Saturday, June 29, 2013

Guest Blogger: Nick Valentino

One of the perks of being an author is that you get to meet the niftiest people. Today, one of them is guest blogging. So, let's have a nicely Debauched welcome for Nick Valentino! 








Thank you so much for Ms. Sparrow hosting me today! Originally, I met her at MidSouthCon a few years back and not only am I a fan of her writing but I consider her a really cool friend. So, thank you Angelia for having me today!  

My reason for being her today is my second steampunk novel, Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom was just released on ZOVA Books and I'm doing a blog tour in support of it.

While this book is has the same action and adventure of the first book , it also has much more depth. I wanted to explore the characters and give the reader a little more "meat on the bone" when it came to personalities and actions. The first book, simply called, Thomas Riley, was a sort of an introduction to the characters and their steampunk world while I feel like Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom immerses the reader more into the war between Thomas Riley's country of West Canvia and Lemuria. There's also the second element of a love story which provides twists that even I didn't expect when first sitting down to plot the book. So, I have to say, I'm quite excited to share this with fans and new readers alike.

Thomas Riley and Cynthia Basset are off on a new adventure. This time, the tale is a darker one that explores a steampunk world in more depth and detail. If you read Thomas Riley, I feel like you will really enjoy Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom and if you haven't read the first book in the series, fear not, you can read each book without reading the one before it.


Want to know more? Here's the teaser blurb from the back of the book:

Thomas Riley and Cynthia Basset's adventures in their steampunk world have turned down a dark path. After an assassination attempt, the West Canvian heroes receive a message from a mysterious woman about the whereabouts of Cynthia's missing suitor and famous sky pirate, Sam Burges.

Cynthia insists on pursuing the lead despite great risk, so the two of them take off with a rogue colonial sky pirate and his eclectic crew to find the man that she loves. On their journey, Thomas and Cynthia learn that Sam has joined with their enemies, the Lemurians, under the supervision of the mad man, Doctor Wolfgang Gerhard.

To make matters worse, Sam is in a commanding position on board the secret airship, The Maelstrom, that has the ability to control the weather in a most nefarious way.

Thomas and Cynthia's loyalty to their country and to each other are laid on the line in this steampunk tale of love, loss and adventure.

Want a copy for yourself?

My Sexy Saturday Blog Hop: A Sexy Summer Night

Welcome to the My Sexy Saturday Blog hop.

Today's theme: a Sexy Summer Night
The offering is from Spellbound Desire. Click the cover for the buy link

















Seven sexy paragraphs of Bran and DJ doin' it magic style.


SO not work safe. Also heterosexual.


The blue glow spread all over my body, making all of my skin feel like my clit did when he licked it. I squirmed on the bed, wanting more, maybe a little harder of a tingle.

“Send it back, love. Make me feel the same.”

I tried. I envisioned the blue pouring all over him, making him feel as good as I was, giving him a hard stroke around his cock.

“Good girl. In this space, we can do anything we like. Ever fancy having a cock of your own, sweetness?”

“Perv. Not a bit. My own equipment is enough of a nuisance, bleeding all the time, hurting when it does. Why would I want something with a mind of its own?”

He chuckled and upped the intensity. It wasn’t like the time I’d grabbed the electric fence, but close to it. This was pleasant instead of awful.

I clutched his hand tighter and sent it back, wanting him to lose his cool as fast as mine was going. I wanted to see if I could make him come before I did. I poured the blue all over the tattooed cock ring and the rosary, and felt them constrict around him. I imagined the cock ring sending little lightning bolts all over his cock and balls, the good kind that would make him come. He groaned at that and I knew I was on the right track.


Friday, June 28, 2013

A busy week and some small accomplishments

I am having some fun. There was the Rainbow blog hop AND the Dirty Birdies this week..

It's time to announce the winners of those:
Emily gets the Eye Candy prize of the complete Cyberverse
And Debbie gets the copy of Heart's Bounty.
Those will be in the mail tomorrow morning.

I had some photos get picked up for the Queer GRITS anthology.
It's a three photo set, B&W very creepy.

I just sent my contract for "Fruits of Thine" into Amber Quill.
This het urban fantasy has a late Sept release date. Carla is a BBW of color, who is sent on a corporate retreat with several other misfits and difficult people. But the retreat turns out to be much, much more than anyone planned. The woods are a place of sacrifice, of change and of transformation. And what is a Christian administrative assistant to do when one of the old gods falls for her?

"S is for Succubus" has been sent in for the Undeath and the Detective anthology  from Elm books.
http://jessfaraday.com/write-with-me/

Hard at work finishing a gay steampunk romance. I find gay hard to combine with steampunk. For some reason, lesbians work better.

