New Release: Roses White, Roses Red

What? Multiple releases in one month? Astounding! Amazing!

No doubt this will bite me in the ass later when next month comes around and I have nothing finished to give you guys.  I admit, it is greed that made me do it--this is a M/M fairy tale and you people love that shit.  It's gonna make me maybe even 5 bucks. :)

Seriously though, this is a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, Snow White and Rose Red.  I wrote most of this it back in December and it's a winter story, so of course I'm publishing it in the first week of spring. Makes perfect sense.

It's a nice little fairy tale, very traditional in its telling. The story is pretty simple. Boy meets cursed shape-shifting bear, Boy falls in love with cursed shape-shifting bear...the usual.

It's a 4,000 word short, so it's only $0.99.  (I know I priced Barrendack higher than usual, but its also 3x as long as the stories I usually charge a dollar for.)

And is the cover not lurvly? (I'm a little sleep deprived as I write this, btw.)  I'm very proud of this cover, mostly because I successfully manipulated the image to fit what i needed it to be, and none of my test audience noticed.

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Smashwords

Description:
Following the death of his father and only companion, Reynard lived alone in the woods. He encounters a bear, out in the cold in the middle of winter, and his entire life changes. Bringing the creature home, Reynard and Bear become fast companions. Reynard's happiness is only marred by dreams of a nude stranger in his bed...which turn out to not be dreams at all. Bear is no animal, but a man under a spell. A man Reynard finds himself falling in love with...

This is a M/M retelling of the German fairy tale "Snow White, Rose Red" and contains explicit material. This is a 4,000 word short.

Excerpt:
Reynard walked until his nose was frozen on his face and his feet were cold all the way through. He knew he needed to turn around, but he walked a little bit further until he caught sight of a great, dark, looming shape--a bear floundering through the snow, his thick pelt frosted over with ice so that he glittered silver in the sun.

Reynard quickly drew his bow, but paused. The beast should have been hibernating safe and warm in his den, not freezing in the cold air. He approached the bear with caution, his bow aloft. The bear raised his head to look at him. To Reynard’s shock he saw the bear had blue eyes despite his shaggy brown coat. The creature’s expression was one of defeat and sorrow. Almost human. He took a step forward, stumbled, and fell.

The bear didn’t move.

Anger flashed unexpectedly through Reynard’s body. “Get up!” he yelled, running towards the bear. “Get up and walk you stupid beast. Don’t give up and die there!” His bow fell from his hands and Reynard threw himself against the bear, pushing and punching at it, kicking it. “Live,” he cried, unexpected hot tears falling down his face. “Don’t give up.”

He fell to his knees beside the bear. “I don’t want to be alone.” The bear lifted his head and nudged Reynard’s shoulder with its nose. Reynard wiped away his tears with the back of his mitten. “I don’t want to be alone anymore,” he repeated to the bear.

The bear pushed his heavy body to his feet and managed a few slow steps forward, following the path in the snow Reynard’s snowshoes had made. It turned and looked back at him, as if to say, “Are you coming?”

FREE Project

I've mentioned before that I used to write serialized web fiction.  For a few years it was the only thing I wrote, fueled only by readers' comments and the occasional donation. Mostly they were YA/New Adult soap-opera style pieces.  One was a fairy tale, one was a super hero story. One was "Dead End Streets," a teenage vampire story that introduced the Deadly Liaisons characters of Jamie-boy, Damian, and Rita.  (If there are any DES readers still around reading this--you are awesome.)

Web serials are fun to write. You get to tell a long, rambling, television-like story with lots of characters, and because you have to keep to a schedule you are forced to make a habit out of writing. The readers get to know the characters over a long period of time, and you might even end up with a novel when you're finished. (Or several. DES had 3 distinct plot-lines. One of them is planned for release in ebook and print sometime this year.)

My last serial crashed and burned a few years ago when I lost my house and became too depressed to write.  I feel a little guilty because I kind of just disappeared on the readers (I later found out they were worried I was dead) so I haven't tried to do it again for a long time.

But now is the time.  This is the year when all my shit is coming together. My productivity has soared since last November and I'm feeling really good about where my writing career is going. So I'm ready to try again.

It's called "House of the Dewy Trollop" and it's about steampunk whores. Remember 'Fancy and the Mechanical Man'? The characters are back for more.  It's going to be a drama, and there will be plenty of sex in it, but sex is not the main focus of the story. It's an ensemble piece with lots of characters.

I've been working on this project for about two weeks now. The first three chapters are up and available. This story will be free to read online for the entire duration of the writing process.  I will also be selling it for $0.99 a chapter on Amazon, which you are under no obligation to purchase, though if you can spare the dollar it's always appreciated.  Each chapter will be made up of 3 to 10 parts, posted once a week online. All the info you need to know about it is on the site, so go check it out and take a look.

Enter "House of the Dewy Trollop"

New Release: Barrendack

Where to begin...I love everything about this novella. It's a very simple story without a heavy plot, and nothing epic happens in it, but it is lovely all the same.

