Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 33
March 30, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday
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So, because An Unexpected Gift comes out this weekend. I’m going to hop over to that for this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday and Rainbow Snippets before going back to my WiP.
This piece actually carries on from the last time I shared a snippet: Tracker has tied a not-the-least-bit-bothered Dylan to the bed and teasing him with decisions of what he might do, the last of which he said was “But which to choose?” (Punctuation a little wonky to fit)
[Tracker] slowly glided his fingers down, letting the tips vanish beneath the dark curls of hair, seeking out that little spot which drove his husband mad. A thing they’d both discovered quite by chance.
Dylan wrapped the veil around his fingers, shortening the length of Tracker’s binding further. He bit his lip, his jaw trembling with the effort to remain closed. Still, he made no attempt to move despite being bound only at the wrists. Nor did he utter the command to stop.
Tracker lowered his head, pressing his lips against the man’s throat. “Remember to breathe, darling,” he whispered, “I would not wish for you to pass out before I begin.”
A delightfully shuddering gasp escaped Dylan’s mouth. “Begin?” he echoed, the word raw and high-pitched, “If you don’t do something soon, you won’t be doing anything, let alone me.”
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts.
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March 23, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday
[image error]Well, I managed to finish chapter two sometime last weekend, largely due to breaking it at a logical point and moving the rest into a new chapter (oh, that sounds so terrifyingly familiar, please don’t do an IPaB on me). So I’m now halfway through chapter three during this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday and Rainbow Snippets.
This week’s snippet carries on from the previous week’s from chapter two of To Target the Heart, with Darshan bemoaning that his mission in Tirglas is not to “sleep with the locals”.
Not that such a minor detail had stopped him before. If this was anyplace other than Tirglas, he likely would’ve already propositioned the man. Perhaps even had a chance to feel what was under all that clothing.
“And here we are.”
The man’s declaration had Darshan jolting out of his little fantasies to scrutinise the surrounding corridor. Nothing about the bare slabs of stone suggested there was any difference to the rest of the castle they’d passed through. However did the people get around without becoming altogether lost?
Hamish faced him as he opened the door to what Darshan could only assume to be the guest accommodations. “I doubt it’s quite what you’re used to, your imperial highness, but it’ll be better than a ship’s cabin.”
Offering up a small smile, Darshan casually leant on the doorframe in a vain attempt at pretending his legs hadn’t just weakened at the mere sound of the man’s smooth brogue.
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts.
If anyone’s wondering how I envision Darshan…
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March 19, 2018
The Book Awards
[image error]In Pain and Blood has been entered into another competition. This time, I threw it into the ring of The Book Awards.
Voting is very simple, go here and select the book(s) you want to vote for from the poll.
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March 17, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday
[image error]I would’ve liked to have been able to say that I managed to finish chapter two by the time this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday and Rainbow Snippets sharing came around. But I’ve a little distraction…
This week’s snippet carries on from the previous week’s from chapter two of To Target the Heart, with Darshan still drooling over the oblivious Hamish.
Even the man’s hair didn’t shirk at being big and bold. The whole glorious fiery-red mass of coils had been gathered at the back of the man’s head and, rather than hang down, it stuck out like a bushy flag caught in a zephyr. Darshan could quite clearly picture sinking his fingers into those curls whilst—
No. He subtly unbuttoned the collar of his sherwani and indulgently let his gaze slink down the man’s back, settling on Hamish’s behind. Behave, he cautioned himself before his thoughts could meander into predictable places. The gods might’ve had a sense of humour, sending him to the pit of the world then populating it with men like this, but he wasn’t some savage with no self-control. You’re here for a reason. He bit his lip and stifled a sigh. Sadly, that reason wasn’t to sleep with the locals.
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts.
We’ve a new kitty. That’s my little distraction (she keeps climbing me and walking on my keys). She’s a rescue kitty like our others. I wasn’t looking to bring a kitten home at the time, but she was all over me, climbing into my arms, snuggling against me and grooming my wrist, so home she came…
[image error]Katzchen
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March 10, 2018
Snippet Sunday – #8sunday
[image error]It’s been a while since I joined in on the weekly Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday and Rainbow Snippets sharing. Things have bounced about a bit here, but they’re settling down now, which means more time for me to write.
This snippet comes from To Target the Heart, the second main novel of the spellster series that I’m currently writing, which is about two princes falling in love, only for the queen to announce a competition to become her son’s wife.
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From chapter two…
Darshan, Imperial Prince and ambassador of Udynea, is escorted to the guest quarters of Mullhind Castle by Hamish, the third child of Queen Fiona of Tirglas…
Darshan remained silent as he followed Hamish into the castle. Although he’d learnt the local language during the trip from his home on the other side of the continent to the Tirglasian capital of Mullhind, he wasn’t entirely confident in himself to utter much coherently at the moment.
