Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Deliciously Decadent December: Eight Days Ablaze



Come Celebrate a Deliciously Decadent December with Ellora’s Cave Author, Angelia Sparrow.

Eight Days Ablaze
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Futuristic
ISBN: 9781419918520
Release Date: 12/24/2008
Length: Quickie

Blurb:
awyer Adina barJonas loves Hanukkah. And her Papa gives the best gifts. This year, it's the VirtualClone Box, for “a fully integrated sensory experience.” Adina uses it to argue law, meet her heroes and thoroughly indulge herself with some very sexy men over the eight nights of the holiday.

But, Papa and her Uncle David have their own agenda, as always, and Adina finds that enjoying her new toy has played right into their hands.

Buy
Excerpt
Website
Blog


Want your own copy of "Eight Days Ablaze?"
Leave a comment here and be entered to win.

Can't think of anything to say? Tell me what piece of cyber-ware you are eagerly anticipating.

For more chances to win visit the other Triple D author blogs.


Shelley Munro
Samantha Kane
Cheryl Dragon
Amy Ruttan
Aubrey Ross
LA Day
Emma Petersen

Wanna find out where the Deliciously Decadent December authors will be next? Join our Yahoo group for updates and chances to win copies of our latest releases. Click here to join.

Rules:
1. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win.
2. Winner will be chosen at random via Random.org
3. You can enter a total of 9 times by leaving a comment on each Triple D author’s blog but you will only allowed to win once.
4. You must be 18 and older to enter and/or win.
5. You must collect your prize within 10 days of prize announcement or prize is null & void.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Deliciously Decadent December Winners to date

Here's a complete winner list:
Lindseye - Emma's Seducing St. Nic
Lexee - Amy's Rain God
Fedora - Aubrey's Crimson Prey
Cathy M - Cheryl's Quintuplets
Karin - LA's Greek Temptation

Desert of the Damned


Come Celebrate a Deliciously Decadent December with Ellora’s Cave Author, Kathy Kulig.



Desert of the Damned
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Shape-shifter
ISBN: 9781419919527
Release Date: 12/19/08
Length: Plus novel

Blurb:
While working on an environmental project in the Arizona desert, research scientist Amy Weston finds herself caught in the war between two men. Dante Akanto lures her into the desert to explore the dark side of her passions, pleasuring her in ways she never thought possible with his bizarre sex games. And park ranger Jake Montag has a compelling mysticism and powerful sensuality that's impossible to resist.

But the two men, demon and shapeshifter, are engaged in a supernatural fight between worlds. Amy and her high level of life force energy is the key. Dante's world and his immortality depend on claiming her as his own. The choice Amy makes between the two men will affect both her world and her future.

Buy
Excerpt

Website

Want your very own copy of Kathy’s Desert of the Damned? Leave a
comment and you'll be entered to win an ebook copy of this release.


For more chances to win visit the other Triple D author blogs.


Shelley Munro
Samantha Kane
Cheryl Dragon
Amy Ruttan
Aubrey Ross
LA Day
Emma Petersen

Wanna find out where the Deliciously Decadent December authors will be next? Join our Yahoo group for updates and chances to win copies of our latest releases. Click here to join.

Rules:
1. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win.
2. Winner will be chosen at random via Random.org
3. You can enter a total of 9 times by leaving a comment on each Triple D author’s blog but you will only allowed to win once.
4. You must be 18 and older to enter and/or win.
5. You must collect your prize within 10 days of prize announcement or prize is null & void.

Retreat From Love


Come Celebrate a Deliciously Decadent December with Ellora’s Cave Author, Samantha Kane.


RETREAT FROM LOVE (Brothers In Arms)

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Historical/menage, gay, Regency
ISBN: 9781419919428*
*Release Date: 12/17/08
Length: Plus Novel

Price: $7.99

Blurb:

Brothers In Arms Book Five

A man with everything except his heart's desire. Frederick Thorne, Duke of Ashland, has been in love with Brett Haversham for years. If the only way to have him is to give him what he wants Freddy will share him, in bed and out, with the woman Brett loves. The woman who was Freddy's first love.

A man sacrificing everything for the past. Brett Haversham is in love with two people he's sworn never to touch. But his desires prove to be stronger than his resolve when they both set out to seduce him--together. The incredible sex they share overwhelms him.

A woman with nothing left to lose. Anne Goode lost her fiance Bertie in the war. Now his younger brother Freddy is back, all grown up into the handsome and powerful duke. And he's brought Bertie's best friend Brett with him. Lonely and already
ruined, Anne can't resist taking both of them as her lovers. Is the uncontrollable desire between the three enough to heal the wounds of the past and overcome the problems of the present? They must accept love rather than retreat from it.

Buy
Excerpt
Blog
Website

Want your very own copy of Samantha Kane's /Retreat From Love? Leave a
comment and you'll be entered to win an ebook copy of this release.

Not sure what to comment about? Here's an idea. What is your favorite
sub-genre of historical romance? Regency? Georgian? Old West? Or
something more exotic or unusual?

For more chances to win visit the other Triple D author blogs.


Shelley Munro
Cheryl Dragon
Amy Ruttan
Aubrey Ross
LA Day
Emma Petersen

Wanna find out where the Deliciously Decadent December authors will be next? Join our Yahoo group for updates and chances to win copies of our latest releases. Click here to join.

Rules:
1. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win.
2. Winner will be chosen at random via Random.org
3. You can enter a total of 9 times by leaving a comment on each Triple D author’s blog but you will only allowed to win once.
4. You must be 18 and older to enter and/or win.
5. You must collect your prize within 10 days of prize announcement or prize is null & void.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

More December Decadence




Greek Temptation by L.A. Day

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
ISBN eBook: 9781419917431
Genre: Exotika, Menage, M/M/F
Length: Quickie
Release Date: December 12, 2008


Blurb:
Lykaios Diotrephes owns the ruin and invites her to stay at his villa. He's tall, dark and gorgeous and just a glance sends shivers down her spine.

Mate with me or die.

Lykaios is alpha and with only one day left until the Herangetta mating ritual, he must convince Samantha to mate with him and Arcas—a younger male, as beautiful as Lykaios, who is his second, his lover. He knows that if she doesn't, she'll die. How do you convince someone to believe in lycan customs if they don't believe in lycans? Lykaios and Arcas set out to seduce Samantha. She must accept them both…for life.

Reader Advisory: This book contains male/male sex and a public sex scene.



Buy

Excerpt


Blog

Website


Want your very own copy of L.A. Day's, Greek Temptation? Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win an ebook copy of this release.

For more chances to win visit the other Triple D author blogs.


Shelley Munro

Samantha Kane

Cheryl Dragon

Amy Ruttan

Aubrey Ross


L.A. Day

Emma Petersen


Wanna find out where the Deliciously Decadent December authors will be next? Join our Yahoo group for updates and chances to win copies of our latest releases. Click here to join.


Rules:

1. Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.
2. Winner will be chosen at random via Random.org
3. You can enter a total of 9 times by leaving a comment on each Triple D author's blog but you will only allowed to win once.
4. You must be 18 and older to enter and/or win.
5. You must collect your prize within 10 days of prize announcement or prize is null & void.

Here's Laura's question for everyone.

Heroes in LA Day's books tend to be Alpha Males. What you like or dislike about Alpha Males?

Friday, December 5, 2008

Crimson Prey by Aubrey Ross

Come Celebrate a Deliciously Decadent December with Ellora’s Cave Author Aubrey Ross.



Crimson Prey by Aubrey Ross
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
ISBN eBook: 9781419918926
Genre: Vampire
Length: Novella
Release Date: December 5, 2008


Blurb:
Loved the characters, the heat and the thought of an enthralling hero sinking his teeth into your neck in Crimson Thrall? Then get set for more passion, more intensity and a bigger bite!


Six centuries have passed since a treacherous enemy wrested Antonio’s love from his bed. He was outmatched and overpowered before, but nothing will keep him from claiming Serafina now—not even Serafina herself. Wild with hunger and a soul-deep longing, he declares a Bride Hunt, an ancient ritual most vampires abandoned centuries before.

Serafina endured a loveless marriage for the sake of her sisters. Now her husband’s death has freed her to think of her own happiness. Before she can decide how to flex her independence, she’s being hunted by a domineering, if utterly desirable, vampire bent on binding her soul to his. Antonio awakens sensations and ignites responses she never experienced with her husband, but is physical pleasure reason enough to spend eternity at his side?

