Sunday, May 19, 2013

Sunday’s Serving – To Protect and Service: Ravenous Virtue (WIP)



“Raven, can you hear me?”

It wasn’t some homicidal drunk with a gun.  It was Douglas Bringer, he of the chameleon hair and golden eyes.

Raven could feel the coppery-tasting froth spilling from her mouth as she spoke.  “You’ll have to fill in my sheet for me.  From eleven-fifteen to the present, I was shooting and dying.”

Her voice was little more than a wheeze.  Douglas seemed to hear her anyway.  “Do you want to live?”

Raven wished she had the strength to punch him for asking such a stupid question, especially when there was obviously no hope.  And what was he doing out here anyway?

Pissed off and unable to do anything about it – which pissed her off even more – Raven sighed, “Do I get a swimming pool and maid service?  You idiot.  Shut up and let me die in peace.”

“Listen to me, Raven.  Do you want to live?  It means being indentured to another man, a man who needs your protection.”  Douglas grimaced.  “And even when your contract is up, you’ll still belong to him.  There’s no getting around that, I’m afraid.”

Raven couldn’t make head or tails of what the man was blathering about.  Damn it, she just wanted to close her eyes.  Now that she’d had a glimpse of the void beyond and the delicious lack of pain that went with it, dying didn’t scare her at all.  

Tiredly, she mumbled, “Which of us is having an end of life hallucination?”

“You’re almost out of time.  Do you want to live?”

The bastard is insistent, I’ll give him that, Raven thought.  Then she felt warm drops falling on her face.  She blinked up at Douglas, noting how his expression screwed into such terrible tragedy.  Was he crying over her?

Releasing Autumn 2013

Friday, May 17, 2013

Shalia's Diary Book 1 Now Available



It's out!  The first storyline that ran from August - September has been compiled in one book.  You can get your copy at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.  The best part is it's only $0.99.  Enjoy!


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Shalia's Diary Thursday Post


The Academy comes under attack.  http://shaliasdiary.blogspot.com/

And coming next week:





I will be placing Shalia's Diary Book 1 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords next week.  If you want the first storyline (August 17 - September 30) for your e-readers, you will be able to get it.  I will announce as it goes live on each distributor.  Thanks for all the love you've shown Shalia!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

WIP Wednesday – To Protect and Service: Ravenous Virtue



“I protest the circumstances I was brought here under.  I was misled by this man – or whatever Daagiis is – into handing over my freedom in exchange for my life.  Since you are a judge, I expect you to allow me to open an inquiry into the matter.  You will recuse yourself as the determining official in this case, handing it over to someone who can be objective about the matter.”

Raven half expected him to laugh at her.  No, she totally expected him to laugh at her.  Instead, Vendeen set his goblet on the table and crossed one knee over the other.  He folded his hands over his thick, muscled thigh that was shown to just as good advantage as Raven’s.

He gave her a very serious, considering look.  “I see.  May I hear your concerns regarding this case?”

Well, at least she would be able to bitch about the issue, if nothing else.  “Daagiis presented himself to me as a fellow ... Earthling.  In my dimension, just to be clear on that point.  I had no idea I was being vetted for a position of slavery.”

Vendeen held up a hand, cutting her off.  “Let’s cut to the chase, Raven, as any objective judge on this station would.  We don’t do a lot of nitpicky details here; we simply look at the crux of the matter.  To that end, did Daagiis ask you if you would like to pursue justice on this space station?”

Oh shit.  Major problem.  Raven barely kept herself from clenching her fists.  “Yes, but I thought it was a joke!  He knew I didn’t take it seriously.”

“That may be.  Still, what might have been and what is are very specific things.”  Vendeen regarded her with those fathomless black eyes and spoke with cold command.  “You will speak the truth and nothing but the truth.  If you knew then what you know now, including the fact you would be indentured to me, would you have still agreed to come here to save your life?”

Raven’s mouth popped open before she could think the question over.  “Yes.”

Horror slammed in her gut.  She gasped.  “Hey, wait a minute.  How did you make me say that?”

His voice conversational again, Vendeen said, “The collar is connected directly into your brain matrix.  It is programmed to allow Daagiis and myself to command you, and I have ordered you to tell the truth.  You have no choice but to do so.”

She spluttered, “But ... but truth isn’t always black and white.”

He arched an eyebrow.  “For my purposes and in this situation, it is.  Now answer my next question:  would you accept your circumstances as they are to capture and bring to justice this man Wills, known to us as Taambaa, who escaped his due punishment?”

“Yes.”  This time she did clench her fists.  He’d done it to her again.  “Damn it, this isn’t fair!”

