Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Work in Progress Wednesday: Chain-Male

The next day dragged interminably. Chris came in at ten, as usual after a late night shift. He couldn't focus on coding MARC records into the computer, so he worked on filling interlibrary loan orders. When he realized he'd typed “Truth or Consequences New Mexico, consequences please” on a mailing label, he gave that up as a bad job and shelved the returned books.

He ate a tasteless sandwich from the campus grill for supper and loitered near the door of the building just to see what Jason drove. He was half-expecting some big black American-made muscle car, a mustang or corvette, but grinned to see Jason get out of a little dark blue vintage beetle. The engine purred in a way that told Chris Jason worked on it regularly, but one headlight was out. He ducked inside before Jason saw him, but not before he heard Jason cussing at the car.

He wasn't sure what Dr. Rea talked about that night. He just watched Jason. Jason took notes. Jason chewed on the end of his ponytail when he was trying to think. Jason turned bright red when his bracelet clanked the desk.

When the rest of the class gathered their things, Chris swallowed hard. He got up and trailed out the door, last to leave.

“Tell them they work you too hard,” Dr. Rea said, “or bring some coffee next time.”
“Sorry, prof. Long day.” Chris shrugged and escaped, his ears and cheeks flaming, to where Jason waited for him in the hall.

“Hey you,” Jason said with a grin, “Ready for some coffee? You look like you could use it.”

“Yeah. Better late than never,”Chris added with a glance at Dr. Rea who was still gathering his books. He followed Jason to the campus grill, nervous at being on a date. He waited, leafing through the history text, as Jason got the coffee.

Jason spread some papers around and opened the book, to give the appearance they were just studying. Chris just watched, holding his coffee.

Finally, he had to ask. He bent over the book and whispered, “So, how did you know? Lucky guess?”

Jason nodded and turned a page. “You didn't get all flustered. And when I tried a leading question, you didn't slug me.”

Chris smiled. “Slugging isn't allowed in the code of conduct anyway. Hasn't been that long ago that I realized it. It's been an okay secret.”

Jason took a drink of the coffee. “You didn't growl at me or anything. Straight guys hate the idea of gays. They wouldn't have been so eager to help me find a book.”

Chris needed to know. “Do you get slugged a lot? I mean... I never tried. I don't know.”

Jason shrugged. “A couple times. I got pretty good gaydar.”

Chris smiled and tasted his own coffee. “You'll have to help me tune mine up.

“It's not hard. Observation, mostly. I noticed you noticing me. By the way, I'm not sure you got my name. I'm Jace. You know, like Joxer's gay brother or Han Solo's kid.” Chris blinked and smiled. Jace face-palmed. “I am such a geek sometimes.”

“Geek is cute on you. I'm Chris.”

“Yeah, name tag.”

Chris glanced down at his shirt and saw he was still wearing his library nametag. Chris Jacobs, Interlibrary loan. “Guess I'm obvious.” He jumped when Jace's bracelet clanked on the table.

“You like this?” Jace pulled back his sleeve.

“I love it. Where'd you get it?”

“Made it. Caught you staring a time or two like you were figuring it out.”

Chris swallowed hard. He wasn't sure he wanted Jace to know so much about him already.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Work in Progress Wednesday: untitled back story

David Inman had always thought of his body as one more tool, useful but only a carrying case for his mind. He had first used it to reward a loyal minion when he was twelve–the same year he’d first killed--only to discover that sex for its own sake meant little. He was well aware, however, that there were many men who coveted his slim fairness.

Men like the one recently seated across from him. Handsome and predatory, in his mid thirties and Middle Eastern looking. David sat in the interrogation room, smoking and staring at him, watching every move of his long elegant fingers, his full, cruelly sensual mouth and his subtle black eyes.

“Smart enough to graduate Harvard at fourteen. Smart enough to hack every major banking network by sixteen. Still dumb enough to smoke. Maybe you aren’t what I’m looking for after all.”

David blew a perfect smoke ring in his direction. “Every genius should have one vice. And they’ve engineered out all the carcinogens, anyway.”

“And you have a multitude. From the brandy you are not old enough to drink to blackmailing the men who enjoyed you before today.” He laid a thick file on the table and set a stack of papers beside it. “The file contains all I know of you. I assure you it’s much more than the police have. And they are already speaking of four hundred years in prison.”

David lit another cigarette from the butt of the first. “Morons,” he said, tossing his head. Shoulder-length blond waves caught the light in a very deliberate way. “As if it could hold me. I’m a minor.”

The predator flashed the date of his watch. “Happy birthday, David. Eighteen as of now. And the paperwork will all have today’s date.” He smirked. “Data piracy, computer theft, information trespassing, and grand larceny.”

David laughed without humor. “Are you my intake officer to tell me all I already know?”

“My name is James Ligatos. I run a specialized rehabilitation program for promising young criminals such as yourself.”

David removed and polished his round wire-framed glasses. “Criminal is such an ugly word. I prefer homo superior. So what, precisely can you rehabilitate,” his voice turned bitter and mocking as he resettled his glasses, “a thieving little four-eyed faggot into?”

A small, secretive smile turned up the corners of Ligatos’s mouth without reaching his eyes. “More than you can imagine. The best mind in a century is meant for far better things than petty thievery and being sold for four cartons of cigarettes or half a bottle of whiskey.” He reached over and stroked the backs of his fingers along David’s cheek “You’re very pretty, very young and already gay. You’ll bring a good price on the inside, for a while. Until you are no longer so pretty.”

“Petty? Seven billion dollars is petty?” David looked him over appraisingly. “I have plundered the monkeymass, putting them to work for me as is my prerogative.”

Ligatos laughed in his face. “Seldom does one meet an elitist so blatant about it.”