Buy

Excerpt

Aubrey’s Blog

Aubrey’s Website

Want your very own copy of Aubrey’s Crimson Prey? Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win an ebook copy of this release.

For more chances to win visit the other Triple D author blogs.

Emma Petersen
Shelley Munro
Amy Ruttan
L.A. Day
Cheryl Dragon
Samantha Kane

Wanna find out where the Deliciously Decadent December authors will be next? Join our Yahoo group for updates and chances to win copies of our latest releases. Click here to join.

Rules:
1. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win.
2. Winner will be chosen at random via Random.org
3. You can enter a total of 9 times by leaving a comment on each Triple D author’s blog but you will only allowed to win once.
4. You must be 18 and older to enter and/or win.
5. You must collect your prize within 10 days of prize announcement or prize is null & void.

Don’t know what to comment on? Here’s an idea! Why is the vampire genre so popular? What do you like or dislike about the concept?

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Deliciously Decadent December, Post 1

Come Celebrate a Deliciously Decadent December with Ellora’s Cave Authors Cheryl Dragon and Amy Ruttan. Wanna find out where the Deliciously Decadent December authors will be next? Join our yahoo! group for updates and chances to win copies of our latest releases. Click here to join.




Quintupled by Cheryl Dragon
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
ISBN eBook: 9781419914676
Genre: Paranormal Ménage Erotica
Length: Novella
Release Date: December 3, 2008

Organic witch Serena Troy is used to having all sorts of wild sex in her job as a senior agent in the Sexual Misconduct Division of the Supernatural Enforcement Agency. But when her trainee Josh splits into five individuals, each with a different insatiable kink, she has to track them all down and reunite them before he ends up dead or irrevocably altered.

Organic witch Serena Troy is used to having all sorts of wild sex in her job as a senior agent in the Sexual Misconduct Division of the Supernatural Enforcement Agency. But when her trainee Josh splits into five individuals, each with a different insatiable kink, she has to track them all down and reunite them before he ends up dead or irrevocably altered.But even this free-spirited organic has her own taboos, and Serena has to face hers to save Josh. From werewolf orgies to vampire blood banquets and caveman retreats, she sees—and engages in—more sex in one day than most people have in a decade. It’s a kinky job, but someone has to do it.

Organic witch Serena Troy is used to having all sorts of wild sex in her job as a senior agent in the Sexual Misconduct Division of the Supernatural Enforcement Agency. But when her trainee Josh splits into five individuals, each with a different insatiable kink, she has to track them all down and reunite them before he ends up dead or irrevocably altered.But even this free-spirited organic has her own taboos, and Serena has to face hers to save Josh. From werewolf orgies to vampire blood banquets and caveman retreats, she sees—and engages in—more sex in one day than most people have in a decade. It’s a kinky job, but someone has to do it.

Buy Link: http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-6758-50-quintupled.aspx
Excerpt Link: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419914676.htm
Blog: www.myspace.com/cheryldragon
Website: http://www.cheryldragon.com/



Rain God by Amy Ruttan
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Genre: Sci-Fi/Futuristic Erotic Romance
Length: Quickie
Release Date: December 3
A thousand years in the future there is no water on Earth and the Interstellar Space Organization is finding a way to bring it back, but the Hazoor faction is intent on stopping them. On a mission to the dead planet, sexy Commander Shana Kelley discovers a mysterious cavern and a turquoise stone. Not what it seems, the stone contains an ancient rain god who claims he can make the water come, but on one condition, she must come first, mating with him deep inside the cavern. Shana gives in to all her erotic desires, letting T’koh, the sensual rain god, show her the power of water over life.

Buy Link: http://www.jasminejade.com/
Excerpt Link:http://www.jasminejade.com/
Amy’s Blog: http://amyruttan.com/blog/
Amy’s Website: http://amyruttan.com/index.html

Want your very own copy of Cheryl’s Quintupled or Amy’s Rain God? Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win an ebook copy of these releases.

Rules:

1. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win.
2. Winner will be chosen at random via Random.org
3. You can enter a total of 9 times by leaving a comment on each Triple D author’s blog but you will only allowed to win once.
4. You must be 18 and older to enter and/or win.
5. You must collect your prize within 10 days of prize announcement or prize is null & void.

Don’t know what to comment on? Here’s an idea!
Why is the ménage genre so popular? What do you like or dislike about the concept?

Monday, November 10, 2008

November Contest

The November Contest is a Photo Scavenger Hunt.

Go here for clues: http://valarltd.livejournal.com/883601.html

Answers are found on my website, http://www.angelsparrow.com ,in book decriptions.

Leave a comment on the livejournal post to win either a complete set of Gay Christmas Werewolf Stories or an alternate prize if you have them all.

A winner will be drawn randomly on Dec 6, from all the correct answers.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

My first Ellora's Cave Print release



Better late than never!
My halloween story, "Raising the Dead," is included in this print collection from Ellora's Cave.
Click cover to see more, but be warned, it's heavy BDSM.

And isn't the cover HOT? So much sexier than Corey, my 80's reject, on the original, whose head was pasted on, yay.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

You know that Steampunk Lesbian vs. Zombies thing I've been talking about for about a year and a half, if not two?

Yeah, it's available.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Catherine McAllister didn't expect to be widowed in Indian Territory, her husband dead in a freak accident. When her neighbor and best friend Amanda is left alone as well, the women move in together. Soon, they find friendship was the least of it, and settle in as a married couple to make a go of their joint homestead.

When zombies begin devouring their livestock, they treat the invaders like any other predator. Aided by Amanda's mother-in-law, Half-Moon, Catherine leads the local homesteaders in defense of all their wives and children.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Excerpt: MIskatonic Mistletoe

This is the fourth in my Gay Christmas Werewolves series.
Available here

It is thirteen miles by interstate from the insane asylum in Danvers to Route 113, which takes the traveler into the ancient city of Newburyport. The old coast road through Innsmouth, Rowley and Ispwich is longer, older and much narrower. The sprawling Boston metroplex sends out squamous suburbs, growths that threaten to swallow the whole of the state. Already, the twisting streets and oddly uniform houses creep down Highway One to Providence and up Route Three to Nashua. The world seems very small and urban and hardly the place for fear and the unnameable. The Space Age and Information Age have both come and gone.

So, of course, no one would have believed the two older men who stepped out of the little Ford wagon, on this gorgeous spring morning of the Lower Miskatonic Valley, were anything other than human.

“I don’t like it, elf,” Corin Faw growled at his half-Sidhe mate as he looked up and down the street of Arkham Massachusettes. “It smells wrong. All kinds of wrong.” He sniffed again. Under the smells of spring melt and damp earth, under tulips and hyacinth and green leaves and pear blossoms, he scented decay and death and something that whispered of seas and stars and things best left undisturbed at the bottom of them.

Cian O’Brian came around the car to his mate. “ArÈ—n, my own sweet wolf, it is wrong. There is ancient evil here. Here is where we are needed.”

“Aye,” Corin growled, his nose still twitching. He unlocked the hatch. “We’re to fight evil from a tea shop. And not just a tea shop, but Miska-Tonics Tea and Herb Shoppe.” He pronounced the extra p and e with scorn.

Still, he had to admit that there was nothing wrong with the two-story frame building whose gambrel roof, butted back against a hill, almost to the point where a person could climb the hill and right onto the roof. The colorful sign on the veranda, the daffodils and hyacinth dancing in the flowerbed and the lace curtains in the windows gave the place a cheerful air, even if it did look a bit like that place in Amityville which was on the market suspiciously cheaply. The spring woods, just showing the first yellow-green leaves, came right to the back door.

“Love, you know the Sight is not always clear. It took us to Memphis for Danior and now it brings us here. Take what comes.”

Corin growled again. The bites and wounds he had taken last fall in Memphis, in futile defense of Danior and his pack from the ravening power-thirst of Danior’s uncle Zoltan, still ached on damp days. He was not a young wolf any more. He got the bags from the car, making sure Cian saw the bite-scar on his arm from Zoltan’s teeth. “Not playin’ fairy godfather to pair of pups again, I’m not.” His brogue thickened, as it always did when he was irritable.

