Monday, December 23, 2013

Yay, Christmas

I am departing for three-ish days to go hang with my family. I will return sometime on the 26th. Will answer emails and such, but may be slow to do so. Probably will be quiet on the trip down, it's about 2.5 hours, but after that you can probably reach me (depending on what I am dragged into upon my arrival :3)

I hope the holidays are treating everyone well ^__^

Have WIP snippet. This is from Red and Rapunzel, which Sasha has assured me does not in fact need to be thrown out.


Friday, December 13, 2013

Rambling for the Weekend

The saddest part about being busy is that even exciting things just become one more item to tick off. I rarely feel anxious about the release of a new book because I'm so fucking busy I rarely even know how it's doing beyond the odd comment or review I catch while trolling sites for other things.

That being said, I am still very grateful for every kind and enthusiastic word I come across. Two lovely reviews for The Engineered Throne crossed my path the other day, and those made my month. The lovely and sweet Crissy is far too kind to me, and Joyfully Jay in general is always good to LT3, for which we're eternally grateful. Scrollin Them Papers is new to me, and a happy surprise.

In audiobook news, I now have three books in audio! ^_^ Prisoner, Backwoods Asylum, and joining them this week is Dance with the Devil.  Once they're out on all the usual sites I will let you know, for now they're just where those link (third party distribution usually takes about three weeks, give or take).



On the writing front front, today's agenda is to start work on Clan Mordred. I need to find all my notes, reread SotK, but I remember the beginning I had in mind well enough to get that far. It begins with Amr naked :3  Will likely also pick away at Red and Rapunzel (argh that needs a better title. Later, later). 

It does not feel like a Friday, but then again, LT3's week (at least for me and Sasha) tends to run Saturday-Wednesday, so Th/F feels more like Sa/Su to us ^^

Now to stop slacking and get to work. Everybody have a good weekend ^__^

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Too many words. I can't pick one.

Words meaning stories. It's always hard deciding what to work on next, especially after finishing something as exhausting as Princes of the Blood. Part of me wants to dive into another fantasy, and part of me is really fucking tired and just wants a break.

And the hard truth is that I do have to balance the shit that is pure indulgence with stuff that I want to write AND will sell. I can put a mountain of effort into Dragon Magic, but it's high fantasy and a foursome. It will never do as well as something like Midsummer Song or The High King's Golden Tongue.

OTOH I have quite a bit accidentally lined up for the first half of 2014. I have room to play for a little while. Princes of the Blood is done and with my editor, and I'll work out firm release dates once I've talked with her (the ones penciled in now are very tentative). I also have a couple of short stories -- Looking for More, which is from LT3's That Famous Happy End anthology, and SMP is returning my rights on Lukos Heat so LT3 will be releasing that sometime next year. I also have Wriggle & Sparkle coming out in January with Yaoifix, of course. It currently stands at two stories, I'm hoping to write a third to round it out.

My white board is filled with projects, and I only need to settle on a few, but mostly I just get overwhelmed and go do something else. The white board list currently is:

The Goblin Market
Dragon Magic
W&S 3
Vanilla Spice Latte (DofM sidestory)
The High King's Golden Tongue
Midsummer Song
Captive (Kria-verse)
Clan Mordred (SotK sequel)
Steampunk story
Fantasy tentacle story
The Duke's Bonded
The Last Tale of the Cursed Knight
Diamond Knights
Sam's gamer story

And there's other stuff I want to do, but whenever I open the files the stories just don't cooperate. Paradise hates me. There's a fairytale I've been trying forever (about the prince from Huntsman) and I think it might cooperate now that I've admitted the stupid fucking thing wants to be a threesome. I should add that to the board. The Prince's Toads.

I'm also slowly picking away at another fairytale. Working title is Red and Rapunzel. It ties loosely to all the other stories revolving around the Laughing Forest, though it's a different country and a section of it that has broken away/become evil. It's femslash, and trans*, and an amalgamation of fairytales:  Snow White and Rose Red, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel mostly, but with passing notes of Hansel and Gretel and Beauty and the Beast. It will probably wind up in LT3's fairytale rotation, so subscribers stay tuned :3

After I finish that, I will have to finally settle on my to do list. I seem to be in a poly mood, so I may just say fuck the police and work on Clan Mordred and/or Dragon Magic. We'll see.

Peace out, lovelies.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Friday Recs

Two recs today, though I am way late to the party with the first and I think most everyone who would want to read it has ^^;;

Probably the best werewolf book I've read in forever. It still has the alpha/beta/omega type tropes going on, but the author does them well and it's not just one more book about angry, posturing wolves who throw out members for being gay. Also the military porn is off the charts. That made me really fucking happy. Reminds me of all the stuff I read back when I was addicted to Generation Kill fanfic. Jesus that stuff was hot like burning. Combine that will characters I loved to death, and you've got a great werewolf book. I have not gotten around to the sequel yet, but I desperately want to. If you like you werewolves mixed with hot soldiers, look no further :3


I have been in love with this series forever, and I have been waiting for Syren's story forever and a DAY. I might also have a problem with being patient. Regardless, this story was worth the wait. It's not an easy journey for our poor boys, and they can be magnificently stupid at times, but they pull it together in the end :3 Still one of my absolute fav series for the whole cop/criminal type story.  Series can be looked at more closely here.







