Wednesday 25 January 2017

Round Up of Some Fantastic Releases

I thought I might give you a quick roundup of some badass books that have appeared on Facebook Groups recently

APRIL KELLEY   Webb (Demon Elite Book #9)



Dario Navarro is a twenty-four-year-old man who has taken care of his ill mother his entire life. When his mother’s illness gets to be too much and he has to put her in a nursing home, rediscovering himself turns out to be harder than it seems. All he wants is someone to rely on, who has his back. He’d thought maybe Webb could be that person, but Webb’s issues with their age difference stand in the way.

Amazon

RACHEL KANE   Damaged Gods



Every lawyer knows you shouldn’t fall for your clients...especially those charged with murder.

Attorney Harlan Marlowe’s life is so empty, he’s sleeping on the couch in his office instead of at home. But when he takes on the damaged but beautiful Evan Steele as a client, he finds himself as interested in Evan as he is in the case -- even when he hears Evan’s improbable story about being framed by an exploitative, fanatical cult with deep and powerful roots in the city.

Evan is too broken to deserve love. He'd settle for just having someone believe him. He feels a spark of hope when Harlan becomes obsessed with his case...but he knows better than to think that obsession could turn into something more. With the cult hellbent on destroying Evan, he and Harlan need to race against time to clear Evan's name before he's sentenced to a life behind bars.

Harlan knows it's wrong to desire Evan, but he can't help it; something is growing between them, something he has never felt before. Will their growing feelings give him the strength to take on Evan's enemies...or will it give the cult just the weapon it needs to destroy them both?

Amazon

MERAKI P LYNNE



Meraki has two very different series out, both Paranormal, and both contemporary.
Chronicles of an Earned has demigods, angels, demons, witches, and secret orders. He delves into the occult, mystic orders, lore, and ancient religions. Reviewers say this series has exceptional world building and an original plot.

The Cubi revolves around feeding on sex. Here, Meraki looks at sex, desire, love, lust, and attraction. Simple, right? No, the world of the Cubi isn’t that cut and dry. Especially to a young human man.

Find more here:


DAN SKINNER  The Misadventures of Doc and Dirk, Volume I: That Darn Muse


He's a middle-aged, newly single, gay photographer starting life over. Along comes a freshly out nineteen-year-old, irreverent free spirit who wants to be his apprentice. Mismatched by more than a generation, what could possibly go wrong? Everything! And it's AWESOME!

Dirk's First Time. Every gay boy has his first experience. Usually it's a memorable, exciting personal time of discovery and intimacy between two young people. But two comic book characters? Is it horseplay or Cosplay?

The Boy At The Gym. First impressions can be deceiving. Sometimes that boy in the baggy clothes, talking to himself in the gym isn't as shy as he appears. Sometimes there's a deviant imp lurking beneath that freckled mask of innocence. Beware the Trojan Nerd!


TALLULAH SCOTT True Calling (Men of the Mountain Book 1)



A. E. VIA Nothing Special V


"We were a unit tonight, moving as one. Even apart, we are deadly, but when combined – we are f**kin’ unstoppable." ~~ God ~~

Atlanta's notorious narcotics task force is at it again. They are stronger, bigger, and better than ever. Especially when a city councilman sends RECON Marine, Edwin Steele - who’s been blacklisted from his Oakland department - to join the team. God and Day weren't recruiting. They have a lot on their plates, like the fact they're supposed to be getting married soon. They don't have the time or the patience to integrate a decorated war hero with a slight chip on his shoulder into their well-oiled machine. 

A hothead that's uncontrollable and terrible with authority… but wasn’t that their team motto?


R PAONE Slow Like Honey (Only If Series Book 3)



First, “love” was found. Next, “desire” was questioned. Now, time moved “slow like honey.” The “Only If” Saga continues with this climacteric tale of sexual rebirth and incitement of one soul.

In 2004, Robert found himself sexually experimenting with his co-worker, Mitch. Together they faced long-hidden secrets and insecurities that challenged a new found passion growing between one another. They were falling in love. But that was in the past...

Now, it is the year 2014. Ten years have passed. Robert is now living the life as a single gay man entering his thirties in New York City. Passionately conflicted about whether he is going to make the right decision, Robert has thrust himself into a chance meeting with a stranger he meets online. Just when a carefully, calculated encounter turns out to be much more, a new door has been opened for Robert. This new man wants nothing more to gain complete control of Robert’s desire.

There was this stranger, this break in morality that drove Robert to forge on past his own insecurities while discovering what lies beneath the surface of his own pleasure.

Conscience-stricken and torn, Robert must make the choices of a grown adult. Will he continue on this road protecting the love of Mitch inside his heart or is this true sexual awakening risking everything? Watch as the heart grows fonder but also while the years ripen with time.


AVRIL SHAFER Fear of Discovery

Image may contain: 2 people, text

Avery's life had never been easy. He has had one shocking revelation after another. First it was that the woman he had always called mom was not, then the idea he had been in a relationship with a man he had not been, only to discover it was planted images and thoughts by men more evil than he could ever imagine....and they were his father, uncle, and grandfather...or so he thought. Yet, even that was a lie. The only truth Avery ever knew was his feelings for the two men that took him in when his life had been upturned. Everything in him called to the two. However, when he begins to express his feelings, he is told it is only something called transference.

Illan had known Justice was his mate from the moment he walked in and his dragon met the phoenix shifter. However, since Justice had just lost his wife, they agreed to take things slow and allow for Justice to mourn the loss of his wife. Just as the two decide to make things official they meet Avery. His scent tells them something they both know is a shock, but also a blessing...mate. However, Avery doesn't seem to recognize them as mates? Not understanding why he does not share the pull, Illan and justice decide to give their mate some time. He has been through a lot lately, maybe he just needs to work through everything and this can open the door to their finally claiming the man as their own. That is until Avery is caught going to a gay club.

Hearing the two men he has come to love, talk about how he is keeping them from making their mating official, Avery decides it is time he leaves, allowing them to move forward in their lives. The problem is, along this new journey are new discoveries and fears of what he may find out next. What if the next revelation causes him to lose everything he ever wanted...maybe even his life


MORTICIA KNIGHT Gaining Trust (Kiss of Leather Series Book 5


Chuck isn’t sure what he needs and Master Jordan can’t wait to show him.

Stone’s shy junior investigator, Chuck, can no longer deny his interest in the BDSM lifestyle. The beautiful connections and raw emotions he’s witnessed between so many of the Doms and subs at Kiss of Leather leave him yearning for something he’d never dared hope he could have—unconditional love and care from a man. He isn’t sure if he can take the chance of having a real relationship when he’s not out to his meddling parents yet, but the sexy Master Jordan, Gavin’s friend and the owner of Club Consequence, makes him want to take that chance.

Master Jordan has been biding his time until he can get next to the super-fine Chuck. Gavin warned him that Chuck isn’t in the lifestyle, but there’s something special about him that speaks to Jordan’s heart. When they’re finally alone, the chemistry is off the charts and Jordan can tell it won’t take much to bring Chuck willingly into the world of BDSM.

