Weekend Writing Warriors #39

December 7, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors. Today I get to announce the release of the next book in the Masters and Mages series! Blood of Salar is set to release on March 3rd, 2015. To celebrate I’m going to share a snippet from the first chapter. Things are getting dangerous in the land of Rakkan and M’lan the monk and Jamil the assassin are challenged to maintain their relationship while a rebellion swirls around them. After months apart, they find themselves at odds regarding Jamil’s work.

M’lan is the first to speak:

***

“Kings and lords always claim to have the ear of at least one god.”

“Much like monks.”

M’lan’s cheeks burned. He sensed Jamil slipping away from him, back into his previous enslavement to the court and its devious methods.

“The king’s sorcerers still have a dark hook in your heart,” he pronounced. He regretted it when he saw the affect of his words.

Jamil’s eyes narrowed and his face achieved a hardness M’lan hadn’t seen since before the monk healed him.

“If anyone has hooks in me, it’s you, Headmaster M’lan.”

***

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from a published work or perhaps their current work in progress. Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! I heartily invite you to participate as a reader, writer, or both. It’s a great way to discover your next favorite book. Click here or use the address: http://www.wewriwa.com

Weekend Writing Warriors #38

November 30, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop that has it all. Much like a Thanksgiving smorgasbord, here you can sample romance, science fiction, mystery, YA, fantasy, sweet potatoes- you name it, we’ve probably got it. If not this week, then next week or the next.

This week I’m overindulging on mystery. My NaNoWriMo scheme to write on several stories has floundered on the shores of reality, but it’s a good reality. I received an acceptance and revision suggestions which swept aside my vision of a purely playful November. Details coming soon.

So today we continue with Detectives Lucas Fortier and his partner Sandra Teasdale still discussing the wreck of his love life as they approach the crime scene.

***

“I never liked him,” Sandra said.

“You told me to marry him before he got away.”

“That had nothing to do with him, everything to do with me. You’re such a grouch when you’re not getting laid regular.”

“Better get used to having a grouch for a partner for a long, long time,” Luke said. Gloom settled over him- dating wasn’t on his to-do list either.

Officer Red Oxford greeted them at apartment number 317. “Morning, detectives, fine day for a murder investigation, eh?”

***

From The Nightstand~ Dirigibles Are Forever by Tina Christopher

November 29, 2014 by Alexis Duran

This is definitely moving to the top of the nightstand stack. I’ve been reading excerpts and looking forward to reading Tina Christopher’s Steampunk Christmas Novella, Dirigibles Are Forever, for like, forever, seems like. Today I get to share the fabulous cover by April Martinez, the blurb and a link to the first chapter. Just what we need to get in the mood, right?

Dirigibles Are Forever is a super-sexy Christmas novella set in an alternative Victorian London, filled with adventure, secrets and fun.

Working as an Aether Traffic Controller saved Holly Acklin after the death of her husband, but now she wants more—including a night of uninhibited passion with Jack Smith, whose very presence has kept her body tingling for months.Special Agent Jack Smith kept his identity a secret when he came to the London Royal Port Authority with one assignment, one he cannot fail. It holds him back from following his attraction to Holly. But on the eve he must complete the mission, Holly asks for one night with no rules or boundaries, and his control snaps.When London experiences an unexpectedly white Christmas, all dirigible traffic is grounded, leaving Holly and Jack free to act upon their stormy passions. Holly finds her determination to stay emotion-free crumbling unaware Jack is experiencing the same need. Each lover wishes for more, but fears it can’t be. Instead they focus their desires in mind-blowing passion.But when Holly discovers that Jack isn’t who he claimed to be, everything is thrown into turmoil. Can she trust the man she thought she knew?

Here is the link to Loose Id where one can download the first chapter.

http://www.loose-id.com/dirigibles-are-forever.html

Weekend Writing Warriors #37

November 23, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Hello warriors and web wanderers! In this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors snippet I’ve decided to stay put for a while and continue with my fledging mystery, set in Phoenix. Last week I introduced detectives Lucas Fortier and Sandra Teasdale as they approach a crime scene in the wee hours of a Sunday morning.

***

A rare rain had fallen and actual puddles lingered in the busted blacktop of the parking lot. Of course Luke stepped in one and felt the water wick up his socks.

“Rough night?” Sandy asked as they mounted the cement stairs that zigzagged up the front of the building to the third floor. They’d worked together long enough she recognized his silence as a sign of internal pain. He wasn’t much for sharing his personal life, but he knew Sandy would wheedle it out of him with persistent questioning, so he decided to get it over with and hope the case would prove interesting enough to distract her.

“Alan moved out last night, after regaling me for several hours with a recitation of all my shortcomings as a partner, roommate and human being in general.”

“Ouch.”