Sadly, these two are all I've got for now. I am hoping to get more reading done this weekend, since all I have left of my last nano project is some wrap-up porn :3

Everybody have a fabulous weekend! ^__^

Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday Recs

Sasha and I are flitting off this weekend to scope a town where we are considering buying a house. Will likely not be around much, between exploring and writing, but as ever, beloveds, text or tweet if you need me.

In the meantime, have some recs I've been sitting on for a while. I miss reading and reccing, need to find a way I can resume it regularly again /sigh

A lesbian retelling of Hansel & Gretel, which immediately captured my interest. Fairytales will forever remain my favorite thing. I liked the way this was done, the relationship between Hansel & Gretel (in that it deviated from the standard). I also enjoyed the writing style, the author captured the fairytale vibe beautifully. And the ending makes it. Definitely give it a try if you like fairytales, femslash, (or even if you don't, if you're feeling adventurous).


I think this is one of the best sci-fi books I've read period. If you are a sucker for world-building, this book is gold. I've never seen such effort put into mixing a human with an honest to god alien race. Language problems, cultural problems, drastically different body type problems. This book is excellent. I actually skipped it at first because I have been disappointed so many times in the past. But someone I trust gave it high marks, I picked it up, and I am sad only that I wasted time (and that there's not more books in the verse). Definitely check it out.

Love this book. Love the characters, fucking LOVE the magic, the world, all of it. I started reading this book and I got exactly zero anything else done. I have been waiting for the next book to come forever (end of January what is that crap). It's a stellar book, love the world building and seriously, the magic. The two MCs are amazing, I'm in love with them, I love the history that's between them and that they're adults and work with/past it. Seriously. I want the second book, damn it. This waiting crap is not as much fun when I'm not the author enjoying everyone else's suffering. But enough of my fangirling. Check it out for yourself :3

And I have a couple more, but I'll stow them away for next week in my constant attempt to actually make this a regular thing again.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Destroying Walls and Other Adventures

I thought that with all the cons done for the year, I would get a little less busy and be able to catch up on writing ^^;;

Honestly, I should know better by now :3

Not that I'm complaining, definitely not ^__^ I got a call from my mom early last week asking if we wanted to come help them renovate their den. It was decided midway through the project that instead of a den, it would become an office. Plans also changed from 'get rid of wood paneling and put up nice walls' to 'also, fuck that ceiling'. It was quite the project. Sadly, Sasha and I had to return home before it was totally done, but for those interested I will def obtain pics of the finished room. All other pictures so far taken can be found here ^__^ And here is a picture of me that seemed to amuse everyone (that's my dad and Samantha behind me.)


I am furiously catching up on LT3 work, and hoping to get slightly ahead, because I want to use November to attempt to catch up on my writing. The first Wriggle & Sparkle story will be going up on Yaoifix the beginning of 2014. When I have solid dates, I will let you know. Rin asked if I might expand the story to include a certain confrontation. I said that wasn't doable, but I could definitely write another story. There are definitely two contracted with Yaoifix, and if I write more past that, they'll wind up there or at LT3, depending on Rin :3 W&S and FINALLY finishing up the last Princes of the Blood stuffs are my major goal in November. NOTHING WILL GET IN MY WAY.

In other book-related news:



The Engineered Throne has concluded as a serial. If you've been waiting on the ebook, you can pre-order it now. In two weeks you can read it and yell at me for being a meanie mcjerkface like all the serial subscribers have been doing. They had it worse, though, because I have a problem with cliff-hangers #noregrets



You have ONE MORE DAY to obtain Embrace and then it is gone, baby gone.



The Prisoner audiobook is out, at two sites right now and it should reach other retailers soon-ish.

Moving back to serials, much love to everyone for comments on Of Last Resort. I was not certain how fantasy vampires would be received, and it's probably some of the most @_@ world-building I've done in forever, so I'm glad I did not completely fuck it up. I would apologize for the cliff-hanger problem, but I'm too busy cackling gleefully. Of Last Resort is the only story in that verse to be serialized; the other two will go straight to ebook. I have harassed everyone with the covers, already, but I don't care because I love them to fucking death. LOOK AT THEM AGAIN.


And once Of Last Resort wraps, it will be followed by:


Which is set in Deceived-verse, and I posted a rough excerpt of it here (as you can see, the title has changed).

After all these projects are done, I have no idea. I may try to tackle some short stories I have piled up. I'm also really in the mood to switch back to poly, which means either Dragon Magic, Sandstorm-verse, or Clan Mordred. But Kria-verse is also demanding attention, and I would like to tackle Goblin Market. We shall see.

To all my darling nano'ers, good luck and have fun ^__^ Everyone take care and have a good rest of the week, and a great weekend. Happy Halloween! :D

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Prisoner Audiobook Giveaway




As we speak, LT3 is listening to the Prisoner audiobook for final vetting :D

While I do not have the exact release date (being this is the first audiobook, we're still learning timelines and such) it will be up before the end of October.

In celebration I am giving away ONE free copy of the audiobook ^__^ Leave a comment (on the blogger post) with a way to contact you. The winner will be randomly selected on November 1st, around noon. Winner will have twenty-four hours to reply and then a new winner will be selected.