An unexpected development in the case of Corey’s kidnappers shocks them all, but not as much as what happens with Chuck’s family. Jordan teaches Chuck that secrets hold power over the person keeping them, and that gaining trust can only be achieved through complete honesty.


SLOANE KENNEDY Atonement



Wednesday Briefs Demon Chapter Forty Two


So we turn up the heat a little, in more ways than one. Tian and Castien might be surrounded by flame but they're the hottest things around.

I think to tell him he is wrong, that our bonding is complete save for the ritual to be performed by my father, then I realize I am the one who is wrong. We no longer need the ritual.
Breathing deeply, drawing in his scent that I can smell even here. I hold him to me, his back against my front. His head is fallen back on my shoulder and his beautiful eyes, filled with love and fire gaze at me with an expression that is so open it makes me want to cry. I know that he is wholly mine; that I might do anything to him now, to the point of killing him, and he would let me. I know this for sure, because I am his, and even should he drive a dagger through my heart I would bless him with my dying breath.
Castien’s eyes flutter closed when I stroke his chest, letting my hands drift lower to tease the soft fur around the base of his cock. He is so beautiful, more now than ever. There was time when I thought him fragile, but that is not the case. He is a slim blade, to be sure, an elegant dagger to my gilded sword, yet his steel is tempered more strongly than mine.
The most beautiful sounds bleed from my love as I play with his body – stroking, tweaking, tugging – and his head rolls to the side bearing his neck to me. Silken hair, dyed peach by the flames, tickles my skin and I moan with pleasure. I cannot stand the delicious torment of the many sensations that assault my senses with more intensity than ever before.
“I…I can’t… I have to….”
“Please,” he moans, and I know he’s as ready as I am. I gently lay him on the flame – there is no ground, merely flames that become and remain firm only as we will.
“I…I have nothing to ease entry.”
“You don’t need it,” he gasps. “I don’t think we’re…entirely real.”
I know what he means but I still fear hurting him and take time to tease his hole and ease a finger inside, while I kiss him and whisper love in his ear.
He moans and squirms. “Not enough,” he moans. “I need you. I need you now.”
Still doubtful, I help Castien lift his legs onto my shoulder so I can gaze into his face while I take my pleasure of him.
There is little resistance and Castien’s face shows only pleasure as I ease into his body. His moans and writhing are beautiful, as are the pearly drops that leak from his engorged cock and smear the milk-pale skin beneath. I wish I could bend far enough to lap at them like an animal.
As if reading my thoughts – perhaps he does – Castien scoops up the sticky liquid and paints it over my lips, before falling back with a moan, his head thrashing from side to side. “Take me, please,” he moans.
At first I am confused, as I am already buried to the hilt in his beautiful body, but then I understand and begin to move slowly, drawing out and sliding in. this isn’t enough and Castien, begs through gritted teeth for more, more, more until I am rutting like a stag, thrusting hard, with guttural grunts and moans that are matched by his.
When he reaches down and takes his perfect cock in his hand, it is so sexy I almost cum and my movement stutters. He barely seems to notice. His eyes are closed, and the tip of his tongue runs over his lips before he sucks one the bottom one as his back arches to accept me deeper and stroke himself harder.
The sheer beauty of his moans, his wild appearance, the tightness of his body around mine drives me to the edge of madness and I can’t hold on long. Before I can issue a warning my throat closes as powerful contractions grip my body and I pump my seed deep into him. Castien cries out, bucking his hips, driving me deeper and milking more from my shuddering body. Then he goes limp and lies in disarray, panting and shivering.
I’m not about to leave him unsatisfied, even as I know his mind is spinning, lost in the bonding. Slipping from him, I gently lower his legs and settle between them. I begin by licking his balls and he responds instantly. Tremors run down his legs and powerful contractions ripple his stomach where my fingers lightly stroke the trembling muscled of his abdomen. The sounds he makes are incoherent. He’s beyond words, beyond understanding even. Right now, he is a creature of emotion and sensation. His mind is free of his body and he feels what I do to him as ripples in consciousness rather than touches to his physical body.
Taking him into my mouth I begin to work his shaft with my tongue, but then the first drops of his seed leak onto my tongue and he’s not the only one whose senses break free from the body. My mind expands until I am only barely aware of my efforts to bring him to climax. Planets, suns, starts, fly past my closed eyes. Nebula and galaxies, supernovas and red dwarves. All spin in my head.
And then he comes. It hits me like a shot of mellflower serum. If I’d thought my mind had expanded before, it explodes until I no longer see the stars, I am the stars.

Go ahead and check out the rest of our flashers this week


Tuesday 24 January 2017

The Max, Brad and Daisy Mysteries


Max, Brad, and Maisie is a gay mystery series by author L.G. Fabbo-Gonnela. Read on to discover the three books in the series and find out more about the author! There’s also a giveaway and you are all encouraged to enter!

Murder In The String of G


Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series, Book One

Maisie was an irrepressible burlesque queen of the fifties who was a star in the Cassandra Theater. She was killed in what was initially ruled to be an accidental trip and fall down a spiral staircase. In fact, she knows it was a murder but, why was she killed and why the later cover-up? Unfortunately, however, what can a ghost to do about it? Andso, her shade haunts the theater hoping to find someone to help her.

It turns out to be a long wait. In two thousand and six two young wanta-be actors arrive at the newly restored Cassandra Theater to audition for a play. One is Max, who is gay, and the other is his roommate Brad, who is straight. For reasons unknown at first, Maisie finds she can connect with them both and seeks their help in proving she was murdered and who did it. After initial hesitations, the boys agree to help her solve her killing. The book follows the pair as they stumble towards finding answers while dodging a hired gun, a serial killer of young men and, for Brad, Maisie’s tendency to “fondle his rump” at inopportune times.

Review

This was a deliciously quirky book, which I enjoyed very much. Max and Brad are hapless actors who get parts in a play at a revamped theatre which retains more of its past than they bargained for.
Way back in the glory days of the theatre, Maisie, an outrageous burlesque star at the peak of her career falls down the stairs and breaks her neck. The official cause of death is a tragic accident, but we know there was a trip wire across the staircase, and Maisie isn’t about to give up the ghost until she find out who did it.

Meeting Maisie certainly shakes things up for Max and Brad, but not as much as Brad’s new girlfriend who’s a real killer.

I have to admit that my favourite character was Maisie. She’s a real ballsy lady who calls a spade a spade and develops an attachment to her boys that extends beyond the theatre. She’s responsible for some classic moments of comedy and drama and is about as well rounded as a ghost can be. I had great fun with her and am interested to see how she develops in later books. I loved her tendency to get up close and personal with Brad. I like a lady with a refined taste in backsides.

Max and Brad are also endearing characters although neither quite achieve the weight Maisie brings to the story. This is Maisie's moment and she makes the most of it.

I have to admit there were some editing issues that put me off a little and might be a problem to some readers. However, the general flow of the story was strong and helped to sweep me past the flaws.
The story was definitely meaty enough to keep me entertained throughout, with side shoots and two main storylines – Maisie’s past and Brad’s future (if he has one). The boys came across as good guys with a strong friendship and a lot of affection for each other which they’re not afraid to show.