David shrugged. “Humility is a method of control created by churchmen and enforced by lesser minds. It does not apply.”

“In twelve hours, you will be expounding your Heinleinian-Nietschzean philosophy to Bruno “the Mangler” Franzetti before he begins pounding on your ass. If you take my training, you will have three years of intensive, doctoral-level study and afterward, you will be well sought after.”

Sunday, December 6, 2009

New Release: Alive on the Inside



Alive on the Inside is LIVE!
by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks
ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-614-7 (Electronic)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-817-2 (Paperback)

Nick Harper has a nice life, a nice job, and a nice girl. Until Labor Day Weekend, when the Phantasmagoria Traveling Wonder Show comes to town.

Seduced by the dark and wickedly erotic charms of both the Phantasmagoria and Torturo, a man known in the freak sideshow as The Pain King, Nick embarks on a journey of self-discovery, love, and pain.

But the show is not what it seems. It changes those who come with it in ways they can never imagine, not even in their worst nightmares.

And Nick's changes are just beginning...

Genres: Gay / Erotic Horror / Dark Fantasy / BDSM / Contains Some Secondary Heterosexual (M/F) And Lesbian (F/F) Content
Heat Level: 3
Advisory: This book contains graphic violence, hardcore bondage and punishment, torture and blood play. May not be suitable for the more sensitive reader.
Length: Extended Novel (79k words / TBD paperback pages)

Excerpt Here

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Work in Progress Wednesday

This will be an ongoing feature.
If you find a snippet you particularly like, please nag me about it. I will finish everything eventually.

This is an untitled steampunk piece, currently in progress for Samhain. Work Safe.

He moved fast, but cautiously. Henry had never been in a pirate attack, but he'd heard about them from other aeronauts. He knew if he hid in one place, they'd find him. It was best to keep moving. He needed a weapon. They'd probably kill him as easily as they had Gideon, but he intended to sell his life as dearly as possible.

He made the armory, a small, understocked room, designed more with brawling passengers than pirate attacks in mind. Every Winchester and Springfield in the place was gone. Even the old Tredegar and Sharps had been taken. He checked the hand weapons. A single Bowie knife lay on the bottom of the cabinet. When he drew it, he saw why. The rusting, broken blade tested dull against his thumb.

It was still better than nothing. He hooked it to his belt and grabbed a whetstone and oil in passing. Knowing his time was too short for safety, he sharpened it as he walked. The upper crew decks were empty. He looked out over the main deck and saw the passengers lined up and prodded a long by the pirates. Each waited his turn in line and dropped whatever he had into the large sacks three of the bandits carried.

A man in a long black coat sprawled in a chair clearly dragged from one of the salons for him. Henry watched a moment too long, taking in the careless dangle of one booted leg over the arm, the gleam of the moonlight on his flying goggles. Smart, dangerous and utterly arrogant, he lounged watching the wealthy folks rid themselves of impediments to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Henry checked on the other side of the deck and saw the bridge and upper level crew, disarmed and under heavy guard. The chambermaids and cooks had been separated out from the men and stood in a tight knot, some clinging and weeping, some with looks of grim determination on their pretty faces. The black crew had been cordoned off as well and stood under heavier guard than the white. Henry shook his head. Guarded as if they were dangerous or had any loyalty to Captain Richardson. Richardson treated his white belowdecks crew as servants and his black crew as fixtures of the ship.

Henry counted forty pirates. He could not possibly take the ship singlehandedly. He would stay alert, watch what happened and try not to get captured. It didn't look like this pirate crew went in for butchery. Out here, they could have slaughtered the entire roster of the Star and dumped their bodies in the badlands of Deseret, never to be seen again.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Book Review: Ellora's Cavemen, Flovors of Ecstasy III



Buy here: http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-7606-163-elloras-cavemen-flavors-of-ecstasy-iii.aspx

It's the height of ego to review your own book. Oh well.

I was excited beyond measure when I got word that "Brazen Cherry Tart" had been picked up for the Cavemen series. This is, after all, the flagship anthology, the one that can get your name out there.

When I saw the cover, I got more excited. It was hot. It wasn't weird. No one was molesting pumpkins or being anatomically improbably or having their heads pasted on, yay.

And, omg, ZOMG, Naomi and me, we was FIRST, Jack! /Bill Cosby impersonation.

So, all in all, I was very excited about Cavemen.

I read my story.
"Cherry Tart" had been slightly retitled and sexed up a little. But it remained a stagecoach romance, set on the shuttle to Io in 1897. Better than I remembered it being. I was pleased.


"Climbing the Corporate Ladder Without Panties" by Courtney Bee came next.
Given the title, I wasn't having high expectations. Stiff Corporate Drone Kate who is stuck in her position gets caught having a moment by the copier repair guy. He spanks her. They have hot sex. She loosens up and dresses sexy and gets the promotion and raise.

I did NOT like this story. It sends the message looks and attitude are more important than competence. That a short skirt will get a raise quicker than a performance review. And that women who wear their suits like armor really just need a good spanking. Some of the sex felt coercive as well. 1/5 stars



"Eight Seconds" by Sherry James was cute and sweet, but lacking plot. Rancher/Erotica author Taylorr is getting lonesome and considering buying some lingiere to seduce her brother's BFF next time he's in town, since she hasn't been laid in 2 years. BFF, Devlin, turns up at her ranch in a blizzard. Sex ensues.

Good voice. Good atmosphere. I imagined myself in the middle of a high-plains blizzard very easily. No conflict. 2/5 stars

"Pitch Black" by Fiona Jayde is a decent little thriller. Kate is a spy in Kiev. Nicholai orchestrates a blackout that lets her hide from the Russians. They take it on the run to stay alive.