Cian laughed at him and lifted a portfolio of papers from the front seat. “Of course not. And you didn’t instigate the last game of Tail-Chase with them either.”

“Yer in trouble, elf,” he snorted.

Cian gave his most charming smile and Corin felt the faintest tingle of sidhe magic at the edges of it. “Have I told you I love you recently?”

“Ah, you'll not get out of this with your flattering fae tongue, O'Brian.” Corin set the bags down at the foot of the stairs. “More stairs. You couldn't find a place with the apartment in the back? Just how good do you think my knees are in my old age?”

Cian laughed and ruffled Corin's grizzled hair. He set down the last box of fragile knick-knacks and picked up his suitcase. “I'll make sure the next one has living quarters adjoining, Corin darling.” He caught the glance Corin shot the bed when they reached the loft apartment and laughed again as he put his suitcase in closet. “And shall we break the house in proper? Or at least the bedroom?”

Corin growled low in his throat and set the last boxes down. “Insatiable fae,” he rumbled. He caught Cian and pressed him to the covers. It was the new moon, so he was at his most human, with no threat of the wolf. Despite this, he did love pouncing.

“Aye, always, love.” Cian drew him down for a kiss, his hands in Corin's thick, graying hair.

Friday, October 24, 2008

An interview!

Alyssa Brooks has interviewed Nick Boyd, of Nikolai at her Slip Between the Sheet blog. Go and enjoy.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Serpents

From Shifting Back, an anthology of historical shifters.

Available here


Of all the djinn in all the deserts of Arabia, Arqam was the most curious. He never passed a human dwelling, as he rode the night winds, without stopping to peer inside. He never passed a chest or jar, but he had to peek within.

All the elder djinn said he would come to bad end and it was his grandmother's human blood making him such trouble. None of them were surprised the day he was taken.

Arqam had ventured far to the east, leaving behind the sand and oases of his native Arabia, into the lush jungles of India, where the foreign white men ruled the local people. He listened to the clipped accents of the English, the soft music of the Indians. He peered into bungalows and huts, disregarding the privacy of Her Royal Majesty's Major General and the lowest of the pariahs with equal aplomb.

He watched the brown women in their colorful saris and the pale ones covered and corseted and fainting in the heat. He watched the men as they worked. In time, he grew sleepy and made a hammock of vines near the outskirts of a small village.

As he lolled in the steaming night, a distant cousin found him. “Arqam,” it hissed, its low guttural voice making him uneasy.

“Yes?” He peered over the edge of the hammock and saw what had addressed him. Although ghuls were a sort of djinn, Arqam's people had little contact with them. They served Iblis and haunted the graveyards. His folk lived invisible in the air. Arqam looked around but saw no graves. “May I help you, cousin?”

“I am Shahib, the fire that consumes the dead. Why do you wander so far away? No mind, all have heard of Arqam, how he sticks his long beautiful nose into every house and everyone's business.” The ferocious little grey thing crouched beneath his hammock. “I'd check your curiosity soon enough, pretty cousin.” Shahib's laugh was ugly and he batted at the hammock.

Arqam did not move from the hammock. As long as he stayed within, the protective spells would not let Shahib touch him. Shahib tried again, and the breeze of his hand's passage disturbed Arqam. Arqam looked down at the hideous creature, grey and snarling beneath him, its corded arms too long, like a hyena's front legs.

“Leave, Shahib. Follow the vultures and find some carrion. You do not feast upon djinn this night.” Arqam rolled over and pretended to sleep.

From below him, he heard the evil chuckling of the ghul. “A pity. It is said the djinn know more of congress than even the sensualists of India. But I do not tempt you, my pretty cousin.”

Arqam feigned sleep. He felt the hammock quake where Shahib shook one tree as he departed. But he remained safe, and in time, he fell asleep.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Excerpt: Crossroads

This is available here, for $1.29


Johnny Cotton had to get out. Out of the Delta, out of Arkansas, out of the whole lousy South, if he could manage it. So, one fine fall evening, after the cotton was in, when Daddy was drunk and Mama was over visiting at his grandma's, Johnny slipped out and hiked along route 50.


The moon rode fat and full through scudding little ghost clouds and he didn't need the flashlight. His backpack felt easy on his back and his guitar case banged softly against the backs of his thighs. He'd pick up 149, get down to US 79 at Hughes and hitch a lift into Memphis and from there to Nashville.


But Johnny been up since before dawn, and put in a full day's work getting in the cotton. His legs felt like they were slogging through bayou mud, and more than once he drifted off the shoulder of the highway and nearly stumbled into a cypress slough as he dozed while walking.


He made it as far as Greasy Corner, a crossroad where 50 and 149 came together. Years ago, there had been a couple little country stores. Now the kudzu choked the deserted buildings and the plywood over the door was long gone.


Johnny let himself in, figuring to take a little nap and make the last three miles in the morning. More traffic by daylight anyway, he decided. Tomorrow, he'd be in Nashville, on Music Row. He spread out his blanket and was asleep almost before he had lain down.


The harsh cough of diesel air brakes and the whine of the engine woke him. He looked out of the broken window to see a big black Peterbilt stopped in front of the building. The moonlight glinted off the chrome smoke-stacks and bumper and tanks, and picked out the silver scroll-work that read “Speed Demon, Lou and Lil Schiffer, owners,” on the door. Bettie Page in a sexy devil costume smiled from the side of the sleeper.


The woman opened the driver's side door and climbed down. She stretched, and Johnny could do nothing but watch. All long legs and long black hair in a ponytail; her skin gleamed ivory in the moonlight. She looked around and her eyes landed on the abandoned gas station. Johnny couldn't tell their color, only that they looked like dark pits that could swallow him. He was ready to be swallowed up.


When Lou came around the front of the truck, Johnny got a shock. With that name, he'd been expecting someone short and dumpy, like Lou Costello or the cartoon mouse version of him that Johnny was used to seeing. Lou was as gorgeous as Lil, tall and saturnine, a dark beard and mustache framing a fully and sensual mouth, nicely built under the tight T-shirt and tighter jeans. The silver edge of moonlight seemed to caress that bulge as he came around and kissed Lil.


They both smiled at the old gas station. Johnny knew they couldn't see him, but it sure felt like he was naked in front of them.

“Hello, Johnny. Why don't you come out and be social?” Lil's voice was honey and velvet and all the sexy things that Johnny knew he'd never get back on the farm. His cock stood right up and took notice, but he didn't move. Midnight at the crossroads, whispered a little voice that sounded like his late grandpa, the preacher. You know what that means, boy. Oh fucking hell, Johnny thought.


And that sentiment grew very literal as Lou got hold of Lil again and kissed her harder, stroking her curves and opening her shirt. Her pale white breasts almost glowed in the moonlight. She turned to the station again, letting Johnny have a good look at her.


“So, Johnny, are you coming out, or shall we come in?” she asked


“I'm coming out,” he said, the words out before he realized he was speaking.


Saturday, October 11, 2008

Excerpt: Hunger for the edge

This is from Eternal Darkness, a collection of Blind Vampire stories. It is currently out of print.

“Please, can you tell me where I am?” The young man’s voice was slightly accented, almost musical.


“You’re outside Egypt. What are you, blind?” Zach had no time for beggars or foreigners.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” This was accompanied by a sweet smile and the appearance of a white cane.

Zach looked more closely and realized the man’s odd blue eyes did not focus. They tracked some as he spoke, but they never seemed to settle on him.

“You’re at 45th Street and Euclid. You want me to call you a cab? This isn’t a good neighborhood.”

He smiled again, making Zach swallow with the desire to taste that lovely white smile. “I’d much rather you helped me into the club? It has been a long time since I danced.”

“Can you dance?”

“Most assuredly. I must, however, have some small assistance in reaching dance floor and the bar.”

Zach’s eyes narrowed. “Are you asking me to be your date?”

The man’s laugh was as musical as his speech. “Not at all. Merely that you aid me in getting a drink and finding the dance floor.” He ran his hand up his prey’s arm. “I’d be very grateful.”

Zach thought about it. He was curious to see what the blind man could do on the dance floor. He shrugged. “Come on then. I’m Zach.”

“Adrien.” His accent was charming, southern of some sort. He tucked his hand into Zach’s offered elbow, and felt ahead with his cane.