Max, Brad and Daisy won’t be winning any international awards but if you’re looking for a good yarn, with a strong story, complex characters, plenty of action and a smidgeon of humour, this is your book.



Buy links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7SOOKM/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A7SOOKM/

Murder in the Squared Circle


Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series, Book Two

Maisie’s favorite young pro-wrestler, Stan DaMann, is arrested for allegedly murdering his hated rival. Maisie is convinced of Stan’s innocence. Determined to find the real killer she convinces the hapless Max and Brad into posing as a new wrestling tag team. Out of their depth, they find themselves involved a murky world of underground sex bouts while facing off against two brothers who think vice may be nice but incest is best. As Max and Brad’s wrestling début approaches our trio is eager to find the killer before the killer finds them. Max has another problem in the form of a good-looking Australian wrestler named Liam. Could Max be falling for a guy who might turn out to be that killer?


Buy Links
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EC0ZY0A/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EC0ZY0A/

Murder in Noir



Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series, Book Three

It seems as if Max and Brad’s dreams of a career in acting have finally arrived. The duo have been cast in the Broadway revival of that forties noir classic “Blood Fell onto my Window Pane”. Even more exciting, the production has movie stars Barrett Conover and his Italian wife Europa making their Broadway début. Max has had a huge crush on the husband ever since he saw the actor in the classic gay film “Going Tops for a Bottom”. As for Brad, he has been a fan of Europa ever since he saw her in the French classic comedy “Buxom Babes for Balzac.”

The play also has a rather lurid past. During its first run in 1948, two members of the company were victims in an unsolved murder. Maisie soon convinces the boys it would be fun to try and solve the decades old crime. What starts as a lark however, suddenly takes a unexpected turn as evidence of a blackmail scheme is revealed. Events soon turn deadly when the trio seeks to uncover who is being blackmailed and, critically, who is behind it. Hidden scandals, an attempted rape and murders both old and new are now part of the script for a, “Murder in Noir”


Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUSMEKM/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EUSMEKM/

Giveaway

Prizes: 1 bundle of Murder in the String of G + Murder in the Squared Circle, and 1 copy of Murder in the String of G

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author

L.G.Fabbo-Gonnella is a resident of NYC. He has often said Manhattan is the underlying unspoken character in many of his books. “I guess its a love affair that I have with her,” he once said. “I could live here forever and yet still find magical things about her that I never knew existed.

When not seeking out interesting new locales for his books he can be found dinning with friends and enjoying all the city he adores has to offer.

Though he has not yet met the supernatural denizens of NYC, he does hope too one day. And yes, there is a “letter Lounge” albeit under a different name.

He can be reached at L.G.Fabbo.Gonnella@gmail.co
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Mystery-writings-of-LG-Fabbo-Gonnella
Website: http://fabbo-gonnella.blogspot.com

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Wednesday Briefs Demon Chapter Forty One


It's been a while since I dusted of Demon, but I couldn't leave our boys dissolving in fire any longer.

Panic grips me. What have I done? It seemed so simple, vital. Walk into the flames. Take Tian with me. Together. What a fool. And now we burn.
My heartbeat slows and it sinks in to my terrified mind that I am not, in fact, burning, and neither is Tian. I reach for his hand, but realize I no longer have hands. Neither does he. We are no longer Castien and Tian. We are nothing. We are no one. We are one.
For what seems like an age, I float, bodiless. I am safer than I have ever been, calmer, stronger. Peace surrounds me and I surrender willingly, allowing my consciousness to float away, to become one with the flame.
“Castien.” The voice startles me into opening my eyes. Wait. I have eyes. I see nothing but flickering orange and yellow flame, although it seems almost as if I am floating in liquid, not fire.
“Tian?”
“Soon. For now, you must listen. When you leave the flames, you will be forever changed. You will no longer be Castien, prince of The Kingdom, subject to the rules and limitations of earthly alliances. There is no rule of creation that applies to you now.” The voice chuckles. “Not even the very rules of creation itself. None such as you have ever lived before, or will again.”
“What of Tian?” For all her talk of freedom from rules, the only think my numbed mind can really hold on to is my love; my Tian. “Where is he?”
“I am here.”
If I had a body I would have been close to fainting with relief. “Will Tian be like me?”
“Tian will be you, and you him, twin stars burning in a night that will only get darker before dawn.”
“I don’t understand.” The voice was mine and not mine. Untouched by larynx or fuelled by air, the words float away – mine and his. Is this what she meant? Are we one entity now? Forever combined? Alone?
“Never.” Tian’s caress is fleeting and false, but a salve to my fluttering spirit nevertheless. I am still as prone to fear as I ever was; still a coward. “Never,” Tian whispers again and the fear dissolves.
“Listen, for our time is short. The power involved in holding you here is enormous and not inexhaustible. There is little I can tell you of what will transpire when you leave the flames; of what you have become, or will become. I cannot teach you. You must learn yourselves. All I can say is that anything is possible if you believe it is possible and you work together. Do not let yourselves be controlled by anyone for no one has power over you now. Trust. Believe. Learn. The time will come when your lands will be consumed by darkness and you will be the only light. Keep faith. You have nothing to fear.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
Silence engulfs me and I know the voice has gone. I am filled with questions, as confused as I ever was. The perfect clarity that was afforded me while I was one with the flame has clouded and I am sure of nothing, save that I am whole again. I have a body, and my hand clasps the warm flesh of another. I turn to Tian and his smile is brighter than any flame could be.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he murmurs.
“I thought I’d become you,” I say with a smile. “I was afraid I wouldn’t like you half so well without strong arms to hold me, warm lips to kiss me and your beautiful smile to remind me what’s important in my life.”
“And what is that?” Tian asks as he takes me in his arms, his breath ghosting against the over-sensitized skin of my shoulder.
“You,” I breathe, turning my head to rest my cheek against his honey-coloured skin. He kisses the top of my head and makes me shiver. I realize that my entire body is on fire with sensation. Every touch, every breath is bliss and torment. When Tian runs his hands over my back I whimper into his shoulder.
“I know,” he says. “It’s…wonderful.”
“I don’t believe I like it. It’s…too much.”
“Ssh. Relax. Remember how it felt to be bodiless. Surrender to me.”
I try my best to do as he says and the sensations sharpen and focus. Fire surrounds us, but it’s nothing compared to the flames that burn within me. I can’t bear the ecstasy and cry out. Tian pulled me close and kisses me, his mouth swallowing my cries. I respond greedily, and although part of my mind tells me it is time to go, that such things can wait, I am helpless in his arms, needing this moment, this closeness.
When’s Tian’s caresses become more intimate, I match them with my own. We drink eagerly of each other’s breath, our moans, our cries, while our hands explore bodies that are achingly familiar, yet somehow subtly different; new.
Tian releases my mouth, his kisses trailing down my throat to my shoulder. The skin is still as sensitive as it was before but it’s bearable now. No, not bearable, wonderful, amazing, incredible, breathtaking. Oh Gods.
For a time, the ability to think coherent thoughts deserts me. Still floating in fire, Tian kisses every part of me while my mind teeters on the brink of consciousness, of sanity. When I can bear it no longer, I break away and return the favour. Tian is quickly reduced to a whimpering, shaking mess, his penis painfully hard and leaking. Mine, too, stands hard and throbbing before me and I know that if I rub it against him one more time I will lose control, and I don’t want that.
“Take me,” I gasp. “Here. Now. Take me and complete the bonding.”
“The bonding was complete long ago.”