This was pretty good. Not my genre, but entertaining enough to grab me and keep me reading. The sex flowed naturally from the action. The locations and characters were believble. 4/5 stars



I'd looked forward to "Shifting Sides" by Cheryl Dragon. It sounded right up my alley. A dragon shifter and a cat shifter who had been captives and experiemental subjects together re-encounter each other on an evacuated Earth. Breman, the dragon, has come for Kiren, the cat, to entice her to come back to a breakaway colony where shifters are full citizens.

This...could have been amazing if it had had less sex. The first two chapters are sex, sex and more sex. I finally gave up and skipped to chapter three where the real action started. Once there, Dragon did an awesome job on the world building. I would like to read more set in this milieu. 3/5 stars



"The Johnson Obsession" by Lyla Sinclair was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting much from it, given the title. But Sinclair's clever, snarky voice pulled me right into this parody of a certain type of woman who reads kinky romance. Our uptight heroine, Vivian, has been drawing her hot neighbor Duke Johnson for a while. But some mixed up mail lands Duke on her doorstep to deliver it, including the spicy, kinky romance novel that he read....

The sex is incredibly hot and playful, the author's voice is funny and clever. The only real criticism I have is one turn of phrase: "She felt a liquid release between her legs." My first thought was "She wet herself?" The plot was thin, but the characters were engaging. 3/5 stars.


Production values:
The ebook is laid out nicely and easy to read. The print version is done on greyish pulp with a thin cover. The font is easy to read, though.

Overall, I give the collection 2 stars out 5. Some of the stories are very entertaining. The e-book version is the better value.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A couple of great reviews

Literary Nymphs did a review of Shell-Shocked. Five stars, "a bit of originality, mixed in with some tough life lessons."

I had my doubts about Shell-Shocked. I figured it would be a hard sell (it was snapped up almost immediately by the first publisher) and that no-one would want it (16 copies sold, 32 stolen) and that it would review poorly because nobody wanted to read about a couple of disabled guys propping each other up. So far, it's reviewed the best of anything we've written. I don't get it. Maybe I should stop trying to predict the market, hmm?

Val Kovalin reviewed Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists again, this time at Jessewave's. 5 stars and summed up as "FUN" and "totally unique."

Friday, October 23, 2009

First Page Friday: Shell Shocked

You can get a free copy of Shell-Shocked today

Remember, you must comment on ALL the FPFs for a shot at the book bundle:
First Page Friday: Shell Shocked

Thursday, October 22, 2009

First page Friday

We're trying something new on my Facebook Fan group.

First Page Friday.
This will run from now until the end of the year.

Every Friday, I will post the first page of one of my books.
Readers can comment on it. The comment must be more than "first" or "enter me!"
A random reader will receive a e-book.

At the end of the year, one lucky reader will receive a paperback book bundle. Guaranteed four book minimum, possibly as many as ten. You must comment on ALL First Page Fridays to be eligible.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Good reviews

Rainbow Reviews covered Queer Dimensions and gave it a five star rating.
http://www.rainbow-reviews.com/?p=1932
Of ours, they said, "Plumbing the Depths" by A. Sparrow & N. Brooks never quite took off for me, although it's nicely plotted, and I was rooting for the relationship to flourish.

And the Obsidian Bookshelf talked about Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists
http://obsidianbookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-curse-of-pharaohs-manicurists.html
Val calls it "fast-paced" and an "intellectual treat."

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

It's here

LIKE A CORSET UNDONE is finally out! And on SALE

Photobucket

Order here: http://www.circlet.com/?page_id=12&category=4&product_id=91

For the next two weeks the title is on sale at up to 20% off from most partner sites, and right here at Circlet.com, so don’t dawdle, download a copy today!

All the trappings of steampunk society–corsets, airships, and ‘leaping technologie’–meet the simmering undertone of sexuality so well-hidden by Victorian morality in LIKE A CORSET UNDONE, Circlet Press’s third volume of erotic steampunk stories. By turns kinky and romantic, the stories in Like a Corset Undone explores all the reasons to unlace, whether to rebel, or for more intimate purposes.

Includes the stories:
The Pretty Horsebreaker by Peter Tupper
Adventures Underground by Carlanime Bligh
The Skydancer by R.E. Bond
Skyway Robbery by Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks
The Tinker's Lady by Jasmine Dale
The Zeppelin Raider by Roxy Katt
Submission by R. Blackett
The Coming Age by Angela Caperton

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Shell Shocked is Here!




Shell Shocked
by Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks

Publisher: Pink Petal Books

Buy it!


Blurb:
Sean Dempsey came home from Iraq with artificial knees, scorched retinas and a lot of baggage. He supplements his disability checks with money made writing romance novels under a female pseudonym, ironic as he has grown very nervous around women since a certain suicide bomber. When he meets Gabriel Herne, legless phone psychic, the sparks startle him. It's everything he's written about and never believed.

Swept into a whirlwind romance, Sean has to learn about his newfound bisexuality and his lover's pagan faith at the same time. And when he has a religious experience of his own, he discovers everything changes in its time, just like the Wheel of the Year.

NOTE: This novel contains erotic scenes of hot men celebrating pagan holidays in an accurate depiction of the Wheel of the Year.


Did someone request an erotic gay disabled pagan inspirational romance?

Monday, October 5, 2009

Bits of news

In the good news column:

Pink Petal Press has picked up the novella, "Showdown at Yellowstone River" despite the whore-mongering hero and the unlikable heroine.

Edits of Alive on the Inside have gone back to Amber Quill. 81000 words, sheesh.

Shell-Shocked comes out Thursday.


In the "meh" column:

Still no reviews for Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists or Ellora's Cavemen.