And Julnawrimo is just around the corner! I'm going to see if I can finish ONE of these books that keeps knocking around in here.

This weekend, there's a My Sexy Saturday blog hop AND Nick Valentino will be stopping by to talk about his new book, Thomas Riley and the Maelstrom. I'm a big fan of Nick and enjoy Thomas, so it's great to have him visiting.

Clear skies!


Monday, June 24, 2013

Dirty Birdies Flock Hop: Eye Candy

I love my eyecandy. I have folders and folders, neatly sorted by muse name, and each picture labeled as a different character that muse is playing.
You see, I have a bit of a commedia dell'arte in my head. There are certain stock actors who play vaguely similar stock characters.

Now the character may vary from Will Scarlet to American journalist Charlie Doyle to near future psychopath Nick Boyd. I have to keep changing the personality to keep from repeating the same stories over and over.
But Nick (Boyd, Harper or Admire), Charlie, Sean, Ian, Josh, Jace, Ambrose or Henry, he tends to look like this:
(That's Aaron Stanford in XMen 2)

Nick is a jack of all work, filling in most of the younger male roles.

What happens when I need an older man? Oh there are those as well. It depends on what I am needing, mostly.
But my David is a flexible man, as long as the character is both brilliant and gay. (He did turn out to be bisexual once, to my very great shock)
(David Krumholz and John Glover from an episode of Numb3rs)

That bit of eye-candy is a two-fer, because You get Dan, whose job is usually simply to be adorable, but sometimes to save the world, as well as David. Dan first showed up when I was writing the Christmas werewolf piece, as Dr. Danior Camomescro, English prof and werewolf. He's also made his mark on the cyberpunk universe I write as Niall O'Neill, a netrunner called the Timberwolf. 

So let's talk a little about my cyberpunk universe. In this reality, the true wealth is data. Corporations have it. Netrunners steal it.  I started playing in it some years back, and the characters came out a little different than they usually were. And somehow or another, I've managed to write a full length heterosexual novel in this 'verse. 

You have Zara, The Technomancer, a beautiful, icy woman who is in love with a CEO called Gemini. There's Sean (a Nick, see above) whose gorgeous wife, Irishgirl, is a premier cyberthief, rivaled only by his brother Niall (a Dan). The Wheelman (a David) is a psychopathic monster of a CEO who maims and enslaves captured Netrunners. Zara's twin brother, Zaran, is working to get her back, or Sean's wife in his clutches, one of the two. A pair of minor characters, maimed Netrunners, show up in several of the stories, one is a merman in the Net, the other a 1920s PI.

And today, I acquired the ultimate piece of eyecandy for this 'verse. I blame Irishgirl for the set design--she has a wicked sense of humor--but the facial expressions are perfect. You can almost hear Zaran hissing "Smile, dear sister. People are watching."

Name the actors and movie for this picture, and be entered to win all three cyberpunk stories:


Pushing the Boundaries of Reality (Out of Print)




Excerpt:

"Ah good, you're awake, Mr. O'Neill."

Sean looked up from his computer to see a handsome man in a well-tailored suit that hid most of his height and mass come into his hospital room. Before he could say anything, Gemini sat in the lone chair, opened his briefcase on his knees and made himself comfortable. The big man seemed to fill the room with his presence. Sean felt crowded, even with a whole hospital room between them.

They had had dealings a few times before, mostly through a series of convoluted business contacts. The top of the ladder did not hobnob with the part-time contractors they hired to do their dirty work, even when that dirty work involved monitoring and distracting a certain talented lady. Ah, but the thought of Caitlin, missing since two months after their wedding, hurt. He didn't want to think about his wife, or the fact that the simple initial assignment from Gemini had become so much more.

She'd been out of his league from the start, even when he was just doing courier work for her on his own. Niall had been freelancing for Leda then, and Sean was sleeping on his couch between crashpads. Word got to Gemini that Sean knew Caitlin. He suspected Niall was the informant, but not in a malicious way. Gemini paid him well to ingratiate himself to her. He liked her anyway, so the job was no hard task. Ingratiation turned to infatuation and then love. That was when things got messy. Love made everything messy. He wrenched his thoughts back to the man in front of him, wondering if he was to be disposed of after his accident or given a new assignment.

