Thank you, and an excerpt from the expansion of CwD!
Hello! Hope everyone is surviving the holiday season. I'm in a bit of a holidaze myself at the moment, compounded with a cold. (Why are the winter holidays scheduled at the same time as cold and flu season? Whoever is in charge of that should be fired.)
ANYWAY. I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to those who have nominated Consorting with Dragons for the 2014 Goodreads M/M Romance Group's Member Choice Awards! It's up for Best Debut, Best Fantasy, and Best Love's Landscapes Story. I am beyond thrilled to be nominated! :D Only the top 20% of the nominees will make it through to the next round, so if you feel like my book is worthy of your vote, you can vote here for Best Debut, here for Best Fantasy, and here for Best Love's Landscapes Story. The polls close on – eep!– December 12th!
Okay, onto the second order of business: I come bearing an excerpt! Here's a short scene from the upcoming expansion of Consorting with Dragons, wherein we get to tag along on one of Jasen and Rilvor's previously glossed over dates. Hope you enjoy!
*~*~*
They rode on in silence for a little while, with Jasen trailing Rilvor by a few paces. Rilvor sat straight in his saddle, his form perfect — the very essence of nobility. Jasen tried to reconcile the king in front of him with the small, wild boy he must have been, the forgotten fourth son of a dynasty that thought it would never need him, keeping company with the wild ascetic draeids of Rakon. Who would he be now if his family had survived? Or even more interesting, what would he be like if he wasn’t royal at all?
Jasen nudged his horse to quicken her pace until they were at pace with Rilvor. “What would you do if you weren’t king?” Jasen asked.
“I suppose I would have become a draeid,” he said. “As a younger son, it would have been my duty.”
“But what if you didn’t have any duties? What if something happened where you didn’t have to be the king anymore? What would you do?”
Rilvor raised an eyebrow. “That is not possible. I am the Lord of the Drae; that isn’t a position that one can abdicate."
“But let’s just say you could,” Jasen said. “Would you?”
“I think it would be difficult for a former king and somehow magically displaced Lord of the Drae to find a living to support his children,” Rilvor said with a quirk of his lips.
“What if you didn’t have them to support?”
“My life would be quite empty without my children.”
Jasen rolled his eyes. “Are you being thick on purpose? I’m trying to ask you what you would do without any responsibility."
“No responsibility,” Rilvor echoed. He thought about it for a moment. “So in your scenario, I cannot have a profession?”
“No.”
“And I cannot have my children?”
Jasen shook his head. “Sorry, but no.”
“Could I have you?”
Jasen’s face turned bright pink. He looked down at his hands as he tried to think of a response. As he was thinking, he passed under a low-hanging branch, which got caught in one of the ribbons on the ridiculous hat Rotheld had insisted he wear. He yelped as he yanked on the reins to bring his horse to a halt.
Rilvor immediately stopped his horse as well. “What is it? What’s happened?” he said.
“It’s this damned hat — it got caught in a branch.” Jasen struggled to untangle himself. “Who would put so many ribbons on a hat?” he fumed. “What possible purpose could they serve?”
“Can’t you just take it off?"
“I can try, but it’s pinned in place,” Jasen said. He reached under his hat and pulled out a few of the pins, then tried to pull it off. It barely budged. Worse than that, he could feel his hair getting tangled around the remaining pins, making him more stuck then ever. Jasen nearly screamed in frustration. “I think Rotheld must have used some sort of dark sorcery to stick this damned thing on!”
Rilvor dismounted and approached Jasen’s horse. He waved his hand; Jasen felt the hat break free of the branch.
“Thank you,” Jasen mumbled, still feeling ridiculous. He attempted again to extract the hat from his head to no avail.
“Come down here and let me help,” Rilvor said.
Jasen dismounted and stood beside Rilvor. Rilvor didn’t use any magic this time as he carefully removed the pins from the hat and Jasen’s hair. They were so close that Jasen could feel the heat of Rilvor’s body.
Jasen tried to stand still, but the intimacy of the situation and his own lingering embarrassment made it difficult. “I told Rotheld that it was a ridiculous hat to wear for a ride,” Jasen said as he pulled at his gloves. “He can be so stubborn though; it’s like he can’t stand for me to be completely comfortable. I escaped the corset this time, so naturally I had to suffer in some other — ”
He broke off as Rilvor pulled the hat free. His hair fell around his shoulders. “You can tell Rotheld that I prefer you unadorned,” Rilvor said, his voice now deep and soft. “If I had my way, I would have you always be as I saw you the first time in the draemir, in the simplest garments, free of all this senseless ornament and formality.”