Good luck! Thanks for helping us get this far, my darlings ^__^


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Back to New York I Go

State and City this time :3

Sasha's sister is getting married this weekend and we are headed up to attend (Sasha is in the wedding, I am just going to sit in the very back row and read Sterek porn. That is not a lie. It's a lot easier to get away with reading porn in church when you don't to look FOREVER for ONE. FUCKING. BOOK. that does not have a dead-giveaway cover. Thank you, Apple. Yes, I know I'm going to hell. I will see you there, friend. Mom, stop giving me that look).

Anyway, we are leaving at This Sucks O'Clock Wednesday morning and will be driving aaaaallll fucking day.

The good news is that instead of heading straight for, uh, whatever the hell city the wedding is in that I'm blanking on, we're stopping in NYC first. To see a live showing of Welcome to Night Vale :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D We also get to meet E.E. Ottoman, one of our authors, and Aisha, one of our cover artists ^__^ I am excite!

And then Friday we drive up for the wedding, which is on Saturday? And then Sunday (my birthday) we drive home. And we will finally be free of travelling until January. Bleh.

The moral of this story is I will be pretty fucking hard to reach Wednesday-Monday, and probably will need the rest of next week just to catch up on stuff so may be slow to respond. If you absolutely need me, text or tweet and I'll do my best, but I'm going to be even busier and more absent than usual on roadtrips so chances are you will not hear from me until at least the 15th.

Now I have lots of shit to do to actually get ready for this trip, so away I go.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Embrace coming down forever


I do not like taking my books down, even if some of my earlier work I'm not happy with and would prefer to pull and have done with. Readers enjoy those stories still so I generally let it go.

That being said, there are some stories that bother me, for various and sundry reasons. Embrace is one of them, and I have decided it's finally time to retire it. So throughout October it will be 50% off at the LT3 site. Come November 1st, it's being pulled and will be gone forever. I am sorry to those disappointed by this news, though I assume most of those peeps have a copy and don't really have much need to stress.

I am grateful to those who have liked it despite its many flaws. Your support is, as ever and always, greatly appreciated.


~Megan

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Goblins, Elves, and Art


A huge and magical thank you to Megan Derr for hosting me on the Goblins blog tour!

Today I’m going to show you some of the picspiration for my fantasy series, Goblins. I am, after all, a frustrated artist. My hands suck at drawing, so I type my fantasy ideas instead. *grin*

I am obsessed with art, and photography. My favourite artists are a mix of classical and bizarre; Aubrey Beardsley, Brian Froud, Jan Pienkowski. I also love Arthur Rackham:





Arthur Rackham illustration ~ from Das Rheingold

I love anything beautiful and sinister. Fairy tale illustrations that intrigue and scare you a little bit are my favourite.


My favourite painter is J.W. Waterhouse, because I also love ancient Greek mythology. Waterhouse was famous for painting lithe and pale beauties, male and female.



Waterhouse ~ The Naiad


When I was writing the first Goblins story, my focus was very much on the goblins themselves, the ‘baddies’ of the forest. I don’t tend to write plots; once I’m going I’ll just write what comes… (ha, ha)… and in this story, one of the elves made an appearance.

What I wanted for my elves (and what I love about paintings like the Waterhouse above) is the way the pale, human-like bodies are almost at one with the trees. So the way I wrote Elfren, my elf who makes a guest spot in the tales, is that he very much blends into the forest, and materialises out of the greenery.

All of my goblins and elves wear the forest as clothes, in leaves and vines (the elves are summery, the goblins are wintery) but Elfren is also covered in faeries, no bigger than butterflies.



I loved that aspect so much; it’s both my ode to Peter Pan and also so I could get in a joke about Elfren’s faery entourage. There will be more of the faeries to come, when Elfren has his turn at a story.

Art and inspiration plays such a huge part of the Goblins series, because each and every scene is total fantasy. I wanted to create pretty and romantic images; stills for the brain, in a way. One of the reasons that we ended up with original illustrations for the first book was that imagery was so important.

I’ll leave you now with a very pretty picture. Photography that inspires my goblin characters (as they’re all shape-shifters), and I am a huge fan of masks, and/or big hair, so this one is a double win for me:





Blurb:

In the 17th Century, the ancient sprawl of Epping forest is bursting with magic and those who go unseen by human eyes: the elves who rule the summer court, and the goblins who rule the winter court. It is said that if a human catches the eye of one of the fey, they are either doomed or blessed.

Wulfren & the Warlock

When Wulfren wakes from a strange dream of a human captor with long silver hair, and grey eyes, his brothers tell him they rescued him from a warlock, and take Wulfren back home to the goblin king's palace. But Wulfren isn’t so sure the matter is that simple. Why was he missing so long? What are the strange dreams of the beautiful man with the silver hair? Dalliances with humans are severely frowned upon, especially by Wulfren’s father, but Wulfren is willing to risk the scorn of his family to find the human who haunts his dreams.

Quiller & the Runaway Prince

After a hard winter, Quiller is sent deep into the forest on a family errand, and is surprised when a human stumbles into his path. Quiller swoops in to pester him, perhaps even eat him, but there is something special about the human: his scent is royal, though he protests that he is not, and soon Quiller finds himself agreeing to help the human with his troubles—in exchange for a kiss.




