Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 12

Rainbow Snippets: Sooner or later…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

Informing Dylan that she had requested Tracker end the man because they couldn’t leash him would definitely need to happen. Not yet. In truth, Tracker had hoped to wait until Whitemeadow, where they could also take a boat to distance themselves from Authril’s toxic influence and, maybe, even convince the man that leaving Demarn entirely was the right thing. But Marin was right. Sooner would ensure whatever sway the warrior had over Dylan was shattered.

Keeping an eye on her was all he could do for now. Fortunately, Katarina had at least removed the woman from Dylan’s side when it came to their sleeping arrangements. Tracker would’ve felt better if he had managed to convince the spellster to share his tent for the journey, but the suggestion had been met with such alarm from Dylan that he hadn’t pushed the issue any further.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Sir Julius Vogel Award Nominations

I’m always remembering the SJV nominations is a thing well after they’ve closed. And with everything that’s been going on over here, I recall with only a few days to spare!

So here I am, asking for you to please nominate either In Pain and Blood or Tracking Trouble for the Novel category. It’s just a quick fill-out of this form.

Rainbow Snippets: Travelling with a hostile…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

He took a steadying breath. Half of their concerns he had no control over. If his fellow hounds discovered them, then he would deal with it. Likewise, if they stumbled upon any flagging Talfaltaners, their only option would be to kill them. And whilst he could lament the absence of his horse for days, it wouldn’t summon Lullaby all the way from Toptower.

They might’ve been able to keep the journey to Whitemeadow to a dozen days, providing the roads remained clear and everyone didn’t dawdle, but that also wasn’t feasible. As it was, the scent of approaching rain hung thickly in the air. Bad weather alone would slow them.

As for the hostile force they travelled with…

His thoughts swung to Authril. She had conversed with the others as though her suggestion to put Dylan down like a rabid beast was in the distant past rather than a mere day ago. Even Marin’s cool responses didn’t seem to faze her.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

And the World Crumbled is live!

It had been a hectic time at home, so much so that I almost forgot I’ve a release. But here it finally is… the story that’s been quietly brewing since 2017, and my foray into a more horror-themed novella. The tale of the spellster tower’s fall.

Buy Now!

Rainbow Snippets: Far from typical…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

The story of In Love and Death consists of rewriting the latter half of In Pain and Blood‘s old version, but also not.
With this story being set directly after the events of In Pain and Blood, some snippets will contain spoilers.

Following last week’s snippet…

Lullaby. A twinge of guilt tightened his chest, as it had done from the moment he had left the injured warhorse behind.

He had travelled far from Toptower since discovering Dylan in that border town. Every day thereafter had had taken him further still from any chance of reuniting with his horse. They hadn’t been separated this long before. Lullaby had to think himself abandoned by now. I will find a way. He just had to reach Whitemeadow first, to find a way to swallow the days stretching between him and that goal.

If we had a way to shorten the journey. That wasn’t possible. The standard trip on horseback would see them taking a week to reach the city, but their circumstance was far from typical in any sense of the word. He was on foot with a distressed spellster in tow, a belligerent mercenary in the group as well as potentially greater hostiles waiting ahead, and the possibility of other hounds being lured by the amount of magic used to set the spellster tower alight.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Letting sleeping spellsters lie…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

As I continue with In Love and Death, the story that consists of rewriting the latter half of In Pain and Blood‘s old version, I’m struck with how the outline for this story has grown vastly different to how it was. But nothing can top how the greatest change is that there’ll be an extra book to follow before the original tale is done.
With this story being set directly after the events of In Pain and Blood, some snippets will contain spoilers.

Following last week’s snippet…

Content that the area was safe for the moment, Tracker headed back to the middle of camp. He would check the perimeter again closer to the end of his time on watch, but it he doubted the act would be more than one of formality before he handed the task over to the next in the roster.

He frowned out into the heavy darkness lurking beneath the trees. Perhaps he should let the spellster sleep on. Being able to fully relax during the time others guarded their camp was more of a luxury for himself, whereas Dylan had spent a great deal of energy the morning gone not only in setting the spellster tower ablaze, but also in healing a stab wound that should’ve killed him.

The man rarely roused unless someone actually woke him. Far different to Tracker’s own lightly sleeping state, brought on by years of travelling with only his horse for company.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Quiet beginnings…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

With And the World Crumbled releasing March 23rd, I’ve moved on to the next book in the Spellster and the Hound series, In Love and Death.
Set directly after the events of In Pain and Blood some snippets will contain spoilers. And, if you’ve ever read the old version of IPaB, you may find a few things are similar, but a lot has changed.

Starting at the very beginning with Tracker’s pov on the night after leaving the spellster tower…

The campsite was quiet, save for the odd rustle beneath the bushes and the faint coo of a distant owl. It wasn’t enough to ease Tracker’s mind. The enemy was out there, somewhere. Ahead of them, certainly, but they’d no reliable way of knowing precisely how far.

It was for that very reason their group had abandoned the road. They hadn’t gone too deep into the wilderness, but Talfaltaners were seafaring folk, any foray they made into the forest would be noisy. Vastly more so than having them creeping up on their group camping on the roadside.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: No place to hide

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

This is the final piece I’ll be sharing of And the World Crumbled. It’ll release March 23rd.
With it being set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and following Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him, it’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and depictions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

Forcing his legs to move, he hobbled over to the closest door. The handle refused all attempts to turn. He could’ve broken through with a well placed blast of air, but the echo of such destruction would only alert the hound chasing him. He moved on to the next door. This one opened out into the lower seating for the tower’s main training arena. The vast space beyond was definitely not a place to hide.

The third and fourth doors were no more willing to open than the first. The fifth had a hopeful amount of play in the latch, but it still refused to budge. Perhaps the sixth door would—

“I know you are close,” his pursuer said in a sing-song tone that squeezed Henrie’s throat.

I’ll see you all with snippets of In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Nothing but closed doors

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is currently available for pre-order, so I’m going to share a little more by delving into chapter two.
With it being set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and following Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him, it’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and depictions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

Gasping frantically for air, he pushed off from the bare stone. His chest ached from the impact and his chin stung, but he mercifully hadn’t hit hard enough to break his nose. His legs trembled as he went to take another step, unable to resume the momentum he had lost.

He took in his surroundings, making the most of his reluctantly self-enforced rest. Like in much of the tower, a few closed doors lined the halls. He hadn’t dared slow to check what sat on the other side of them earlier, but now he’d no other option.

I’ll see you all with more of And the World Crumbled next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Tripping over the dead

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is currently available for pre-order, so I’m going to share a little more by delving into chapter two.
With it being set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and following Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him, it’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and depictions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

He dared to push for more speed from his legs, getting only a slight wobble in his gait in return. He couldn’t run forever. He needed to find a place to hide. Where? Anywhere. Nowhere. The hound knew he was here, had done the impossible in seeing him when he’d been invisible. How? No one, not even his closest friends could find him when he didn’t want to be.

He darted around a cluster of bodies. His ankle caught on an outraised arm. The soft soles of his shoes slipped on something, sending him skidding around the corner and into the wall before his shield could cushion the collision. His breath rushed out his lungs.

I’ll see you all with more of And the World Crumbled next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!