron Strickland’s assigned to write a feature article on Caleb Douglas, the first openly gay soldier to receive the Medal of Honor, he’s over-the-moon. Meet a sexy, real-life hero? Yes, please. And in the weeks leading up to their interview, the former soldier becomes a recurring player in Aaron’s fantasies.

A man Caleb can’t forget.

Years earlier, lost in the throes of depression and PTSD after an ambush left his body and soul scarred, Caleb was on the brink of giving up when a magazine article changed his life forever—an article written by Aaron. Emerging from the depths of his pain, Operation Better Tomorrow—part homestead, part halfway house for those down on their luck—was born.

Tragedy lurking on the horizon.

As the days pass, Caleb and Aaron’s tragic pasts bind them in ways they aren’t prepared for, but it also leaves them vulnerable. Pushing forward means breaking down walls they’ve built to protect themselves, and just as they’re poised on the precipice of happiness, a darkness descends on the homestead, a hatred that will leave one man clinging to life and the other willing to risk everything to save him.

Aaron’s dick tightened, and he took a step toward Caleb. “I’ve learned a lot about homestead operations today, but I want to know more about you. Tell me, Sergeant Douglas, what inspired you to begin Operation Better Tomorrow?”

Caleb scrubbed a palm over the back of his neck. “That’s kinda embarrassing, actually.”

“I don’t believe that. How can the origin story of a place like this be embarrassing?”

Another minuscule step closer.

“Because of you, Aaron.”

“Me? How do I fit in?”

Caleb looked down, hands fisted low on his hips in a masculine mirroring of Aubrey. “Things got really low for me about six, seven years ago. The physical therapy was torture, and I was in pain all the time. The PTSD and depression didn’t help matters either. I was sick and fucking tired of it all.”

Was that code for wanting to commit suicide? Aaron wanted to ask, but he held back, letting Caleb finish.

“Then, one day, I was sitting on the couch, a bottle of pain pills in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other, when a magazine on the coffee table caught my attention. To this day I don’t know how it got there, but a title on the cover caught my attention. So I started reading. Everything the woman in the article was going through, her physical and emotional pain… Change a few things, and it could have been written about me. And by the time I finished, I was in tears.” The left side of his mouth tipped up in a haunting smile. “Although, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave the crying part out of the article. I do have a reputation to maintain.”

“Totally off the record.” Aaron held up his three middle fingers and stepped closer. “Scout’s honor.”

Caleb nodded. “It’s hard to put into words, but the article struck a chord deep inside me. It was one of those life-changing moments where everything becomes clear. The past, the present, the future. And I saw this place in my head. Operation Better Tomorrow, a way to turn my pain into someone else’s better tomorrow.”

“Wow. That’s just… Wow.” Something about the words Caleb used were familiar, but Aaron couldn’t quite place them. “As a writer, that would be the greatest compliment a person could give me, to tell me my words were the bridge they needed to get from a painful past and into a brighter future. I think I would literally fall over from pride.”

Caleb closed what little distance remained between them. “Is that your subtle way of telling me I should be prepared to catch you?”

“Be prepared to catch me?” The question escaped seconds before realization bitchslapped him. Oh, Sweet Baby J. He’d written the article that had saved Caleb’s life.

Brandi Evans was raised by a caravan of traveling Gypsies. She spent her days learning the ways of her people and her nights lost in legends as old as time. Okay, not really, but that’s way more interesting than the truth!

In reality, Brandi grew up the oldest child of an ordinary family. Grade school, middle school, high school. Nothing extraordinary happened until she left the nest. She joined the military, went to college, got married, and became a mom. And somewhere along the way, she discovered she liked to read—and write!—stories hot enough to melt eReaders.

These days, she calls The Natural State home where she lives with her hubby, two beautiful daughters, two dogs and a cat who has yet to realize she doesn’t own the place. Soldier. Wife. Mom. Multi-published smut writer. Brandi’s life might not be “traveling Gypsy” interesting, but she’s had fun. And in the end, isn’t that all that really matters?

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

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Published on November 18, 2016 02:00

November 7, 2016

World-building. Again.

From Mederndepe on Flickr, under creative commons license.

Last weekend, I was at Manifold Press’s “Queer Company” meeting in Oxford, a gathering of (mainly) UK based writers and readers. For my sins, the lovely Elin Gregory and Sandra Lindsey pulled me into doing a panel about, essentially, world-building.