Goblins buy link

Melanie website

Melanie twitter
@melanietushmore


Monday, September 16, 2013

Guest Post: Michelle Moore

Greetings, readers ^__^ I am hosting the lovely Michelle Moore today for the start of her tour. She's a new and wonderful addition to LT3. Love her story, and awesome to work with. Onward!

~~~~~

Writing “Wishes” fell somewhere in between “write what you know” and “make up what you wish was real”.  In clearer language (since I write and all), it meant using some real places for inspiration, and then tweaking them up a little to fit my need.  Kind of like finding that perfect recipe for boeuf bourguignon, and replacing the red wine with hard cider.  Yeah, okay, so I’m no chef, I admit it.

The story takes place in the imaginary-but-should-be-real town of Playa Escondida in northeastern Florida.  It’s between Jacksonville and Daytona, about fifteen miles south of St. Augustine, or more specifically, south of Washington Oaks Gardens and north of Flagler Beach.  You know, if it really existed.

“But Michelle,” I’m sure you’re asking, “Now we know where the town is, but what about the coffee shop hinted at in your title?  What’s the inspiration for that?” 

Direct your gaze below.



Welcome to Crucial Coffee of St. Augustine, the inspiration for CafĂ© D’Or.

I’ve been totally enchanted by Crucial Coffee since my first visit umpteen years ago, in the days before I even liked coffee.  I know, words of sacrilege there.  What can I say?  I was young, I was foolish, I hadn’t yet learned to love that magical bean.  The building itself was like something out of a novel… ancient, with dark corners and a wooden floor worn down with use, tropical gardens filled with fairy lights.  What more could you ask for in a setting?



How about this?  A spectacularly stunning Milky Way Mocha, topped with a chocolate squiggly thing made fresh daily.  Okay, so maybe a drink isn’t actually a setting, but it sure adds to the ambiance.  And we’re just talking about how it looks.  I could write epic rhapsodies about how it tastes.

So there you have it.  Imaginary-but-should-be-real places inspired by places that are definitely worth a visit.  “If Wishes Were Coffee”, the story of a special little town in Florida where it’s never too late to find love.





The second band of rain rolled in like a gray curtain, visibility dropping to less than a foot outside the door. The terracotta roof tiles amplified the sound of the downpour to a drumming roar that gave the espresso machine a run for its money, and Todd used it to cover a muttered "fuck" as he struggled to slide the door shut. It was the original one from when Café Oro had been a plantation summer kitchen, solid wood with hand-forged nails, mounted on an iron track, and a hundred pounds of heavy.
Rita's fear of change meant that once the sun was gone, the light in the shop was murky at best, the track lighting tucked up where the walls and roof met mostly hidden by bottles of syrup and the two gross of extra cups. She thought it added to the atmosphere. Todd thought it was setting them up for a trip and fall lawsuit, given the uneven brick floor. At least he knew enough to shuffle his feet when he walked.
"I love the lighting in here." The third girl (Tall-and blonde) waggled her fingers at him in a small wave. "It's really romantic. Do you do candles, too?"
Not the most subtle of questions, given the two candles on the table in front of her, samples of the ones for sale on the crowded shelves, tucked in with kitschy bits of seashell art and mugs from the local pottery. The two on the table had the least offensive smell of the bunch, though. Something called Sunset Waves, in a virulent shade of orange never seen in nature, and scented with fake citrus.
"Sure thing. Let me light those two on the table for you."
The rumble of the door sliding open interrupted his search for matches, and Todd glanced up with his first genuine grin of the afternoon. "Hey, make sure you close that thing behind you."
"Yeah, whatever. I don't work here." Daniel Connel, downstairs neighbor and poster child for the official beach bum society, laughed and flipped him off. "I'm a customer. That means I can do whatever I want." Never one to shirk on following through, he nodded to the trio in the chairs and wandered behind the counter, grabbing a cup with one hand and the coffee pot with the other.
Todd rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're going to get me fired. That whole not working here thing?" Finally coming up with the matches, inexplicably tucked in a tacky mermaid mug with a tail handle and prominent boobs, he missed Daniel's reply when he bent over to light the candles.
While the light might have been construed as romantic, the smell was anything but, an odd mixture of spoiled orange juice and industrial cleaner. Tall-and-blonde managed something that if not quite a smile, at least wasn't a grimace, and Todd felt impressed in spite of himself. If he'd been sitting inches away, instead of steadily tiptoeing away, gagging would've been on the agenda.

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
 Todd and Daniel have been dancing around each other for almost a year, both afraid to take that step past ‘just friends’. Then Todd waits on a customer who introduces himself as Joshua, and leaves Todd a strange message in the form of a spell-infused coffee sleeve, gifting him with love at first sight. Their first sight long-since gone, Todd and Daniel both see the magical present as the potential end to any chance they have together.

Buy Here!





Michelle Moore has a well-documented obsession with travel, television, frappaccinos and flamingos. These, however, come in a distant second to her love of writing. Most evenings she can be found huddled over her laptop at the local Starbucks, dividing her time between actually writing and pretending to be a barista. While Michelle would like to claim child prodigy status, the truth is that she’s only been scribbling words on paper since she was six. However, she’s moved beyond those initial Dick and Jane story knock-offs to slightly more adult topics (but not necessarily more mature characters).


