Weekend Writing Warriors ~ A Real Challenge

January 3, 2016 by Alexis Duran

Happy New Year! I’d like to say Thank You to all the great readers and writers who’ve participated in Weekend Writing Warriors. You actually make social networking fun!

I’m sharing from my soon-to-be-released m/m fantasy, Curse of Salar. Prince Dezra, who is bored sparring with servants who won’t risk harming him, has asked visiting soldier Captain Rayn Nevar to join him in a game of shibar, a type of martial arts where opponents face off with long, pike-like sticks. I’m picking up right after last week’s snippet, when Rayn accepted the challenge with the caveat that Dezra won’t have him thrown in the dungeon if he “happens to crack a royal rib”.

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“I promise, with all these people as witness.” Dezra threw up his hand to indicate the thirty or so servants, guards, and visitors assembled there. “Though that’s not likely to happen – I’ve been training for ten years.” He said this only out of a sense of fun, because he was excited to face a real challenge. If the captain was skilled at all, he might very well best Dezra.

“With due respect, if your opponents are afraid to hit you, the training must be lacking.” Nevar smiled and strode onto the field, twirling his borrowed shibar. Dezra felt a rush of doubt as he watched the lean, tautly muscled man warm up lightly. While Dezra welcomed a challenge, he didn’t want to be humiliated either. The servants he’d beaten over the years would surely enjoy that.

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On sale now at Loose Id if you pre-order!

Blurb for Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar ~ Release date January 5,2016

In the desert kingdom of Jahar, the rule of mages has been overthrown and the ancient lineage of sorcerer kings wiped out. Prince Dezra and his sister are the last living members of the royal family and are held prisoners in their ancestral palace.

Prince Dezra lives a life of lies and deceit. In order to stay alive, he must pretend to be a drug-addicted wastrel, trusting no one, isolated from even his sister who has chosen to cooperate with the government that executed their parents.

Into his lonely existence comes a man who should be his sworn enemy; Captain Rayn Nevar. Dezra is irresistibly drawn to the rough soldier and his longing for a simple sexual encounter quickly morphs into a dangerous obsession.

Captain Rayn Nevar knows he should stay far away from Prince Dezra, but his desire for the beautiful young man overrides all common sense. Despite the fact that Dezra’s ancestors destroyed Rayn’s family, the captain finds himself in a position of protecting the prince from the many schemers who believe the last of the mages should be annihilated.

When treachery leads to Dezra’s escape, he is at last free to bond with the serpent god Ka’alar and develop his long repressed powers. Only the arrival of a mysterious monk with powers greater than Dezra’s stops the prince from using black sorcery to destroy all who stand in his way, including Rayn.

As Jahar edges toward another war between masters and mages, Rayn must question his devotion to his increasingly deadly lover while Dezra must decide if ultimate power is worth the ultimate sacrifice.

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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 ~ Quite Harmless

December 27, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to the last Weekend Writing Warriors hop of the year. I have the distinct pleasure of being able to cap off the year with the cover reveal for Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar, release date January 5th. Just in time to juice up that new Kindle or Paperwhite that Santa brought.

I’m continuing with one of my favorite scenes, where Prince Dezra and Rayn Nevar get to face off on the training ground. Dezra is itching for a real fight, and Nevar would love to put the prince in his place. This snippet follows directly after last week’s.

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Dezra gave his teacher his most withering royal glare. “There’s no reason why Captain Nevar cannot play a game of shibar with me if I allow it. You see, Captain, the blades are dulled. It’s all quite harmless.”

“The way you play it, it is. The shibar can still be deadly.”

“You see, Prince Dezra—” Lanz fussed.

Dezra ignored him. “But you won’t pummel me with it, will you, Captain?”

“I’ll play as long as you promise not to have me thrown in the dungeon if I happen to crack a royal rib.”

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Cover art by the talented Fiona Jayde

Pre-order now on Sale!

Blurb for Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar ~ Release date January 5,2016

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ A Fair Match

December 20, 2015 by Alexis Duran

It’s Weekend Writing Warrior time again. This week I’m continuing the time honored tradition of shameless self-promotion and sharing an excerpt from my soon to be released m/m fantasy, Curse of Salar, available January 5th.

I skipped ahead a little bit from last week’s snippet. Prince Dezra is excited for the chance to test his skills against someone besides timid servants and teachers.

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The idea of sparring with Nevar sent a ripple of excitement coursing through Dezra’s body. Before anyone could say anything that might ruin his fun, he stepped out on the field.