Jasen could feel his face turn even redder. It seemed like he hadn’t stopped blushing since they began their ride, which was absolutely ridiculous. Jasen wasn’t exactly inexperienced. So why was it so different with Rilvor? Why did he feel like a blushing virgin every time he looked at him?
Rilvor brushed his fingers through Jasen’s hair. “You ask me what I would do if I were free. I would take you to Rakon with me, back to the wilderness where I spent my childhood. I would show you the woods that sheltered me when I needed escape from from the dead and dreary castle that was supposed to be my home. I would introduce you to my true family — to the animals and the birds, to the blooming wildflowers and cold, sweet brooks, and of course, the dragons. I would show you the meadows I ran through, the trees I slept under. And then we would make our home there, apart from the pressures of the world, where our only responsibilities would be to each other."
Rilvor leaned in so close that Jasen could feel his breath on his face; it smelled sweet, like honey. Jasen’s heart sped up. He felt both thrilled and terrified, because he realized at last what was different. Rilvor didn’t want a quick roll in the hay — he wanted him, all of him. And he wanted him for the rest of his life. But why? What made him so special?
Rilvor ran his hand over Jasen’s hair again, his fingers combing a tangle. “You are so lovely,” he murmured.
And just like that, the spell was broken. Lovely. Of course. That was it.
Jasen turned his head away and took a small step backward. Rilvor removed his hand from Jasen’s hair and frowned. “I’ve upset you somehow,” he said.
“No, not at all,” Jasen mumbled unconvincingly.
“Was it because I said you were lovely?” Rilvor asked. “Do you not believe that I speak truly?”
“Oh, no,” Jasen said. “No, I know that I’m attractive. Extremely attractive. You might even say that it’s my only redeeming quality.” He turned back to his horse. “We should probably get going.”
*~*~*
Oh, Jasen. You are such a moron.
All right, that's it for now! I hope that everyone has a good year's end, and I'm looking forward to putting out some great new stuff in 2015!
ANYWAY. I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to those who have nominated Consorting with Dragons for the 2014 Goodreads M/M Romance Group's Member Choice Awards! It's up for Best Debut, Best Fantasy, and Best Love's Landscapes Story. I am beyond thrilled to be nominated! :D Only the top 20% of the nominees will make it through to the next round, so if you feel like my book is worthy of your vote, you can vote here for Best Debut, here for Best Fantasy, and here for Best Love's Landscapes Story. The polls close on – eep!– December 12th!
Okay, onto the second order of business: I come bearing an excerpt! Here's a short scene from the upcoming expansion of Consorting with Dragons, wherein we get to tag along on one of Jasen and Rilvor's previously glossed over dates. Hope you enjoy!
*~*~*
They rode on in silence for a little while, with Jasen trailing Rilvor by a few paces. Rilvor sat straight in his saddle, his form perfect — the very essence of nobility. Jasen tried to reconcile the king in front of him with the small, wild boy he must have been, the forgotten fourth son of a dynasty that thought it would never need him, keeping company with the wild ascetic draeids of Rakon. Who would he be now if his family had survived? Or even more interesting, what would he be like if he wasn’t royal at all?
Jasen nudged his horse to quicken her pace until they were at pace with Rilvor. “What would you do if you weren’t king?” Jasen asked.
“I suppose I would have become a draeid,” he said. “As a younger son, it would have been my duty.”
“But what if you didn’t have any duties? What if something happened where you didn’t have to be the king anymore? What would you do?”
Rilvor raised an eyebrow. “That is not possible. I am the Lord of the Drae; that isn’t a position that one can abdicate."
“But let’s just say you could,” Jasen said. “Would you?”
“I think it would be difficult for a former king and somehow magically displaced Lord of the Drae to find a living to support his children,” Rilvor said with a quirk of his lips.
“What if you didn’t have them to support?”
“My life would be quite empty without my children.”
Jasen rolled his eyes. “Are you being thick on purpose? I’m trying to ask you what you would do without any responsibility."
“No responsibility,” Rilvor echoed. He thought about it for a moment. “So in your scenario, I cannot have a profession?”
“No.”
“And I cannot have my children?”
Jasen shook his head. “Sorry, but no.”