Adrien was a wine-drinker, to Zach’s amusement, and wasn’t bad on the dance floor. He stayed in one spot, moving barely three steps in any direction, doing something that looked like the bastard child of the hustle and the cha-cha.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

October is Excerpt Month

All month long, I'll be posting samples from various paranormal stories.

Today's is from "Prey" collected in the out-of-print Monsters anthology.




There it lurked, hulking atop a low rise, half hidden by overgrown tress and out-of-control weeds. Old Baptist Hospital with its wide lawns, iron fence and empty windows loomed at the intersection where Pauline ran into Crump, a photographer’s dream of light and shadow.

I drove by it a lot, my eyes always shifting to it of their own accord, but on this late autumn afternoon, I finally stopped to shoot. No one stopped me as I drove up the old drive, running over the weeds that came up over my bumper. I parked out by a building with a huge smokestack labeled “Hope Clinic.” My cynical side made me wonder just what sort of “hope” the clinic peddled.

I wandered the grounds, shooting the broken-out windows, the long shadows, the overgrowth and desolation. I got a pretty decent shot of my shadow next to the entrance sign, heading for the missing door. After two rolls, I got up my nerve to venture inside.

“This is stupid, Michael. Don’t do it,” I whispered to myself. Ignoring my good advice, I walked the sickly green halls, taking pictures of the empty rooms, shooting them so they’d look like antechambers of Hell. Trees were framed at just the wrong angle in the windows. The light was getting chancier and I took advantage of the shadows and unexpected illuminations.

The building had been used as shelter by transients. Bits of fires, graffiti, the occasional den in a sheltered corner where the remaining doors could be closed for protection from the wind and ice. I caught a few of these. The Flyer always ran a heart-tugging story on homelessness when the weather started getting cold.

I shot some of the graffiti. Most of it was basic crude intaglios: initials, drawings, dates. There were some more skilled artworks. One in particular made my skin crawl. I didn’t recognize it, but I shot it anyway. It looked sort of like a summoning seal, but I’d never seen one with eight points. The language around the edges looked like Latin and I figured I could translate once I got it developed.

The seal had me curious, but it made me nervous at the same time. A low-grade stomach churn and the skin crawling on my neck like It was watching me–whatever It was. I’d see what I could find in the occult section at work. I finished the roll and got back in my Beetle. I drove out of the gate as darkness fell, and straight to the nearest bar.

After two drinks, my hands stopped shaking and I poured myself back into the bug and drove home. I’d develop the pics after work. I didn’t feel like fooling with it right now.

I didn’t feel like eating either, so I just went to bed.


So pretty this one. Oh, Lord of Lust, let him... no, he didn’t touch the seal. Damn. Ah! A picture. Now that I can work through. Yes, and he’s a developer sort. When he develops that one he’s mine. Mother Lillith, why do you put such mortals so near yet so far, like the temptations of Heaven? Is it to remind us Winged Ones that we can have neither?

He’s sleeping now. Father Asmodeus won’t mind if I take a peek. Hm! Bisexual. He dreams of pretty redhaired girls and pretty blond boys at the same time. I wonder which way he’d like me better? The succubus shape never feels as right as my incubus form. Most demons are neuter, and we Winged Ones switch as the mood takes us. But a few, like me, have a distinct preference. I am male.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sound off

Is anybody out there?
Am I posting in a void?

Loyal reader roll call sound off now!

I'm going to be a writer and make millions!

Or, the actual financial side of writing.

Let me start with a quote from Poppy Z. Brite's LJ: Only 2% of authors make enough to live on. And only 2% of them get rich."

I did some counting over the weekend.
I'll have 17 things published this year. (Two are forthcoming)
So far, I've made about $1200. That's royalties for the first half of the year, plus July and August for the houses that pay monthly.

My best seller, "For Love of Etarin" has sold 692 copies.
My worst seller, "Pushing the Boundaries of Reality" has sold 3.
I average about 92 sales/title with my main publisher.


Looks like it'll be a while before I start dusting off that pipe and slippers.
My day job? I make 720/week.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Writing update

I'm buried under editing Glad Hands. But it's a good buried. Next project, whip Niko-Chan into shape.

In other news, "Leave it to the experts" has made the final round of elimination judging for Kerlak Press's dragon anthology.

Waiting on contract and edits:
"Meanwhile back at the ranch." (Torquere)

Currently waiting to hear:
Lord Withycombe and the Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists (Samhain)
All in the Merry greenwood (Ellora)
Ellora's Cavemen sub (Ellora)

Works in progress:
Alive on the Inside
Shell-Shocked
Nick and Corban

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Wedding stories for charity

Twenty of Torquere' s great authors--I find myself somehow included among that number--have written wedding themed stories to show their support in the fight for equal recognition of gay and lesbian marriage!

Sexy and sweet, funny and dramatic, these Sips will satisfy everyone's urge for something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue!

The best part about the Sip Blitz is that all of the authors have agreed to donate the profits from their wedding Sips to charity, with Torquere Press matching their donation 100%! All profits collected from the sale of the wedding Sips will be donated the Lambda Legal Defense Fund.

Sips cost just $1.29, and you can't beat that for entertainment and a good cause! Buy them all, and get the entire twenty Sip package for 15% off! Who doesn't love a happy ending? The Sip Blitz begins Saturday evening, September 13, 2008!


http://www.torquerebooks.com/zencart/

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Excerpt day

Today is Excerpt day at the Den of Debauchery's SubAnnex.
http://valarltd.livejournal.com/2008/08/17/

Go, vote in the poll, read and leave feedback, enjoy the piratey goodness...
http://valarltd.livejournal.com/846423.html


From Kestrel on the Horizon:

Of his first sea battle, Adlai would later remember little save noise, confusion and smoke. Collins had issued him a pair of pistols, powder and shot, along with a quick kiss and orders to hold his post before the door of the Captain’s cabin. Each time the cannon roared, he wanted to cover his ears and scream. He did not. He was a man, not a child to be terrified of noise.

He’d done his best, standing as chaos raged about him. He watched Tobias run a man through with a cutlass and mild-tempered Deering swearing like a screeching parrot and reloading his musket as fast as he could fire it. Stephan strode through the din and press, a giant black demon who found it easiest simply to seize one enemy head in each hand and smash them together like the rocks that martyred his namesake. Even gentle Will, the cook’s assistant who was no more than fourteen, wielded a vicious-looking cleaver in defense of the galley.

A large man gave a wicked sneer and headed for Adlai, his cutlass raised. With shaking hands, Adlai raised the flintlock and fired. The man fell back, his sneer obliterated. Adlai reloaded the pistol, his hands still shaking badly enough to drop two balls and half his powder.

“You’ll need those,” Deering said, folding the lost shots into his hand while Adlai could do no more than stand and stare at the dead man at his feet. “We’re winning.” Deering vanished back into the fray.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Nikolai is Back!

Click the Cover. It will take you straight to the order page.

Photobucket

For the newcomers, and those who haven't been listening to me babble about this for ages:

James Ligatos is a man with an unusual hobby. He turns promising young criminals into world leaders. His latest project is Nicholas Boyd, formerly Nikolai of the Revenant street gang. But the little killer-turned-file-clerk is much more than Ligatos and his staff bargained for. As Kentucky attempts to secede from the Confederated States of America and rejoin the United States, Nick's skills and the group's training are put to the ultimate test, and the price of failure is death.

Reviews linked here from Rainbow Reviews, Literary Nymphs, Dark Diva Reviews, Obsidian Bookshelf and Elisa Rolle.

It's up for the Darrell Award here in Memphis.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

A very productive night

Naomi and I rock.
We rock like a Cracker Barrel Porch full of cranky old men.

We got three submissions off tonight.
One for Ellora's Cavemen Anthologies and two novels.

I feel...very odd. As if I've just run off a cliff and not quite noticed it's no longer under my running feet.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Finally here!



$3
Frosted Hearts is available from Phaze!
Blurb: In this follow-up to Collared Hearts, artist Anthony and gallery owner Josh endure the trials of the Christmas holiday - from family squabbles to snowy accidents - with their passionate, kinky play to make the holidays a bit brighter.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Will Scarlet's Song

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
20,322 / 50,000
(40.6%)


The people craned and stretched, for in the middle of the guard was a cart. Tied to the cart, with a noose already around his neck, rode Will Scarlet wearing only a shirt and a crown of oak leaves, the mark of a traitor to the crown.