“Not like this. Please.”


Now go check out the rest of our fabulous flashers

Tuesday 17 January 2017

MASSIVE SALE! Harmony Ink Press





Harmony Ink Press: American Library Association (ALA) Sale - The entire store will be on sale for 25% off from January 17 to 23! In addition, paperbacks are on sale for $12 and with every 2 paperbacks purchased, we will donate 1 to a library. (Sales are set to begin and end based on eastern standard time.)


There's never been a better time to pick up my book Hostage





Monday 16 January 2017

Regeneration by Louise Lyons


In the 23rd Century in the galaxy of Sigma Kappa, Kim Fortune was the first surviving experimental enhanced human—a regenerate. Aged fifteen, he escaped the lab and years later, his failings as a regenerate and the suspicion of regular humans, leave him lonely and lacking in self-worth. Stranded on an abandoned planet, the arrival of a stricken ship and its crew give him hope that he may finally find what he always longed for—love.

Christian Novak is a successful regenerate with all the intended attributes—including lack of human emotion. Despite their immediate attraction to each other, Kim's failing confidence, and Christian's inability to empathize are a recipe for disaster. But war, imprisonment, and danger throw them together, and after each saves the other's life, their feelings begin to change.

Can a seemingly unsuitable pair ever find love, or is a future together destined to fail?

ISBN: 9781370705542


Excerpt

“Novak?” I whispered his name as I crept into the gym area. The blackness prevented me seeing anything, and I worked on instinct and my sensitive hearing. The spitting and growling sounds the panther made indicated its position, but I couldn’t pinpoint Novak.
“I’m here.” I caught the scent of him, just before he brushed my arm with a large hand. He moved me backward a couple of steps until I bumped the wall. “Don’t move.”
Ordinarily, I would have ignored anyone giving me instructions, and it puzzled me when I remained rooted to the spot, unquestioning. I strained my ears, unable to make out the slightest sound from Novak. A minute ticked by and the creature snarled viciously. Then a violet beam burst from Novak’s pistol as he fired at the cat. The beam died away and the acrid smell of burnt flesh reached my nostrils. Seconds passed and when a warm breath touched my face, I realized Novak was only inches away. The smell of him and the heat of his body made me shiver, and I cringed when I remembered he could see me.
“Scared?” Novak sounded amused.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” My voice shook and I bit my lip, irritated by my reaction to his closeness.
“Not scared of me, or the cats. So, what does scare Kim Fortune?”
I blinked rapidly and looked up. I made out the glint of his eyes as he stared down into mine. I struggled to breathe normally, but it seemed impossible. “Nothing scares me.”
“Not even how you feel?”
I didn’t answer this time, but slipped away from him, gripping my pistol tight in one hand in an effort to stop it shaking. I walked blindly out of the room and back to the outer door, to secure it and put on the lights. Novak didn’t follow me and when I’d completed the small task and turned around, I saw only Susan and Johnson’s anxious faces peering out of their rooms.
“It’s okay. It’s dead,” I told them. “Novak killed it.”
“You gave him a weapon, then.” Susan glanced at me anxiously.
“Yeah. He’s the only one of us who can see the cat.”
“But I thought you… aren’t you like him?”
“A regenerate? No.” It was better to let them think I was the same as them, rather than have another group of people turn their back on me.
“But you managed to kill them before now,” Johnson reminded me.
“Not without light.”
Johnson nodded. “So Novak’s armed now?”
“He wouldn't hurt any of us,” I said confidently.
“I agree with you. It’s only Neil he has a problem with, and that man’s been hunting him for a while.”
“I think we should all watch our backs around Neil. He’s already proved himself to be a danger, not to mention the fact that he, um—”
“He wants to get in your pants.” Dina popped her head out of the door beside Susan and smiled. “But Novak likes you too, Kim. You are really pretty.”
“Pretty?” I wrinkled my nose, and the girl giggled.
“It’s your eyes,” she said. “And your hair.”
“You have got very unusual eyes,” Johnson agreed.
My eyes were a rich turquoise, very rare in humans from what I’d seen. “Thanks. I think we should try to get some rest now. I’m leaving the main lights on. It’ll be dark for around ten hours.”
The three of them retreated into their rooms and closed the doors. Rather than go straight to my room, I wandered back to the galley to get some water. I stood at the sink, sipping from a mug, until quiet footsteps approached. I could already tell the difference between the way Novak and Neil moved. Despite his size, Novak trod lightly, and I didn’t bother to turn around.
“Y’know, I thought you were a regenerate, but you can’t see in the dark. Care to enlighten me?”
“Not really.”
“Come on. You already know something about me. I’ve seen you move way too fast to be totally human, and you look like you probably have the strength, but you don’t have the eyesight.” He didn’t sound horrified, only curious, and I found myself talking before I thought about what I would say, although I didn’t turn around. I didn't want to see his expression.
“I was created as a regenerate. I’m fast and strong, and I have the enhanced intelligence. I’d almost reached the top level of education in genetics by the time I was fifteen, and I learned to fight by watching defense modules, and from people I’ve met since I left that place. I can’t self-heal or regulate body temperature any better than a regular human, and I don’t have the vision. I was mostly a failure.”

Author Bio

Louise Lyons comes from a family of writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her aunt wrote poems for the church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration with tales of fantasy.

Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work saw the light of day until she discovered FanFiction in her late twenties. Posting stories based on some of her favourite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing "hobby" more seriously.

Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a mad dog called Casper, and a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long-distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races home afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.

Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and job, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.

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Friday 13 January 2017

Accused by Leona Windwalker

                           

                                                           Alien Landscapes




Blurb:

Matthias Reynolds loves his life. He's starting to make it as a graphic artist at last and has a job he really likes at a local café that pays the bills. When a night out clubbing leads to an awkward morning after, he's embarrassed and more than ready to forget  all about it. When Talani Enforcers show up at the café, he doesn't know what to make of it all as he's led away in restraints.

Standing accused of crimes he struggles to understand, he finds he has an unexpected champion: the Talani warrior and war hero J'nah Quislin. J'nah knows that Matty is his. All J'nah has to do is keep Matty safe from those who engineered Matty's charges and sentencing. That, and get Matty to accept that universe always intended them to be together as one. All it requires is for Matty to return J'nah's devotion and offer his willing submission. Can Matty do it, with all that it will mean for his future?

Alien Landscapes

Matty has lived in a big city his entire life, so he's seen a lot of different things and encountered  folks from a host of different cultures. The Talani Embassy is in his city, and while he'd never personally encountered any of the Talani (or any of the other peoples from their Alliance for that matter), he'd certainly seen on TV and heard stories from his best friend, who worked at the Embassy, in the trade department.

