Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Good-bye Earth

January 25, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to another episode of Weekend Writing Warriors. I’m up to my eyeballs in edits, so I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that I’m continuing with my space opera in progress, From Mars, With Love. I’ve jumped ahead a bit. Eli has yet to come up with a plan to escape from a ship in space, so he has some time to reflect.

***

Eli had harbored a deep and stupid desire to be a pilot ever since he’d first seen a Lunar Freighter launch out of Manhattan Harbor. The sight had made him aware of the limitless possibilities of space half a second before he realized a dump rat like himself had zero chance of making it onto the crew of a space ship, much less piloting one. He found it grimly amusing that his one shot at traveling beyond Earth came from being slave fodder.

Space travel turned out to be less enjoyable than he’d imagined. As soon as the shuttle docked the Cruiser dropped away from the gravity well of the huge sweeping vessel and they freefell into clear space. His stomach tried to crawl out of his ears and his blood didn’t know which way to flow. Then the thrusters kicked in and they got pressed down like grass under a boot and off they went into pre-sling launch mode. Eli said a mental goodbye to his mate Rilke and wondered if he’d ever see him or Earth again.

***

So I’d thought I’d change things up and post a photo of guy with sword instead of a pew-pew gun. Flash!

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- Hair-Brained Schemes

January 18, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors– the hop where awesome, fearless writers take on the world of their imaginations, eight lines at a time. I’m going to keep going with my Space Opera in-progress, From Mars, With Love for a few more weeks. Last week Eli decided being a sex slave (or any kind of slave, for that matter) wasn’t on his bucket list, so he desperately started thinking on how to escape the transfer shuttle. One of his fellow abductees in an altered human called a Moon Unit in Earth slang.

***

The Moon Unit glared at Eli with an almost imperceptible shake of her head and looked away. Did she know what he was thinking? One could never be sure with Altereds how empathic or telepathic they might be.

Moon Units were the oldest of the Altereds, their mutations dating back to the earliest colonization of Earth’s Moon, when budgets and technology were strained. The Lunar Laborers were engineered to fit into compact tunnels, their skin smooth and plasticized to protect them from harsh environmental conditions. They evolved to be strong, dense and flexible, taking advantage of the scant gravity while not being susceptible to bone loss. Despite her apparent hostility Eli tried to take a seat beside her on the long metal bench that lined the shuttle but a dumb-bot guard grabbed him roughly by the shoulder, shoved him into a seat and drew down a locking bar as if they were going for a ride on a roller coaster.

Everybody got locked down the same way and Eli had more time to fume and plot then he would’ve liked – hair-brained schemes suffered from overthinking.

***

Hot guys with pew-pew guns, a glimpse of silver bikini in the background- is it any wonder my imagination is so warped? (Chekov was my favorite).

Weekend Writing Warriors~ Moon Unit

January 11, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors. I’m continuing with my Space Opera in progress, From Mars, With Love. It’s such a kick to write, all fiction should be this much fun. Last week poor Eli was separated from his pal Rilke after they’d both gotten nabbed by slavers. Eli’s not taking the unfortunate career change well.

***

Anger rose in Eli’s throat like bile. Too bad it was way too late to complain to his congressman about the crass slaving violations of the sweepers. A feeling of deep-seated rebellion swelled in his bones. He set his jaw and considered escape. Escaping in deep space was useless so if he were going to do something, he’d have to do it fast. He examined his fellow future sex slaves for likely compatriots in a reckless and doomed attempt to scuttle the shuttle. An obsidian-skinned Moon Unit by his side looked too fast to be true and he thought she’d make an excellent recruit for any plot. He stared at her until eye contact was made.

Anyone else have a crush on Buck Rogers/Gil Gerard back in the day?

***

If you’re cruising for bigger bites of fiction or you’re suffering from a post-Christmas funk, I’ve posted two holiday stories on this blog; The Wrong Elf Flash Version and The Longest Night featuring Axel and Liam from To Catch A Threeve. Enjoy!

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ From Mars, With Love

January 4, 2015 by Alexis Duran

New year, new story. Well, new to Weekend Writing Warriors, anyway. This crazy, free-wheeling Space Opera is next on my To Finish and Submit list. The snippet is from Chapter Two, after Eli and his pal Rilke have been most inconveniently snatched by slave sweepers while scavenging in Old York.