Sean never forgot a face and Gemini's was memorable, even though Sean had seen it only twice before in person. Holo-pics and footage of the media favorite were much more common. The camera loved the devastatingly handsome Gemini--the star Net-runner for LedaCorp and wealthy philanthropist--and it captured him at all the best venues and openings, with one beautiful woman or another on his arm. His strongly Middle Eastern features were perfect for the desert bandit avatar he affected in the Net, but looked even more intimidating above a business suit. The air of supreme confidence born of having money and power followed him and filled every corner of the room until Sean found it hard to breathe. Maybe his method of execution would simply be Gemini intimidating him to death.

He stifled hysterics at that thought and answered, "Yes. Thanks to you, I expect."

"I'm sure you know by now that I have rescued your brother, Niall." He stroked the goatee he wore, a nervous habit that somehow indicated he had no nerves at all, only cold calculation.

Sean nodded. Niall was a Net-runner, the top-rated hacker called the Timberwolf, and he'd gotten his furry butt pinched on a run into EIT. The Wheelman's operation was considered the ultimate challenge for runners, the Holy Grail and The Forbidden Temple all wrapped in one. A successful Net-run against EIT was more impressive than a run against most other corporations, certainly more than any government or military sites.

It made the reputation of anyone who succeeded overnight. Impressive jobs, more impressive contacts, and unimaginable sums of money came in the wake of such a success. But the risks were as great as the rewards.

EIT made no secret that they had taken Timberwolf down. Each time a hacker with a strong reputation fell to their defenses, it meant days, weeks, or sometimes even months of decreased raids. Security measures could be tightened, which boosted profits, stock ratings, and reputation. All corporations hung the virtual heads of their vanquished foes on the Net-walls to warn off the more prudent. The sheer length of the threads and the eulogies for Niall on the underground hacker boards amazed Sean.

"He said you had when I talked to him. But how? Nobody gets away from the Wheelman." That was common knowledge. Ezekiel InfoTech was the pitcher-plant of the Net, luring runners in and drowning them, sometimes very personally. Many went in, almost none came out. Sean had told Niall not to take that run, but the Timberwolf only claimed he had to, with no more explanation or details. Sean always suspected his brother was pushed into taking that run, but had never been able to prove it. In the end, what did it matter? His brother was gone.

He'd been missing physically, too, lost for weeks. An EIT retrieval team had kicked down the apartment door one afternoon, according to the landlady, and taken him, running chair, computer and all, before he could jack out. Looters had gotten most of the rest of their joint stuff before Sean had returned from work. Only the built-in appliances were left. Even their dishes and clothes were gone. Sean had collected his toothbrush, the three remaining photos and moved out, almost hoping Niall was dead.

Black ice, fatal intrusion countermeasures, was a much cleaner way to go than years trapped in a life support chair as a quadruple amputee, fed by a tube and forced to run the Net as slave labor for the Wheelman. Or worse yet, taken into his bed alive and whole. The virtual tabloids had a field day with the chief of EIT's sex life, speculating endlessly on his taste for good-looking young men and his abilities since the accident that left him in the wheelchair.

"Even Erik Ezekiel can be persuaded, for the right price. I won't tell you what it cost us to get Niall back, but you both owe us a great deal. Niall is working out his debt in several ways." Gemini's smile left Sean no doubt that part of the work was being done in Gemini's bed. Erik Ezekiel was not the only power-player with a taste for good-looking Net-runners.

Gemini gestured at the hospital room. "We need you to begin working off yours."

"So what do you need from me?" Sean asked, afraid of what would be named. He had couriered and killed for this man, courted and married for him. There was little more Gemini could really ask, but he suspected Gemini would find something new and awful. Power and money seemed to turn men dark simply by virtue of having them.

He glanced at the private room, the constant IV, his chart, which was checked once a day by a real doctor and kept up to date by the nurses, the state-of-the-art scarless skin regrowth process he was enduring. The nurses had talked about physical therapy, too, once he could bear to stand on his feet. None of that came cheaply.

Had he survived the crash on his own, he would have limped to a doc-in-the-box for bandages and antibiotic ointment, maybe a debriding or some syntheskin patches if the price was in his reach, and taken his chances with the scarring. If he managed to survive opportunistic infections, and succeeded in not becoming hopelessly addicted to painkillers, he would still never have needed another Halloween costume, except the cloak he'd have to wear in public to not have people cringe from the sight of him. Then again, in his neighborhood, nobody would notice much.

They still hadn't let him see his face in a mirror. He understood that was procedure for burn victims, but it felt strange. He suspected he wouldn't look much like he had once the skin regrowth was done.

Gemini reached into his briefcase, pulled a thick book from it, and dropped it on Sean's bed, real sheets of paper bound in leather, not simply a file on a chip to be stuck in a reader. Sean stared. He'd only seen a few actual books in his life, usually sealed within glass cases in upscale museums and cathedrals. Nobody used paged books anymore. They were for collectors and the eccentric wealthy.

