Ais
I tend to flit around on stories so there are several stories I'm working on at the moment. Almost all of the stories below will or do include LGBT themes. I've included excerpts of each so a person can get a feel for the story. It makes this post much longer but is also probably more useful.
In no particular order:
*****
DEAD RAIN: This has been my NaNo project 2012 and 2013, and I hope to finish it NaNo 2014. Summary: Magic can change a person, twisting them into something they weren't before. Some kill for this, some try to slow it down, but there is no cure. Not one that's known, anyway.
Excerpt:
"Luck is a curse and a pleasure."
Era could hear the blitheness in Shine's voice, and sighed as she straightened. "We're going to have to look into this eventually."
"Oh, come on. It'll wear off. It always does."
"Not all enhancements are the same. Come here."
Shine scrunched her face but complied. She stopped by the chair, holding out her hand so Era could move it this way and that. On the back of Shine's wrist, a design glowed red. It moved up her forearm, around her wrist, and down her hand with strong, straight lines that were beginning to strike out like tree branches or capillaries.
Era pressed down on the main line at the point of infection; a circular scar as small and unassuming as a freckle. Her gloved thumb continued to glow even after she pulled her hand away; a pale crimson that pulsed for a full second before it faded into nonexistence. All that was left was a brush of ash.
Era frowned.
Shine's carefree smile had fallen away sometime during the inspection. "It'll be fine. I've dealt with worse."
"It's growing."
Shine disentangled her arm from Era's hold and pulled her sleeve over it once again. "Like I said: I've dealt with worse."
****
JULIAN FILES: a story set in In the Company of Shadows' past; Julian Jones, a private investigator, is pulled into a world he knew nothing about when his friend Cedrick Beaulieu starts acting strange.
Excerpt:
Cedrick chuckled and leaned forward, gently smoothing Boyd's hair back down. He rested his fingers on Boyd's chin and turned his face toward him. Boyd let his head move but his eyes remained on Julian until the last second when they flicked over to his dad.
Like Julian always said. Fucking creepy.
"Why don't you go play with the others, Boyd? We came here so you could have some fun."
Boyd's pouty little lips turned down even further. Jesus. He had the same disapproving stare as his mother. If he didn't turn out to be a serial killer, he'd become something equally terrifying. Julian was sure of it.
"They won't approve of me."
Seriously, what five-year-old talked like that?
"Yes, they will." The fatherly smile of Cedrick's was all manner of affection with a little bit of mischief tossed in for spice. "And if they don't, forget them. They aren't good enough for you. You can have fun on your own."
Boyd looked over his shoulder at the playset, looked back at his dad, and hesitated. There was something vulnerable in the slight quaking of his shoulders; the way his eyebrows drew in and his feet seemed poised between flight and folding. Those little fingers of his twitched at his sides.
"I don't want you to leave me. What if I go and when I come back you're gone?"
It was said in such a small voice, made all the smaller for coming from a young kid like that. A pang pulled at Julian and he had to look away.
*****
DOMINO: Vivienne Beaulieu's story from In the Company of Shadows; showing glimpses of her childhood through 1/27: the anthology. Answering the question: how did she become the way she is? Very little of this is written so far, so I have only a small piece to show. (Mireille is her grandmother; the woman who raised her)
Excerpt:
"Because if you do not fool people ahead of time, they will see what you truly are. Unlovable."
Vivienne wheeled back, breaking Mireille's hold on her. "What?"
Mireille stared at her flatly. "Come now. You know this is why all this has happened. Your parents saw it in you and they left."
"But--they were killed."
"Yes," Mireille ground out, her expression hardening. "At the fault of your worthless mother. Do you want to become like her? Destroying everyone around you for your selfish needs?"
"But that doesn't make me unlovable."
Pity deepened the lines of Mireille's face. She approached, and placed her hand briefly on Vivienne's head. "Oh, child. Yes. You are. No one could ever love you. There is an emptiness inside you that everyone feels. They all say it to me after you have left the room. 'What is wrong with that child?' they ask me. I have no answer, because it is simply *you* that is wrong."
*****
DELIVERANCE: m/m story; Luke, a US agent, is on assignment in Fiji to stop a terrorist attack before it begins. But the ghosts of his past are resurfacing at the same time he learns that he has a lot less time to find the terrorists than he thought.
Excerpt:
"Stop being so goddamned hooked on the alias! You just don't want to believe it's him so you're coming up with excuses ahead of time."