He looked at the crowd, searching each face. Although some pitied him and some looked at him sorrowfully, he didn't see the faces he sought. His heart sank like a plummet of lead, but he refused to show this.

Instead, he sang. If he was to die this day, he would teach all of Nottingham a new song. They would sing it long after they had forgotten him and it would set the Sheriff's teeth on edge each time heard it. Head held high, he sent his voice ringing over the crowd.
“The sheriff of fair Nottingham
doth tax his good folk full sore
But Robin Hood has tweaked his nose
Fie on Phillip the Fumbler!

He sets the men about the gate.
He sets them at his door.
Still he cannot catch the rogue,
Fie on Phillip the Fumbler!

He spends too much time in the stable there
Along beside the hostler
Lucky for him, the mare does not talk
Fie on Phillip the Fumbler!

He taxes folk upon their bread
He taxes them their beer
But Robin Hood will steal it back
Fie on Phillip the Fumbler!”

By the second verse, the more daring rascals were singing along with the chorus. When he finished the first time, he began again. Half the young men, already merry on beer, took it up.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Bess and Little John

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
10,598 / 50,000
(21.2%)



FOLLOWING is PG-13


“You're so large anyone would know you on sight. John Little, called Little John, second in command of the outlaws,” Bess turned the name over in her mouth for a moment. They strolled by mossy bank, all overhung with willows.

Little John leaned down and whispered, “Not little at all. Not anywhere.”

Bess gasped, her eyes large and her mouth a round O of shock. She smacked his arm, barely a tap. “You're naughty!”

John registered no pain, but gave her wide and merrily wicked grin. “Are you naughty, Bess?” He stopped them under a willow with wythes that grew so think none could see them.

Seeing they were curtained in, as certainly as if they had been hidden in the little anteroom of the palace with the velvet drapes, Bess beckoned Little John down and whispered. “Wicked as the day is long and more versed in the carnal arts than you can imagine. I went on Crusade after all.”

Little John scratched his great shaggy head. “What was a lady doing on a crusade?”

Bess laughed and settled herself on a tussock of grass. “Have you not heard how Queen Eleanor took a whole hoard of us? She dressed her maids as Amazons and rode topless half-way to Damascus.”

John sank down beside her, his eyes huge at the thought of the Queen and her maids riding bare-breasted across the continent.

“And how naughty are you, Johnny?” Bess teased.

He caught her round the waist again and kissed her. She opened beneath him, letting him go deep into her mouth. He crushed her closer and she only kissed him the harder, her own passions ablaze.

Bess clung to him, mindful of the job she'd done in her braes earlier that no erection would betray her to Little John until she was ready. When he let go of her mouth to look into her face, she breathed, “Yes, oh John, yes.”

He gave a lopsided grin behind his beard. “Oh, you are a naughty girl.”

Bess laughed. “Oh yes, I am. This is a fine and private place. I'll show you all my wickedness if you desire.”

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

JulNoWriMo

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
5,802 / 50,000
(11.6%)


A sample:
Marion brushed her hair, thinking on the oddities of the day. Bess had already retired. She heard a bird call from the balcony, but surely no chickadee was abroad at this late hour.

She set the hairbrush aside and hurried out. A cloaked figure hovered at the edge of the balcony. She withdrew in fright. The handsome young butcher pulled back his hood and clung to the rail, entangled in the ivy that grew on the tower.

“Mad and merry butcher, you take an unwarranted chance with your neck.” She looked down, knowing it was many feet to the ground.

He smiled at her, his teeth white within his yellow beard. “A worthy risk to finally see my lady this close.” He took one hand of hers and kissed it.

Marion gasped. “Caution! Both hands on the rail or the vine. I would not see you fall.” She stepped closer and did not try taking his hand from hers. “'Twould be a shame to lose you before I know your name.”

He swung up, throwing his long legs in their green hose over the rail, and landing on his feet before her. He favored her with a proper bow. His voice was sweet as the birds in the morning as he said, “Robin, my lady. I am Robin.”

She inclined her head in acknowledgment. “My lord Locksley,” she said, using his proper title. She offered her hand again. “Lady Marion FitzRoy.”

He took it and kissed it again, pausing to breathe over her wrist. “So soft. I knew you would be.”

“My lord Nottingham does not allow me out. Or I'd have been down for a kiss from a good tight butcher.”

“I didn't coax you well enough to sneak out then. I tried my best.” Robin looked entirely crestfallen.

Marion took his other hand with her free one. “Please, my lord, understand, I am locked in. Bess is allowed out, but my uncle, the king, says naught should happen to me. The war goes poorly. Alas, Bess is a poor messenger.”

Robin laughed. “Shall I remedy that?” He drew her closer and wrapped his arms around her waist.
She gave him a saucy look and a wicked smile. “Have you still three pennyworths of meat about you? For it was fine beef.”

Robin sighed. “Only a bit of kidney, too squashed to sell. I was going to pass it to a beggar as I left town.”
“Then allow me to pay you for it.” She slid her arms around his neck. “And in full.”

News and a contest

Ellora's Cave just announced their Summer print sched.

"Raising the Dead" is going to be part of Trick or Treats 3.
A real book in a real bookstore! *bounce!*



AND!

If you want to win a copy of "Five Time Loser"
send in a made-up CB handle for yourself
or just go to http://www.angelsparrow.com/contest.html

This is a sexy little paranormal. Elisa Rolle reviewed it here

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

I'm doing JulNoWriMo, and nicely

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
3,800 / 50,000
(7.6%)


Excerpt:

Robin hurried out of the gates of Nottingham town, his purchases slung on his back. Will Scarlet tucked the lump of bread and cheese he was nibbling back into his wallet and fell into step with his long-legged leader, who whistled a snatch of a bawdy tune he'd heard that day.

"You show your face too boldly in the town,” Will chided. “You'll not whistle half so jauntily when the hangman cuts your air with his hempen necklace.”

Robin slung an arm over Will's shoulders. “The morn is fair, the air is sweet, and yet you are fretting again?”

Will sighed. “How can I not? Your capers leave with without a moment's peace. Has not the Sheriff who lives in the castle you passed not a stone's throw from sworn to hang all seven score of us and you higher than the rest?”

"He doesn't scare me,” declared bold Robin.

"He scares me enough for both of us,” Will replied. He took a long drink from the skin of good sack he carried. He offered the wine to Robin who had a drink and passed it back.

"I've proven myself more clever, time and again,” Robin boasted and laughed, sending it ringing among the trees.

Will shook his head, a grim look on his face. “Hard to laugh hanging, my merry master.”

Robin grinned and caught him around the waist. “Will, Will, my dour conscience, I don't see a noose around my neck yet.”

"Not yet, but you take too many chances.”

"If we are not bold, how will we be taken seriously?” Robin demanded.

"Yet if we step too boldly, we will saunter into their hands. And you should not walk through the town with your naked face”

Robin embraced Will, holding him tightly. “Never stop being my conscience, dearest Will. I need you.”

Will smiled up at him. “Come, let's see what awaits us back in the wood. What did you learn today, bold Robin?”

"I think I did see that lovely maid.”

Will feigned shock, pressing a hand to his chest and staggering backward a step. “A maid? Our fair Robin's eye has been caught by a maid? Will wonders never cease!”

Robin cuffed him lightly about the head, grinning. “She's lovely, Will. But under our dear sheriff's protection.”

"Oh indeed?” Will raised his eyebrows. “Tell me of this maid you saw? For I thought that sort was much more my hunting preserve than yours.”

"I have hunted your course before, Will Scarlet, and I may hunt it yet again. Oh her lips...” He trailed away thoughtfully. “Her lips are lovely. As lovely as yours, my dear Will, although you keep them from me.” Robin ran one finger over Will's very full mouth, the one that sang so sweetly he charmed merchants out of their best wares and maidens out of their virtue.

Will rolled his eyes. “Robin, you know I love you and you know as well we lie together poorly.”

Robin took his hand from the soft lips. “Of course. I know. Still...” He touched Will's mouth again and stroked his face. “I still want. I don't expect anything of you.”

Will stretched up and pecked Robin on the cheek. “As if you have not seventy score others to slake yourself upon.”