He'd had pre-conceived notions about the Talani. They looked human, just much larger and very green. They were engaged in trade, allowing human corporations to operate within Talani space. He even knew about the Volunteer program, where humans could go to work for the Talani, usually leaving Earth to in exchange for a job and training. It was all so friendly sounding, that he quite missed one big thing. The Talani aren't human and they have a vastly different history, set of laws, and so on.

Yet, when confronted with this reality, he can't help but find things somewhat familiar, even if he quickly learned to not assume that if it looked like a bag of crisps, it quite likely was not like any crisps he'd ever seen before. The things that were similar only served to highlight the differences, making him all the more homesick until he found a balance. His sense of curiosity coupled with his becoming familiar with the ways of the Talani quickly imbued him with a sense of belonging. It certainly didn't hurt that he had his very own Talani warrior showering him with affection, either.

Creating the alien landscape was not without its pitfalls. What to call things, so they seemed familiar, bit not? What sort of advances would my aliens use without it seeming overly fantastical? I didn't want to get up in technology and end up distracting readers from the plot. I'm hoping that I struck the right balance so that readers will feel they are in an alien environment standing right next Matty, but not feel lost within technobabble or superfluous uses of advanced technology. As for the food and their biology- hey, they're aliens. Evolution threw different numbers on the dice, and they were six-sided at that.




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Author Bio:

Leona is a longtime staunch supporter of human rights and environmental causes. Her favourite genre to read is M/M fiction and she particularly enjoys science fiction, fantasy, and action/suspense sub-genres—especially if they have a nice seasoning of romance. She has far too many books on her Kindle, has overloaded her phone with even more and, when not reading, writing, being driven to distraction by her children, or being overlorded by her three cats, can be found trying to locate the portal that the sock monster uses to steal socks from her dryer.

Recent head-reeling news for her included her novel Jared:Urban Wolves #1 being nominated for an Indie Award from Metamorph and placing as a finalist in the 2016 Rainbow Awards, earning an Honorable Mention. She's still suspicious that it's all been a dream, but as long as her readers are happy and she can find at least one of the missing socks, she's happy.

You’ll find her books on Amazon (universal link is http://author.to/LeonaWindwalker), including on Kindle Unlimited. You’ll also find her on Facebook at Leona Windwalker, where you can keep up on news regarding current, new, and upcoming releases.



Don't forget to put it on your Goodreads shelf! (Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33414912-accused)


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Thursday 12 January 2017

Michael Jensen Man and Beast



MAN & BEAST 

BOOK TITLE: Man & Beast, The Savage Land, Book One
AUTHOR: Michael Jensen
GENRE: Gay historical romance, thriller
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster/Buddha Kitty Books
PUB DATE: Nov 29, 2016
PAGE/WORD COUNT: 368 pages, 97K words
FORMATS: Mobi, EPUB, PDF
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31949205-man-beast
AMAZON: http://amzn.to/2d1ImHn




REVIEW

Man and Beast by Michael Jensen

It’s the late eighteenth century and John Chapman is on the run after his relationship with a British Major is discovered and their cover dramatically blown.

Lured by the promise of land and supplies, John chases his dream of a cabin in the wilderness, all the way to the West.

On arriving in Warren (not that he knows he’s there given it comprises of one stone cabin), half dead of exposure, he meets Daniel, a wild frontiersman with the body of a god – a short god, but a damn sexy one – and the temperament of a thoroughly whiskey-soaked Irishman.

Somehow, John has to manoeuvre around Daniel’s terrible temper and his hot/cold attentions, to not only stay alive through the winter, but to keep alive in the uncompromising territory of the American West.

Learning to survive isn’t as easy as he thinks, as he’s no survivalist, as Daniel keeps reminding him, but he’s eager to learn. Nothing’s easy, but when he’s literally up to his neck (from the top down) in moose guts he thinks it couldn’t get harder. He’s wrong.

Come spring, he discovers a terrible secret that has him running for his life from an evil monster in the form of mass murderer and arch deceiver, Zach.

Escaping Zach’s evil clutches, John finally finds his Idyll only to discover it’s not as idyllic as it seems. However, after having found good friends in the enigmatic Indian, Gwennie and the equally enigmatic Palmer, he begins to think he can actually do this. That is until trouble catches up and an explosive climax very nearly sees them all dead.

I don’t usually read historicals, although there have been more and more slipping in of late, but this one really hooked me. Capturing the grandeur and brutality of the early settlers in the American West, it provided me with a host of characters and situations I could really get my teeth into. Not for the feint-hearted, Man and Beast is not a romance, and not really a love story as relationships are just as brutal and fraught with danger as the land itself.

The first half of the book sees John and Daniel holed up in a cabin for the winter. Gradually John learns that Daniel is the front man for the company he’s been seeking and he must keep on his good side in order to get the supplies he needs come spring. He hovers between attraction and revulsion as Daniel blows hot and cold, sometimes drawing him in, inviting him into his bed and treating him to some beautiful erotic scenes and some hard loving. At other times he’s whiskey sodden and brutal. In between he reluctantly teaches John how to survive.

Daniel is a complex character I struggled hard to like. He’s rude, crude and brutal, with a softer side that’s rarely glimpsed but redeems him from being entirely unpalatable. Multi-faceted, he storms onto the page, grabs you by the throat, sticks a musket in your ear and dares you to make one wrong step so he can blow out your brains.

John Chapman is quite different. Struggling to escape a brutal past, cope with a brutal present and prepare for a brutal future, he’s buoyed by his dreams of living in a remote cabin and working the land in peace. For a long time, it seems he’s never going to achieve them. He’s a complex man who is entirely unprepared and ill equipped for life in the wilds. He learns a lot from Daniel, but it’s only the beginning.

After escaping the cabin in spring, he stumbles forward, seeking the town of Franklin where he believes he might at last achieve his goal of a simple, undisturbed life.

After falling in a river he’s saved by an enigmatic Indian woman who leads him to an abandoned cabin that seems to tick all his boxes.

After meeting the formidable George Chase, he discovers he’s found Franklin and is welcomed into town with open arms – as long as he makes an effort to fit in. George lets him know in no uncertain terms that it’s fit in or get out, which isn’t exactly what John had in mind, especially when he meets the people he’s expected to fit in with. Without the Indian woman, Gwennie, and the alluring brother of the preacher, Palmer, he would likely have failed.

From this point, we meet a host of strong supporting characters -  the inimitable Gwennie who saves John’s ass on numerous occasions, Palmer whose ass is important for much different reasons, Thomas the runaway slave, and George the blustering bossman with delusions of grandeur and an uncompromising determination to make Franklin succeed no matter how many balls he has to break to get there. Then there are William and Sylvie, a rough couple with too many children and a twenty-year-old daughter they desperately want to marry off to John. What a mixing pot.