"Study this. Memorize it and prepare to live it. We are asking much of you, including your own face, but we know you are capable of it. We expect great work from you, Sean..." Gemini's smile went dark and dangerous. "And great results."

Sean was still boggling at the book as Gemini left. He rubbed at the syntheskin that covered eighty percent of his body since the accident, picked up the book, and began to read. Print was hard going. Words stayed still instead of scrolling properly and he couldn't adjust the font to something easier to read. The book itself was unwieldy, roughly the size of a small computer and twice as heavy, larger than his hands. The heavy paper under the leather covers was immaculate, as if freshly printed just for him. He was almost afraid to touch it for fear of smudging or tearing it.

Entranced, yet horrified by the contents, he plunged onward. They had indeed come up with something new and awful.





Thursday, June 13, 2013

MFRW Rainbow BlogHop: Kink in Spaaaaace!


MFRW Colors of the Rainbow Bloghop


When you set out to write space opera, you have to know the territory! 
Oh wait. 
Tropes. I mean tropes. 

And when you're writing erotica, you have a whole different set of tropes. Throw in kink and you now have a third set and you're busier than a one-legged nerf herder.

So what did we do when we were writing Heart's Bounty
(The cover's the buy link, click it!)

How do you make space sex kinky and sexy all at once?

With our characters, we decided to set them up as competition first. And as pretty much opposites. An older guy who's not much into men, but is hot for this particular pretty boy. He's a natural top, a commanding sort of figure when he wants to be, but he has to discover this outside of work or his former office. A younger man who likes his men, but hasn't ever fallen for someone this old. And he's deeply conflicted about his submission, since his people are frequent targets of slavers.

But once the sparks flew, and they had a moment or two together, we needed to keep our audience going with the SF part of the romance as well. It can't all be sex in nice beds while planetside, after winning a multi-species gladiatorial contest. Or even hot kink under the influence of a blind-fold drug.

We had to think about the basics of kink, what do we do, and how technology might change these in space. Ropes are ropes, right? What about ropes that keep their shape with a twist, just as memory-wire does these days? Or what about using a small zero-gee field for suspension play instead of any sort of bonds?

Sensation play is a delightful thing. A little cold, a little hot, a little rough, a little sharp, a little soft and gentle, all over your skin, making it wake up and tingle. But we decided to do this by neural induction and not have to fuss with picking up and putting down the melting ice and candles and sand paper and metal and fur and velvet. Nice, neat, one toy, no mess afterward, and all the fun. (I think I want one!)

And a cargo ship has all kinds of fun things lying around just waiting to be used.
Have a taste from the first time in the ship:

Then he stepped back, pulling Miho along, and bent his boy over at the waist, never letting go of the ponytail.

“Come on, we’re going to have some real fun now, boy. I won’t harm you. You have your words still.”

He led Miho into the cargo bay and spotted the cargo netting. “On your knees, right here. Eyes on the deck. I have some preparations to make. Beautiful boy.” Hevik stroked his hair and went to set up the netting. The hooks were in perfect position so he strung the net just like he’d seen pictures of. This was either going to be amazing or he was going to have the worst scene in the history of kink. Satisfied, he went back to Miho. “All right, boy, stand up and strip off.”

Miho stood and stripped naked, dropping his clothes on the nearby bench he always used to tinker on. He looked up at Hevik, seducing him with his eyes as he linked his hands behind his back and walked over to him.

Hevik lifted his chin and kissed his forehead. “Perfect. Now, I’m going to suspend you in the netting. This shouldn’t be too uncomfortable.” He gestured to where he had three layers attached. “Put your feet on there. One strap under your heel, one under the arch, one under the ball of your foot.”

Miho stepped up as he’d been told, holding on to other straps around to keep his balance.

Hevik adjusted the netting under his feet and pulled a large piece up over the front of him. He fastened it at intervals along Miho’s sides, holding him to the wall. He checked to make sure there was no way Miho could fall. Then he pulled Miho’s cock and balls out of one of the spaces in the netting.

“Now that’s a pretty piece of cargo,” Hevik said, smiling. Miho was gorgeous, looking all captured. He wondered if he could get the kid to sleep in the bounty cage and then decided he didn’t want to.

Miho strained against the webbing, moaning a little as he wound his wrists a little tighter in the webbing. His nipples were hard in the cold bay air, though he was warm enough to keep his cock from running away. With no further orders, he stretched and writhed in the bonds as though to put on a show for his Sir.

