Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Jacqui the Cat

October 1, 2017 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a bunch of really great, really diverse writers share excerpts from their work. This week I’m on to something new. Really new. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of writing a shifter character, and recently one sauntered into my brain and wrecked havoc with my writing schedule. You ever have one of those characters who just insists on taking over and making you write their story, right now? Well, Jacqui the Cat is one of those. This snippet is the opening of the first novella (yes, first. Jacqui insisted on a series). Besides being a cat shifter, Jacqui is also a fashion designer.

***

Work, work, work. Not that anything could make Jacqui a dull boy, but hours bent over his sewing table had given him a kink in his neck and a strong urge to throw aside his needle and leap out the window.

Instead he sighed dramatically, leaned against the chair back with his palms pressed into the edge of the heavy table and stretched his neck, feeling the pull of muscles on one side, and then the other. He arced his back, slouched, arced again. Not working. He stood and padded across the hard wood floor to the open glass doors of his studio apartment.

He’d been at it all day and still had two jackets to finish. Zee was arriving tomorrow to pick up the new outfits Jacqui had created and everything had to be perfect–and complete–complete and perfect and amazing. Because Zee was a rising star and when the rabble got a look at the Cat’s Eye creations adorning Zee’s nearly famous bod, Jacqui would have it made. That was the assumption, anyway. Orders would flood his inbox, gobs of money would flow into his bank account and he could hire an assistant and stop working these dog awful hours.

***

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight to ten 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 ~ Honey Instead of Poison

March 12, 2017 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a bunch of really awesome writers dish up excerpts of ten sentences or less from their published work, or works-in-progress. I’ve been sharing from my recently finished (hopefully soon to be published) m/m urban fantasy, Death by Starlight, the sequel to Betwixt and Between. Last week, threats didn’t get him anywhere so now Ezekiel is bargaining with the shaman Alistair. There’s no love lost between them, but they share the common bond of being stubborn and full of mischief.

Zeke speaks first, offering to cast a bit of magic in exchange for Alistair’s services.

***

“I can weave a lure which your mermaid enchantress will not be able to resist.”

“When will you learn to lead with honey instead of poison? It will save you a lot of time in the long run.”

“It’s not in my nature.”

“Neither is loving a liosa. Or anyone, for that matter.” Alistair slammed his book shut and turned in his chair to rummage through the shelves behind him. Zeke crossed his arms over his chest and watched sullenly, mind full of dark thoughts.

Alistair was right. For a dark elf to love a light elf—a svarta to bond with a liosa—wasn’t natural.

***

Edge of Night 2: Death by Starlight

Ian and Zeke fought a battle against the queen of the dark realm in order to be together, but just when they think they might settle into as normal a life as elves living among humans might be able to expect, a new enemy threatens to tear them apart. While Zeke helps the shaman Alistair in his hunt for an elusive mermaid, Ian is called to confront a wicked nymph preying on tourists along Seattle’s waterfront. Zeke and Ian soon discover that the defeated Queen Ysolde has spread her evil into the sea realms, and danger lurks beneath every wave, but it is too late to stop an escalating series of confrontations that lead to disappearances, death and the possible end of light in this world.

As Ysolde plots revenge and a mysterious prince seeks to win Ian for himself, the ancient war between light and dark sweeps Ian and Zeke into its maelstrom of hate, testing their trust of each other to the utmost.

Available at these retailers: Amazon Kobo Barnes & Noble Books2Read

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Hiding In Plain Sight

January 15, 2017 by Alexis Duran

Greetings and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a bunch of really awesome writers share from their published work or works-in-progress. I’ve started out the new year sharing from my new project, Death by Starlight, the sequel to Betwixt and Between. I’ve jumped ahead a little from last week, but we’re still in Zeke’s POV. He’s recently returned from the dark realm to the realm of humans, and needs a little assistance in ditching the magical creatures who might be following him.

***

Alistair lived on a thirty-foot sailboat that looked about as seaworthy as an old shoe. Next to the charming, lovingly maintained houseboats berthed alongside it, Alistair’s boat faded like an oil spill on the water; rolled sails dingy, hull crusted with barnacles, portholes obscured with mysterious netting. Much of Alistair’s magic went toward keeping his boat unnoticed and undisturbed amongst his gentrified neighbors. He was an expert at hiding in plain sight, and that’s what Zeke need now.

Alistair’s boat bobbed at end of the line. The shaman had somehow motored his dilapidated boat to this place after discovering the space beneath the bridge concealed a portal through which magic flowed. This was where Zeke and Ian, with the help of Ian’s friends, had finally defeated the dark queen Ysolde.

Zeke hopped easily onto the deck of Alistair’s boat without causing any disturbance in its subdued rocking motion. He carefully stepped through piles of junk to the little door closing off the main cabin. Brushing aside a sturdy but simple guarding spell, he opened the door and descended the few steps to the cramped quarters below deck.

***

I know I promised a blurb from Death by Starlight, but it hasn’t happened yet. In my other life, I’m a bookkeeper, and January BITES. So instead, here’s the scoop on the first book in the Edge of Night series, Betwixt and Between:

The Blurb:

Obsessed with magical creatures since childhood, tabloid reporter Ian Evers never experiences satisfying proof that the magical realm actually exists until he falls into an entrapment spell set by a handsome but dangerous elf. Barely escaping with his soul intact, Ian is able to undo the hex, but he can’t escape the very real infatuation he’s developed for the fierce elf.