“Could I have you?”
Jasen’s face turned bright pink. He looked down at his hands as he tried to think of a response. As he was thinking, he passed under a low-hanging branch, which got caught in one of the ribbons on the ridiculous hat Rotheld had insisted he wear. He yelped as he yanked on the reins to bring his horse to a halt.
Rilvor immediately stopped his horse as well. “What is it? What’s happened?” he said.
“It’s this damned hat — it got caught in a branch.” Jasen struggled to untangle himself. “Who would put so many ribbons on a hat?” he fumed. “What possible purpose could they serve?”
“Can’t you just take it off?"
“I can try, but it’s pinned in place,” Jasen said. He reached under his hat and pulled out a few of the pins, then tried to pull it off. It barely budged. Worse than that, he could feel his hair getting tangled around the remaining pins, making him more stuck then ever. Jasen nearly screamed in frustration. “I think Rotheld must have used some sort of dark sorcery to stick this damned thing on!”
Rilvor dismounted and approached Jasen’s horse. He waved his hand; Jasen felt the hat break free of the branch.
“Thank you,” Jasen mumbled, still feeling ridiculous. He attempted again to extract the hat from his head to no avail.
“Come down here and let me help,” Rilvor said.
Jasen dismounted and stood beside Rilvor. Rilvor didn’t use any magic this time as he carefully removed the pins from the hat and Jasen’s hair. They were so close that Jasen could feel the heat of Rilvor’s body.
Jasen tried to stand still, but the intimacy of the situation and his own lingering embarrassment made it difficult. “I told Rotheld that it was a ridiculous hat to wear for a ride,” Jasen said as he pulled at his gloves. “He can be so stubborn though; it’s like he can’t stand for me to be completely comfortable. I escaped the corset this time, so naturally I had to suffer in some other — ”
He broke off as Rilvor pulled the hat free. His hair fell around his shoulders. “You can tell Rotheld that I prefer you unadorned,” Rilvor said, his voice now deep and soft. “If I had my way, I would have you always be as I saw you the first time in the draemir, in the simplest garments, free of all this senseless ornament and formality.”
Jasen could feel his face turn even redder. It seemed like he hadn’t stopped blushing since they began their ride, which was absolutely ridiculous. Jasen wasn’t exactly inexperienced. So why was it so different with Rilvor? Why did he feel like a blushing virgin every time he looked at him?
Rilvor brushed his fingers through Jasen’s hair. “You ask me what I would do if I were free. I would take you to Rakon with me, back to the wilderness where I spent my childhood. I would show you the woods that sheltered me when I needed escape from from the dead and dreary castle that was supposed to be my home. I would introduce you to my true family — to the animals and the birds, to the blooming wildflowers and cold, sweet brooks, and of course, the dragons. I would show you the meadows I ran through, the trees I slept under. And then we would make our home there, apart from the pressures of the world, where our only responsibilities would be to each other."
Rilvor leaned in so close that Jasen could feel his breath on his face; it smelled sweet, like honey. Jasen’s heart sped up. He felt both thrilled and terrified, because he realized at last what was different. Rilvor didn’t want a quick roll in the hay — he wanted him, all of him. And he wanted him for the rest of his life. But why? What made him so special?
Rilvor ran his hand over Jasen’s hair again, his fingers combing a tangle. “You are so lovely,” he murmured.
And just like that, the spell was broken. Lovely. Of course. That was it.
Jasen turned his head away and took a small step backward. Rilvor removed his hand from Jasen’s hair and frowned. “I’ve upset you somehow,” he said.
“No, not at all,” Jasen mumbled unconvincingly.
“Was it because I said you were lovely?” Rilvor asked. “Do you not believe that I speak truly?”
“Oh, no,” Jasen said. “No, I know that I’m attractive. Extremely attractive. You might even say that it’s my only redeeming quality.” He turned back to his horse. “We should probably get going.”
*~*~*
Oh, Jasen. You are such a moron.
All right, that's it for now! I hope that everyone has a good year's end, and I'm looking forward to putting out some great new stuff in 2015!
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message 1:
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Argona
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Dec 11, 2014 02:14AM
Thank you for sharing this extra scene. I look forward to your future works.
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Argona wrote: "Thank you for sharing this extra scene. I look forward to your future works."I'm so glad you liked it! I'm looking forward to putting the whole thing out, plus the sequel. This has been a really fun world to write in.