Speaking of Cavemen, I need to read a couple more of the stories. Ours is good. The other I've read was...porntastic in a Penthouse Letters sort of way and barely stayed on the safe side of sexual harrassment and consent.

Only three reviews for Heart of a Forest, only one really good.

No money on Manicurists until November. Ditto Cavemen. Phaze still hasn't published July royalties.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Thoughts on Steampunk and related genres

For those who don't know, steampunk is science-fiction set in the Victorian era with steam-driven technology that is a little too advanced. Think about the tank and submarine in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

So, this month I have two stories labeled "steampunk" coming out.
The thing is, only one of the stories is steampunk. The other is gaslight romance.

Let me explain:

Let's say you write a story about a brass robot worker who runs on steam.

If you write it with the "ooh, shiny, look what we did! We're so clever, let's save the world!" tone, it's an Edisonade.

If you write it that the hero has done this to get rich, relieve his drudgery and marry his lady-love, it's gaslight romance.

If you write about the robot putting workers out of jobs, because it doesn't need food or wages or sleep, and the workers revolt, you have steampunk.

***

Steampunk has been summed up as "an argument with the SF of earlier eras." The steampunk shiny always comes with a dark flip-side. An Edisonade is a story that focuses on the inventor, usually a man, who comes up with something really brilliant. There is no dark side to his shiny.

Sure, we can build a deep-sea vessel, maybe even an undersea city. That's your Edisonade: the bright-boys building, overcoming obstacles and achieving a brainiac uptopia. Steampunk explores questions like "who gets to live in the city?" If it's built by bright-boy inventors who form an all-male inventing club and don't let women or "lesser minds" in, who is going to do all the things they think are beneath them? And when they let the lesser folk in, what happens when the lessers want to invent as well?

Gaslight romance uses the high-tech trappings of steampunk to tell stories that are not challenging to the status quo, but not "oooh, shiny" of the Edisonades. In Gaslight Romance, characters take their everyday tech for granted. They like it because it works. They seldom tinker with is. The story they are involved in does not center on the tech, nor does it quarrel with the tech or (too much) with society.

***

Hence "Skyway Robbery," with Robin and his crew specifically targeting "Edisonian" ships, taking from the bright-boy-inventors-turned-sweatshop-owners and funding workers is explicitly steampunk. But "Cherry Tart," with Chastity and Ulysses falling in love being the main focus, and even the trip to Io in a brass and wood ship being secondary, is pure gaslight romance.

***

A side note
There are many other -punks:
Bronzepunk: 300 is a good example of this. Swords and Sandals with extra. Archimedes was the father of Bronzepunk tech and should be used as often as possible 8)

Clockpunk: Renaissance period

Dieselpunk: Post-Victorian, pre-Atomic age.

Atompunk: Hard to separate from cautionary tales and 1950s Big Bug movies. Technically, The Hills Have Eyes remake would be Atom and Splatterpunk.

Cyberpunk: Science fiction, usually dealing with humans and machines interfacing. This was the first of the genres, and Gibson's Neuromancer is still considered the seminal work.

Mythpunk: use of post-modern elements in classic elf and fairy stories. Catherynne M. Valente specializes in this.

Splatterpunk: really excessively gory horror.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

A busy week this week

Two anthologies release this week with steampunk stories by Naomi and me.

"Cherry Tart," a rare straight piece, is coming in Ellora's Cavemen: Flavors of Ecstasy III. It releases Sept 22, Tuesday. I'll blog more on that when I have a cover.


"Skyway Robbery," a steampunk Robin Hood menage a trois, is coming in Like a Corset Undone from Circlet Press


A safe excerpt follows:

Marion looked up from the aetheric tank where the representations of the airships drifted in and out of view amid scudding clouds. “Three degrees more to port or we'll never catch those Edisonian bastards!”

Obligingly, Robin turned the wheel of the pirate dirigible, Sherwood Forest, to the heading. Marion had picked up navigation skills as if born with a tank in hand, despite the fact it was her first voyage. She had begun badly, orphaned on the doorstep of a workhouse, and progressed to a shop-girl working for a glover. He smiled to think how fast she had agreed to be a boy to pursue a life of flight and piracy.

He watched his crew as they scurried here and there, preparing for the battle. Little John, his first mate, gathered the boarding party with their grapple-launchers. Will O'Hara, a runaway Fenian, and Mudge, his little jack-of-all-trades, angled the burning-glass that stood along the port side. He'd named his whole crew after his ancestor's legendary band, saying it was wiser so, since no official would accept a report that Robin Hood and his Merry Men had just robbed them.

Once the burning-glass was settled, Will scooted up to him and nipped his neck as he slung a quiver of explosive arrows on Robin's back. His time with the Fenian Brotherhood had given him a love of explosives and shiny things. It amused Robin, most of the time, to indulge him. “Just pull the fuse and fire. The fuses are a little longer so you don't lose your eyebrows again, Robin darlin'.” Will stole another kiss and dashed off to do more tinkering with the glass.

Robin saw Marion shoot him a dark look as she watched them. She might be filling his bed, but Will had been there first. Robin had no intention of giving up either one of them.

He'd informed Marion of this the second time Will had gone overboard under suspicious circumstances. Fortunately, Will was small, light and fast enough to grab at some netting. Robin had found him pretending to be working while he awaited rescue. The normally fearless boffin had worn safety harnesses for weeks afterward.

“Your new navigator has a ferocious temper, Robin darlin'. But sure, I probably deserved it,” was all Will would say of the incident.

The fat industrialist dirigible, with its enclosed gondola, emerged from the mist like a surfacing whale about to spout. Robin allowed himself a grin of pleasure and stroked the smooth yew wood of his bow. He loved hunting trips.