His father had seen to it that he was briefed during the trip, but it had been in simple things, common customs alongside their current political and economic standings and the like. They’d even touched on a few cultural differences to help him avoid any major gaffs.
No one seemed to have had the wherewithal to prepare him for the introduction of the hulking man currently leading him through the castle corridors.
Confident his actions would be less obvious than his previous appraisal of the courtyard, he took another sweeping glance at Hamish. Tall, at least a good few inches more than himself if not the full foot. Quite a bit of flesh on that frame, too. Muscle rather than fat, if those broad, brown shoulders and thick arms were any judge as to the state of the rest.
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts.
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March 4, 2018
A Land of Giants
I’m hip deep in chapter two of To Target the Heart. By that, I mean Darshan’s pov is currently him drooling over Hamish. But I’ve just realised I’ve sent the modestly-tall 5’6 Darshan into a land where “average” would be over six foot.
It’s a little wavy at how I came to that… the sort version is Hamish’s build is a combination of a champion caber tosser and a NFL player. I kept his height the same as the two guy’s, which is 6’5, because I wanted to know what a particular weight would look like on such a frame. Because his dad’s taller, I made Duncan seven foot and his mum, Fiona, is just a little below six foot. His siblings are also of comparable height, which means their kids aren’t short either…
It must’ve been quite the sight for Darshan coming off the ship only to be surrounded by a bunch of tall, muscular, hairy men. Maybe one day I might do a short with his reaction (as Hamish obviously wasn’t there).
March 2, 2018
First chapter down!
I expected it to happen about a week earlier, and probably would’ve been if my birthday hadn’t seen me with pharyngitis. Being sick on my birthday is seriously getting old, I mean last year I was struck with the flu for two weeks. What’s going to happen on my 34th? Plague?
Anyway, I’m starting to feel better now. Throat’s still crazy, though. I’ve currently a thistle in there whenever I use it, as opposed to half a gorse bush. Learnt that my daughter will respond to a click of the fingers in lieu of her name. And generally faster. Not sure what to do with that information…
I digress!
I’d thought the chapters of To Target the Heart might sit around the same size as In Pain and Blood’s (4300) and I wasn’t too far off that estimate (4600). Hopefully, it won’t spawn quite as many chapters, though. We’re at 45 already and this story goes over a longer period than In Pain and Blood’s three months.
But it’s so much fun being in Hamish’s pov, he’s comfortable in his current setting, walking the same path he’s trod year in, year out. He’s met Darshan, but I’ve not yet shaken his world.
Weaving Hamish’s family into the narrative has been interesting, there’s only nine on his side, but they’re a little closer than Darshan is with his dozen sisters. Gordon, for instance, is turning into something of a wingman. I’ve only introduced a few in the first chapter, but the niece and nephews are lined up to pop in at chapter three.
Although, I’ve Darshan’s pov in chapter two and it’s even more fun given that he’s a complete fish out of water here, shoved into a position he’s unprepared for, barely knows the language, has only been briefed on the culture, surrounded by big hairy men who are definitely the time he falls over himself for and also totally off-limits because everyone knows there are no gays in Tirglas…
*snicker* So glad this isn’t a vlog, I couldn’t even keep a straight face typing that.
Having cultural differences wasn’t something I played with all that much during In Pain and Blood. Tracker and Dylan are from the same kingdom, after all. But with Hamish from Tirglas and Darshan from the Udynea Empire… things are going to get muddled between them. Fortunately for me, they’re a mature pair of men who do tend to clarify what the other means rather than go off half-cocked.
2018 Reader’s Choice Award
This year, I am determined to enter In Pain and Blood in as many competitions as I can manage. In that vein, I threw it into the ring of TCK Publishing’s Reader’s Choice Awards.
Voting is simple, go here and click on the arrows until you reach a category you’d like to vote in. Sadly, there’s only one per book, so In Pain and Blood is in the romance category.
February 16, 2018
Feck it…
Between the death of my partner’s grandmother, the euthanizing of our cancer-ridden cat and trying to actually get through the novels that I promised to review, I’m having a hard time focusing on Dark One’s Bride. I’ve been at the stage of almost finishing chapter ten for around a month now. About the only thing going smoothly around here are the Facebook ads.
On the other hand, To Target the Heart keeps calling, letting me make some headway into writing… well, something. And Extinguishing the Sun likes to poke its nose into things, giving me about 5k of that storyline in a very short timespan.
February 8, 2018
An Unexpected Gift – Pre-order Available
Yup, yup! An Expected Gift, the 21k erotic novella sequel to In Pain and Blood featuring Tracker’s point of view in all its muddle glory, is available for pre-order!
Its release will be the 31st of March, but you can order it on Amazon before then for 99c.
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