The book gives us a window into a different time, when in the great melting pot of the Wild West, people are thrown together in a tough, uncompromising environment and left to get on with it. The good, the bad and the ugly, struggling to tame a wild land and its wilder inhabitants. It throws a harsh light on the early settlers and their relationships with each other and the natives they view as no better than animals. This is no “Little House on the Prairie” and dips its toes into horror on more than one occasions.

At the end of the book, when things are finally settling down and everyone has a fairly workable plan for moving ahead, the horror bursts out in no uncertain terms and there was a point when I thought no one was going to survive and the entire cast would be taken out by a monstrous and seemingly indestructible mad man.

Fortunately, not everyone dies and there is a pretty strong cast ready to take us forward into book two.

Given that I’ve broken out of my usual mold to dig into the story and rehash far more than I usually do, it should be obvious how much there is to get your teeth into and how much I love this book. Don’t read it if you’re looking for sweet romance, or if you have an image of the heroic settler with nice manners and noble intentions. You’ll be disappointed. This book is not a sanitized version of what went on but a realistic depiction of how hard it was back then and the kind of person you had to be, or become, to survive.

There’s plenty of horror, gore, evil, shocking tales and actions, but there’s also a certain kind of beauty and an understanding of how love can grow in the most inhospitable landscape and, like an apple seed, if tended with care can blossom into something that can overcome all obstacles and make even the harshest life worth living.


BIO

Michael Jensen is an author and editor. His books of gay historical fiction include two series, The Drowning World, which is set in 5500 B.C., and The Savage Land, which takes place on the American frontier. Man & Monster, the second book in The Savage Land series, was a Lambda Award Finalist (under the title Firelands).

Michael is also the co-founder of AfterElton.com, which covered pop culture for gay and bisexual men, and eventually become one of the largest and most influential LGBT websites on the internet. In 2006, AfterElton.com was sold to MTV/Viacom in a multimillion dollar deal. As editor, Michael interviewed hundreds of writers, directors, and actors, breaking numerous stories and advancing the issue of LGBT visibility in Hollywood.

Michael lives in Seattle, WA with his husband, writer Brent Hartinger.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/michaeljensenbooks/

AUTHOR WEBSITE: www.michaeljensen.com

EMAILmichaeljensenwriter@gmail.com

BLURB: What is the line that separates man from beast?

The year is 1797, and 24-year-old John Chapman is lost on the American frontier with winter falling fast. Near death, he stumbles upon a lone cabin, and the owner, a rugged but sexy frontiersman named Daniel McQuay, agrees to let John winter over.

John and Daniel quickly find themselves drawn to each other, the sex between them unlike anything John has ever known. But as the weeks turn into snowbound months, Daniel begins to change into someone brutish, and the line between man and beast disappears.

With the arrival of spring, John flees, eventually finding refuge in the company of a group of frontier outcasts, including a brash young settler named Palmer. But in the wilds of this savage land, love is not so easily tamed, and John soon finds himself calling upon the raging animal within him to save the man he loves.

Man & Beast, which The Advocate calls “equal parts romance novel and history lesson, heaped with sex and violence,” is the first book in the Savage Lands, a series that celebrates the untold gay history of the American frontier. Man & Beast is for fans of Harper Fox, Jerry Cole, K.J. Charles, and Mary Renault, as well as anyone who enjoys pulse-pounding suspense and romance.

(Man & Beast was previously published under the title Frontiers.)



EXCERPT:

CHAPTER ONE



Fort Niagara, Lower Canada, August 1797

I couldn’t stop trembling, though whether from fear or the blood-numbing cold I didn’t know. For the thousandth time, I touched the worn flyer carefully folded and tucked into my shirt pocket. Soon I would know if I’d been right in coming here or if I had made the worst mistake of my life.

I had waited anxiously in the Major’s chamber for so long now that I swore my rigid body was dissolving into the freezing darkness. Such a sensation was familiar to me — I often lost my sense of self in the Major’s formidable presence.

Except for the soft sound of my breathing, the room was as still as a tomb. The cold from the fort's earthen floor seeped through my thin leather shoes. I wiggled my toes, but my feet were already so numb I could barely feel them. The unrelenting chill only intensified the dark, the room’s sense of menace. No wonder the soldiers called this place Fort Friggin’ Frigid.

How much time had passed since I’d first entered? A quarter hour? A full hour? I couldn’t be sure, but at last the harsh sound of iron heels striking stone echoed from the corridor.

My mouth went dry. Even if it was the Major, I feared how he’d react upon finding me in his quarters, much less under these dire circumstances. But no matter what manner of misfortune might be about to befall me, I would never regret having shared my body with him these past few weeks. One of his shirts hung to my left, and I buried my face in it, inhaling the piquant but soothing smell of his body mingled with the scent of his comfrey soap.

The footsteps halted just outside. Two voices began conversing — one being the Major’s distinctive baritone, the other a gruff, angry growl that deepened my unease. If the Major came in with someone else, I was done for. He’d deny ever knowing me, turn me over to the townsfolk, and I’d spend twelve months fettered in bilbos and at hard labor with the wretched English convicts local wags called the King’s passengers. That was if I was fortuitous — and I wasn’t feeling lucky.

The voices ceased, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away, then a moment of silence. Even though I knew hiding to be futile, I pressed myself against the back wall just in case he wasn't alone. Swinging open, the door squealed, spilling in light, and I couldn’t help myself — startled, I banged into a table.

A silhouette stood motionless in the doorway. The Major had heard me, and I barely dared breathe. A bar of tremulous torchlight from the corridor lay wavering on the floor.

Without warning, the door shut, plunging the room back into darkness. The sudden rasping of flint against iron cut through the silence. Light from the oil lamp leapt up, and even as weak as it was, I had to cover my eyes from the sudden brightness.

“What the bloody hell?” cursed the Major.

“It’s freezing in here, Colin. No wonder we always met at my place.”

“What the devil’s deuce are you doing here, Chapman? Are you insane?”

“Aren’t you—”

“Answer me. Now.”

I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Some of the townspeople know about us. They’re looking for me as we speak.”

“Fires and faggots!” He pressed his hand to his forehead. “What exactly do they know?”

“That we spent last night together. That we have spent others together.”

“So you came here? Are you trying to get me killed?”

“I came to warn you. I risked getting caught doing this.”

“How did they find out?”

“I don’t know. Someone saw something — or someone told.”

“Told? Unless you said something, nobody else could . . .” His voice trailed off as he glanced toward the door.

“Did you tell someone?” I dared to ask.

Instead of answering, he said, “Who exactly is looking for you?”

“The constable. Coming into the barn, I overheard him asking Mr. MacMurria if he’d ever seen me alone with a British soldier. If I’d gotten there five minutes earlier, he would have found me for sure.”

“Damnation. Did the constable know I was the soldier?”

“He mentioned you along with a couple of others, but I gather he wasn't entirely certain.”

“But they recognized you? Knew you worked for MacMurria?”

“Apparently.”

“And that dolt of a Scotsman must have told the constable your name, that you're not even British.”

I nodded.

“How did you get in here? Who did you talk to?”

“Two guards out front.”

“You used my name?”

I hesitated before answering. “Yes.”