Michelle has discovered that romance, her genre of choice, just so happens to do that peanut butter-n-chocolate thing with such varied flavors as science fiction, magical realism and historicals. No matter which mishmash she chooses, though, her style tends towards the sweet end of the spectrum.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Audiobooks and Me Trying (and Failing) Not to Freak Out

So as many know LT3 is doing audiobooks now. We have teamed up with Red Planet Audiobooks. They are pretty much made of magnificent.

As ever, I am the guinea pig. This is partly so we can work kinks out so we do not bring harm to our authors, and also because my books sell pretty well so I'm a good starting point. I always kind of feel like an egotripping jerky mcjerkface, but I promise my mad cackling is only because someone keeps letting me mix my own drinks (90% vodka, 10% sour mix) and not because I'm a power-tripping crazy person (well, not power-tripping).

Voice actors have been enthusiastically approved for Prisoner and Backwoods Asylum. They're both goddamn awesome. Prisoner will be voiced by Sean Crisden and Backwoods by Paul Morey, for the curious. The cool part was that Mr. Morey did two different readings for Backwoods and I swear to god it was like two different people.

I'm doing my first ever book reading at GRNW this coming Friday and after listening to the above all I feel is woefully inadequate ^^;;;;;  ::hides::

But back to the audiobooks, I am stoked. It's really fucking weird hearing my books, not something I thought would ever happen in a million years.

If you're curious what other audiobooks are currently on the roster, here is the list through Sept 2014:

Prisoner 
Backwoods Asylum
Dance with the Devil
Saving Liam
Dragon Slayer
Finding the Wolf
Breaking the Shackles
Stealing the Dragon
Melting the Ice Witch
Honour
The Party Boy's Guide
The Missing Butterfly
Love You Like a Romance
Signal to Noise
A Shadow of a Dream
Dreamer
Midsummer's Moon
Midsummer Curse
Midsummer Law
Imaginary


I hope peeps inclined toward audiobooks enjoy ^__^ Thank you thank you to everyone for supporting LT3 and helping us reach this point <3 p="">
In other news, my very silly tentacle story Wriggle & Sparkle has been contracted by Yaoifix. Rin Sparrow is made of awesome and I love her to death. I've also agreed to write a second story to follow it, so if you like stories about silly paranormal FBI-type agents with a side of tentacle porn (and let me tell you, writing tentacle porn is weird. I love love love anthro, though, so any excuse to push myself on that point is fly by me and I really love Lynn and his unicorn love interest) then stay tuned and I'll let you know when it's going to go live at Yaoifix ^___^

Aaaand that's all I've got for now. Peace out, my lovelies ^__^ I hope the coming week treats you well. If you're going to be at GRNW, can't wait to see you!!!

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Situation Normal: Busy Busy Busy

So much going on, I don't even know where to start.

Writing, I guess. The thing I love most that I now get to do the least. The WIP I posted a bit of the other has gone from what I thought would be a cute 25k story to a novella that'll be in the 40-50k range. I hope. I can't see it getting longer than that, but I didn't see it being this long. Not sure what I'll do with it now.

Submissions are starting to arrive in earnest for a private call LT3 ran. A Loose Screw is all about the mecha :3 I am hoping to finish my story in time, but we'll see. The stories we have so far are very shiny indeed.

In two weeks (omg how did it arrive so fast) LT3 flies to Seattle for this:


I am beyond nervous, and mostly trying not to think about it. Looking forward to meeting all the shiny peeps who will be there, though ^__^

In other exciting news, audiobooks have begun in earnest at LT3. First book up is Prisoner, since I or Sasha always serves as the guinea pig for anything new and Prisoner was the most requested book. I should be getting demos to listen to by the end of next week. Going to be very strange, I've rarely heard someone else read my stuff. It always makes me feel very shy.

October Sasha and I haul back up to New York for her sister's wedding. BUT FIRST WE ARE GOING TO NYC TO SEE WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE LIVE. I'm so stupid excited. It's going to be me, Sasha, my sister Brandie, the lovely E.E. Ottoman and we're also going to meet up with the fabulous Aisha Akeju for dinner ^__^

After all of that, we finally get some downtime, which is good b/c I am fucking wiped by all this traveling and crap x_x

Fun begins again in January, when LT3 is attending AhnCon. If you're going to be in the area, come see us ^__^ And I have to start deciding/planning what other cons we'll be attending. Right now the only one set is RainbowCon, though I'll be all over YaoiCon when that finally goes live again.

Will have some Friday Recs coming finally. I miss doing that, but I swear I do even less reading than writing now. Am going to work harder to change those sad facts.

And to wrap this up, the lovely lovely peeps of Top 2 Bottom are doing a spotlight for LT3 starting mid-September. There are giveaways, author interviews, and even posts from two of my artists ^__^ Keep an eye out!

And now it's back to work I go. Everybody have a good weekend ^__^

Friday, August 16, 2013

Heroes & Villains Blog Tour

Hello, I'm Harper Kingsley, and this is the final stop on the Heroes & Villains blog tour. I've talked about Tetris, Ninja Turtles, Megamind, Lord of the Rings, and of course, Vereint and Warrick.

Heroes & Villains, Allies & Enemies, and All That Remains cover the three main periods of Vereint's life. Each is a standalone novel that follows Vereint and Warrick's relationship as it evolves and grows. Everything begins with Vereint's failure to be a superhero.

In a world populated by a mix of normal people and people possessing amazing abilities, every kid dreams of growing up to wear a cape. The only question is: Do they want to wear the cape as a hero or as a villain?

