Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Up To No Good

October 16, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Hi! I missed last week because I was at the coast. Good thing I went last week because a few days later a freakin’ tornado touched down not far from where we stayed! Sheesh, we’re not supposed to have weather on the west coast. So the moral is..never miss Weekend Writing Warriors.

I’m picking up where I left off last time. This is from the second chapter of my upcoming release Matthias. Dylan, a reporter, is flashing back to when he first met Matthias ten years ago.

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Matthias hailed from Louisiana. Dylan had learned that much in one of their few conversations way back when, when they’d both been students. Correction–when Dylan had been a student and Matthias had been pretending to be a student.

Now Matthias was an über-rich businessman, some sort of spiritual guru at the head of a swanky members-only retreat on San Juan Island. Until recently he’d been dating a rock star. This irritating fact was just too natural and made the bile rise in Dylan’s throat. Matthias had been way out of Dylan’s league in college and now was even more so. Mysterious, powerful, and apparently up to no good.

Why else would Amanda Arno, Dylan’s senior editor, instruct him to dig up any photo he could of the reclusive businessman? There weren’t many.

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Matthias: Order of the Black Knights ~ Release date November 2, 2016

From Louisiana swamp rat to revivalist huckster to skilled con artist, Matthias Krall clawed his way out of poverty using his natural gifts of grift and manipulation to become the leader of an exclusive retreat center. Exploiting the guise of spiritual guru, Matthias seduces the rich and powerful into turning over their lives and fortunes to his control. But wealth and a small cadre of loyal followers can’t protect Matthias from the betrayal he knows is imminent. Everyone wants what Matthias has, except for one man who wants to destroy it. Dylan Connelly is a reporter who’s determined to prove the charismatic recluse is not only a fraud but a murderer.

Irresistibly drawn to Dylan despite the warnings in his gut, Matthias lures Dylan to his island retreat, determined to destroy his enemy once and for all.

Preorder at Dreamspinner Press!

Order of the Black Knights

Every century has seen its knights, but they are not always seen. Some of them do what must be done—getting their hands dirty when no one else is willing. Assassins and antiheroes who work from the shadows, they are called the Black Knights. From the time of the society’s creation in the 1100s, these men are cursed to repeat their lives of bloodshed. But for each knight, there is one who can bring out the man that waits inside and break the cycle. The question is whether or not the knight will kill his true love before he figures it out.

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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 ~ So We Meet Again

October 2, 2016 by Alexis Duran

New month – New Novel!

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a bunch of really great writers share snippets from their published work or works-in-progress. This week I’m leaving Wryer to his fate at Gryffon Hall and moving on to my next book, Matthias, which is set to release on November 2. This is a new-to-me publisher, Dreamspinner Press, and a new concept- writing one novel in a multi-author series. The series is called Order of the Black Knights (cool,eh?) and you can read about it here. On to the snippet!

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“So we meet again, Matthias,” Dylan Connelly said in his best imitation of a James Bond voice. He clicked the Zoom button to increase the size of the image on his screen and tilted the monitor to reduce the glare of the overhead fluorescents. The resolution was low and the photo grainy, typical tabloid quality, but he couldn’t mistake the dark-haired, blue-eyed man lurking behind the main subject: struggling rock star Jason Vaughn.

Dylan leaned back in his creaking office chair and let out a long, slow breath. Looking at Matthias, even at low res, brought it all back. The agonizing pain of the most intense crush he’d ever endured, the months of pointless longing, the humiliation of rejection. Mostly it brought back the longing, and Dylan squirmed as his body reacted in its usual cock-jerk way to the sight of the mesmerizing creole con man, Matthias Krall.

“If that really is your name,” he muttered. Dylan had yet to uncover Matthias’s background. He’d appeared, as if sprung from the earth fully formed, ten years ago on the campus of the University of Washington.

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Irresistibly drawn to Dylan despite the warnings in his gut, Matthias lures Dylan to his island retreat, determined to destroy his enemy once and for all.

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Order of the Black Knights

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Muddled Misery

September 10, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a fun and diverse group of writers share excerpts in ten sentences or less from their published works or works-in-progress. I’ve been sharing from my new release, Gryffon Hall, an m/m fantasy inspired by Beauty and The Beast. In this scene, Wryler’s father informs him that he’s been betrothed to the notorious Lord Aeric Rouchet. Last week, Wryler found out that he’s to leave for Gryffon Hall three days hence. His father, who is entirely unsympathetic to Wrylers’ misgivings, is the speaker:

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“Cheer up, Wryler. I don’t want my last image of you to be the one of muddled misery I see before me now. When you give me that baleful look, I can’t help but think of your mother.” He sighed, momentarily woeful, then rallied, slapping his hands together. “Let’s go, Cook, we’ve still got a house full of guests with aching heads–all ripe for a little lucrative conversation.”