He glanced at where Marion had bent over the tank again. He appreciated his lady and her new-found skills, but never more so than when she stood like this, her trousers taut over her legs and rear. Only he and Will knew her true sex. She bound her breasts, lowered her voice and dressed in men's clothing, with enough layers to hide her shape, by his orders. It might be the newly-minted twentieth century, but his crew was as superstitious as any that had ever sailed, Phoenician or Norse or their own ancestors under Drake and Morgan. A woman aboard ship was bad luck to their minds. To Robin's thoughts, she would become another bit of spoil to be quarreled over. That development would serve no one.

Will still scurried about, his blue eyes shining with delight at testing his new toys, and his sharp Irish tongue lashing all the men with curses and blarney in English and Gaelic alike. Speaking the Irish language might be grounds for jail time on the ground, but Robin loved the sound of it and here, he was the law. He watched Marion track Will's motions as effectively as she tracked the Edisonians.

He wanted the battle done, the Edisonians' wealth aboard his ship, and to be bundled into the master cabin with Will and Marion while John held the helm steady for their hideaway. He needed to resolve this personal mess and the sooner the better, lest it spill over the crew. Ah, there would be time. The Edisonian ship was in his range, although he was not yet in theirs.

“Fire one!” Marion yelled.

Monday, September 14, 2009

The Question

This is a repost of my post to the Amber Quill blog.

I finally got The Question. You know the one, "Where do you get your ideas?"

I took a page from the late, great Lewis Grizzard and said, "I subscribe to a service in North Dakota. $10 a month and they send me three ideas a week."

In reality, anything can start a story. Ideas are all around us. Comedian Carl Hurley says, "I don't make anything up, I just watch folks and tell it like it is." Well, as a writer, I tell it like it isn't. But I do observe and I do record and everything is grist for the mill.

For instance, my first stand-alone short story came because an editor said "I need a 10,000 word Christmas story. Any topic." I kicked it around a little and remembered the old superstition that children born on Christmas Day are werewolves. I remembered being on the old vampyres@guvm mailinglist. And I put it together and got a couple of thoroughly modern creatures of the night who meet on mailing-lists, play computer games, shop, host parties and watch DVDs. And have a lot of sex.

I've had stories come out of role-playing games, songs, fragments of old legend, my husband's boardgame collection and my job.

For instance Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists came about because my muse was having a really bad day. He and Naomi's muse sat down and started talking. They decided they wanted to travel, to do a historical.

It sounded something like this:
Nick: You can be the handsome globe-trotting adventurer and I your devoted comapnion
T: With little round glasses?
Nick: Oh. You like me in the glasses...and a bow tie. We'll skip the sweartervest.
T: *amused look* My secretary. Who keeps my affairs in order because I'm far too adventurous.
Nick: Oh, I like that. Fluttering after you trailing papers and pencils. And I can be cute and really bubbly
T: And I can be naturally dashing.
Nick: and we can explore and have adventures and have lots of exotic sex

And they worked out names and occupations, decided it was a pulp, then ambushed me in the grocery store and made me scribble the opening on my list, somewhere between the tortillas and toilet paper.

There are stories that started as missing scenes in other stories. "Collared Hearts" came out of "Tuition Fees," a private Christmas present scene between Nick and Chris.



The moral of this entry:
1) Inspiration can come from anything.
2) Always carry something to write with and on.
3) Always pay your North Dakota Idea Service promptly.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Oh my. A busy month

Y'all are gonna get tired of me talking here.

I have oodles of books coming out this month. I gotta be more careful when I pray for a good harvest. The gods have senses of humor.

The quick and dirty run down:

Queer Dimensions is out
"Skyway Robbery" is coming in Like a Corset Undone
"Cherry Tart" is coming in Ellora's Cavemen
The print format of Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists is coming.

Busy busy.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Writing with an Agenda

I've been told writing with an agenda is a bad thing. I hear it stifles the story. I don't agree.

I have a four-fold agenda when I sit down to write a GLBT story:

1) Tell the best story I can in a way that will captivate and remain with the reader long after the book closes. This should be EVERY writer's agenda.

2) Promote the normalization of same-sex relationships through repeated exposure to characters with that orientation. The more people see gay characters as ordinary people, the less shocking such relationships become. Julian May surprised me with same-sex spouses in the 80s. But rereads found Gert and Hansi and Felice and Amarie less shocking.

3) Include a transgressively happy ending. There are enough Dead Queer books around. The happy ending challenges the social norm that gays must be miserable or dead by the end of the book.

4) Move money from the reader's pocket to my own in exchange for this story. Again,
every writer's agenda.


Think and know your agenda. It makes for better writing.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009



QUEER DIMENSIONS presents queer futures in an
exciting collection of 17 science fiction tales from
both new and established authors.



Ebook available now.
Print available Sept 21



https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3812*
35% Discount off the RRP
Coupon Code: MN24S (code is not case sensitive)
Expires: September 21, 2009
Coupon Code is valid only at SmashWords for a limited period. SmashWords provides a wide range of formats and the purchaser is available to select whichever format is desired.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Guest blogger at Live Journal

Charlie Doyle, from CURSE OF THE PHARAOH'S MANICURISTS, is blogging at my LJ tonight.

http://valarltd.livejournal.com/1015060.html

A few words

Good morning, faithful readers.

In the next few weeks you're going to be asking "Holy cow, how does she write so fast?" I have two short stories coming out in mid-September, a novel in October and one in December. This on top of a novel in February, two in July and today.

That makes six novels and three short story collections for 2009. Maybe four, if Queer Dimensions comes out.

So, how do I write so much?
The answer is simple: I don't.