Vereint has always wanted to be a hero. From the minute he gained metabilities, he started planning his move to the city. He had dreams of being like his hero Blue Ice. But the reality of superhero life and the mockery of the public sees his Starburst cape permanently packed away for the black kato mask of Darkstar. His dreams of saving the world are retired for dreams of living well and being happy.

Is it a crime to have great power but to choose not to use it to help? To see catastrophes happening and choose to sit back and watch TV? To hear of terrible cruelties and choose to look away? To stand by while a bank is being robbed by a group of guys that bought rayguns off the Internet?

To some, Darkstar isn't just a villain because he robs banks and steals whatever he wants. He's a villain because there's so much he could do to help people and he doesn't. Because he is too powerful, too terrible, and it's too easy for him to lose control.

Heroes & Villains is about the love between Vereint and Warrick. The animosity between Blue Ice and Starburst. The dirty pleasure of Blue Ice and Darkstar. And how the most powerful man on the planet picks up followers when he doesn't even want them.

"As Darkstar wills, the Darksters follow."

I've had a lot of fun working on this series. There's something great about writing characters with superpowers. Anything can happen because these are people with inhuman strength and speed and a lot of them can fly.

I like writing vampires and shifters, magic guys that can fold time and space, and all kinds of amazing characters doing amazing things. Yet at the end of the day, superheroes will always hold a big chunk of my heart.

Which is why I've made Vereint the centerpiece of Heroes & Villains. There's just something about someone so powerful living in a crappy apartment surrounded by neighbors that are sure he's some kind of drug dealer or petty criminal. He's that weirdo in apartment 221B. Sure, he's really good looking, but there's something suspicious about him. He's a little shifty around the eyes.

Vereint is incredibly powerful and he's always believed that powerful people should use their gifts. It's just that sometimes he wants to be a normal guy, and that's how Warrick makes him feel. When they're not destroying buildings or arguing in the middle of a super battle, they have conversations and cuddle on the couch. They're two men on opposite sides that sometimes look very much the same.

Heroes & Villains was fun to write, and I hope people enjoy reading it. Thanks for following the tour.

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I'm giving out an ebook copy of Heroes & Villains at the end of this blog tour. You can earn five entries by following the tour and answering the question after each post. Make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

I'll be using Random.org to pick a winner the morning of August 19th.

Answer the question in the comments: Do you have any "super human" abilities? (I personally can solve word finds faster than the computer can keep up. It's the power of nerd vision.)

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Heroes & Villains at Less Than Three Press.

All Vereint ever wanted was to be a superhero, fight alongside the other great heroes of the city and beat down the villains that plague them. There's just one problem: he sucks at it, at least according to the other heroes and the majority of the city. Instead of the greatness and glory of which he dreamed, Vereint spends his days alone, exhausted, and depressed. 

When the mockery and derision finally go too far, Vereint decides he's reached his limit. If he's never going to be good enough to succeed as the hero Starburst, maybe it's time to try the role of villain instead …

You can find Harper Kingsley at her blog, on Twitter, and at Goodreads.

Monday, July 29, 2013

WIP - The Runaway Clause

Something light-hearted and silly I am working on when I need a break from the more difficult stories I am writing. I love me some fantasy, but good grief can it be exhausting. And this idea has been nagging me for years, so I said fuck it. I'm about half done with it? A third? It's hard to say.

(Excuse any errors, it's still very much in rough draft stage. The legal speak especially is going to need someone else to hammer it into shape.)

The Runaway Clause
Chapter One


In the event that either party fails to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement to Marry, the most immediate relatives of the reneging party shall be liable to the other for a suitable replacement betrothed. Suitable grounds for declaring a failure to fulfill obligations include, but are not limited to:  failure to arrive at altar on day of Marriage, running away, marrying another while Agreement is still in place, lying about identity, situation, or motives for entering the Agreement. In the event that the most immediate relatives of the deserting party must seek out a viable alternative, they shall have six months from day of desertion to do so.


"If you drop that crate, I will take you to the roof and drop you from it," Max said as the worthless moving men made to do precisely that, as though the damned box was not very clearly marked 'fragile' in precisely eleven places.

They turned surly looks toward him, but changed their minds about whatever they'd been about to say and carefully set the box down on the spot he'd marked before fleeing the room. Cowards. Huffing, Max went over to inspect the crate, but it seemed undamaged and when he gave it a jostle nothing clinked or rattled in a way it shouldn't.

Satisfied, he returned to his spot in front of the desk, still draped in cloth, and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the movers bring in the rest of the laboratory crates and chests. When that was at last accomplished, he said, "Now you may begin on the rest of the rooms. Work from the upstairs down, and you had better not break anything. Am I clear?"

"Yes, my lord," the group of half a dozen men mumbled before scurrying off to get it done.

Max removed his spectacles and pulled a cloth from his jacket to clean them, frowning as a stubborn speck refused to be immediately banished. Finally defeating it, he tucked the cloth away and restored the spectacles to his nose. He looked around the room that was to be his laboratory, making mental note of all the changes that would have to be made:  shelves and cabinets added, the rugs removed, curtains and furniture removed, minus the desk, additional tables added—