“Do you know the shibar, Captain Nevar?”

The captain looked at the spear in his hand almost guiltily, as if ashamed to be caught with it.

“I learned it young and have kept up with it as a form of exercise, Prince Dezra.” He belatedly inclined his head ever so slightly in respectful greeting.

“Then perhaps you’ll do me the favor of sparring with me. No one here will give me a fair match. They’re all afraid to hit me.”

Lanz scurried forward, saying, “Pardon me, Prince Dezra, but that is not… It is against…”

***

Blurb for Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar ~ Release date January 5,2016

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Sacrificial Opponent

December 13, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another round of Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where a bunch of really awesome writers share ten sentence snippets from their work. This week I’m sharing from my upcoming release Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar.

This snippet is from one of my favorite scenes, where Prince Dezra finally meets his match on the shibar field. (A shibar is a 5-6 ft pole with bronze blades on each end. In this case the blades are dulled so as not to risk injuring the prince.)

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Dezra drank the cool water offered to him and considered who his next sacrificial opponent would be. Perhaps Lanz himself. Now that Dezra had worked his edge off, he could focus on technique against his teacher.

He inspected the line of onlookers, wondering if any of the visiting attendants or military personnel might appreciate a chance to brush up their skills. Only those with the highest clearance were allowed anywhere near him, and so those present probably didn’t partake in the lowly game of shibar, a foot soldier’s weapon.

He wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and was about to call for Lanz when a new figure stepped out of the shadows of the columns with a shibar in his hands. It was Captain Nevar. Dezra’s eyes narrowed to slits against the sun. Perhaps he was hallucinating. The guards stopped Nevar immediately.

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Blurb for Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar ~ Release date January 5,2016

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Never Saw Him

December 6, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to another exciting edition of Weekend Writing Warriors. Well, I was supposed to start on the promo for my release coming up in January, but then I realized I was ONE snippet away from finishing Chapter 2 of From Mars, With Love. I know, it seems like we should be much farther along, but at ten sentences a pop, it takes a while.

Last week Eli finally found out he’s not being returned to Earth by his rescuers, but dumped at the unwelcoming outpost on Mars, which was definitely not on his to-visit list.

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The man in black still stood there, pausing as if mildly interested in Eli’s plight. He shrugged and nearly smiled.

“Good luck with that,” he said, and sauntered past. Eli stared after him, taking deep breaths and calming himself before he said something unfortunate to the well-armed marine.

“Who is that, anyway?” he asked her.

“You never saw him,” she said, looking at Eli with a stern, don’t-mess-with-me expression. “I mean it, you never saw him, ’cause if you did, you might require a memory sweep, got it?”

“Never saw who?” Never saw him. As if Eli could ever erase the memory of those luminous blue-eyes.

***

How is it I’ve managed to overlook this motherlode of hunky space guys with guns? SG-Universe – my kind of show.

From Mars, With Love follows the adventures of Eli and his pal Rilke, two down-and-out scavengers from earth as they’re abducted by slavers, arrested by space marines, and dumped on an unwelcoming outpost on Mars. Eli’s troubles are only beginning when he finds out the ring his mother gave him contains the life force of a powerful but dormant alien and the mysterious man he has a huge crush on happens to be an alien artifact smuggler. Eli’s just trying to make it on Mars, but can he survive the dangerous political intrigue swirling around him? This erotic space opera is a work-in-progress. Stay tuned to this blog for ongoing excerpts and updates.

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Mars?

November 29, 2015 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop. Hope you had a great Turkey Liberation Day. As a vegetarian, I have to say I’m very grateful for mashed potatoes and butter.

I’m continuing with another excerpt from my m/m space opera in progress, From Mars, With Love. I’ve skipped ahead a bit from the last snippet. Our hero Eli has been transported via shuttle to the Space Marines’s battleship, where he has more rude surprises waiting.

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A marine with a wisepad on her arm stood waiting for Eli outside the battleship’s dock.

“Passport or ID chip?” she demanded.

“I was swept, as in kidnapped, as in abducted against my will. They didn’t give us a chance to pack our bags or apply for visas.”

“So no identification?” She tapped on the screen, frowning. “Well, you can apply for a long-term squatters permit when we get to Mars.”

“Mars? Wait, no, you’ve got to take us back to earth… all of us.” Eli looked around in a panic, as if someone reasonable might pop out of the ether.

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