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From Mars, With Love

Eli maintained his cool through the whole abducted, locked in a giant dustbin, hurled into space thing until the sex swappers arrived on the scene and he got yanked out of line. Watching Rilke dissolve into a puddle of tears broke Eli’s heart, which wasn’t an easy thing to do after the life he’d led. For the first time his survival instincts failed him and he made a futile attempt to wriggle out of a slaver’s metal grasp, if only to say a proper good-bye. This earned him a sharp jab with some sort of stun gun and he made the rest of the trip to the transfer shuttle in a numbed-out, wobbly state.

By the time the doors of the holding pen hissed shut behind them, he’d regained his right mind and returned his thoughts to practical matters, because getting sold into an unlicensed spaceport sex market was just about the unhealthiest thing that could befall a person. He figured his luck was spent and he’d better start getting resourceful fast. Without his other half, the super smart half-Martian Rilke, he’d be flying on one wing and knew it. Through a narrow viewing portal he watched the huge sweeper recede into the distance and his mood blackened.

han-solo-star-wars-1977-1983-_129980-fli_1363014959

Because I can, that’s why.

***

If you’re cruising for bigger bites of fiction, I’ve posted two holiday stories on this blog; The Wrong Elf Flash Version and The Longest Night featuring Axel and Liam from To Catch A Threeve. Enjoy!

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Solstice Threeve

December 28, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to the last Weekend Writing Warriors hop of the year. I hope you’ve enjoyed participating in this hop as much as I have. It’s a great place to make friends and discover some truly great fiction. Here’s to another year of awesomeness!

This week I’m continuing with my little short story featuring Liam and Axel from To Catch a Threeve. Last week Axel came home to find Liam installing a rather large and, in Axel’s opinion, odd symbol of the season in the middle of Axel’s house.

***

“Do you like it?” Liam grinned over his shoulder at Axel.

“I, uh—” Axel’s gaze travelled over the dark green mass that filled the corner and stretched out to nearly the middle of the room. He took in the strands of red ribbons, sprays of dried cranberries, rows of tiny tin bells, sugarpine cones coated with crystalline pitch, what looked to be pieces of Axel’s family silverware, all wrapped around the tree in a confusing mass of colors, shapes and sizes. Most alarming were the candles stuck to the branches with wax and twine.

“What is it?”

“It’s a Solstice Tree, our offering to the goddess Moon on the night she rules the sky.”

Axel released Liam and stepped back – a cold shiver ran up his spine.

“A threeve tradition, is it?”

***

If you’re interested in the story and would like to find out if Liam and Axel work through this little challenge, I’ll be posting the full story on New Year’s Eve.

Thanks for stopping by. Merry midway between Holidays!

Weekend Writing Warriors~ Merry Solstice Threeve

December 21, 2014 by Alexis Duran

Happy Solstice! Time for another round of Weekend Writing Warriors sensational snippets. To celebrate the upcoming two weeks of revelry and overabundance and to say thanks to all the readers and writers who’ve given me so much friendly support this year, I’m giving away a hot holiday short story. Just click the widgety thing on the side bar to get your free copy. You can also read the flash version over on my Midwinter Madness Flash Hop post. Please note the Xtended version contains hot m/m action.

Also in honor of the season, I thought I’d share a snippet from a solstice-themed short story I’m working on involving Axel Blackwood and Liam Alloway from To Catch a Threeve. Liam has brought back a few odd traditions from his time with the threeves, which occasionally puts a strain on Axel and Liam’s relationship. On Solstice eve, they might face their biggest challenge yet! (If you like the snippet, stay tuned. I’ll probably post the entire story on New Year’s Eve.)

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When Axel turned on to his lane, the sight of a candle in the window and smoke curling from his chimney warmed his heart. He pushed open the front door and was enveloped by the scent of burning cedar in the hearth, some sort of spicy stew simmering in the cast iron pot and rather oddly, the sharp bite of pine pitch, fresh melted snow and mud.

He stepped inside and the wide smile on his face became rigid as he blinked at what appeared to be a monstrous tree in his great room. Liam balanced precariously on a chair he’d placed on top of a chest, leaning in to the dark green mass, a star of woven reeds and ribbons in his outstretched hand.

“You’re early!” Liam cried and began to topple forward into the branches of what Axel could no longer deny was indeed a tree. The tree shimmered and tinkled as all manner of shiny objects shook and knocked together.

Axel rushed forward, seized Liam around the waist and rescued him from the arms of the evergreen. Axel lowered Liam awkwardly to the floor and keeping his arms firmly around him, asked,

“What in holy hounds is that?”

***