We focused it around “sense of place”. How does an author create the look, sound, taste and feel of the place in which their MC is playing out his or her story, make it authentic and pull the reader in so they almost feel they’re there too? How do we make the reader *believe* in the world created, rather than merely suspend their disbelief? By following the advice of the great Tolkien in On Fairy-Stories, of course, where he says that in order for the narrative to work, the reader must believe that what they read is true within the ‘secondary reality of the fictional world’. Create an internally consistent fictional world and belief is possible.

Both Sandra and Elin write historical fiction, so I left it to them to talk about how to create a believable, realistic historical (and contemporary) setting. My only contribution to that is, of course, The Gilded Scarab, my steampunk romance set in an alternate version of London powered by phlogiston and luminiferous aether. But even there, I worked hard to get a sense of the real London’s time and place: the buildings and streets are London’s buildings and streets (see Rafe Lancaster’s Londinium here), real people such as gunsmith Athol Purdey make brief appearances, even the racehorses mentioned actually ran at racecourses in 1900.

My main focus was on worlds a writer creates themselves. I love writing science fiction. Love it. oh! The freedom! The worlds, the culture and society, the government, the geography and the weather are all entirely up to me. I can make this shit up. And equally liberating: I can twist the details to suit the story. I’ve used this example before, but really how delightful is it that I can write nonsense like this in my background notes:

On the ground, a Shield warrior has his or her Shield suit: close-fitting, black, heat reflecting material threaded through with wiring (masking circuitry) powered by a flat battery pack across the shoulders and upper back. It produces a form of interferomatic dispersion that modulates to scatter radar and infra red/ultra violet sensors – a layer of energy distortion creating a refractive, reflective shield (in a play on the Regiment’s name).

It sounds scientific enough, doesn’t it? Sci-fi-ish. It has a basis in fact. In my research for Shield, I came across something called ‘interferometry’ (the technique of combining and superimposing electromagnetic waves to study displacements, refractive index changes and surface irregularities). Total lightbulb moment. Obviously I’d have to twist it and warp it, but as a scientific basis for a protective suit, it passed my sniff test. All right, I have a dreadful sense of smell and a real scientist would die laughing if they read that paragraph, but a little bit of me is with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle here: “It has always seemed to me that so long as you produce your dramatic effect, accuracy of detail matters little. I have never striven for it and I have made some bad mistakes in consequence. What matter if I hold my readers?”

I’m not saying he’s entirely right. But in the sense in which he is right, is that what matters is the story. I’m not writing a treatise on interferometry. I’m writing a science fiction yarn. If I end up bending those electromagnetic waves a little too far to the left to please the scientists, but the reader just thinks “Cool suit!”, then job done. An element of my created, imaginary place feels true and internally consistent, and helps the reader believe in it.

From Flebilis Rosa, Flickr, under creative commons

So… take something that matters to your story – history, geography, languages, religions, economy; weather, societies, people, flora and fauna, power sources, industries, what people farm and what they eat and drink – and then decide how it all works in your world. Then take the next issue, rinse and repeat until you have a good understanding of what your imaginary world is like. And if you’re anything like me, you have a folder six inches deep.

Is it important? Yup. Where you set your story, will have a profound impact on the characters you’re writing about. It will shape what they do and even what language they (and you) will be using – everything from oaths to proverbs. Places shape people. Never forget that. Even if your story is set in 2016 London, don’t forget that. You still have some world-building to do. No one ever escapes unscathed!

How do you do it? Not through huge paragraphs of exposition and explanation. You weave it into your narrative so the reader barely notices it, bleed it into your descriptions of place, your character’s behaviour and speech, and into your plot.

The key question to ask yourself is what your PoV character knows. In Gilded Scarab, I don’t draw attention to the steampunky bits because to my narrator, Rafe, these things are so much part of the background to his life, they’re as unremarkable as breathing. They’re just there. In the background. Unremarkable to him as a character, so unremarkable to him as narrator.

Let’s take an more real world example.

I’ll bet you drive a car. Without looking at Google, can you explain step by every little step

From Clark at Flickr under creative commons

how the internal combustion engine works? So why would you expect your PoV character to know this level of detail? You put in what’s relevant to your characters and his story. If you’re that desperate to share the details, create annexes in your book or information pages on your website. Geeks will love you for it, but the reader will also love not having to slog through pages of techy stuff that gets in the way of the storytelling.

It’s all about balance, see? Blending your imagination with all that stuff you’ve collected together, and seeding those details through your narrative so quietly and seamlessly your reader just sees the whole, complete world – your secondary reality with all its wonderful, consistent detail – and never has to worry about the plumbing, say, because you’ve done it for them.

They can just sit back and believe.

