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

From The Nightstand ~ Hitting Black Ice

January 21, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Today I’m excited to have Heloise West here to talk about her new release, Hitting Black Ice. I’ve been looking forward to reading a novel by Heloise, having been a fan of the fiction excerpts she posts on her blog, Velvet Panic. When the excerpt is never long enough, you know you’ve found your next favorite writer!

Heloise tells us about her inspiration for the book, followed by a delightful, much too short excerpt:

***

Alexis asked me what inspired my story “Hitting Black Ice.” Here’s my attempt at an answer 😀

I love mysteries and suspense, romantic or otherwise, and I knew I needed to work on a contemporary story to offset the historical mystery romance I was struggling with at the time.

It’s a little like putting a soup or stew together at first. Or a sketch that needs to be developed because you’ve fallen in love with a line or a shape, a color. I honestly can’t remember who said a story is a juxtaposition of two ideas, but I find that very true. I have to fall in love with that place of juxtaposition first in order to be inspired. I had a winter setting in mind and a character who was trying to talk another out of suicide. I like darker stories, and stories of redemption, so their journey together became important. One of them was on the run from something and living in terror of discovery. The other character had resources. But I needed another layer, the juxtaposition, and that became Nick, the evil FBI agent. I really liked the idea of turning the Romance trope of the enigmatic law enforcement alpha male character on its head.

The story gave me fits, and I abandoned it once or twice, and worked on the historical until that story needed me to step away from it. A glimmer of potential always remains beneath that stagnant pond when the words dry up or I’ve written myself into a corner.

It’s funny how after awhile, the story itself becomes the inspiration to continue writing it.

***

Excerpt:

Hunter opened red wine instead of whiskey and was savoring the first sip when the cell phone dinged with a text message.

Hunter? It’s Shawn.

His heart leaped into his throat. Ok.

“You brilliant asshole,” he told himself, thumbs twitching over the keypad.

U home?

Y. wru?

*$.

The Starbucks across the damn street? U ok?

Y. U want anything? Biscotti? Muffin?

Get up here, muffin man.

He waited a heartbeat.

OK!

Fuck, the bed still needed making. Hunter raced into the bedroom, threw sheets and blankets back together, and shoved the body pillow in the space between the bed and the wall. The building buzzer went off. He ran into the living room to answer it and slid in his socks on the hardwood, nearly going down. He limped to the bathroom, combed his hair, washed his face, and sniffed his armpits. He swished cinnamon mouthwash around and managed to spit it out without dribbling on himself. Off came the pajama bottoms. He jumped into the tightest jeans he owned and changed the rumpled sleep T-shirt for a fresh one.

“Get hold of yourself, boy,” he said to the man in the mirror. “It’s not effing prom night.”

He tucked the T-shirt in, trying not to catch his swooning cock in the zipper as the door buzzer went off. He stood in front of the door, counted to three, and jumped when it buzzed again with his hand still on the knob. He yanked the door open.

Shawn stood on the threshold in a black leather jacket, holding a cardboard box with two coffees and a bag of cookies or muffins or damn biscotti perched on top. His eyes were light with hope, though his smile was tentative and sweetly unsure.

***

Blurb:

ER physician’s assistant Hunter guards his heart carefully, but that doesn’t stop him from falling for Shawn, the front desk clerk. He keeps his distance from relationships for a reason, but just can’t help himself when it comes to Shawn.

Shawn is on the run from the law and love to protect himself and anyone else involved. One man is dead because of him, and his life now is simple and easily thrown into a bag at any hint of danger. Until he meets Hunter, and he no longer wants to run.

Forced into a hostage situation, buried passion explodes in the aftermath, and sex in the supply closet brings their hearts back to life. Tentatively, step by step, they begin to explore a relationship together until the past catches up with Shawn.

FBI agent Nick Truman has finally found his man, but when Shawn escapes, he focuses his attention on Hunter. Shawn returns, even though it means sacrificing himself to save Hunter from the man who framed him for murder.

Title: Hitting Black Ice

Author: Heloise West

Publisher: Loose Id

Publication date: December 2, 2014

Word count: 75,000

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23644828-hitting-black-ice

Bio:

Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history, mysteries, and romance of all flavors. She travels and gardens with her partner of 10 years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine.

Social Media:

heloisewest@hotmail.com

https://twitter.com/velvetpanic

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23644828-hitting-black-ice

https://www.facebook.com/heloise.west.1

http://velvetpanic2.wordpress.com/

Buy Links:

http://www.loose-id.com/hitting-black-ice.html

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-hittingblackice-1689874-340.html

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).

My Sexy Saturday ~ Evil Elf Visits Starbucks

January 17, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another sizzling episode of My Sexy Saturday. The theme this week is “I’m so sexy”, in which we get to introduce those characters who are hot, hot, hot and probably know it. My sexy character, Zeke the elf with evil intentions, definitely knows it. I’m sharing seven paragraphs from my contemporary m/m fantasy, Dark Heart. Not yet published but hopefully (fingers crossed) soon to see the light of day.

***

The door opened, a gust of wet wind blew in, and time stopped. Ezekiel stood in front of the door as it closed. He’d changed his clothes. He wore jeans and a close-fitting black leather jacket. Unlike the musketeer coat, it showed off his slim waist as well as his broad shoulders. His black silk shirt was open at the neck. Sunglasses hid the magical eyes, but there was no mistaking the evil elf.

He scanned the shop a bit then walked straight for Ian’s table. He stopped so close Ian could smell the salt air and deep woods piney scent wafting off his skin, like he’d taken a bath in the ocean and toweled off with cedar bark. His hair looked shorter, or more styled, with the bangs hitting the high line of his cheekbone, the back brushing the collar of his jacket.

“Good afternoon. Mind if join you?” he asked in soft, melodious voice.

“Yes, I do. Go away.” Ian looked around. Everyone else was oblivious to the dark elf in their midst. They tapped on phones, stared at computers, rustled papers. Dijeree and the barista laughed. Ezekiel sat down directly across from Ian. He pushed his glasses back into his hair, unveiling the eyes.

“Why do you resist me, Ian?” he said. He grabbed one of Ian’s hands from the table before Ian could snatch it away.

“Because I . . . you . . . you want to kill me.”

The elf laughed. It was a warm, friendly sound. His eyes gleamed under the fluorescent lights and shifted colors – blue, grey, silver. He turned Ian’s hand over, smoothed out the clenched fingers and ran a finger along his palm. “I do not want to kill you. I want to take you away from this ordinary, depleted life. I want to make love to you. I want to fuck you until you can’t walk straight.”

***

Time for another play date with the writers of My Sexy Saturday. Wether you’re a reader, writer or both, there’s plenty of steamy fun to be had by clicking the link and checking out the amazing selection of excerpts. Writers of sizzling hot fiction will share either 7 words, 7 lines or 7 paragraphs from one of their works.

USA Today Interview

January 15, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Today I’m interviewed by Veronica Scott for her Happily Ever After column on USA Today. It was a great interview with some thought provoking questions about inspiration and the story behind the characters. Thank you, Veronica!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2015/01/14/sci-fi-encounters-veronica-scott-alexis-duran/21760129/

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!