Ezekiel Stormshadow is a svarta, a dark elf who serves the queen of the dark realm. The realm of darkness needs the power of light to survive, and while hunting the last few magical beings on earth, Ezekiel discovers Ian, a light elf who’s unaware of his true nature and ripe for the plucking. Their brief encounter awakens a great hunger in Ezekiel, and he’s determined to feast on the light elf’s power and body before the queen intervenes and claims Ian for herself.

Driven apart by the ancient imbalance between the dark and light realms, an evil queen starved for power, and their fear of each other, Ian and Ezekiel are relentlessly drawn together even though their union might destroy them both.

***

Available at these retailers: Amazon Kobo Barnes & Noble

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ A Matter of False Perspective

May 1, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Hey there! Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. I’ve hurdled another deadline and it feels great to be back. I’m continuing on with the last scene I shared, which is from Gryffon Hall, the novel I just finished. It’s an m/m fairy tale revisited, inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Wyler has just gotten an eyeful of the intimidating Lord of Gryffon Hall, Aeric Rouchet.

This picks up right after the line: The footman, who was no slight fellow, appeared diminutive next to the visitor; Rouchet could have picked him up with one hand and used him to clean the gristle from his teeth.

***

Wryler blinked and told himself this was an illusion, a matter of false perspective as Rouchet strode toward them, burgundy-colored hair blazing in the light of a hundred lanterns.

He walked right up to Wryler’s father. Wryler had a hard time not shrinking into the background.

“Greetings, Lord Glimmerveen! I thank you for your gracious invitation and apologize for our lateness. We were fallen upon by bandits on the road from Demmonvale.”

Another gasp went up from the listening crowd. Rouchet grinned and said, “Oh, it was no trouble for us to dispatch the motely crew, but it did slow us down. These two ugly brutes are my cousins, Krull of Dane’s Forge and Phynnias Ledderbrook.”

The two men stood on either side of Rouchet side, forming an impressive wall of manhood.

***

Here’s my first stab at a blurb:

Gryffon Hall

Useless fourth son of the Lord of Glimmerveen, Wryler dreams of getting married and escaping the rustic confines of his father’s castle. A wealthy merchant’s son seems to hold the key to Wryler’s safe if somewhat dreary future. However, the arrival of a mysterious stranger on the eve of Wryler’s betrothal sends his plans into disarray and Wryler finds himself traded off in marriage to one of the most notorious rogues in the land.

Is Lord Aeric Rouchet the barbarian he appears to be, or is he something much worse? Separated from his family and thrust into a strange and dangerous new life at the foreboding Gryffon Hall, Wryler must unravel the secret of his husband’s shadowed life and defeat the curse which threatens not only his growing affection for the barbarian in his bed, but the lives of everyone the Lord of Gryffon Hall is sworn to protect.

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My Sexy Saturday ~ Long Gone

April 30, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to another My Sexy Saturday. Today I’m celebrating vanquishing yet another deadline (they just keep coming, though). This week’s theme is My Sexy Love and the novel I just completed happens to be all about falling in love (and monsters, curses, and such, but mostly love). Gryffon Hall is m/m fantasy; a revisited fairy tale inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Wyler and Aeric have an arranged marriage. This snippet is from their wedding night. They’re not quite in love yet, but things are looking up.

***

“I’ll try not to hurt you, but there will be pain,” Aeric said.

“Don’t hold back.” Wryler wrapped his arms around his husband’s back. It was like hugging a tree. A supple, sweat-slicked tree. “I welcome it.”

Aeric pushed back to his knees, dragging Wryler’s tattered shirt from his arms and flinging it away. He did the same with Wryler’s trousers and crouched over him, doing exactly what Wryler had hoped he wouldn’t; he inspected every inch of Wryler with both eyes and hands.

“Goddess, what perfection,” Aeric sighed.

“I told you, you don’t need to butter me up with false compliments,” Wryler pouted. “I’m perfectly aware of my limitations.”

Aeric cupped Wryler’s cheek in his palm. “Lovely Wryler, how is it you’re so blind? I must return to Glimmerveen first chance and slap your father and brothers across their silly faces.”

Wryler clucked sternly but in fact he warmed inside hearing Aeric’s words. Only Lennox and a few sly knights had complimented Wryler in such a fashion, and that was because they were trying to get into Wryler’s trousers. Aeric didn’t need to try. They were married, and the trousers were long gone.

***

Here’s my first stab at a blurb:

Gryffon Hall

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Don’t forget to continue the hop to discover a wonderful array of sweet and steamy romance at My Sexy Saturday.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ The Barbarian From the West

April 17, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Greetings and welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors. This week, since I’m up to my eyeballs in it, I’ve decided to share from my current WIP, a reimagined fairy tale currently titled Gryffon Hall. Our hero, Wryler Glimmerveen, is reluctantly attending a fancy feast hosted by his father, lord of Glimmerveen castle. Wyler, the fourth son, expects to soon be married off to Lennox, a wealthy merchant’s son, but a mysterious visitor may throw his carefully planned future into disarray.

***

A commotion at the wide doors served as a welcome distraction. Three rather large men had entered, shouting greetings and apologies for their lateness. The crowd parted and a footman cleared his throat.

“Lord Aeric Rouchet, Earl of Gryffon Hall!” he announced. The gasp and murmur that rippled through the room would have amused Wryler, if not for the fact that Wryler couldn’t help gasping and murmuring along with the rest of them.

“What is he doing here? Shall we alert the guards?” he whispered into his father’s ear.

The music came to a squeaky halt as Aeric Rouchet stepped forward. Everyone gaped at the notorious barbarian from the west. The footman, who was no slight fellow, appeared diminutive next to the visitor; Rouchet could have picked him up with one hand and used him to clean the gristle from his teeth.

***