I wrote it quickly--in less than two weeks. The story told itself with very little effort.  I wanted to write twincest and I wanted to write a gothic romance. While I was mulling over ideas I remembered I had started a gothic romance about 7 years ago and abandoned it. Time to pick it back up!

As the new version took shape it became more medieval than the classic 19th century settings of gothic novels, but I still think it has an...optimistically gothic feel. I set it in a universe I have been toying with since last summer. (Working on the possibility of a novel-length story set in the universe.)  This story takes place in the same world as "The Dragon's Bride."

A bit on the cover--I adore this cover.  The art is by Pre-Raphelite painter Gabriel Rossetti, who also did the drawing on the cover of "Goblin Market." I love this genre of painting and, public domain bitches! :) Free art ftw! One of my pen-names has taken to only writing historicals so I can just use classic works of art for the covers. Note: Smashwords doesn't care if your nudity is DaVinci, you still gotta cover that shit up.

Buy on Amazon
Buy on Amazon UK
Buy on Smashwords

Description:
Treated with indifference (at best) by her own family, Giselle is frightened but optimistic about marrying one of the Barrendack sons, whom she has never met. When a sudden illness strikes her father en route to Barrendack Manor she finds herself helpless and nearly alone when she arrives. To complicate matters, the two sons are identical twins who enjoy torturing her by constantly trading places. The brothers eventually prove themselves, supporting her as she cares for her ailing father, yet now she is faced with a new problem. How can she marry only one twin, when she may have fallen for them both?

This is a romantica piece intended for those 18 years or older. Contains heavy M/M/F and light M/M interaction. May offend some readers. [This is my fancy way of saying twincest, btw] 15,000 words.

Excerpt:
Lord Barrendack was a stout man of about forty-five. He had a greasy dark beard and tiny, beady dark eyes. Giselle took an immediate dislike of her future father in law, especially when he did not rise or stop eating to greet her. She stepped further into the room and stood near him, close to the fire. “I've been told there’s been an accident,” he said.

“My father had an attack of the humors,” she admitted, her voice shaky. “I apologize for any disruption to your household.”

“Is he well yet?”

“I’m afraid not, Sir,” she said.

He picked up a goblet and gulped noisily from it, wine dribbling out the corner of his mouth. This wasn't what she had expected, not at all. What if his sons took after their father in looks and manners? “The leech is being sent for,” he said. “All will be done for the old chap. Come here then, girl. Let me look at you. I’m a bit short-sighted, so come close.”

Giselle stepped next to the table, close enough to know her future father in law wasn't fond of bathing either. He squinted his little eyes at her. She didn't like being studied inch by inch. Giselle was shapely, neither fat nor thin, and stood tall and straight not because she wanted to impress this man, but because her nurse had always slapped her whenever she slouched as a child. She did wish he wasn't seeing her in her dull traveling dress, but rather the expensive burgundy velvet her father had made up for the occasion.

“How are your teeth?” he demanded.

“Fine,” she answered, a little shocked he would be so forward.

Lord Barrendack nodded. “Strong, healthy looking girl. You’ll do for my son.”

“Sir…” she said uncertainly, knowing this was not a conversation they would be having if her father were well, “which son?”

“That’s the rub of it, isn't it?” he said with a laugh, standing. He was shorter than Giselle by nearly a head and she had an instant fear of a dwarf husband. “I have two sons,” he stated. “I had a third, an older boy, but...well. The Lord is mysterious in his ways, isn't he?” He turned his head in the direction of another doorway. “Boys!”

Presently his sons entered the room. First Giselle sighed with relief. Neither were short, nor did they share any resemblance to their father. But she saw quickly why their father had laughed. The two young men before her eyes were exact copies of each other. Both were blond and clean shaven, with a fortunate aquiline nose and blue eyes. They stood shoulder to shoulder in matching blue jackets and black trousers. Identical twins.

“Which one of you is Drue?” Lord Barrendack asked. The twin on the right stepped forward. “Ah. And that makes the other one Eduard. If only your brother were alive things would be so simple,” he lamented to his sons, and turned back to Giselle. “I have no idea which one is the elder,” he admitted. “They weren't even named until we were sure they would live. I don’t suppose you have a preference.”

Eyes wide, Giselle shook her head.

“Anyway, this is the Lady Giselle of Stillwater,” he continued. “If one of you boys wanted to volunteer to marry her…”

“And should he marry her,” Eduard interrupted, “I would be stricken.”

Both twins bowed at the same time, their motions seemingly that of one man, and they greeted her in unison. “Your service, my lady.” It was too much. Too much had happened, and Giselle began to tremble.

“I...am...pleased to meet you,” she managed to mutter, grabbing on to a dining chair to remain standing.

“She’s overcome with joy,” Drue said.

 “Or weak with fear for her father’s life,” Eduard said. “Dear lady, let me show you to your chamber so you may rest.” Giselle nodded, and when he offered his arm she took it gratefully. As they walked away, however, she noted Eduard turn and give his brother a rueful smile.