When they reached the walkway fronting the apartments she reached up and patted his shoulder.

***

Weekend Writing Warriors #36

November 16, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another edition of Weekend Writing Warriors! At the risk of appearing commitment-phobic, this month I’m sampling from various story starts, trying to decide which to get serious about next. Having completed and submitted my last WIP after much suffering and hair-pulling, I’m indulging in the writerly impulse to go play with whatever story is new and shiny. As far as getting things done, not a good plan. But it’s fun and I hope you have fun playing along.

This week I’m sampling from the opening of a contemporary fantasy/mystery set in Phoenix.

***

The apartment building should’ve been torn down about twenty years ago. A fire hazard, an eyesore and a den of iniquity all rolled into one architectural disaster, it teetered on the brink of collapse near the gritty western edge of downtown Phoenix. Detective Sergeant Lucas Fortier accepted a paper cup of coffee from his partner, Sandra Teasdale, with heartfelt gratitude. It had been one hell of a night and answering a homicide call at 4 AM had not been on his to-do list for Sunday morning.

“Barney Baker,” she said in response to his unasked question. “Ran a dubious real estate business, occasional bookie at the dog track, legendary alcoholic.”

“And we know it’s a homicide because . . . ?”

“Because of the bowie knife in his back.”

***

From The Nightstand ~ The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara

November 14, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to my nightstand. This week I’m very excited to tell you about my favorite page-turner of the week~

The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara

I’ll admit I was surprised by the depth and breadth of details regarding the Crimean War in Ms. Amara’s historical romantic fantasy (despite the subtitle: A Novel of the Crimean War- duh!) I was all set for a juicy demon-rich fantasy with sprinkles of a historical backdrop for interest. Whoa, did I get a heck of a lot more than that. And I’m happy to say, it’s all fantastic.

At first I was a bit taken aback by the grim reality of the British troops’ dire situation in Turkey in 1854, but Amara sucked me in and had me hooked before I had a chance to get persnickety about the violence and muck. Be warned, this is war in all it’s ugliness, but thankfully, it revolves around the developing love of two extremely well-developed characters, Captain Elliott Parrish, a totally lovable, upstanding young officer and Cornet Ilyvas Kovakin, a morally challenged half-Russian with a terrible secret.

The developing relationship between the two opposites is presented skillfully and with just the right amount of tension/anticipation. I both marveled at and cursed the author as I tore through the pages, anxious for the men to achieve intimacy against incredible odds. And when they do – oh, man. It was worth the wait.

The fantasy side of the story is also wonderful. It’s unique and seemingly grounded in folklore. Maybe the demons and their coffins are entirely fabricated, but Amara does it so well you feel like you’re getting a glimpse into an ancient, forgotten culture. Another admission for me here, it is the fantasy in the novel and the hope it provides that got me over my fear of reading about the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade, a military disaster of epic proportions which Amara handles deftly and believably. She presents a breathless, harrowing scene that could be studied in how-to-write-a-battle workshops.

I’m delighted to have discovered this author. Color me impressed. I find myself wishing once again that truly gifted authors like Amara might find a larger audience in historical fantasy and not be limited by the fact that her protagonists happen to be two gay men.

***

Series: Crimean War Novels
Paperback: 475 pages
Publisher: Blind Eye Books (October 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935560301
ISBN-13: 978-1935560302

Official Blurb:

Captain Elliott Parrish of Her Majesty’s 17th Lancers cavalry division finds most details about his assignment in the Crimean peninsula insufferable. Rampant cholera, missing supplies, and inept planning start the British war effort against the Russian Czar’s expansion into Turkish territory on poor footing.

What should have been a swift and decisive summer victory soon drags into a harrowing winter campaign, and Elliott must rally disheartened men through sickness, battle, and starvation. But when he is assigned the additional task of spying on a fellow officer, the inscrutable Cornet Ilyas Kovakin, he finds himself disconcerted and fascinated by both the work and the man.

Rumors surround Ilyas Kovakin, the half-Russian officer who reports to none in his division. People say they’ve seen snakes slithering into his tent at night, that he has another face visible only in certain light, and a penchant for violent acts carried out in darkness, alone. But the truth that Elliot soon discovers is much more dangerous then mere superstition.

For Ilyas, his return to Crimea is colored with the horrors of his past.

Once a mercenary, he has made a terrible mistake and inherited horrifying powers that he can barely control. He feels his hold over his humanity slipping away daily, and fears that salvation may already lay beyond him when the cheerful Captain Parrish catches his attention. Among men who hate him and superiors who covet his brutal power, Ilyas finds the young captain’s charming company almost irresistible.

But Ilyas knows that the closer he is drawn to Elliot the more he will endanger them both.

Blind Eye Books

Amazon buy link