“By all the devils! Do you realize how badly you’ve botched things?”

“I already told you I came here to warn you! Besides, I had nowhere to go.”

He pressed his hand to his temple, his fingers kneading his skull. “I know. I’m sorry. We’ve got to get you away from here.” He reached over and touched my face. “They know who you are — you’re done for if they catch you. I think I can talk my way out of this by telling them you used my name as a ruse to get inside. Once you’re gone, maybe I can even send them looking for you in the wrong direction.”

I took the flyer from my pocket. “Come with me,” I said softly, handing him the precious paper that promised free land and supplies. That promised a future.

“Do what?” he said incredulously. “Why?”

“So we could be together. Read the flyer.”

He quickly did so. “John, I’ve no more desire to settle western Pennsylvania than I do to bed King George’s wife. And I’ve never heard of this Warren.”

“Right now it’s nothing but a frontier outpost, but next spring they’re giving away land and supplies to those willing to stake a claim. We could be together. I know it’s where things will finally be right for me.”

He studied me. “You’re actually serious, aren’t you?”

I said nothing.

“I wish it were possible," he said. “Truly I do. But I’m a major in His Majesty’s army. I go back to England in less than a year, where I’m to be married. I’ve got my station to think about.” He put the flyer back in my pocket.

“But, Colin, they know your name. What if—”

“I’m sorry, but I’m can't go with you. The price is too high.” He went to a trunk, hurriedly pulling out pieces of old uniforms. “Get shucked and put these on. If anyone sees me with you dressed like that, they’ll remember and ask questions later. Hurry!”

I studied the uniform, then said, “I once considered joining the army.” That I had pondered taking such drastic action was yet more proof of how badly I had wanted away from home.

“I’m glad you didn’t. We might have faced each other in battle if you had. At least this way, we had a few weeks together.”

Shivering in the cold air, I yanked off my shirt and pants, and shoved them into my pack with my few other belongings. I wriggled into the tight-fitting clothes he gave me.

Wearing the uniform felt uncommonly strange. Father had fought the British twenty years earlier and raised us on stories of how cruel and cowardly they were. On the other hand, Father had been a drunkard accused of being a traitor, so I had no idea how true any of the tales that spilled from his inebriated mouth actually were. Still, it felt more queer to wear a British uniform than it had to lie in the arms of one of their officers.

“There’s an embrasure in the back wall that’s hardly used,” said the Major. “It’s only a few hundred yards from there to the woods. Now, if we run into anyone, by Saint Christopher’s whiskers, don't say a word.”

He slipped outside, then motioned for me to follow. We came to a corner and he signaled me to stop. 
A soldier rambled down the corridor but exited to the right before he reached us.

Trailing behind the Major, I whispered, “What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?”

“What about that flyer you showed me? Go there.”

“I can’t, Colin. I don’t have supplies or money or even a good sense of direction. I get lost between the cabin and the outhouse.”

“Stop making jokes, for God sakes!” He faced me as he dug into his pocket, then thrust a handful of silver coins at me. “It isn't much, but it will help you. And we’ll get you supplies on the way out. 
You’ll go to this Warren, stake a claim, start fresh. Nobody there will know you. And that’s better for the both of us, isn’t it?”

I reluctantly took the coins. “If you say so.”

“I say so. Listen to me. You can't come back. Not ever. It’s too dangerous for you.”

“But it’s dangerous for you, too. I still think you—”

“Never mind that. Just follow me.”

For five minutes, we wordlessly made our way along various corridors until a ladder hove into view. We climbed ten feet up to an opening that led to the fort’s back entrance. One at a time we stepped out into the warmth of the late-August afternoon. The Major anxiously cast his eyes along the embankment.

Birches and elms dotted the hillside beyond the fort, the long shadows of their trunks stretching across the field like bars. Farther up the hillside, the forest grew thick and wild and dangerous. I doubted it would take me long to pass into Indian country or stumble across a she-bear and her cubs foraging in the blackberry bushes.

“What about a gun and supplies?” I said.

“Damnation! Why didn’t you say something before?”

“I did!” I snapped. “And you said you’d get them. How the blazes was I supposed to know where to stop?”

“You're right. This is my bollocks. Stay here, and don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He ducked down again, vanishing from sight.

I waited, fidgeting and tugging at the ill-fitting uniform. Once someone passed overhead, walking along the fort’s upper perimeter. I practiced a British accent in case I was spotted. The accent was terrible, and I was hugely relieved when the sentinel passed out of sight.

The Major, clutching a burlap sack, appeared at the bottom of the ladder. At first I didn’t realize anything was wrong, but when he leapt up the ladder in three bounds, I knew we were in trouble.
Excited voices echoed up from the corridor.

“They’re coming!” he said, wild-eyed. “They know about me! They know everything! I’m coming with you!”

“But how—”

“Just run! Go! Go!” He shoved me hard, sending me stumbling forward as I jumped down to the ground. If captured now, I knew the punishment administered would be far worse than hard labor. Sodomy was bad enough; sodomy with a British officer would get me a flogging till I passed out, then clapped in leg irons in the shit-hole that passed for their gaol. I would never survive the twelve months I would spend there.

I didn’t want to guess what fate would befall the Major.

Regaining my balance, I sprinted as fast I as I could for the forest. We’d covered perhaps a hundred yards — a third of the way — when I glanced over my shoulder as two soldiers vaulted onto the top of the fort. Another fifty yards had vanished under our fleeing feet when the first shot rang out.

The musket ball whizzed passed and I stumbled.

“Are you hit?” the Major cried out.

Before I could answer, the second soldier fired. Not five feet away, the slight trunk of a pepperidge sapling, its leaves already a bloody scarlet, splintered into dozens of pieces. Without a word, I took off running again, but by now more soldiers had joined in the shooting. Twenty feet from reaching the first line of trees, another shot rang out. At the same moment, the Major, just behind me, leapt upward, as if suddenly taken by a fit.

Hot blood speckled my face as he crashed down, face-first, into the soft purple heather.

“Colin?” I called out, dropping to the ground. I scrambled on my belly to where he lay. Rolling him over, I moaned at the sight of the gory wound in his chest. I could’ve reached into the ragged hole with my hand. Blood issued forth in pulsating spurts, soaking his shirt before being drawn into the dark earth.

His green eyes — the very first thing I’d noticed about him — were wide open as he stared up at the azure sky. He labored to breathe, giving rise to terrible sucking sounds that arose from the bloody wound. A pink bubble formed between his lips, shimmered in the light, then softly popped. He inhaled once more, then his mouth went slack. His eyes glassed over, as dead and lifeless as a pond in January.

Voices clamored in the distance. Glaring back, I saw soldiers charging across the meadow. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the bag, racing forward, reaching the sanctuary of the woods in a matter of moments. The sound of my ragged breathing coursed through my ears as I ran wildly, tripping and stumbling my way through wealds of dense timber that alternated with sun-drenched meadows.

Breathless and as panicked as a hunted deer, I at last paused in one of the meadows. Wiping stinging sweat from my eyes, I looked backward, forward, then left and right, trying desperately to decide where to go.