With love and thanks to all at Manifold Press, for giving me the opportunity to waffle on, and being too polite to tell me to shut up. Because believe me, I was nowhere near this coherent on the day!

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Published on November 07, 2016 13:38

October 31, 2016

Links To Blog Posts On Writing – October 2016

You know all those blogs that start “7 tips for…” or “56 ways to…”? Full of good advice and earnest exhortation? I normally have several of them in this monthly round up post. Well this blog post should be entitled “One tip for producing a monthly blog post round up without spending HOURS on it the last day of every month. Do it as you go along, FOOL!”

So here we are. After more labour than was necessary:

Whose life is it anyway? Novelists have their say on cultural appropriation – interesting article at The Guardian on a hot writer-y topic.

Elena Ferrante and the Power of Appropriation – Adam Kirsch at the NY Times

The Kind of Style That Turns Readers Into Fans – James Scott Bell at The Kill Zone.

The Girl on The Train & Two Critical Elements of ALL Great Stories – Kristen Lamb, thought-provoking as usual.

Dispelling the Myth of Strong Female Characters – Megan Leigh at SFWA, with interesting (often contrary) comments at The Passive Voice

Are Self-Published Books Inferior to Professionally Published Books? – The old chestnut rears its head again – if nuts have heads. Also discussed at Passive Voice

Writers, Please Eat a Snickers and Chill the Hell OUT—Sincerely, Readers – Kristen Lamb.

The Importance of Fiction – by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

What it Takes to Be a “Real” Writer – Kristen Lamb

Cassandra Khaw: Five Things I Learned Writing Hammers On Bone

Nik Abnett: Five Things I Learned Writing Savant

Katie Fetting: Five Reasons Writers Choose To Break History

Eleven Sneaky Ways To Rescue A Failed Story – tips from the Writers’ Village

Stop Explaining Your Story (And Start Showing It) / How Your Narrative Distance Affects Show, Don’t Tell / Why We Tell, Instead of Show in Our Writing / The Problem With Telling, Not Showing Telling / How Filtering the Point of View Affects Show, Don’t Tell / How to Find a Balance Between Showing and Telling – a series of blog posts from Janice Hardy, who has a new book out on the subject.

Four Kinds of Pace – Donald Maass at Writer Unboxed.

4 Tips for Preventing Flat Descriptions – Janice Hardy

The Dreaded Synopsis—What It REALLY Reveals About Our Writing – from Kristen Lamb

Backgrounding Your World Through Point of View – Juliette Wade at the Fiction University.

7 Things You Need to Know About Plotting and Editing – K M Weiland

17 Fiction Writing Experts Reveal Their Secrets to Good Story Titles

Writing fighting: Five options for characters who are outgunned, outmuscled and out of luck. – Andrew Jack at Evil Writers

NaNoWriMo Specials

NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel – Janice Hardy

How to Find and Fill All Your Plot Holes (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 4) – K M Weiland

A Cooling Mist Of NaNoWriMo-Flavored Novel Writing Advice – Chuck Wendig

NaNo Prep Part 2 – Beth Hill at the Editor’s Blog. Link to part 1 in the text

How A Writer Quiets His Self-Doubt – “Silence your CRITIC and let your ARTIST run naked and on fire through a field of blood and daisies.”

Control What You Can Control: Good Writing (And Life) Advice – “PANTS ARE THE OPIATE OF THE MASSES.”

Ten Quick Story Tips To Use Or Discard At Your Leisure

Five Storytelling Lessons From Hamilton’s America

A Cooling Mist Of NaNoWriMo-Flavored Novel Writing Advice

Why Is Horror So Anathema In Publishing?

Marketing

Thinking of Running a Facebook Ad? Proceed with Caution – Martha Conway

Promoting a Sequel in a Book’s Back Matter (With Examples!) – Diana Urban at BookBub

7 Tips for Avoiding Book Marketing Trends That No Longer Work – Penny Sansevieri

Newsletters

What’s Your Newsletter Plan? Part Three – Jami Gold at the Fiction University. Links to parts one and two in the post.

Page-flip messing up Kindle Unlimited page reporting? – many authors with books in KU are reporting plunging royalties. This may explain why. Link to the Passive Voice, which links to the original discussion on Amazon’s Kboard community.

What You Really Want to Know About Self Publishing – Janice Hardy at the Fiction University

Creating Single-Author Box Sets: Part One – Marcy Kennedy

Storyworld Design: Transportation Technologies – Veronica Secoe doesn’t post often (enough) but she’s a scifi writer’s gold. So she goes into resources, not hints and tips, because this shit? You want to keep it.

