Weekend Writing Warriors ~ What’s That?

March 15, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another dose of Weekend Writing Warriors, the hop where writers share their work in 8 enticing sentences.

I’m excited to get back to my space opera in progress, From Mars, With Love. This one keeps demanding my attention, so I guess I better finish it so I can get back to the “serious” stuff. 😉

Our hero Eli has been nabbed by a slave sweeper and taken aboard a ship bound for Titan. After watching some of his fellow prisoners strip, get inoculated and put into sleep pods, it’s now Eli’s turn.

***

To Eli the asteroider said, “Remove your clothing.”

Eli was grateful that as a scavenger he always wore several layers of clothing, but as he removed his coat, his sweatshirt and a zip-up cotton shirt with deliberate clumsiness, his fear of the crab effectively discouraged acting on any rash escape plans. He was down to thin t-shirt, surplus army pants, and was undoing the velcro on his boots when the crab snapped, “What’s that?”

One of the crab’s pinchers reached out and grabbed Eli’s wrist. The bot’s red eyeball flew outward on its own extending arm to inspect the ring on his pinky finger as Eli curled his fingers into a fist.

“Just a cheap trinket,” Eli said. The ring was his only adornment, the only thing of his mother’s he’d been able to keep and it was so small, it barely fit on his smallest finger. The bot clamped on to it and tried to pull it off, jerking Eli sideways, but it didn’t come off.

***

Really this whole space opera thing is an excuse for me to surf the web looking for photos of hot space guys with guns. Here we have Bruce in The Fifth Element- one of my top ten SF movies for sure.

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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 ~ He Couldn’t Say No

March 8, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors. This has been quite the week for me; new book, new job, new allergies in full bloom. WWW has become my little comfort zone where I get to catch up with the characters I’ve become so involved with, discover new stories and new authors, and chat with my virtual buddies. Glad you joined me!

This week I thought I’d go all wacky and actually post the 8 opening lines from my new m/m fantasy, Blood of Salar.

***

Breaking one of the new rules he’d imposed as headmaster of the Order of Ka’alar, M’lan slipped out of his monk’s cell well before dawn and made for the edge of the temple grounds alone. Black shadows striped the moonlit path. Though trying to be quiet, he tripped often over gnarled roots and loose stones.

He knew perfectly well it was no longer safe to stray far from the protective eye of Ka’alar, and that was why he’d imposed the rule that no monk should wander in the forest without a companion. The rebellion that had started in the south of Rakkan now encroached on the local provinces, and instability eroded the control of the authorities. But M’lan’s calling to heal was stronger than his concern for his safety. When messages reached him pleading for medicine, he couldn’t say no.

If the king’s men discovered that the monks of Ka’alar Temple smuggled herbs and elixirs to the peasants, they might shut the temple down.

***

FYI, if you haven’t read Touch of Salar, Book 1 in the Masters and Mages series, I’ll be doing a book blast next Tuesday where I’ll be giving away a copy of Touch, plus a Loose Id GC so you can immediately buy Blood (or whatever your heart desires).

Blood of Salar blurb:

M’lan, headmaster of the order of Ka’alar and Jamil Jarka, king’s assassin, find their impossible love challenged to the utmost as a rebellion sweeps them apart, sending Jamil on a dangerous mission to assassinate the rebel leader, General Charvat. Unknown to anyone, Charvat is on his way to the temple to exploit the headmaster’s magical abilities.

When the rebel army arrives, M’lan is thrust into a struggle against political and sexual dominance as Charvat attempts to break his resistance. Violence and death mount, awakening within M’lan both the powers of destruction and the desire for revenge.

On the trail of his prey, Jamil begins to question his devotion to M’lan as his once innocent lover transforms into a mage and invades the assassin’s thoughts and dreams. The closer Jamil draws to M’lan, the more he puts his life and his very soul at risk. Jamil soon realizes that his lover might prove to be more deadly than the man he was sent to kill.

A final confrontation between assassin and monk might destroy them both, but Jamil is relentless in his determination to rescue M’lan, knowing that only his love can master the mage.

Info:

Author:Alexis Duran
Series:Masters and Mages
Genre:LGBTTQ, Fantasy & Paranormal
Cover Artist:Fiona Jayde
Prev Book:Masters and Mages 1: Touch of Salar
Available at Loose Id , Amazon, All Romance

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ I’m Not Your Enemy

March 1, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors Blog Hop. I missed last week because I was in Seattle channeling my fae self at Mythic Worlds, a delightful playground for authors, artists, wisdom workers and anyone who likes to dress up. I highly recommended it, but I did have time to feel sad Sunday morning that I was missing all the fabulous fiction on WWW.

This week I’m celebrating the release of Blood of Salar this Tuesday, March 3. I’ve posted a few snippets from the beginning of Blood here and here, so I decided a pull a scene from farther along in the story. Jamil’s devotion to M’lan is challenged when the monk’s powers grow and spiral out of control. Jamil finds himself in a fight for not only his life, but M’lan’s as well.

***

“M’lan,” Jamil whispered hoarsely. “I’m not your enemy.”