Overhead, the flat, hot disk of the sun tracked steadily west.


I followed it.


Now Available 

Man and Monster: Book II of The Savage Lands


EXCERPT:
I glanced up as a white-haired fellow dressed all in black strode toward us, a half-dozen men and women scurrying after him. The white-haired man clutched a large bucket in his left hand, and the palm of a small, chubby-faced girl in his right. She stumbled alongside him, trying to keep up. His hurried pace and indifference toward the girl angered me. I stifled my urge to scoop her up so she could ride on my shoulders.
“Who’s that?” I said.
“That’s Dilly,” Palmer said. “And that’s his five-year old daughter, Anna. She’s second-sighted.”
“Is she really? Or is it a sham to get a few coins out of folks?” Growing up with Gerard had imparted a strong sense of skepticism to my dealings with others.
John shrugged. “Who’s to say? Folks around here seem to believe in her.”
“I’ve heard she was born on Christmas Eve,” said Palmer. “Girls born then are renowned for their unusual gifts.”
“What does she do precisely?” I said.
“Lots of things, if you believe Dilly,” Palmer said. “Of course, you have to be able to understand him first. He’s from the Northeast and talks ah-fully funny. Supposedly, Anna can read the entrails of animals. Some whisper that she and Dilly dabble in necromancy, but I couldn’t speak to that. As for me, I don’t place much stock in divination.”
Everywhere outside the safety of the large towns and cities, divination, good-luck charms, and spells to ward off bad luck were part of the fabric of daily life. Priests, ministers, and other virtuous souls disapproved publicly of such goings-on, but even they always seemed to be around whenever someone reputed to have the gift was present.
Dilly came to a stop next to one of the tree stumps. He plunged his hands into the bucket, wrestled with something for a moment, then raised up the writhing form of a very fat, foot-long pike. He plopped the silvern fish onto the tree stump, its bony teeth gleaming menacingly as it thrashed about. One meaty hand pressed the fish downward to keep it from squirming off the stump. Next to it, he laid a stubby but lethally sharp-looking knife. Other settlers came out of their cabins, and soon there were more than thirty folk gathered about.
“I caught this heah pike ’neath a midnaht moon,” Dilly said in his thick northeastern accent. “Annah’s gonna read its guts so’s to tell us what kind of wintah to expect the rest of the yeah.” He turned to the girl, pulling her forward. “Come along, Annah,” he ordered.
The tiny slip of a child looked scared to death. Her bloodless lips pressed tightly together as she shook her head no.
Dilly didn’t argue. Instead, he leaned over the girl and snatched a doll from her right hand.
“No!” Anna squealed. “Please, Papa! No!”
“Are ya gonna do as I tell ya then?” Dilly said.
“Papa, I’m scairt,” Anna whimpered.
Dilly let go of the fish, picked up the knife, and sliced off a chunk of the doll’s leg.
Anna shrieked as if it were her own flesh that had been cut.
I cringed, then glanced around at the crowd as they watched. A few people looked dismayed, but the rest seemed not perturbed in the least. The welfare of this child was of no more concern to them than that of their neighbor’s dairy cow. Perhaps it was even less, for the cow provided milk for which they might trade, whereas the girl ate food they might otherwise have had for themselves. I was as interested in divination as any normal man. In fact, I considered myself a fine reader of bugs. But this wasn’t right.
John must have seen the look on my face. “Don’t do anything,” he whispered. “I tried once, and the town nearly strung me up. It only angered Dilly that much more, and he treated Anna even worse.”
By now the sobbing Anna had relented. Guided by her father’s hand, she used the knife to slice open the belly of the still thrashing pike. Bright red blood spurted forth from the fish, spraying both girl and tree stump.
“Go ahead, Annah,” Dilly instructed. “Ya know what to do next.”
With tears running down her cheeks, Anna put her hand inside the pike. Each time the fish jerked, the poor child jumped, but her father pressed her to continue. Soon the pike’s organs — heart, liver, a bulging stomach, and all the rest — lay spread out over the stump. The pike lay still at last. A change had come over Anna as well. She no longer cried, and in some way I couldn’t identify, she no longer even seemed present. It was as if she had taken refuge deep inside herself, leaving only this eldritch expression upon her face.
“Tell us, Annah,” Dilly commanded. “What do ya say about the wintah?”
Anna gripped the pike’s liver in her small, chapped hand. Suddenly, she started to shiver violently. “It’s so cold,” she said.
“And how long is the cold heah for, Annah?”
Anna dropped the liver and whispered, “Always.”
Dilly grunted as if dismayed and I caught several of the townsfolk exchanging nervous glances.
“Now squeeze out the stomach the way I showed ya.”
Anna had to use both hands to hold the pike’s bulging stomach. Even then she couldn’t grip it hard enough to squeeze out the contents without her father’s help. Despite my disgust with Dilly’s bullying, I was curious and leaned forward to see what the fish had most recently eaten. A smaller pike the size of my thumb but otherwise nearly identical to the first, slid forth.
“What does that mean?” a stolid-looking woman dressed all in gray said.
“It can’t be good,” someone else said.
“Annah?” Dilly said. “Do ya see anything?”
The girl stared straight ahead, then abruptly looked up. We all turned to follow her gaze as a raven alighted on the bare, bobbing limb of a dogwood tree. Given the grim atmosphere of the day, I suspected this time the bird bore ill tidings; the very smell of them was in the air. The raven turned its head back and forth several times, then called out quork, quork, quork in its harsh, guttural tones.
“It called out three times,” said a burly fellow with a beard. “It scents death on somebody.”
“Maybe it’s Addy,” whispered a woman next to me. “She’s still missing.”
“Or Firenzi,” said another man. “He can’t eat, drink, or piss.”
“Then why doesn’t the damnable bird fly around his chimney and be gone?” said a woman who shared the belief that when a raven circled a cabin, someone inside would die.
The raven cocked its head. Quork, quork, quork, it repeated, predicting another death. The sound was clear and carried far in the frigid air.
Several people gasped.
“Does someone else suffer from a churchyard cough?” said the bearded man. “I’ve not heard talk of anyone else soon to be buried.”
Quork, quork, quork, said the raven. Then again, Quork, quork, quork
“Make it stop!” someone shouted.
“We should go,” a man urged his wife, but she stood transfixed as the bird foresaw more deaths.
The raven’s gaze fell on John, Palmer, and myself. A long moment of silence hung in the air. Then again it called out, Quork, quork, quork.
Never had I ever heard a raven warn of so many deaths. It seemed the bird foretold of disease or disaster striking the town. Perhaps it saw the threat of widespread starvation that loomed deeper into the winter.
People started to panic. Even I felt unsettled — for the bird had looked right at us. Or maybe it had looked at someone beyond us, I thought hopefully. Behind us stood three men I’d yet to meet.
Someone threw something at the raven, but it only hopped to another branch before issuing yet another menacing call. Others began yelling, and I thought people were about to lose control when the urgent clattering of hoofbeats over frozen earth finally drew everyone’s attention from the raven.