9 Free Online Grammar Resources compiled by Writers Write

17 Resources For Writing About Troubled Fictional Characters – again, compiled by Writers Write

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Published on October 31, 2016 06:08

October 30, 2016

Passing Shadows – coming soon

Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

Psalm 144.4

“They’re coming. Oh God, they’re coming.”

Li Liang has found a berth to suit her: chief pilot and first officer of the all-female crew of an old space freighter, the Sappho. Then one ordinary, unremarkable morning, Liang retunes the Sappho’s communications systems just in time to catch the breathless, terrible accounts from Mars of the total destruction of Earth.

Earth’s a cinder. The unknown alien race that destroyed it has left Mars, too, in flames and is ravening outward from the solar system, devouring every human colony on the way.

Liang’s one of the few survivors, racing ahead of the Devourers, rescuing as many frightened, shocked people as she can. Will Liang and the pitiful remnants of humanity find a new haven, somewhere to start again? Or will she, too, echo the dreadful last message coming out of their dead home?

They’re coming. Oh God, they’re coming.

Watch this space for news of the publication of a trio of short stories:

Overthrown by Strangers

An Habitation of Dragons

Winterlight

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Published on October 30, 2016 06:47

October 22, 2016

Pictures At An Exhibition

Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Biswarup Ganguly

Last year I entered the annual Queer SciFi flash fiction event. The rules were (cough) simple: Write a complete story—either sci fi, fantasy, or paranormal. Make sure it has LGBT characters and/or an LGBT vibe. And do it all with just 300 words.

All the entries were collected together into an anthology Discovery: QSF’s Second Annual Flash Fiction Contest Contributors were asked not to publish their entries anywhere else for a year, and I’ve only recently realised that the year is up. My entry was Pictures At An Exhibition, where the chance discovery of alien art leads to a moment of connection.

This little snippet influenced the second story in a coming anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction, featuring shuttle pilot Li Liang. More of that later when I have a book cover to show off! In the meantime, here’s:

Pictures At An Exhibition

The city is deserted, half-ruined towers biting up into a sky the colour of a bruised peach. Kit and Will land their scoutships in a plaza, quiet but for the sigh of the wind scything through. The wind smells salty.

Kit shivers. Planets scoured clean of sentient life are a windfall, once explored and cleared for human settlement. Kit likes the finder’s fee, but he doesn’t like exploring dead cities.

“No war damage,” Will says. And when Kit points out pestilence isn’t much better, he adds, “No remains, either. Maybe they just left.” He nods towards a tower. “Let’s go.”

Kit follows. Gives him a good view of Will’s rear. He does like exploring that.

The building is desolate. Empty. And the next. But in the third—a museum? a gallery?—they find something of the planet’s inhabitants.

The walls are hung with images of people, painted onto translucent metal sheets. The people come in two colours, copper or gold. They have heads, arms and legs, but they don’t look human—too many arms and legs. Most paintings are of pairs, one of each colour, sometimes with little ones clustered around.

Domestic scenes. Familiar scenes. Human-ish scenes.

“Male and female, maybe?” Kit says. There’s no other way to tell. No obvious physical differences. No differentiating clothing.

Will shrugs. “They look like family groups. So, yeah. Probably.”

Not human. But they must have been like humans in the ways that matter. Living and loving had been important enough to preserve in paint.

The next painting has two copper people, holding appendages. Not hands. Appendages. They don’t have hands.

Two copper people, together.

Well, now.

Kit slips his hand into Will’s and grins. Yeah. These people hadn’t been human, but they sure were like him and Will in the ways that matter.

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Published on October 22, 2016 07:48

October 11, 2016

Soaring Hearts with A. L. Boyd

Will hearts soar when pigs fly?

Alex’s job working for his family-owned radio station once took him all over the city reporting on major events—until the accident. His scars, both physical and emotional, cause him to withdraw into a self-imposed, semi-reclusive lifestyle. When his dad requests that he go to the world’s largest hot air balloon festival, he has to find the courage to break his isolation. Now he needs to find the courage to trust and love again.

Jeff had already been planning a move to Albuquerque when he lost his home, parents, and dog to a wildfire in California. To begin his new life, he agrees to help his sister and brother-in-law with their balloon at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Now he’s seen pigs fly and bees kissing, but will he find the love he’s been searching for?

Title: Soaring Hearts

Author: A. L. Boyd

Release Date: September 25th 2016

Genre: Contemporary MM Romance

Goodreads link

“Cotton candy!” Tony bounced beside Alex as they walked to the concession area. “Can we get cotton candy, Uncle Alex?”