Daagiis’ tone was light.  “No one guaranteed it would be.”

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sunday’s Serving – To Protect and Service: Ravenous Virtue (WIP)



“Raven.  Can you hear me?”

It wasn’t some homicidal drunk with a gun.  It was Douglas Bringer, he of the chameleon hair and golden eyes.

Raven could feel the coppery-tasting froth spilling from her mouth as she spoke.  “You’ll have to fill in my sheet for me.  From eleven-fifteen to the present, I was shooting and dying.”

Her voice was little more than a wheeze.  Douglas seemed to hear her anyway.  “Do you want to live?”

Raven wished she had the strength to punch him for asking such a stupid question, especially when there was obviously no hope.  And what was he doing out here anyway?

Pissed off and unable to do anything about it – which pissed her off even more – Raven sighed, “Do I get a swimming pool and maid service?  You idiot.  Shut up and let me die in peace.”

“Listen to me, Raven.  Do you want to live?  It means being indentured to another man, a man who needs your protection.”  Douglas grimaced.  “And even when your contract is up, you’ll still belong to him.  There’s no getting around that, I’m afraid.”

Raven couldn’t make head or tails of what the man was blathering about.  Damn it, she just wanted to close her eyes.  Now that she’d had a glimpse of the void beyond and the delicious lack of pain that went with it, dying didn’t scare her at all.  

Tiredly, she mumbled, “Which of us is having an end of life hallucination?”

“You’re almost out of time.  Do you want to live?”

The bastard is insistent, I’ll give him that, Raven thought.  Then she felt warm drops falling on her face.  She blinked up at Douglas, noting how his expression screwed into such terrible tragedy.  Was he crying over her?

Releasing Autumn 2013

Saturday, May 4, 2013

May 2013 Update






Clan Beginnings:  Clan and Conviction – It’s out.  Whew!  I hope you’re enjoying this one.

Nuns of Europa:  Sister Katherine – I am 3/4 of the way through the first draft.  No specific release date is set yet.  You’ll see it sometime this summer.

Clans of Kalquor 1:  Alien Embrace (re-edited) – Re-release is dependent on when I get the notice of rights returned from the publisher.  My fingers are crossed you’ll see the updated version in July or August.

To Protect and Service:  Ravenous Virtue – Have you ever gotten that feeling you were running in place?  Sometimes that’s how it seems with this one.  I have also hit the 3/4 mark with this book’s first draft.  I’m still insisting it will be out in the fall.

Shalia’s Diary:  The first storyline ended Monday, and we’re moving into the second now.  I am re-editing and pulling Shalia’s Diary 1 into book format so you can have it for your e-readers in the near future.  Meanwhile, look forward to new dangers and more naughtiness from Shalia and her men.  Decisions made, both good and bad, will guide Shalia’s future.


New Year’s Challenges

Start a new book each month:

(January)  Clans of Kalquor 8:  Alien Caged – The outline is done, and I’ve begun the first draft...but for now, I’m working on it slowly.   There are too many other projects ahead of this one to do more than dabble on it a little at a time.  As I said before, this challenge was about STARTING a new book each month, not finishing!

(February)  Clan Beginnings:  Clan, Honor, and Empire– I finally settled on a title for this one.  I’m done with the outline of Rajhir and Flencik’s story.  Now I’m outlining Breft’s entrance onto the stage.  He and Rajhir don’t really like each other much, but 19-year-old Breft has a thing for Flencik.  He’d be cute if he wasn’t so feral.

(March)  First Mataras:  Michaela – I’m nearing the halfway point on this outline.  Our tormented intersex heroine is having adjustment issues as part of Clan Korkla.

(April)  Clans of Kalquor 9:  Alien Indiscretions – I have just begun outlining this story.  All I’m going to say for now is that big trouble is looming on the horizon for a lot of characters we know and love.

(May)  Clan Beginnings:  Clan and Crown – Much like Clan Rajhir, I lost my character sketches on the trio of Clajak, Bevau, and Egilka.  I’m just now starting to re-do those.  Also like Clan Rajhir, I had barely touched on these three men’s pasts in Alien Rule, so there is a lot of background work to be done before I can start the story itself. 


The Couch to 5K Running Program:

The running is not going to happen any longer until probably autumn because my knee is still recovering.  I will have to start from scratch at that time.  Fortunately, I have not needed a cane in a few weeks.  My knee is healthy enough to cope with the lower impact of walking 5 miles a day and riding for an hour on my stationary bike.  I've lost twenty-five pounds lost so far.

That’s it for now, folks.  Take care, all!