Something came banging and crashing up the stairs, a hand slamming against the door, and a deep voice snarled, "Where the bloody hell is she?"

The door would definitely need to be replaced, and a lock added. Why the devil was the door missing, anyway? Max decided he was better off not knowing. Slowly turning around, he planted his hands on his hips—

And froze, lips slightly parted, words forgotten. Whatever he had expected, it was not for a bloody highwayman to come crashing into his laboratory. He looked precisely like all the absurd penny story images of a highwayman: dark, dashing, dangerous.  He was tall, and the breadth of those shoulders was absolutely absurd. He should cut his bloody hair or at least tie it back, because it was unseemly that it looked so marvelous falling about the way it did. Max wanted to stroke the lines of his face, the sharp cut of those cheekbones and that mouth. Ridiculous. Who needed lips like that? Max wanted to bite them.

Damn it all, he hated distractions—especially good looking ones that were glaring hard enough Max was grateful the man did not carry a weapon. He strode over to the desk and retrieved his cane, brandishing it as he turned back to the man as he strode further into the room. "Who the bloody hell are you and what are you doing in my home?"

"I want to know where the hell my intended is and why she has decided to vanish without so much as a word to me," the man replied, biting out each word, and his eyes were the brown of good coffee, as irritatingly distracting as the rest of him.

He drew close enough to touch and Max decided that, distracting or not, he'd had enough. He swung the cane—and swore when the bastard caught it, jerked it from his fingers, and threw it blindly behind so it struck the door and bounced off into the hallway.

Buggering fuck.

"Violence, sir, will accomplish nothing," Max said, lifting his chin.

"You tried to strike me first."

Max scoffed. "You came barging in here without so much as a by-your-leave. I would assume from your dress, if not your absent manners, that you do understand the concept of a calling card? I am not certain what you expected to accomplish crashing in here bellowing about a woman you've yet to name. Now, who the devil are you and why are you bothering me?"

The man scowled. "You look just like her! Where is she?"

"Oh, bloody hell," Max muttered as the pieces fell into place. Of course the delectable, if snarly, highwayman belonged to his sister. "You must be the fiancĂ©."

"In theory, but it is hard to be half of an engaged couple when the other half has been missing for three weeks."

Max drew back, eyes widening, mouth opening, snapping shut, before he finally managed to get out, "What are you talking about? I got a letter from her a fortnight ago that seemed to indicate she was still right here!"

"She vanished three weeks ago, immediately after the Forte ball," the man bit out. What the bloody hell was his name? Something that did not provoke images of wind-tossed highwaymen, to be sure. "I have been attempting to find her, but all I get is vague reassurances from her friends that all is well."

That sounded alarmingly familiar. Damn that woman. Why did he have to be the twin brother of such a reckless ninny? He was going to choke her with her own hair ribbons when he found her, and this time it was not going to be an idle threat. "I am her brother, not her keeper, and she mentioned nothing to me of vanishing."

"I want to know where she is! Why she has abandoned me like this—is she safe? Is she running from something?"

Max almost posed she might be running from her affianced, but honestly the man did not seem dangerous, simply … dramatic. Much like his sister. "Sir, I wish I could provide you an answer but she made no mention to me of any untoward plans. I thought she was about in the city; indeed I planned to call on her tomorrow to take her to lunch. I've arrived a few days early and thought to surprise her. We look alike, sir, but that is where our similarities end."

"Yes, I can see that," the man replied.

The words should not sting, but in all his twenty-seven years Max had never deduced how to make them stop hurting. No, he was not his sister, but honestly wasn't one of her enough? Heaven knew one was enough for him. "You have overstayed the welcome you never had to begin with," Max said. "Show yourself out."

"I'm not going anywhere—"

Max reached into his jacket and pulled out his pistol. "You will depart."

To his astonishment, the man looked amused more than anything. Max wanted to shoot him for that alone. "I want to know where my fiancĂ©e is," the man replied. "I'll return in the morning and you will receive me."

"I sincerely doubt that," Max said, but for naught as the bastard had already departed as quickly as he had arrived.

He tucked the pistol back into his jacket and decided he had best go make certain the damned movers had not broken the china or put his books in the dining room or something. Running a hand through his light brown hair, he strode toward the door—and stopped just in time to avoid running into a man in blue and gold livery. "Who the devil are you and why are so many strangers just traipsing about my house?" he demanded.

"Beg pardon, my lord," the man said and dipped into the most elegant bow Max had ever witnessed. The few royals he'd endured had not bowed that well. "My name is Hugh, and Master Moore bid me remain here and assist you howsoever you require, in recompense for his behavior."

Well. That was unexpected. "I see. Go nail the front door shut, then, so I don't have to fret over who I am going to trip over next." He noticed belatedly that the man held out a salver, upon which was a calling card. Picking it up, he murmured an absent thanks as Hugh departed.

Master Kelcey Moore
113 Dogwood Row

Kelcey, that was the name. Max tapped the card against his lips. Definitely not a highwayman name. Pulling out his silver card holder, he tucked it away as he went to go yell at the movers, because he might be three floors up but he still knew a dropped crate when he heard it.