“If you finish your lunch.” Alex agreed.

“Me too!” Sandy said from her perch on Jeff’s shoulder.

Jeff smiled back at him, and it warmed his heart to see Jeff cradling his niece. He’d never thought he’d find someone who’d see past his scars, much less care for his sister’s kids.

They found a table and Jeff placed Sandy down in one of the chairs. “I’ll grab the lunch. What all do we want?”

“Cotton candy!” Tony bounced in his seat.

“Funnel cake,” Sandy added. Jeff laughed and ruffled Tony’s hair. “I remember your uncle saying that we needed some lunch first. How about hot dogs and hamburgers?”

“Yes, that would be good.” Alex nodded at him. “And bottled water if they have it, please.”

“I like him, Uncle Alex,” Tony said after Jeff walked off. “Is he your new boyfriend?”

Alex hesitated. He and Jeff hadn’t discussed their relationship, and even though they’d been out on a date, he wasn’t sure what their official status was. He finally settled on, “We’re dating.”

“You need to bring him to Gramma’s dinner,” Tony informed him.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | ARe | B&N

Win $5 Amazon gift card and an e-book of Soaring Hearts

ENTER RAFFLECOPTER HERE

A cartographer by day, A.L. Boyd spends most of her free time with her horses, gardening, or reading. She never intended to be a writer, but stories like this one sometimes just pop into her head. The writing came about as a way to get the stories out. Her first story for the Goodreads M/M Romance DRitC event Crest Ridge Vacation was expanded to the novella titled Crest Ridge.

Contact Links: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

Other works include:

Crest Ridge (Novella): Amazon

The Dawn of Darkness (Free Short Story): Amazon

And a short story included in the Anthology Kickass (written and donated to help fellow author Eric Arvin with his medical bills) : Amazon

October 3rd
All in One Place

http://kirstylovesbooks.wordpress.com

October 4th
MM Good Book Reviews

https://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/

October 5th
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords.com/

Hearts on Fire

http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

The Jena Wade

http://www.thejenawade.com/

October 6th
Drops of Ink

http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/

October 7th
Velvet Panic

https://velvetpanic2.wordpress.com/

October 10th
The Purple Rose Tea House

http://purpleroseteahouse.com/

Triple A

http://www.facebook.com/tripleabookblog

FGMAMTC

http://fangirlmomentsandmytwocents.blogspot.com/

October 11th
Anna Butler Fiction

http://www.annabutlerfiction.com/blog

Patricia Nelson

October 12th
Making It Happen

http://moonangel23.blogspot.com/

Happily Ever Chapter

https://www.facebook.com/happilyeverchapter

October 13th
Alpha Book Club

http://alphabookclub.org

MJ’s Book Blog and Reviews

https://www.facebook.com/MJsBookBlogandReviews

October 14th
Bayou Book Junkie

http://bayoubookjunkie.blogspot.com/

TTC Books and More

http://www.ttcbooksandmore.com/

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Published on October 11, 2016 02:00

October 1, 2016

Flight – a new anthology of sharp, short stories

I’m over the moon to post about Mischief Corner’s new anthology. It’s not just any anthology, but one where each and every story is exactly 300 words long. It’s an exercise in precision and concision, a surprisingly daunting challenge to any writer. Believe me, it’s hard to write an entire story in such a small space. That so many writers have come together to show this skill makes for one amazing read.

In the first year of the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction contest, the judges received about 15 entries for the theme “Endings”. In the second year, it was 115 for “Discovery”. This year, they had more than 170 entries from people around the world, and from all parts of the LGBTIQA rainbow. “Flight” represents 110 of those people and their stories.

Rocket1-3

A 300-word story should be easy, right? Many of our entrants say it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever written.

Queer Sci Fi’s Annual Flash Fiction Contest challenges authors to write a complete LGBTQ speculative fiction micro-story on a specific theme. “Flight” leaves much for the authors to interpret—winged creatures, flight and space vehicles, or fleeing from dire circumstances.

Some astonishing stories were submitted—from horrific, bloodcurdling pieces to sweet, contemplative ones—and all LGBTQ speculative fiction. The stories in this anthology include AI’s and angels, winged lions and wayward aliens. Smart, snappy slice of life pieces written for entertainment or for social commentary. Join us for brief and often surprising trips into 110 speculative fiction authors’ minds.