Robin pulled him close. “But my Will is always my most trusted.”

“Aye, your own sweet Will. Which you have whether we lie together or not!” Will laughed at his own joke, and Robin joined in, for as chief of the outlaws in Sherwood, his will was the law of the forest.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Characters of Color

I am white. Let's be very up front about that. I'm not "Anglo," and I resent being called that. I'm Celtic, with the extreme pallor that suggests. I'm somewhere around the shade of tapioca pudding. I grew up in a Sundown Town and had minimal exposure to anyone darker than my Pakistani doctor. I went to a university with a 2% black, 40% Asian student body. So, I'm probably the worst person in the world to write this article.

But, I write characters of color, anyway. While I hesitate to call it "liberal guilt," I do worry about how I write them. People--especially authors and fans--of color say it is insulting that I worry more about how to make a Barbados sugar plantation owner accurately black than I do over how to make three-armed green aliens convincing.

The difference is that with the latter, I can use the time-honored method of "Making shit up." As long as it sounds good and holds up to being poked a little (where does that third arm go and why is it there from an evolutionary standpoint?), the readers will suspend disbelief.

With the former, I have the base layer: male plantation owner, and an extra layer atop it: half-black in a white society, half-white among the black society. I have critical readers who know more than I do examining it as closely as a piece of cross-stitch under the eye of a county fair judge, looking for knots and strings and such.


The very fact that I can choose not to write about PoCs is privilege. I know this. In many cases, I exercise this. There are many stories where the cast is limited to the two men, and there is no reason to make them CoCs. Then again, there is no reason not to, except for that extra layer of work to "get it right."

Too, I am constantly surprised by the way people define CoCs.
Someone posted an icon of Alexander Siddig, Dr. Bashir of DS9. It took me aback. I never considered him anything but white. Ditto a rather long discussion over whether a deliberately racist society would allow someone who looks like Oded Fehr to move through it freely. Middle-Eastern and Jewish never registered as CoC. Maybe it's a result of having half-Lebanese stepsisters and Pakistani doctors. They look white, except for the deeper tan. Given how deeply some of my white classmates tanned, even that was no obstacle.

To me "of color" means black. It's hard enough to write "People of Color" because my mind keeps making it "colored people," which is racist. Even PoC has its problems because I keep reading it as "pox" which implies a pox on society. But these are the preferred terms of the community and my discomfort is on par with straights who hate using the word "gay."

But onward.

Every time I write a story with a cast of more than two, I wonder if I'm being racist by not including a CoC. (sometimes I wonder about stories with two)

Every time I add a CoC, I wonder if I'm succumbing to tokenism.
I wondered about adding CoCs to my current project and realized there would be four places for them--stevedores, housekeeping, porters, transported criminals in steerage--none of which will set well with modern audiences. Period racism doesn't play.

I wonder if I'm being lazy and working from stereotypes, which are mental shorthand. Is saying "Yes, he is well-hung, and so is every other male of every shade in this particular outfit, by design. Eight inches is a minimum hiring requirement." acceptable? Or is it perpetuating sexual myths?
A quarter of the cabal that rules the world is Jewish (a married couple). Is this straight out of The Protocols and paranoia? (the other six are Catholic, Hindu, Shinto, animist, Russian Orthodox and atheist)

***

Much of my problem with all of this is that for some years I was actively racist. I did not consume media with people of color in it. I would turn the radio channel. My fanfiction and fanvids deliberately excluded CoCs. I was attempting to avoid the reality of my life in the south as much as possible. I worked in largely black jobs, lived in a mostly-black neighborhood and tried to escape by making my off-hours as white as possible.

I had an awakening a few years back and began working to behave properly and get my ideas in line with my beliefs. I do worry though, that old thought patterns wander back in, that old behavior patterns still dominate.

I'm lousy at detecting privilege, stereotypes, etc. I lived in that for so long, that I know a lot of it creeps in.

This is not a call to assuage my conscience.
This is not an effort to justify myself.

I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row and do better, one day at a time. I don't always succeed.
Sometimes I get it right. Sometimes I fall on my face.
The important thing is to keep working.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Not September, but Talk Like A Pirate Day is here




David and Robin have been together for a long while, and they're off on one of their mini-vacations at the lake house. It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, and the guys dress up a little to play, taking the boat out for the day and playing pirate and captive. Nothing it perfect, not even their vacation, because Robin's health problems keep David on his toes.

(click cover to order)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Isn't she gorgeous?


Except for the fact all the text has to go, since the title is being changed and they misspelled my name, that's the cover for my EC Exotica release.

Any suggestions for a sexy Hanukkah related title eagerly accepted.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A Good Rejection

Got word on "Showdown at Yellowstone River."
It's too much like another birthstone that's already in edits.

So, Bree said to sit on it for six months and resub.
Which sucks, but not too badly

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

General housekeeping

My writing goal this year is 300,000 words.
I'm at 113,000.

May is Finishing Month here at the Den of Debauchery.
Lord Withycombe and the Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists will be done by next Wed at the latest.
Then it's on to Shell Shocked.

There are a few short stories we want to write, and the freak-show novel needs edits and rewrites.


On the editing front, we're at the awkward waiting stage
Glad Hands has been through one round
"Burning for Eight Days" is starting its sequence
and "Showdown at the Yellowstone River" just got submitted.
Niko-Chan is submitted.
"Seconds" is in for the Toybox:Sounds

It's all up to Bree and Sabrina and Shawn.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Sunday Dribs and Drabs

So, I totted it all up this weekend. I've made over $750 writing this year.
In other words, I've made about an extra week's pay.

"Showdown at the Yellowstone River" is finished and edited to death.
We finished the synopsis this morning and the blurb is killing us.

"Frosted Hearts" has a July release.

And I've been thinking of writing without stereotypes.

Stereotypes are shorthand. We use them because they simplify the information we have to deal with on a day to day basis. Some are true, some are less so.

For instance, people who see me on my day job see a very tall, very heavy white woman with short hair, battered work boots, and well-worn grubby jeans. No makeup, no jewelry, and I'm climbing out of a semi.

There will always be several automatic assumptions
1) I'm a lesbian (appearance)
2) I'm probably conservative (truck)
3) I'm not too bright (truck and size)

Only the first of these is even half-way true. But because of prior experience and media images, people never get as far as the cognitive dissonance between the first and second.

The problem comes when trying to write without stereotyping.
How do you handle characters of color, without making them cartoons, or too white?
How do you avoid making women into insane shrieking harpies, if they're villains, or good and pure angels, if they're good, or devouring sluts if it's erotica?

I think the answer is in motivation and characterization.
Every character needs to have enough personality that they have real wants and desires.
They pursue these desires.
This drives the plot and their interactions with other characters, who have desires of their own.

Right now, I'm working on a piece with a female villain.
Sarah Brown presents herself as Lady Sarah, although she has no right to the title. She's Lord Edward's jilted fiance and wants him back. She has money. She wants him for his title and his sexy body. She knows he doesn't love her, she doesn't care. She wants to marry him anyway.

To this end, she knows she has to tease him back to her, so she tries besting him at everything, in order to intrigue him. She knows Lord Edward has no use vanity or silliness, so she tries for ruthless competence instead.

The problem is conveying this in the little we see of her, all of it through the biased eyes of Charlie (Lord Edward's secretary). She has him kidnapped, to ensure Edward's pursuit and good behavior. She seduces him for her own amusement. She bests Lord Edward at the scene of the prize, and slanders him in the London papers as payback for a wild-goose chase. (is it a slander if it's true?)

Charlie, obviously, thinks of her as a spider. But I want the readers to think of her as a real, strong-willed woman, with desires of her own, even seeing her through Charlie's warped lens.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Spotters' Field Guide to the Common Zara Muse


The Common Zara Muse
(Muses angelias Zaras)

The Zara Muse was first spotted in spring 1987, during the writing of a trunk novel. She came with a bad case of twincest, an abusive husband and a look borrowed straight from the Belegriad. Over the years she has been dormant more often than she's been active, but 2005 saw a surge of activity as she appeared in the Cyber'verse.

Zaras are always highly intelligent and usually religious in a way that is more than general identification.