Three tedious hours later he washed up and pulled on clean clothes, pleased he managed a half-decent job on his neck cloth, and went in search of his errant sister. The most obvious starting point was her home, a townhouse at the end of Mistletoe Lane. He pounded on the door, completely uncaring the knocker had been removed. "Barrington, open this door at once or I will come through the kitchen!"

A couple of minutes later the door was opened by a flustered looking man with white hair and a flushed face. "Lord Maximilian!"

"Oh, Maximilian is it? Going to be that angry, am I?" He stepped inside and let Barrington take his coat, hat, and gloves. "Where is she?"

Barrington had never looked so close to bolting—and the poor man was kept in a constant state of anxiety because of his sister.

Max wondered if he had remembered to bring his headache powder. "I think I'm going to need a drink before I hear this."

"I just replenished the gin, my lord."

"Good man." Max strode off down the hall to his sister's study, wrinkling his nose at the overwhelming scent of tobacco and magnolias that filled it. The room was cool, and a fire had clearly not been lit in some times—if he had to guess, he would say three weeks—and the post had become a rather alarming pile swiftly overtaking her desk.

He turned slowly around the room seeking clues, and was distracted by a painting that had certainly not had choice place before—it was positioned over a work table covered in all the bits and bobs and tools that went into her model making. A portrait of them shortly before he had left to conclude his studies overseas. Unable to behave 'properly' for even a portrait, Mavis had sprawled in the armchair, one leg swung over an armrest, her right arm stretched up the back to hold his hand.

Defiant in his own quiet way, Max had retained the spectacles his parents hated and worn the purple jacket with angel and devil patterning his sister had bought for him. With her in bright red, they had made quite the study. The artist had seemed amused more than anything, their parents decidedly less so, but neither he nor Mavin had ever had much tolerance for the rigid life they had preferred.

He sighed softly and accepted the glass of gin that Barrington held out to him. "Where is she, Barrington?"

"I could not say, sir, though she promised that she left word for you to find."

"No doubt," Max murmured, and tossed back the gin.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

All of the Things

I have not used my blogger, really, since I set it up. But Livejournal is becoming deader and deader, and tumblr while fun isn't really meant for the same sort of blogging.

So we'll give this a try. I miss blogging and chatting with people more, and most of that is my job, as ever, and using all my free time to keep my house clean or write.

Have been busy busy busy, as usual.

First, books! Because I don't get to spend as much time writing as I used to, but it's still my heart and soul.

Dance with the Devil comes out Wednesday (Tuesday night). If you want to follow along on my blog tour for it, where I ramble about world building and future projects and the songs I used for it, the starting point is on my LJ. It will be replaced in serial by Of Last Resort. I'm extremely proud of both stories, I hope readers enjoy.

When I need a break from all the fantasy writing, because the Princes of the Blood is definitely a draining trilogy, I am poking away at a Impractical-verse story. Basic premise is based off an ancient discussion I had with friends on LJ. Essentially, a bride runs away and according to a standard clause in the marriage contract, it becomes the duty of her only relative--her twin brother--to find a new spouse for the jilted groom. Right now it's a little over 10k, I'm hoping I can finish it before all our traveling starts next week.

Next Tuesday, I head with Sasha to NY to attend her sister's bridal shower and chill with her parents a couple of days. Then we get back, are home for one day, then hike up to Raleigh for a concert, get back from that and have a handful of days before we pack up all over again and head down to Savannah for Authors After Dark.

Get back and have a couple of weeks downtime, then it's off to Seattle for the Gay Romance North West Meet-up. I am trying not freak the fuck out, because I am doing a book reading (and other stuff) and it's definitely WAY THE FUCK OUT of my comfort zone. But being scared to fucking death has never really stopped me before, so we'll see how that goes ^^;;; I am also be moderating a panel, you can look at the awesome panel line-up here.

And then of course, I'm home for a few weeks before I go back up north for a wedding. It's right over my birthday, too, but Sasha is taking me to Niagra Falls so it should be fun overall.
In unrelated news, I am going to see Pacific Rim for a second time this week. IT'S FUCKING AWESOME GO SEE IT. We also saw RED 2 recently, it was fucking fantastic.  I have a handful of books started, but none finished, which is a shame because I like all four of them, I'm just so fucking tired I never remember a word I read.

I am ALL OVER Master Chef. My sisters finally succeeded in addicting me to that show, and when I'm not watching that I am getting cranky over the shit that keeps getting pulled in Teen Wolf. Am slowly picking away at a TW knight AU, but orignal writing takes most of my strained free time. Am obsessed with NBC's Hannibal, but sadly must wait until next year for the second season.

My brand spanking new addiction is Welcome to Night Vale. I'm only eight parts in, but am hoping to sneak in all the rest of them where I can. I subscribe to the podcasts through itunes, but I think there are other ways to listen if you are not an Apple drone like me :3

And I think I am out of babbling for now. Hope everyone has a good week! ^__^



To Lauren Hough and Other Whiny Pissbabies: How Not to Behave as an Author

I should know how to behave and not behave. Anybody in MM Romance will be happy to tell you I have a long and sordid history of pissing peop...