Publisher: Mischief Corner Books

Author: Various

Cover & Illustrations Artist: Mila May

Goodreads

Goodreads Series Page

J Scott Coatsworth, the leading light behind the Queer SciFi site, has dropped in to tell us about Four Ways to Annoy a Flash Fiction Judge

Thanks, Anna, for letting me stop by your blog to talk about Queer Sci Fi’s new flash fiction book, “Flight”. I thought I’d share something fun this time. Four things you can do as a flash fiction author to really annoy the QSF judges.

1) Write Something Off Theme: We create our QSF flash fiction theme every year with the word “possibility” in mind. We try to pick a one-word theme that lends itself to a bunch of different interpretations. In 2014, it was Endings. In 2015, Discovery. And in 2016 we tried “Flight”. The vast majority of entries fit the theme in one way or another – flight in the air, flight from something, spaceflight, even a flight of stairs. And yet, there were a small handful that, no matter how we tried, we could not match to the theme. Respect the theme.

2) Make Your Story Title the Same as the Anthology Title: There are literally millions of possibilities for your title. Don’t use “Flight” when submitting to an anthology called “Flight”. Be creative. Summon a brainstorming group. Pore over titles on Amazon for ideas. The best titles made us think, put a twist on the story, or stuck with us after the story was done.

3) Argue With the Judges Over Story Length: We use Word as our arbitrator for story length. We know some apps count words differently than others, so we settled on the one that is the standard in the writing and publishing word. If Word says your story is too long, it’s too long for this contest, no matter what your app says.

4) Submit a Scene and Call it a Story: Flash fiction stories should have a beginning, a middle and an end, and some kind of dramatic tension. We received some beautiful scenes, things that would make a great start to a fascinating short story, novella, or novel. But scenes are not stories. Make sure your story gives us a resolution.

If you want to see what great flash fiction looks like, check out our winners from the last three years here: https://queerscifi.com/flash-fiction-contest/

Hope you will submit something for the contest for 2017!

Smoke by Zev de Valera

He rubbed his temples and squinted at the soft light of his surroundings through the fans of his thick eyelashes. The last drink had been a mistake.

Was that a shaker he’d felt, or the onset of a hangover?

He clutched a silken pillow and waited.

Suddenly, he felt his home tremble; a few pieces of glass and ceramic ware teetered and then fell to their demise.

Shit. This is the real thing.

With an effort, he hauled himself from his bed.

How many years had it been since the last one?

Sixty? Seventy?

The shaking ceased, and he looked around his small dwelling. A model unit when he’d purchased it. Now filled with the result of years of collecting: a gramophone, a first generation television set, a water clock. And much more. All of it all had sentimental value—as did the photos of the various men that sat atop or alongside the items in his collection. Some of these men had loved him. All of them had once owned him. Now he owned their memories. That was the bargain.

Another shake. Followed by several unnerving tilts. He willed his cherished possessions to remain in place and willed himself into sobriety and a more becoming appearance as he prepared himself for work.

What to wear?

He selected a red brocade tunic and pants. A classic look always worked best for the initial consultation.

A resounding thud.

He peered up into the small shaftway at the center of the ceiling.

A pop.

Then a small circle of light at the end of the shaft.

He sighed, folded his arms, and transformed into a cloud of red smoke.

Up and away to meet his new master.

Price: $4.99 eBook, $12.99 print b/w illustrations, $24.99 print full color

Available now at:

Mischief Corner Books

Amazon.com

All Romance eBooks

Kobo

And coming soon to : Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords

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Published on October 01, 2016 02:30

September 30, 2016

Newsletter Poll

Newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with readers, but I’m currently facing a dilemma of whether to carry on with a regular quarterly newsletter when in some quarters – like this one! – I have less to say that’s concrete and interesting, or whether to switch to occasional newsletters that go out only when there is something to announce, such as launch dates or sharing covers for new books etc.

I’m inclined towards the latter, but here’s your opportunity to tell me which you prefer.

Take Our Poll

If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, you can sign up for the newsletter here:

SIGN UP HERE

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Published on September 30, 2016 07:24

Links To Blog Posts On Writing – September 2016

Not a lot caught my attention this month, but here’s a few interesting articles to chew over.

The Anatomy Of A Best-Selling Book (Infographic) from Writers Write

K.C. Alexander: Publishing While Female (Or, “Why I Stopped Internalizing Your Shit”)

Michelle Belanger: Five Things I Learned Writing Harsh Gods

From Writer’s Write:

5 Weak Words To Avoid & What To Use Instead

It’s All About The Pace (13 Ways To Change It When You Write)

7 Ways To Tell If You Have Too Much Plot In Your Story

Elsa S. Henry: On Teaching Disabled Representation In Fiction guesting at Chuck Wendig’s blog.