With that, the two intruders departed, slamming the door behind them. Wryler stood motionless, listening to their fading boot stomps and the grating buzz of Amster’s snores.

Sent away into the wilderness, alone, to live out his days with a stranger. A barbarous stranger who battled monsters for a living. For most of Wryler’s life, Gryffon Hall had been held up as an example of power gone awry—a once great seat of power brought down by greed and black magic.

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Fated to be born the 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 scoundrel 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.

Check out the great review on Diverse Reader.

Buy on Amazon

ARe

Loose Id

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Better Get Packing

September 4, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Greetings and welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors.

I’m forging ahead with a scene from my new release, Gryffon Hall. Wryler has just found out that he’s been betrothed to a stranger, the notorious Lord Aeric Rouchet. The arrangement is very advantageous for Wryler’s father, but that’s cold comfort to Wryler. The “they” in the first sentence is Wryler’s father and a government minister.

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They both smiled broadly, completely unconcerned with Wryler’s feelings or the terrifying fate they’d bound him to.

Wryler lifted his chin and put back his shoulders. “And when is the ceremony set to occur? Sometime in the summer?” he asked, mind racing. There was still a chance he could talk to Rouchet and explain that Wryler had no interest in marrying him, that he loved—or at least was fond of—another. Maybe MacFarlane would reject the Arsburry offer and Wryler’s father could be persuaded to reconsider—

“Seven days hence at Gryffon Hall. Lord Rouchet has already taken his leave in order to prepare his household. You’re to follow in three days. Better get packing.”

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Buy on Amazon

ARe

Loose Id

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ No Turning Back

August 28, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a bunch of really great writers share from their published works, works in progress or whatever has just fallen out of their brain pan. Don’t be alarmed–it’s fun!

This week I’m excited to share my cover for the first time as well as a snippet from Gryffon Hall, my m/m fantasy which is being released on Tuesday! Yes, this Tuesday. Nothing like getting promotional materials three days before release to get a writer’s heart a-pounding. But I digress. Wryler has just been informed by his father that he’s been betrothed to the notorious Lord Aeric Rouchet and has expressed misgivings (to put it lightly). If you’d like to read the scene leading up to this, you can find snippets here, here and here.

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Minister Cook, who had yet to utter a sound, cleared his throat and said, “If it will ease your mind, Master Wryler, consider the likelihood that the tales of monsters have been kept alive by the Rouchets themselves, in order to guard their borders and enhance their prestige. If we really believed centaurs and gryffons still roamed the woods, we’d hardly risk sending a heavily laden caravan through the forest, with or without Rouchet’s guidance.”

Wryler chewed his lower lip—it wasn’t the monsters in the forest that concerned him.

“And if I refuse?”

Lord Glimmerveen laughed heartily and slapped Wryler on the shoulder. “If you refuse, I’ll escort you to Gryffon Hall at swordpoint myself. The ink on the contract has dried. There’s no turning back. Think of all the new stars you’ll see without the fog and dust of the valley to obscure your sky peeper.”

“It’s called a telescope,” Wryler groused.

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Cover art by April Martinez

Gryffon Hall ~ Release date August 30, 2016

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.

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Monsters Afoot

August 21, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors. This week I’m continuing to share from my upcoming release, Gryffon Hall, an m/m fantasy inspired by the fairy tales Beauty and the Beast, and The Griffin.

In previous snippets, Wryler’s father burst into Wryler’s bedroom and informed his incredulous son that a deal had been made, betrothing Wryler to the notorious master of Gryffon Hall, Lord Rouchet. You can catch up here, here and here, if you like. In this snippet,Wyler’s father speaks first:

“You seemed to like our bloodthirsty barbarian guest well enough last night.”

“I was only trying to make Lennox Arsburry jealous,” Wryler said. He shivered in his nightshirt but stood firm, hands clenched into fists. “You can’t go back on your word to his father, surely.”

“I can, but Sir Arsburry was the first to back out. You’re well shut of the Arsburry clan if you ask me. I hear Rouchet has an impressive library—you’ll enjoy that. And all the nonsense about bloodthirst and unchecked plundering is mere propaganda, I’m sure. One has to put on quite the display of ferocity to keep the monsters of the Black Forest at bay.”

“Are there really monsters afoot near Gryffon Hall?” Wryler asked. One heard the tales, of course, and gawked at the skeletons on display at the university museum in Kirik, but the strange beasts had been driven from the civilized lands centuries ago, off the edge of the earth, according to most scholars.

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Gryffon Hall ~ Release date August 30, 2016

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