What you are seeing, friends and neighbors, is the fruit of two, sometimes three years of work. And it's all coming ripe at once.

Niko-Chan was started in Jan 2006. Glad Hands was written in November 2006. Alive on the Inside came from November 2007.

So as the wheel turns into autumn, enjoy the cornucopia of Brooks and Sparrow. Because next year? There won't be much. We've been editing all year long and only produced three short stories and a children's book.

Book Announcement


Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: Historical/Paranormal/adventure
ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-566-9 (Electronic)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-843-1 (Paperback)
Release Date: 08/30/2009
Length: Novel


Blurb:
In the roaring '20s, Charlie Doyle, the ink still wet on his Dartmouth journalism degree, answers an ad for a job as secretary to Edward Kilsby, Lord Withycombe and renowned flying ace of the Great War. The ad leads him to expect excitement, but Charlie never expects quite so much.

When Edward is hired to find missing archaeologist Sir Alexander Spencer, Charlie is about to go for the ride of his life. A whirlwind tour of London, the Paris nightlife, a kidnapping by Edward's jilted fiancée and rival, Cairo, the Valley of the Kings, even the Orient Express all pale compared to what awaits Charlie and Edward in the tomb of Ni-ankh-khnum and Khnum-ho-tep, Overseers of the Manicurists in the Palace of the King.

But not mummies nor jilted lovers, not malaria nor Anubis himself can stop their quest...or their growing love for each other...

Buy
Website
Blog

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Today's post of content: Editing

Editing.

Oh dear Bird, I hate editing.
I have been stuck in that special place called Editing Hell all year.
It's been worth it. I have three novels and a short story currently out, two more novels and two shorts forthcoming before the end of the year.

What bugs me most? The time. The time it takes to read a novel for the fifth time (that's four novels I can't add to my 50 Book project list!) hunting out stray commas and missing words. The time I'm not creating, despite screaming muses.

On the other hand...I've read half-edited books.
Even well-edited ones occasionally miss something.
The last two mass-market paperbacks I bought had editing errors, but only 1 per book. It was a your/you're confusion for one and an its/it's.

My favorite bit of bad proofing is a priest telling his acolyte to "light the censors."

And that is why I edit. So no one can say I don't know my ass from a hole in the ground the difference between censors and censers and sensors.

The Ticky box went out for ice cream three questions ago

Hi.

I'm very bad about keeping up this blog. I tend to treat it as a promo place and do all my real stuff over at Live Journal. I want to change that.

So, the new idea:
I'll post at least once a week.

My readers have said they would like to see, in this order
Book announcements
Writing process posts
Book reviews of what I'm reading.
Missing scenes, whether fully written or just in chat

There might even be the occasional guest blogger, despite the fact most weren't interested.

Leave a note in the comments for what else you might like to see.
I'd eventually like to have this become more of a conversation and less me shouting an ?empty? room.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Finally winding down

All my edits are in.
My con plans are made. I'm about ready to order my book stock for Dragon Con.

I get a break, for a while.

A good thing too. Nick has been bugging me to write something new.

Friday, July 24, 2009

It's here!



Heart of a Forest, a tale of Robin Hood and Maid Marion, is now available from Ellora's Cave.





BLURB:
In 1199, King Richard the Lion-Hearted lay dying in France. He commanded his lover, Sir David of Doncaster, to protect his small son by any means necessary.

Marion Fitzroy, princess of the blood on the wrong side of the blankets, now lives a constrained life in Nottingham castle, dreaming of her childhood betrothed, the son of the Earl of Locksley. As the Barons’ War rages around her uncle King John, her dispossessed fiancĂ©—now called Robin Hood—and his merry irregulars make life miserable for Phillip, the sheriff of Nottingham.

Robin, for his part, is about to learn the secret that Marion guards with her life. Thwarting Phillip’s gambits for Marion’s hand, a doubled price on his head, even shooting for an arrow of pure gold all pale next to the pleasures to be had in his beloved Marion's arms, deep in the heart of Sherwood Forest.






EXCERPT:

Robin pulled her so close she could feel his large body all against her own. Her prick, stirring from the moment he had arrived, now came fully awake. She could feel his as well and a strong desire to hold it seized her. But that was far too forward.

He kissed her, bending her back just a little with the force of it. His mouth moved hotly on hers, his tongue brushing her lips. She parted them a little and he slipped inside. His tongue pressed hers and then up to the roof of her mouth. She reeled from excitement, her heat rising until she thought she might faint. She knew he would hold her if she did and that too excited her.

Her breath came in short sharp bursts when he released her, as if she had run up all the stairs to the tower. She smiled at him, his face still above hers and very close. “Does a princess of the blood kiss as well as a peasant girl?” she whispered.
Robin smiled and shook his head. “Nay. Better, much better. As far beyond that milkmaid who turned you red as the moon is beyond the millpond.”

Marion smiled. “Then meat to the beggar for charity, in the name of our Lady. And payment again for you, in the same.” She kissed him again, learning quickly from him and returning his pleasure threefold.

He caressed her face when they parted and she looked up into his twinkling eyes, their color uncertain in the moonlight. There were many things she wished to say but none she could shape at this instant. Her thoughts were consumed by the heat between them.

From behind her, Marion heard a light tread and a loud cough. “My lady, this is quite unseemly,” Bess scolded.

Robin leapt back, his face that of a small boy caught stealing a pie cooling on a windowsill.

Bess looked him up and down scornfully. “A bit late to be peddling your meat, is it not? I thought you quite spent.”

"All but one piece for I saw my lady interested in it.” Remorse having failed to soothe the stern old woman, Marion watched as he smoothed on charm, smiling and flashing his dimples at her nurse.