How to Write a Story Without an Outline – at the Write Practice.

Bulking Up: Fleshing Out a Too-Short Novel – Janice Hardy at the Fiction University

Active Search: Something Was Verbing Philip Athans at Fantasy Authors Handbook on active voice.

Writing Dual POVs Advice from the Grammar Girl.

Don’t Let Back Story Slow Us Down – Janice Hardy

Adding Depth to Your Fiction—Body Language 101 – advice from Kristen Lamb

Writing fighting: Time perception – Andrew Jack at The Evil League of Evil Writers

Where to Put Your Dialogue Tags – Janice Hardy at the Fiction University

Nail That First Line! – Laura Drake at Writers In The Storm.

In Writing, The Rules Are True, Until They’re Not

What Fiction Can Do For The Writer And The Reader

Here’s How To Finish That Fucking Book, You Monster

It Is Art That Will Help Us Survive

Yes, Virginia, Writing Is Too A Job

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Published on September 30, 2016 06:41

September 22, 2016

Keegan Kennedy’s ‘The Harbinger’ – with giveaway

I’m delighted to welcome Keegan Kennedy to the blog today, to talk about her new release, The Harbinger.

Over to Keegan:

The Harbinger was born, in part, from growing up in the 1980’s. At that time, our culture was plagued by fear. It was everywhere–on the news, in conversations, in nightmares… As I think back, nuclear war was often presented by the media as a likely event. In retrospect, I now see it for what it was… Reagan-Era propaganda that was meant to keep everyone scared shitless. Unfortunately, things haven’t changed too much… But it wasn’t just the media. Every other movie out there, it seemed, were full of slashers and killers, wars and disasters, and the end of the world. My favorites of these movies were always the huge Hollywood disaster flicks with fabulous all-star casts. Gloom and doom and the fantasy of starting over are common themes that endlessly fascinate us. And, of course, we’re still in the grips of our zombie obsession.

My background is in gay romance and erotica. As a fan of post-apocalyptic and Sci-Fi fiction, I’ve noticed the glaring absence of major gay characters. Usually, they’re resigned to be comic sidekicks, minor characters with occasional one-liners, or characters unable to defend themselves. Two of the four major characters in The Harbinger are gay and are portrayed in a realistic light, as flawed people who are just like anyone else–fighting to survive. Of course, there are some zombie-type creatures, but my “creepers” aren’t like anything I’ve read before. It would be incorrect to categorize this as a “gay” or “zombie” book because there’s much more going on… I wanted to express a different point of view that is lacking in most post-apocalyptic books. Instead of jumping into the middle of the story and telling how the world fell apart in a flashback, lasting for maybe a page and a half, which is fine for some writers and fans, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to examine and watch the world fall apart through the eyes of the characters and attempt to convey the emotions they experience. So The Harbinger begins with these characters living their lives with their own sets of issues and problems. Before they know it, their worlds have been annihilated and they face these extraordinary circumstances.

It starts as a whisper, barely audible.

Rumors. Paranoia. Conspiracy theories. Subterfuge.

Like lightning, the plague moves across the globe, spreading out in all directions. When the naysayers can no longer ignore the wails and moans of the dying, the Harbinger will already have them by their throats.

But the end is only the beginning…

Discovered in the Alaskan permafrost, the ancient virus was reanimated and genetically-altered. The new strain showed great promise in curing many of mankind’s afflictions. When the specimen fell into the hands of the Russian theocracy, their inept scientists attempted to create a biological weapon—a weapon that outsmarted them.

Now, the androvirus is a deadly airborne plague, conquering the world in a matter of days. With a communicability of 100% and a mortality rate of over 90%, there is no immunity. For the survivors, who can suppress the virus, there is only change. A few adapt, but most become walking, talking gray horrors with an appetite for flesh.

Primarily set in the American city of Memphis, four loosely-connected strangers, caught up in their lives, find their worlds annihilated by the swiftly-moving plague.

Alex Connelly is a wealthy, young executive, living an idyllic life with his pregnant wife, Madison. Kirk Foster is a self-absorbed aging gay man, desperate to hang onto his youth and sex appeal. Meredith Brinkley’s on-going war with breast cancer takes a turn for the worse, and she faces an impending double mastectomy. Logan King is a closeted baseball jock, playing for a minor league team while coming to terms with his true identity. And only together will they survive…

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31178729-the-harbinger

In the wee hours of the morning of July 29th, Grigori Yeltsin passed a huge commotion as he walked into Pulkovo-St. Petersburg Airport.