"And you *do* want to believe it's him," Reese snapped back. "If you'd get his dick out of your head for one minute you could think clearly about all this."
"Ha," Luke said harshly. "If you'd get *mine* out of your head you wouldn't be so fucking biased."
The ringing silence that met that statement caused even Luke to stop and realize what he'd just said. Before he could say anything else, the phone abruptly went dead. Luke looked down at the blank screen and swore aloud.
So much for never bringing that up.
*****
FANTASY SERIES: I've been working on this since I was 13. I have a complex magic system and fairly fleshed out world/history ready. This is a top priority for me to finish sometime in my life, hopefully soon. Includes f/f and possibly m/m.
Excerpt:
Ignition.
It was the point where it all started. The moment when the town went from full of life to destroyed in nearly an instant.
Vikenti peered at the charred circle burned into the ground, then shifted and looked around himself. There were patterns of shock waves carved into the dirt-- hard to see, but visible when a person knew what to look for. This explosion had triggered another, and another. Magic spells had cascaded off each other, one after another, until all organic material had been leveled on the spot. Except the trees, which still creaked quietly in the breeze, shifting leaf-laden branches to siphon out the sun. Lacy shadows moved across the dirt, highlighting points of other explosions as if by aid of the earth spirits.
"What do you see?" Keiran asked.
Vikenti peered up at red hair backlit by the sun, and narrowed green eyes aimed down at him. He didn’t answer, so she pointed.
"The ground. What do you see?"
"A spell gone horribly wrong."
Keiran rolled her eyes. "Real helpful."
*****
LGBT POLICE PROCEDURAL: Unnamed, will have f/f and m/m.
Excerpt:
Raindrops blurred the glass. Lights rolled in a circuit; whiteblue, whiteblue, whiteblue, and red on the other side. The vehicle rocked as someone got into the driver's seat in front. Light flashed in the car briefly, but she hardly saw it.
Her eyes were drawn again to the raindrops, distorting the rush of people outside, and the faded white of the news vans.
The view out the back window. Where the criminals sat.
In no particular order:
*****
DEAD RAIN: This has been my NaNo project 2012 and 2013, and I hope to finish it NaNo 2014. Summary: Magic can change a person, twisting them into something they weren't before. Some kill for this, some try to slow it down, but there is no cure. Not one that's known, anyway.
Excerpt:
"Luck is a curse and a pleasure."
Era could hear the blitheness in Shine's voice, and sighed as she straightened. "We're going to have to look into this eventually."
"Oh, come on. It'll wear off. It always does."
"Not all enhancements are the same. Come here."
Shine scrunched her face but complied. She stopped by the chair, holding out her hand so Era could move it this way and that. On the back of Shine's wrist, a design glowed red. It moved up her forearm, around her wrist, and down her hand with strong, straight lines that were beginning to strike out like tree branches or capillaries.
Era pressed down on the main line at the point of infection; a circular scar as small and unassuming as a freckle. Her gloved thumb continued to glow even after she pulled her hand away; a pale crimson that pulsed for a full second before it faded into nonexistence. All that was left was a brush of ash.
Era frowned.
Shine's carefree smile had fallen away sometime during the inspection. "It'll be fine. I've dealt with worse."
"It's growing."
Shine disentangled her arm from Era's hold and pulled her sleeve over it once again. "Like I said: I've dealt with worse."
****
JULIAN FILES: a story set in In the Company of Shadows' past; Julian Jones, a private investigator, is pulled into a world he knew nothing about when his friend Cedrick Beaulieu starts acting strange.
Excerpt:
Cedrick chuckled and leaned forward, gently smoothing Boyd's hair back down. He rested his fingers on Boyd's chin and turned his face toward him. Boyd let his head move but his eyes remained on Julian until the last second when they flicked over to his dad.
Like Julian always said. Fucking creepy.
"Why don't you go play with the others, Boyd? We came here so you could have some fun."
Boyd's pouty little lips turned down even further. Jesus. He had the same disapproving stare as his mother. If he didn't turn out to be a serial killer, he'd become something equally terrifying. Julian was sure of it.
"They won't approve of me."
Seriously, what five-year-old talked like that?
"Yes, they will." The fatherly smile of Cedrick's was all manner of affection with a little bit of mischief tossed in for spice. "And if they don't, forget them. They aren't good enough for you. You can have fun on your own."
Boyd looked over his shoulder at the playset, looked back at his dad, and hesitated. There was something vulnerable in the slight quaking of his shoulders; the way his eyebrows drew in and his feet seemed poised between flight and folding. Those little fingers of his twitched at his sides.