Bess was not charmed and shot a stern look at Robin's tunic front and Marion's own dress. She scowled. “And was she indeed? Be off with you, mad blade, and do not trouble my lady Marion again.”

Marion whirled on her lady, speaking sharply to her for the first time in her life. “Bess, hold your tongue. You would speak so to the Earl of Locksley?”

Robin shifted and Marion saw him try coaxing his own serpent into submission. “Former earl, my lady.”

Bess grasped Marion's hand. “When he is the earl again, he may come seeking your hand. Until then, my lady, I will keep a firm grip on it.”

Robin bowed, understanding what Bess said, as well as what she did not. Marion heard as well and knew Robin would return to her like the birds in spring, since he now had Bess' permission.

"I'll not keep you from your rest, my ladies.” He sat on the balcony rail and grasped the vine to climb down.

Marion broke free and embraced him once more. “Goodnight, sweet Robin. Fly away. It is too dark for you to be out.” She watched as he made his way down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Bess dragged her in for bed and Marion did not protest.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Book Giveaway

Dominic is giving away an ARC of Paul Jessup's surrealist space opera, Open Your Eyes.

For more details, go to http://paladinfreelance.blogspot.com

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Upcoming Debauches

June27: Nikochan release
Aug 31: Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists e-book
Mid Sept: Manicurists in paperback
Sept 21: Ellora's Cavemen 3, with "Cherry Tart"
October: Shell-shocked.

Currently accepted and/or edited:
"Plumbing the Depths" for Queered Dimensions
"Skyway Robbery" for Like a Corset Unlaced

Currently out:
"Bewteen Despair and Ecstacy" for Blood Fruit
Showdown at Yellowstone River

Monday, June 22, 2009

News




Niko-Chan comes out this Saturday!
http://www.darkroastpress.com/


And we have a cover!

Manicurists comes out Aug 31.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Robin Hood blurb


In 1199, King Richard the Lion-Hearted lay dying in France. He commanded his lover, Sir David of Doncaster, to protect his small son by any means necessary.

Marion Fitzroy, princess of the blood on the wrong side of the blankets, now lives a constrained life in Nottingham castle, dreaming of her childhood betrothed, the son of the Earl of Locksley. As the Barons' War rages around her uncle King John, her dispossessed fiancé, now called Robin Hood, and his merry irregulars make life miserable for Phillip, the sheriff of Nottingham.

Robin, for his part, is about to learn the secret that Marion guards with her life. Thwarting Phillip's gambits for Marion's hand, a doubled price on his head, even shooting for an arrow of pure gold all pale next to the pleasures to be had under Marion's skirts, deep in the heart of Sherwood Forest.

Monday, June 8, 2009

News from the Den of Debauchery

Amber Quill announced Lord Withycombe and the Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists will be coming out August 30. The print will come a couple weeks later. So I won't have it for Dragon*con, but I can do postcards.

Dark Roast Press announced that Niko-Chan will be available June 27. This is the Nikolai sequel.


Also, writerly types: Can anyone commit to giving us a cover quote for Manicurists? I'll send a proof copy.

Monday, May 11, 2009

It's May, It's May, the month of "yes you may."

We finished the first edits of Heart of the Forest and are still waiting to hear on a bunch of stuff.

Niko-chan is the next release. Then Ellora's Cavemen, with our story "Cherry tart." This is one of our rare het efforts.

Otherwise, we're not up to much, just endless rewrites.

We're starting either ManHunt or a fairy novel in July.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Niko-Chan cover!



Pending blurb:
Nick Boyd passed his Test, a grueling challenge to prove his worthiness to serve James Ligatos, one of the ruling cabal called The Eight. Now, he finds himself swept from his native Memphis to The Eight's training compound outside of Rome.

In the city called The Great Harlot, Nick must learn new lessons, from the mysterious Mistress Benta, from his tutor, Steven, and from the imposing Master Michelino. When he fails to learn fast enough, he is sold to become a Daughter of the Dragon...

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Don't dream it. Be it, (Xpost from LJ))

One thing that bothered me about MidSouth Con was the number of people who talked to me about the books they want to write.

Not "have written."
Not "are writing."
But "want to write."

There were some really good ideas in there, including a unique take on time travel. I encouraged every one of them to write it up. Most just sort of sighed and shook their heads. No time. Not enough skills. Not good enough to do it justice.

There is only one way to be a writer: WRITE

Sit down and write the story.
It may not be all you dreamed or envisioned.
It may not make you much, or any money.
Write it anyway.

People may not get it.
People may get it and hate it.
Write it anyway.
The story does no one any good sitting in your head waiting for Someday.
Someday when I'm good enough.
Someday when I have time.
Someday when I'm not blocked.
There is no someday. There is today. You get 24 hours, just like the rest of us. If you need to write, if it gnaws until you can't see straight and MUST get it out on paper before you go mad, you'll make time.

Harlan Ellison says "If you can be discouraged, you should be."
Poppy Brite reminds us that only 2% of writers make a living at it.
Write anyway.

All of the above is summed up in one word: fear. Being a writer is big and scary. I still feel like Wiley E. Coyote who has run out of cliff when I send a story to an editor.
Feel the fear. Do it anyway.

If you want to be a writer, write.
If you want to be an author, submit.

But don't wait. Tempus keeps right on fugiting, faithful readers. And better a piece you weren't quite ready to handle than one you never started out of fear.

Here endeth the lesson.
(today's sermonette brought to you by the Yew: Perseverance leads to achievement)

Monday, March 23, 2009

Reviews

I got a great review from Joyfully Reviewed on Eight Days Ablaze:
http://joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/Mar09/eightdaysablaze.AS.html
"a charmingly different tale that kept me engaged from start to finish and is a holiday story that will be on my mind all year ‘round."