Appearance: A Zara is always tall and slender. She has straight black hair, impressive cheekbones, and an aquiline nose, like her twin's. She is pale, with eyes that are either black or green. She has small breasts and not much in the way of curves. She's all spare and elegant and icy.

Habitats: Zara likes her luxuries. Always wealthy, she can afford what she wants, whether a fine sorceress's tower or a penthouse apartment with hot and cold running slave boys.

Sexual Habits:
The Zara varies widely in her sexual expression. While some are nearly asexual, others are skilled dominatrices. She always has a relationship, whether past or ongoing, sometimes nonconsensual, with her twin brother, Zaran. She is one of the few completely straight muses. She is almost always barren.

Birthdate: Sept 20

Appearances and Aliases:

Zara beht Ellanya. The original Zara muse in a fantasy milieu. A born sorceress sworn to the service of Vendan the Destroyer, her brother kills her husband in order to keep her with him as his magician.

Zara Broine, Cyber'verse, "Pushing the Boundaries of Reality." The Technomancer is one of the top net runners. She becomes entangled with the runner called Gemini, never realizing there are two benEzra twins. She has a prison-issue neural implant (capable only of pain), which her brother controls as part of her ongoing and unwilling servitude. She also has a neural interface for a strap-on. Is a member of the Church of Christ, Programmer.

Sarah Brown. Roaring 20s. Lord Withycombe and the Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists. Lady Sarah, as she presents herself, is the erstwhile fiancee of Lord Edward Withycombe. An intelligent and ruthless adventurer, she will do almost anything to have Lord Edwad back and married to her, although they are incompatible. She wears trousers, shoots and rides astride, much to the scandal of all around her.

Kala. (Fairie WIP) A sadistic sorceress who is enslaving the fairy folk, using their magic to feed her own war with her brother.

Natasha "Queen Nat" Norman. (Casting Couch Blues) Miracle Picture's star performer and our hero's former stepmother. The only lesbian incarnation of the Zara muse. Has a longtime lover, Mariposa, and owns a third of of the studio.


Usual companions:

The benJedi twins, as the benEzras. Is married to the David twin, but seeing both.
Zaran. Her twin brother and a brutal top.
The David Muse. Either as a rival (the Wheelman) or as her secretary (Nigel)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Busy month

It's been a very busy month.
So busy, in fact, that I forgot to put up April's contest. *headdesk* So I got May's up early.

Finished our submission for Ellora's Topaz birthstone. We're 33K into a Roaring 20s novel.
And the deadlines keep coming.

So, actual content comes next post.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Site changes

There have been a few changes to the website.

The Muse-um is now open.
There are Current Releases on the front page.

And the April contest is up.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Spotter's Field Guide to the Common David Muse


The Common David Muse
(Muses angelias davidus)

The David Muse was first spotted in November of 2005, during the writing of Nikolai. His voice was clear and distinct, but he was originally mistaken for a Basic Luke Muse (muses angelias skywalkerus), as the writer in question was coming out of a Star Wars fan era. Later, upon a viewing of Love! Valour! Compassion!, the muse was clarified as having a great many John Glover-style behaviors and mannerisms.

Davids are always thinkers, planners and achievers. This muse is capable of referring to himself, unironically, as "the best mind of the twenty-first century."

Many of them have a slightly psycho- or sociopathic edge. The Inman variant is called The Butcher of Cairo and has been responsible for the deaths of over 50,000 people.

David muses are almost always atheists, unless they are supernatural beings.


Appearance
: The David muse can range in age from eighteen to his sixties. He favors appearing in his late forties to early fifties. He's often short, always slim. He's always fair, often blond, and tends to wear his hair rather long.

Habitats: Variable. The Morganstern subspecies favors rural isolation, while the Inman variety requires an urban lifestyle.

Sexual Habits
: The David is one of the few completely gay muses. He is minimally functional with females but finds performance difficult. He is always well endowed, somewhere between "Oh wow, nice" and "holy cow, keep it away!" The late-period Inman variant is a eunuch. A capable switch, he is an amazingly sadistic top when required, or a delightfully playful bottom. Often has a taste for verbal abuse.

Birthdate: February 14.

Appearances and Aliases:

David Charles Inman: The Butcher of Cairo first appears in Nikolai as Nick's teacher and James's lover/body slave. David is legally owned under Old Testament law, and wears the earring in his upper ear to prove it. Speaks ten languages, holds two masters degrees and a doctorate. Has written twenty books. He has a deep affection for Tanis, whom he treats as his daughter, and a sweet bit on the side with Valerio, the driver and bodyguard. He is bitterly jealous and resentful of Nick.

Professor L. Morganstern: "Tuition Fees: The Devil" The professor runs a private college for 13 of the most talented young men in the world. The name is transparent. Appears human most of the time.

Erik "The Wheelman" Ezekiel: Cyberverse. CEO of Ezekiel InfoTech, one of the largest multinationals. Is wheelchair-bound after being brain-burned by The Technomancer. Has a number of runners working under him, called Immortals. They are mutilated and confined to life-support chairs.

William Meier: "Paying forfeits." Older wealthy southern man, with a handsome young lover. Voyeur. has a taste for kink.

Victor Williams: "Raising the Dead." History professor with a writer lover. His life is spinning out of control, so he submits to his lover, but things go much too far. Strong verbal abuse kink.

Nigel: Lord Edward series. Secretary to Lady Sarah, former lover of Lord Edward. Nasty, scheming and completely devoted to his Lady.

David: "Talk like a Pirate Day." A Kansas City hotel events coordinator with a younger, rather ill lover.


Usual companions
:
The benJedi twins, usually the David twin (aka James).
Hates the Nick muse in almost every universe.
The Dan muse, who is often his son or lover (or his lover pretending to be his son, as in Paying Forfeits)
The Zara muse, either as rival (Technomancer) or employer (Lady Sarah)
The Paul muse, most often in the Corban Ligatos incarnation
The Chris muse

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Spotter's Field Guide to the Common Nick Muse




The Common Nick Muse

(Musus angelias nikolai)

The Nick muse was first spotted in November 2005, during production of the eponymous Nikolai. Originally mistaken for a Han muse (musus angelias solo), he quickly developed his own appearance and quirks.

Appearance: always short. Nicks don't go much taller than 5'7", much like the inspiration, Aaron Stanford. Always young, early 20s. Full mouth

Habitats: Urban, but variable. At home from ultra-elite penthouse to slum apartment.

Sexual habits
: Bisexual. Bully. Always bottoms to alpha males, domineering top to those he sees as weaker. Breath-control fetish. Oral fixation.

Birthdate
: November, always a Scorpio

Subspecies:
The True Nick Muse is distinguished from the Lesser Nick Muse by sheer psychopathy. The True Nick Muse is always a sociopath, usually a killer, and as hard on his lovers as his enemies.


Appearances and Aliases

Nick Admire (True Nick Muse): "Tuition Fees" sociopathic representative with an eye on the main chance. Breaks artist- lover's finger in story, carved initials into lover's penis in missing scene.

Nick Boyd: (True Nick Muse): Nikolai series. Original muse. Memphis streetrat trained to be a world leader. Psychopath. Cannibal.

Nick Harper (Lesser Nick Muse): Alive on the Inside. Addictive personality, has gone from beer to Jesus to gay sex. Guilt-driven, religion haunted.

Sean O'Neill (Lesser Nick Muse) Cyberverse: streetrat who gets lucky with irishgirl. Straight for most of the series (a rarity in Nicks)

Sean Dempsey (Lesser Nick Muse) Shell Shocked. PTSD Iraq vet with artificial knees and a bad valium habit. A little submissive.

Josh Tucker (Lesser Nick Muse): "Collared Hearts" Napoleon complex, bossy art dealer.Not sexually adventurous. Artist-lover collared him and taught him better

Charlie Doyle (Lesser Nick Muse): Lord Edward series. Brash, eager, blushes easily

Richard G. Jax (Lesser Nick): "Deadman's curve" An undead stripper with a demonic boss and an exclusive client.

Jared Byrne called Treesinger (Lesser Nick). Emerald Birthstone. An Earth mage with a half-elf lover.
Jarret Burns (True Nick). Emerald Birthstone. Computer programmer who breaks the If Barrier. Keeps a rescued whore as a housepet, makes him go out to lunch in drag. Has kinky sex with his best friend Taylor.


Usual Companions.