Hevik enjoyed the view for a little bit. “Hmm, needs a little something,” he said. He rummaged on Miho’s workbench until he found a pair of light-duty clamps. He tested them on the sensitive skin between his thumb and forefinger. Perfect. “Shh,” he soothed as he rubbed Miho’s hard nipples. He closed the clamps on one and then the other.

Miho exhaled, his eyebrows furrowing at the new stimulation. He shook a little as the clamps settled in, and his cock jumped. His mouth hung open, though no sound came out.

“That’s right, boy. Wakes everything right up, doesn’t it?” He stroked Miho’s hard cock. Then he wrapped a bit of memory-cord around it, passed it around his ballsac and brought it back between his balls, separating them. The cord stayed as he wrapped it, just tight enough to keep Miho firm. Hevik bent down and licked the head of Miho’s cock. “Beautiful boy. You’re doing just fine.”

Miho nodded. “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.” Hevik saw goose bumps forming behind his fingers, and Miho’s cock stiffened under his tongue.

Hevik stood back and looked for a while. He loved the way Miho squirmed. He watched the line of goose bumps grow larger. Pretty as this sight was, deep space was not the place for it. He disentangled Miho from the cargo net. “Come on, let’s get you warmed up.” He rubbed one finger over the tips of Miho’s nipples, still in their clamps. The high little whine from his boy made Hevik want to slam him into the wall and pound him right there. Miho’s hands made fists compulsively, as though fighting himself to stay exactly as he was told to.


Right now, Miho and Hevik are only available in ebook.
And if you leave a comment here, you'll be entered to win a free copy of it.

GIVEAWAY
Free to everyone -- No entry needed.
Download your favorite version of the exclusive Marketing for Romance Writers Rainbow Excerpts Book, with 60 pages of excerpts and samples from our authors. This version features gay romance.
Kindle http://marketingforromancewriters.org/media/RainbowExcerptBook-Vol1.prc
Nook / ePub http://marketingforromancewriters.org/media/RainbowExcerptBook_Vol1.epub
Adobe PDF http://marketingforromancewriters.org/media/RainbowExcerptBook-Vol1.pdf

Enjoy and thanks for stopping by on the Blog hop!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Monday, June 10, 2013

Monday Monday

Here we are at the beginning of another week filled with hope, promise and scorched eggs.

I was hard boiling some for egg salad, got distracted balancing the checkbook and let them boil dry. These things happen.

 Automatic weapons-fire from the front room, along with a great deal of swearing, tells me my oldest son is still battling the faceless hoards on the PS3. I need him to go hang his laundry out so it can dry before storms arrive. We're scheduled for 3 o'clock Charlie today.
Poor Mudd. He's going to be out on the training course all day, too. He's training for his CDL.

 So, what am I up to other than severe domesticity?
I did finances, bill paying, taxes and royalties for Inkstained Succubus this morning.
I'll be editing on "Double Dealing" for Storm Moon's Turning the Tables anthology.
I will watch Island at the Top of the World as I get busier on Terror of the Frozen North. Everything I never wanted to know about Arctic expeditions. But Charlie and Edward are having sexy sex and much of it with Nigel's jealous hearing. So all is good. (Nigel has offered Charlie lessons on how to properly top Edward. Match made in Hell that threesome)

 For those who have no idea what that last sentence is about, I must recommend Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists. Edward Kilsby, Lord Withycombe is a WWI flying ace, an adrenaline junkie having trouble dealing with civilian life. Nigel Drake was his wingman during the War, and his lover during and after. Nigel now works for Edward's estranged fiancee, Sarah. Charlie Doyle is Edward's American secretary, very much in love with his handsome lord. Blind as a bat and he drags his typewriter everywhere (quite a feat in 1923)

 I'm prodding at a few DJ stories, and just subbed the original, "S is for Succubus", to an anthology called Undeath and the Detective. I had to rewrite a little and get my universe consistent.

 On the news front:
 I am guest-blogging at The Galaxy Express today
 We got another good review of Hearts Bounty
 An interview with Miho and Hevik
 I have signed up for the Dirty Birdies (June 25-27) and the Rainbow Blog (June14-16) hops, so watch for those posts.
I've also done an interview for Top2Bottom Reviews which should run next month

 Never a dull moment around here.

 Ooo, the new eggs are done!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Content forthcoming soon!

I just signed up for the Rainbow Blog Hop
MFRW Colors of the Rainbow Bloghop

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Giveaways are closed

The winners in the Geek Pride day Giveaway are Amber from Facebook for the TARDIS keyring and Marigold from Livejournal for the dishcloth We had ten entries.