The commotion was none other than a moaning obese man with a beard, Vitaly Milonov, being loaded into an ambulance.

Grigori had barely given the scene a second look, but the pathogen had noticed him, latching onto the tall, dark-haired man in his forties for a lethal piggyback ride.

He was running late, so after going through the security checkpoints, Yeltsin passed the viral taint to all the ticket agents, security, and incoming passengers that Milonov hadn’t infected on his way out.

Rushing through the terminal, the handsome, athletic man passed hundreds of people—some already infected with the virus and the others Grigori infected unwittingly. Those that Yeltsin and Milonov infected with the pathogen became clueless carriers of the swiftly-moving plague.

On the flight from St. Petersburg to Brussels, Yeltsin infected all four hundred and nineteen persons. By the time the plane landed, Yeltsin felt a bit tired, but aside from that, he was fine. Waiting for his connecting flight to New York, Grigori had a breakfast of Chinese food while texting his wife. By the time that he called his mistress, the red-haired Illia, who lived in an apartment that he paid for, the reception on his phone was choppy, but he didn’t dwell on it. After speaking to Illia, Grigori called the thirteen-year-old boy that he was also fucking. The boy, Jaska, a pretty youth with blond hair, who could actually be called the wealthy man’s second mistress, also resided in a luxury apartment that Yeltsin paid for. By the conclusion of his second call, his phone was cutting out to the point of annoyance.

He sat at the gate for his flight to New York City and attempted to check the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on his phone, but oddly, he couldn’t connect to the Internet. Frustrated, he gave up. As Grigori boarded the large jet to New York, he was energized. He was excited about the new construction project that his company was about to undertake. Unlike many business trips, this one was personal. The amphitheater that he was to build had been a long-time dream. The concert hall was to be named after his mother, Oksana. She had died of whooping cough when he was a boy. After spending hundreds of millions of rubles to bribe all the right officials, Yeltsin expected his mother’s name would now live on forever.

The firm that he was partnering with was a company called Hollister Engineering. They had a prestigious reputation and were known for their incredible feats of construction and engineering. The company was even flying up one of their bests from Memphis, Tennessee. The only thing Yeltsin knew about Memphis was that Elvis Presley had lived there. He hoped the young man, who was making the presentation on the following day, Alexander Connelly, would tell him much more about the Land of Elvis—Elvis Presley being Yeltsin’s all-time favorite singer.

Although the virus had shifted, taking longer to show its first symptoms post infection, the airborne plague was no less virulent or deadly. In fact, during his layover, Yeltsin had passed the sickness on to thousands, who boarded flights to Rome, Atlanta, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aries, Madrid, Paris, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Casablanca, Reykjavik, Toronto, Montreal, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Melbourne, and Washington DC.

The wheels of the harbinger were turning…

How long have you been writing? What inspired you to start writing?

I’ve been making up stories for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I would make up these insane little books featuring a few of my friends. Over the years it bloomed. What started my career as an erotica writer was a very toxic relationship that was very sexually frustrating, back in 2010 or so. And Keegan Kennedy was born.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

No. On the otherhand, I often suffer from writer’s exhaustion. Several ideas for different works will be creeping in my head at once, so I have to make myself focus.

What comes first for you, the plot or characters?

Both have came at different times.

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.

I actively challenge stereotypes of women, racial minorities, and gay people. One of the toughest characters turns out to be gay. Also, The Harbinger highlights the incredible diversity of the city of Memphis.

Tell us something about your work in progress. What is it about?

I’m starting a new series about two men, who aren’t completely likable, who are star-crossed lovers. I wanted to challenge the romance novel genre—one that I truly love. At this time, I can’t use the character names or the title of the series as sometimes, the name of the work and the characters have been known to suddenly turn up in a hastily written project. I’ve found as an indie author that the element of surprise is paramount.

https://www.amazon.com/Harbinger-Keegan-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B01IOBILIO

Enter a Rafflecoptor for the chance to win one of two e-copies of The Harbinger.

Originally hailing from Mississippi, Keegan Kennedy is a writer based out of Memphis, TN. He has a knack for uncovering love and romance in the darkest of places. With a tendency toward the melodramatic, he does more than arouse or excite the reader – he engages them.

Author of Homecoming: International Number One in four countries: The United States, The United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. (2013) Other chart number ones: The Substitute Wife, Magnificent Pretense, Captivated, Ganymede 4, West Texas Rivalry, and the Ties that Bind.

Social Media Links:

https://www.facebook.com/keegankennedyauthor

Twitter: @Keegan_Kennedy_