Glad Hands is going over very well

Five Nymph review from Lit Nymphs:
http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2009/03/glad-hands.html
"Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks bring the thunder with Glad Hands."

Four stars from Rainbow Reviews
http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=1053
"This is one of those fast reads that you just cannot put down until you are finished."

Elisa enjoyed it
http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=1053

Val called it outstanding.
http://www.obsidianbookshelf.com/html/gladhands.html
"I highly recommend Glad Hands, an outstanding read that may easily turn out to be the best fiction I get my hands on this year."

Friday, March 13, 2009

Reading and Signing

Tonight!
7 PM
892 S. Cooper (The Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center)

Angelia Sparrow, local GLBT romance author, will be reading from her latest works.

Nikolai:
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

AND

Glad Hands
Chuck rolls his rig across the no-longer-United States, from Montana to Arkansas. He expects a fast run with no complications. What he doesn’t expect is Seven, a pretty blue-eyed drifter who turns not only his head but makes his blood boil.

His gayness tattooed into his very skin, Seven needs Chuck’s help to escape the very limited life Heartland forces upon him. And when the even more repressive Confederated States take an interest, Chuck and Seven are in for the ride of their lives.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Read An Ebook Week



In honor of Read An Ebook Week, Naomi and I are offering a copy of our short story, "Tuition Fees: The Devil."

Click here to Download

More books are always available at The Website

Friday, March 6, 2009

March Madness Promo Tour

March madness promo tour
I just realized, I'm doing promo stuff every week in March.

Tonight, March 6,
7 pm Central
Interview, aired live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Circle-Of-Seven There is also active chat session online.

After the show is aired, it is available for download at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Circle-Of-Seven


March 13
7 pm Central
Reading and Book signing
Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center
892 S. Cooper Street
Memphis TN
I'll be reading from Nikolai and Glad Hands, and signing books.
(Books for sale include Nikolai $10
Flipped Fables
Torqued Tales
Taboo Treats, all $15,
all books are trade paperbacks)

March 21-23
MidSouth Con, Memphis
03/21/2009 23:00:00 Paranormal Romance
03/22/2009 14:00:00 Is the Short Story Dead?
03/22/2009 16:00:00 Darrell Award Finalist Reading
03/22/2009 17:00:00 Banquet

I'll be reading from "Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch," and I'll be available in the Dealer's room.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Glad Hands is out!

Photobucket


http://www. jasminejade. com/pm-6878-489-glad-hands. aspx


Chuck rolls his rig across the no-longer-United States, from Montana to Arkansas. He expects a fast run with no complications. What he doesn’t expect is Seven, a pretty blue-eyed drifter who turns not only his head but makes his blood boil.


His gayness tattooed into his very skin, Seven needs Chuck’s help to escape the very limited life Heartland forces upon him. And when the even more repressive Confederated States take an interest, Chuck and Seven are in for the ride of their lives.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Free books

http://valarltd.livejournal.com/2009/02/01/

The contest is still open! You can get a copy of Glad Hands.

Friday, February 6, 2009

ZOMG!



I have the proof copy of the Nikolai trade paperback. Yes, it's Print on Demand, with my publisher's permission (until they get that side of operations going). The first demand order was 2 for a pair of charity auctions.

There will be paperbacks available soon. But let the winners have an exclusive for a while.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

New website look and New contes

The Den of Debaucery has an awesome new look thanks to Naomi.
Go check it out:
http://www.angelsparrow.com


Also, we're having a new contest for the month of February.

To celebrate a new release and a new website, we're giving away not one, not two but THREE copies of Glad Hands! To win, simply create a description of a BPAL (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab)- style scent for any character in any of Naomi and/or Angelia's books!

A complete character list is posted.

The three winners will be Angelia's favorite, Naomi's favorite, and a People's Choice, decided by a poll. Entries close Feb 20.

Send your scent description to contest@angelsparrow.com

Saturday, January 31, 2009

New site and contest

Naomi and I decided it was time to overhaul
http://www.angelsparrow.com

So she's done up an excellent new design (authors, if you like it, she does this professionally. Drop her an e-mail) and to celebrate the new site and new release (Feb 25), we're holding an exciting new contest!

Watch this space for details!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Deliciously Decadengt December: Cat Burglar


Come celebrate the last day of Deliciously Decadent December with Ellora's Cave Author, Shelley Munro.


Cat Burglar by Shelley Munro
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Paranormal Shapeshifter
ISBN: 9781419918308
Release Date: 12/31/2008
Length: Novel

Blurb:Laura Adams is a cop with ambition, and a job in Middlemarch
isn't what she wants for her future. Hooking up with the wrong man is
responsible for the wrong turning, and she refuses to repeat the
mistake, especially with a sexy thief.

Leopard shifter Jonno Campbell takes one look at Laura and desires
her as his mate. He's enthralled with the fiery cop, and when she
arrests him, he's ready for a strip search. Convincing Laura he's
innocent and that they should work together to capture the thieves
stealing from Middlemarch residents isn't easy. A kiss laced with his
easy charm does the trick and sparks fly. Passion escalates into
primitive hunger. A night of hot loving convinces Jonno. He wants
forever with the gorgeous Laura, but her ambition, his feline
heritage and a gang of thieves stand in the way of his progress. Then
there's the ex-boyfriend who wants Laura back. This time charisma and
erotic promises might not be enough to win the lady.

Buy
Excerpt
Website
Blog

Want your own copy of Cat Burglar? Leave a comment here and be entered to win.Can't think of anything to say? Tell me if you think a leopard can change its spots. Can a bad boy turn into one who is great marriage material? Do you think you can kick your old/bad habits and turn over a new leaf for 2009?



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.