"I don't want you to leave me. What if I go and when I come back you're gone?"
It was said in such a small voice, made all the smaller for coming from a young kid like that. A pang pulled at Julian and he had to look away.
*****
DOMINO: Vivienne Beaulieu's story from In the Company of Shadows; showing glimpses of her childhood through 1/27: the anthology. Answering the question: how did she become the way she is? Very little of this is written so far, so I have only a small piece to show. (Mireille is her grandmother; the woman who raised her)
Excerpt:
"Because if you do not fool people ahead of time, they will see what you truly are. Unlovable."
Vivienne wheeled back, breaking Mireille's hold on her. "What?"
Mireille stared at her flatly. "Come now. You know this is why all this has happened. Your parents saw it in you and they left."
"But--they were killed."
"Yes," Mireille ground out, her expression hardening. "At the fault of your worthless mother. Do you want to become like her? Destroying everyone around you for your selfish needs?"
"But that doesn't make me unlovable."
Pity deepened the lines of Mireille's face. She approached, and placed her hand briefly on Vivienne's head. "Oh, child. Yes. You are. No one could ever love you. There is an emptiness inside you that everyone feels. They all say it to me after you have left the room. 'What is wrong with that child?' they ask me. I have no answer, because it is simply *you* that is wrong."
*****
DELIVERANCE: m/m story; Luke, a US agent, is on assignment in Fiji to stop a terrorist attack before it begins. But the ghosts of his past are resurfacing at the same time he learns that he has a lot less time to find the terrorists than he thought.
Excerpt:
"Stop being so goddamned hooked on the alias! You just don't want to believe it's him so you're coming up with excuses ahead of time."
"And you *do* want to believe it's him," Reese snapped back. "If you'd get his dick out of your head for one minute you could think clearly about all this."
"Ha," Luke said harshly. "If you'd get *mine* out of your head you wouldn't be so fucking biased."
The ringing silence that met that statement caused even Luke to stop and realize what he'd just said. Before he could say anything else, the phone abruptly went dead. Luke looked down at the blank screen and swore aloud.
So much for never bringing that up.
*****
FANTASY SERIES: I've been working on this since I was 13. I have a complex magic system and fairly fleshed out world/history ready. This is a top priority for me to finish sometime in my life, hopefully soon. Includes f/f and possibly m/m.
Excerpt:
Ignition.
It was the point where it all started. The moment when the town went from full of life to destroyed in nearly an instant.
Vikenti peered at the charred circle burned into the ground, then shifted and looked around himself. There were patterns of shock waves carved into the dirt-- hard to see, but visible when a person knew what to look for. This explosion had triggered another, and another. Magic spells had cascaded off each other, one after another, until all organic material had been leveled on the spot. Except the trees, which still creaked quietly in the breeze, shifting leaf-laden branches to siphon out the sun. Lacy shadows moved across the dirt, highlighting points of other explosions as if by aid of the earth spirits.
"What do you see?" Keiran asked.
Vikenti peered up at red hair backlit by the sun, and narrowed green eyes aimed down at him. He didn’t answer, so she pointed.
"The ground. What do you see?"
"A spell gone horribly wrong."
Keiran rolled her eyes. "Real helpful."
*****
LGBT POLICE PROCEDURAL: Unnamed, will have f/f and m/m.
Excerpt:
Raindrops blurred the glass. Lights rolled in a circuit; whiteblue, whiteblue, whiteblue, and red on the other side. The vehicle rocked as someone got into the driver's seat in front. Light flashed in the car briefly, but she hardly saw it.
Her eyes were drawn again to the raindrops, distorting the rush of people outside, and the faded white of the news vans.
The view out the back window. Where the criminals sat.
More Answered Questions
Debi
asked
Ais:
Hello Ais. I am a huge fan of all things ICoS and I wanted you to know how much respect I have for you and all you shared concerning the recent downfall of SH. I was looking for another mode to tell you this but came up short. Thank you for sharing with the fans your story. Are you on Facebook? I'd love to follow you but was unsuccessful finding you. Thanks so much!
Maya Williams
asked
Ais:
I just finished reading ICOS books and I am emotional wrecked!! Such an amazing work. I can't find words to describe it. Thank you so much for the amazing books! I cried my eyes out so much during Fade! I was wondering do you still have plans to write a sequel? and if yes when approximately? Thank you
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