The benJedi twins, Misha and David, in any alias. (alpha male)
Christopher, the artist, in any alias
The T muse, in every alias (alpha male)

Monday, March 24, 2008

A busy week ahead

Naomi and I just finished a novella for Ellora's Birthstone line, the Topaz. "Showdown at the Yellowstone River" is in edits before submission.

I'm bushed. This thing wrote itself in a little more than a week. That's about 3000 words a day I've been typing.

I can only channel the Creative Fire, the Gotterfunken, so long at that pace. It exhausts me.

I'm taking a week's writing hiatus.

Which is fine because this weekend is Mid South Con and the Looney Tunes Ritual.

I'm up for the Darrell Award, the Memphis SF/Fantasy writing award.
I'm all at sixes and sevens getting my stuff together.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Racing the Past

Photobucket

Racing The Past is now available for $1.29

Ken Dorflinger has come back from Nam with a bunch of invisible scars and a head full of nightmares. He squelches them with weed and speed and blond mechanics. And this time, he finds the hottest fix in the Mojave, Jeff.


Excerpt:

Jeff was just a kid who had a feel for cars. He’d started rebuilding
engines for the guys in high school, married his sweetheart and set up
shop. She ran the business, he did the repairs.
“Sounds like you’re doing okay for yourself. She’s a real pretty little gal.”

“I’ll bet you know all about that. Racers get their pick, don’t they?”
Jeff sounded envious, as if he’d settled down too soon.

“Yeah, of drag-strip trash and cruiser chicks. And they all look alike
after a while: big tits, bigger hair, and clothes a size too small. I
ain’t in it for the girls. Or the money,” he added, knowing the next
question that was coming.

“So why do you do it?” The kid sounded genuinely curious.

“Mechanics. Pretty blond mechanics like you.” He laughed the flirt
off, suspecting he’d said too much, and trying to cover the truth.
“Nah, I do it because not doing it kills me. You shoulda seen me trying
to settle down. Couldn’t hold a job. Too much beer, too many pills,
too much weed and hash. I got on the pipe in ‘Nam, never quite got off it.”

“Driving makes you feel alive,” Jeff said, as if he knew the feeling.
“Yeah. Bet you’re the same way on engines. It’s the only thing makes
me feel real. The only thing that stops the nightmares.”

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Mid South Con

Where you can find me:
Friday 10 PM, Reading. I'll be doing "Outfoxed," one of the Darrell Finalists, and "S is for Succubus." "Miskatonic Mistletoe," is the alternate piece.

Sat:
3 PM, Word Catchers meeting--local writing group
5 PM, Banquet
11 PM, Love in the Underworld panel

Sun:
I'm outta there! It's the Looney Tunes Ritual with the local Pagan circle.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Computer troubles, submissions and other stuff

My computer exploded this month, so I've been shuffled to the kids' computer. I could learn to like Linux. the only reason I hung on to windows was for Windows Movie Maker and vidding. Konquerer as a web-browser wouldn't let me post here. I ended up using Firefox.

Nice to be back


So, in writing news,
"For Love of Etarin" has been Joyfully Recommended
Nikolai has been reviewing well.

"A Rose for Nicky" has been picked up for Toybox: Sounds, pending edits.

"Color of Magic/Color of Money" has gone out for the Emerald birthstone.
"Seconds" has gone out for Toybox: Collars
"Crossroads" was rejected for Love Bites, but has been picked up as a stand-alone.

And Naomi and I are writing *gasp* het.
"Yellowstone River Blues" is at about 8000 words out of 18000.

When it's finished, we're on to Lord Withycombe and the Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Two nice reviews

Rainbow Reviews covered both "For love of Etarin" and Nikolai.

Etarin is here. S. McDermott says:
Naomi Brooks and Angelia Sparrow weave a sci-fi tale that is filled with interest and romance. I found this to be a very fast and enjoyable read.


Nikolai is here. L. Adlem says:
The plot moves at a fast clip, the characters are drawn in clear lines.
Well written, I had difficulty putting it down and I was sorry when it finished.
It is a fascinating, riveting and very sexy story.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Kestrel is available!



Kestrel on the Horizon is now available in complete novel form!






Blurb: Nathanial Collins, captain of the Golden Horizon, seems to have everything a man could want, freedom to ride the seas, articles from His Majesty on hand, a new slave, and a great ship.


He has one thorn in his side, though, pirate captain Thomas Harrison of the Kestrel. Harrison is Collins' former captain and they parted on less than amicable terms.


Will Collins be able to make a life for himself and his new love? Or will the Kestrel be forever on the horizon?






I am interviewed

Circle Dark did an interview with me at their My Space.

I come off a little quirky but not totally insane.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Mid South Con

I just had a print copy of Nikolai made to give away in the contest. It is amazing-looking.

If you're coming to MidSouth Con, please stop by our dealer table and say hello. Get entered and maybe win a copy of Nikolai or Kestrel.

Writing Wrap-up for February

Published:
"His Wicked Way," Toybox: piercing from Torquere.
Kestrel on the Horizon

Accepted:
"Talk like a Pirate Day" as a Torquere Sip
Alive on the Inside to begin its serial run on May 12
"Deadman's Curve" by Circle Dark

Reviewed:
Nikolai at Literary Nymphs, Obsidian Bookshelf and Dark Diva, not to mention some private blogs.

Submitted:
"Crossroads" for Love Bites
Niko-Chan
"Five-time Loser: The Five of Pentacles"

Finished:
"Crossroads" for Love Bites.
"Five Time Loser: the Five of Pentacles"

Writing:
"Office Politics" for Bend over, Big Boy
Color of Magic/Color of Money
Lord Withycombe and the Curse of the Manicurists' Tomb
Shell Shocked
Nick & Corban
Peregrine Off of High Barbary
Pic for 1000 story

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Oh my...

As many of you know, I love country music.

This?
Is perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIGwiVg8s0

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Sexiest. Cover. Ever.

Glad Hands is currently in edits. But is that not the sexiest thing EVER?

The big truck, the hot men. Chuck making his move on Seven. Seven willing, but slightly resistant. Even the tat, kinda stretched as faded, as it would be because it was applied to Chuck when he was four.

Naomi and I are tickled pink

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Nine Days of CDP Announcement and Giveaway Rules!

Hello faithful friends and readers.

Circle Dark Publishing opened its virtual doors on March 1, 2007, making the same date in 2008 our very first birthday, and we want to make it special!

So special, in fact, we think we can fill up nine days worth of fun.

That is why we are proud to announce our "Nine Days of CDP" birthday celebration! From February 22 through March 1, there will be giveaways, announcements, maybe a chat or two, and even more surprises! And since you never know what we'll come up with, and because we do have some very exciting things planned, it's a good idea to keep checking back with us for more updates.

Where can you find us?
On our site:Circle Dark Publishing
Or on our blogs:CDP MySpace SiteCDP BraveNet Blog

Better yet, start celebrating with us now by participating in our giveaway.

Do you want to win one of the great surprise prizes CDP has to offer? Simply send in your full name, legal age, and mailing address for your chance to win. But be sure to follow the rules below. All entries MUST be sent to the following e-mail address: contests@circledarkpublishing.net

Giveaway Rules
1. You MUST be 18 years or older and an open-minded reader to participate in this giveaway. The prizes may include material unsuitable for all audiences.

2. Your full name, legal age, and mailing address MUST be included with your entry. (This is necessary to notify the winners, and to arrange the shipping of the prizes. Specific mailing address information will be kept confidential. Only the winners' names will be announced on any of CDP's sites.)

3. Only ONE entry per person, per week please! All duplicate entries will be ineligible.

4. The giveaway IS open to both U.S. and non-U.S. participants. Current Circle Dark staff are ineligible. ALL others are welcome to enter.

5. Entries will be accepted until Midnight Central time, on Thursday, February 21st, 2008. Winners will be selected later that day and will be announced throughout the CDP Birthday Bash events.

6. All data collected for this giveaway will be destroyed after the winners have been selected and prizes have been distributed.

7. All entries MUST be submitted to the following address: contests@circledarkpublishing.net

Thank you for entering the giveaway and for your interest in Circle Dark. Good luck and good reading!
Sincerely,
The StaffCircle Dark Publishing

(Angel's note: Circle Dark does some publishing for me)