“Come to me,” M’lan said, the metallic ring in his voice echoing against the cavern’s walls.

Despite the pain, Jamil willed himself to crawl upward until he could stretch out on M’lan again. Everywhere they touched, searing cold bit and tore into Jamil’s skin. M’lan’s fingers inched downward until they held Jamil’s biceps. Jamil’s muscles trembled, and sweat dripped from him as he resisted the serpent’s energy.

“Stop, please.”

“You’re in my way, Major,” M’lan said.

***

Here’s the blurb for Blood of Salar, Release date March 3:

A final confrontation between assassin and monk might destroy them both, but Jamil is relentless in his determination to rescue M’lan, knowing that only his love can master the mage.

Info:

Author:Alexis Duran
Series:Masters and Mages
Genre:LGBTTQ, Fantasy & Paranormal
Cover Artist:Fiona Jayde
Prev Book:Masters and Mages 1: Touch of Salar
Available for pre-order at Loose Id

FYI, I’m participating in the Cold Nights…Hot Reads Blog Hop. There are a bunch of chances to win cool giveaways, including the grand prize of $125 Gift Card! I’m giving away a copy of the first book in the Masters and Mages series, Touch of Salar. Check it out, warm up your tootsies by the heat of some steamy reads, and win stuff. What’s not to like?

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Beneath The Jumpsuit

February 15, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekend Writing Warriors. While it might be another fog-enshrouded winter day here in the Pacific Northwest, on Mars, the sun is always shining. Unfortunately for Eli, he’s not there yet, and might never be. The slave ship that abducted him is setting its coordinates for Titan, notorious for flaunting the inner-system anti-slavery laws. In case you haven’t guessed, I’m continuing with my space opera in progress, From Mars, With Love. Things go from bad to really bad when Eli sees who his captors are and what they have planned for their prisoners.

***

Asteroiders were rarely seen on Earth, especially at ground level. They’d been developed in the asteroid belt beyond Mars and were a most reviled class of altered human; most of them were more artificial than flesh. The one that moved closest to Eli had a neck and forearms made of black rubber tubes twining around coiled copper muscles. What went on beneath the jumpsuit was anyone’s guess. His fleshy human fingers tapped at a wisepad as he scanned each prisoner in turn and made disparaging remarks to the security bot about their potential value. “Bottom of the barrel sweep, if you ask me. I hope the captain didn’t shell out full credits for this lot.”

A human voice crackled out of the hovering bot, “Hardly seems worth the trip, but some alterations while they’re in stasis might help.”

***

Farscape improved dramatically when Crichton ditched his white jumpsuit.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Your Trip To Titan

February 8, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another edition of Weekend Writing Warriors. Click onward, mysterious reader, and in eight simple sentences, this awesome collection of writers will rock your imagination! Can you tell I’m having fun? Well, I’m still posting from my space opera in progress, From Mars, With Love, and I always get a little giddy after searching for photos of hunky space guys with guns to put at the end of the post.

On to the snippet. Eli, who’s been abducted for slave fodder and launched into orbit against his will, is getting desperate.

***

The entry hatch to the shuttle slid open and several Asteroiders in white jumpsuits entered, each followed by a menacing security bot that hovered in the air above and behind them. Shaped like metallic black crabs, the bots’ red eyes scanned the prisoners while their pinchers clicked in excitement.

“Time to get ready for your trip to Titan!” announced one of the Asteroiders. They moved apart, each claiming a section of about ten of the forty or so prisoners. The prisoners stood with varying success, were lined up and marched out of the shuttle straight into a sterile clinic sort of room. Eli didn’t like the look of all the medical equipment and he especially didn’t like the sight of the sleep pods stacked against one wall – if they were going to be immobilized there’d be absolutely no hope of escape. Although the ship was frigid sweat trickled down the back of his neck. He didn’t know if Moon Units could sweat with their specialized skin, but she stood right in front of him and he watched a nerve in her tight jaw pulse.

***

As promised, we’re back to hunky guys with guns. In space.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Far Away and Dangerous

February 1, 2015 by Alexis Duran

It’s Sunday again already? Wow. Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where we writers emerge from our bat caves to share the spoils of our toils. I’m feeling a little giddy because I just finished a grueling four day editing session and now I get to play in Space Opera world again. Continuing with one of my current WIPs, From Mars, With Love, I jump ahead a bit, bypassing the part where Eli ruminates about how Earth wasn’t that great anyway.

***

In spite of the dismal circumstances, Eli smiled. Maybe this was upward mobility at last, if he could just figure out how to avoid the whole slave thing. He relaxed and had almost dozed off when suddenly the shuttle took another vomit-dive on the space-o-coaster. They were fast approaching inter-planetary launch. Where were they going – Titan? The habitat on Saturn’s largest moon was notorious for its defiance of the Fair Market ban on slavery. Titan was where the rich went to get all their kinkiest desires catered to, according to the gossip in the trash heaps of earth. He hoped that wasn’t where they were going- it seemed unimaginably far away and dangerous.

While looking for photos of hunky space guys with guns, I found this and decided to celebrate the love in From Mars, With Love. Back to guns next week.

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