Sunday Small Talk

Very small talk since I’ve been spending my time finishing a 15 year old fanfic novel. Not the best use of my time but right now at the chaotic start of a new semester that was much easier than using my brain power to think up my own stuff…

But I AM back to my solarpunk story but time is quickly running out for me to finish. I had best hurry. (and by that I mean be gone every weekend and accomplish nothing because next weekend is the Mothman Festival and the weekend after the Steampunk Spectacle and in between all that me grading exams).

But let me bring you two wonderful things. First, my beautiful cover for Blood Red Roulette. I linked to the reveal last week but here it is on my own space. The colors work so well in this and it does capture Arrigo’s essence. Huge thanks to Tiferet Design on this one!

blood-red-roulette

Blurb Arrigo Giancarlo’s friends think he’s a rich young man with the unusual job of paranormal investigator, working with his psychic assistant in Las Vegas. In truth he’s a two-thousand-year-old vampire and member of the Chiaroscuro, a group of Supernaturals dedicated to keeping humanity safe from the more dangerous of their kind. He’s also openly bisexual… but alone.

When he spots Luc St. John in a bar, Arrigo is intrigued. What begins as an effort to repay the kindness shown to him in the past quickly turns into much deeper feelings for the suffering and displaced Cajun. For Luc’s part, he feels too poor, too uneducated, and too bound to his hateful family to ever be worthy of elegant and cultured Arrigo.

An old enemy, Eleni, blames Arrigo for murdering her true love. On the anniversary of that death, she’s back to take revenge. As Arrigo’s closest friends fall victim to savage attacks, he fears nothing will keep Luc safe. Should he break both their hearts and let Luc go, or is it too late? If Luc’s already in Eleni’s sights, Arrigo knows that like most things in Vegas, the odds are against him.

You can pre-order the paperback here (currently on sale)

the ebook here

It releases November 13th!

And check out my good friend Leigh Dillon’s debut novella Raising the Bar

raising-the-bar

Blurb : Destin Bellingham has inherited a problem. Thanks to his late playboy father, Destin faces putting a For Sale sign on his family’s historic horse farm. Getting his talented stallion, Black Sambuca, into the Grand Prix show ring would put Bellmeade back on the map—if only someone could make “Sam” behave like a show horse.

Disgraced top rider Tonio Benedetto has his own problems, but he can work magic with difficult jumpers, so Destin hires him despite his bad-boy reputation. The street-smart, openly gay loudmouth from Miami and the closeted, buttoned-down son of Old Dominion Virginia make a rocky pairing, but time is running out to save Bellmeade from bankruptcy.

Opposites attract, sparks of tension grow into flames of passion. But if Tonio fails to tame Sam, will true love become a lost cause too?

You can buy it here

And have a big mess of writing links while you’re at it

From my friend How Do I Portray a Smart Character?

Five Common Harmful Representations of Disability

5 Reasons This Is The Best Time To Be A Creator

How Frequently Should I Publish on Social Media? A HubSpot Experiment

Accounting for Character Identification

Five Ways Gods and the Afterlife Change a Fantasy Setting

On Wildness, Cracked Worlds, Monsters, and the Odd Nature of the Short Story

Bullet Journaling as a Fantasy Writer

Why Writing A Series (Especially As A New Author) Is Really Goddamn Hard The usual Chuck Wendig language warnings apply

Sometimes It’s Okay To Quit Writing The Thing You’re Writing ditto

Your ISBN: Answers To Frequently Asked Questions

The Three-act Structure: Formulaic or Foundational?

Writing For A Cause People who know me know I’m BIG on this one. Yes, this is also one place I’m also willing to give away stories

Evil in a Teacup: Fighting the Institutional Authority of Dolores Umbridge This one is actually subtle in just how good it is. Villainy doesn’t have to be cartoonish and over the top.

Writing Process, Routine, and Craft

Rainbow Snippets

It’s been a lazy week but now my procrastination has set me up with a brutal weekend. Whimpers. I didn’t do much actual writing (I lie but it was all for a fanfic novel I started 15 years ago and was challenged to finish so by god, that Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series crossover is FINISHED)

Still with the ghost evidence perusal in These Haunted Hills. Pretty soon I’m going to change it up and start snippeting my upcoming release.

As Brendan poured more fruit of the vine, Josh set up the recorder. He always hated the sound of his voice on recording but was there anyone who didn’t? There was nothing but the sounds of him asking questions and his and Brendan’s footsteps for a few minutes. Between questions while they were in the bedroom a faint voice sounded. He and Brendan sat up straighter in near unison.

“Did you hear that?” Brendan asked even as Josh was rewinding it.

“Listen close,” he instructed then stabbed play.

Clear as the call of a night bird, they heard a woman’s voice say ‘Help, Dorothy!’

Brendan grabbed Josh’s wrist, his fingers trembling. “I have chills!’

Josh held out his other arm, showing off goosebumps. “Tell me about it. Wow, we have a name. Have you come across a Dorothy in the research?”

“Not yet. You?”

“No.”

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

Rainbow Snippets

Sorry it took so long to catch up on everyone’s snippets. It was Monday then suddenly Saturday morning and I’m not sure what happened between! Time warp, I swear.

Still reviewing ghostly happenings with Josh and Brendan in These Haunted Hills

“We watched this (the video evidence) together. Might as well listen to the recording together too. Do we need the headphones to really hear it or can we just turn it up loud?”

“We can certainly try it loud. I’ll be listening to it more than once. I just wish I could show the video around.” Josh sighed. He truly hadn’t been expecting such dramatic footage. Sure, he could show Cass but it couldn’t go up on the website.

“Why can’t you?”

“You’re pretty famous. I don’t want to damage your reputation, which you know as well as I do, this could impact it.”

Brendan made an unhappy noise. “You have a point. Want more wine while we listen?”

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!