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It's reading day! Did you know that I write all ages science fiction under my given name, Sandra Stixrude? Today's excerpt is from the first book of the Anchorage series (there are seven in the series), Marya. While these books aren't m/m, there are a lot of gender role explorations and there are gay characters who become very important to the story starting in the second book. All Anchorage cover art is by the wonderful Catherine Dair. :)  Marya: Anchorage Book 1 By Sandra C. Stixrude Anchorage Series Mischief Corner Books Amazon Kobo Traveling has always frightened Marya, but when the Ktar chooses her to protect the heir on his confirmation journey, she fights panic. A prophecy concerning the heir's death, ominous dreams of a mysterious city, and news that one of the heir's companions will betray him all point to disaster. Unfortunately, the discovery of the assassin's identity is only the beginning. His menace pales in comparison to the ancient evil lurking in the mountains. When Marya is trapped and the men with her enslaved, she is faced with two choices: surrender to the alien being who offers her power, or ally with the handsome assassin she sought to thwart. One way she loses her soul, the other she may lose her heart.  Initial harduk sketch from Catherine - this is Windflower :)
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 We've had homicidal giant snapping turtles, time-warping pill bugs, savage books and feral dust bunnies. Kyle, Vikash, Carrington and Alex Wolf have all had their say. It's time to work on getting the last two stories in the series arc out to you.
Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs: Offbeat Crimes 5 Is with my lovely and ever-patient editor. This is the second Alex and Jason story, and features both Jason's and Alex's POV's. We do have dates for pre-order and release: Pre-order: August 22 Early download (at Pride Publishing): September 5 General release: October 3 I'll share the blurb when it's approved but I will say there are several, ah, interesting encounters in this one. All the World's An Undead Stage: Offbeat Crimes 6 Is in its fledgling stages. All mapped out and begun, though, and about 6K in. Yes, we all know I move with agonizing deliberation at the beginning of a story. Don't worry. I'll get it in on time. It's slated for a late fall release and will be the second Carrington and Erasmus book with shared POV between them. That's all I have shareable for now! Stay tuned for more coming up. :) Happy Friday! A little Christmas to try to cool down mentally. ;)  A Christmas Cactus for the General
By Angel Martinez IMP Universe Cover Artist: Catherine Dair Mischief Corner Books Amazon Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can't imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought. We're on our third major heat wave here in the Mid-Atlantic. Today, they've posted an Excessive Heat Warning, just to make things really official. The shutters are closed. A/C cranked. The family sometimes gets me to venture outside but it's under protest. There may be kicking and screaming. Not saying. What this translates into is work is steady but excruciatingly slow. Here's where we are: Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs - The manuscript is in assessment (where Pride decides if it's worth having or if I completely jumped the shark this time. I don't do a lot of shark jumping but once in a while a story goes off the rails. I never assume a story will be auto-accepted.) All The World's An Undead Stage - About 3500 words in and nearly done the first chapter for the second Carrington and Erasmus story. There are a lot of moving pieces and players on the board for this one, so I'm going carefully. It'll get there.  The majestic East Mountain Jackalope Hello all! Reading from AURA #3 today, Kellen's Awakening - there is, for certain interested parties, a squirrel in this scene.  Kellen's Awakening
AURA 3 Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn A socially challenged pixie and a former playboy incubus find themselves in the center of the maelstrom as AURA struggles to find a source for the escalating violence threatening the city. The staff at AURA has had a busy summer. Between chronic understaffing, dealing with warring goblin factions and an unusual number of hazardous Events, everyone is overworked. Sinistrus the incubus, newly hired as an AURA medic, actually enjoys his busy new life of responsible employee and faithful lover to his gorgeous police sergeant, Ness the centaur. Life would be perfect, except for a niggling suspicion about a colleague. Everyone else seems to disagree, but Sin’s certain something’s not right with that pixie. Kellen, a pixie crossover, loves his job working in AURA medical, even if he is something of an outsider. His job and the friends he manages to make are happy spots in an otherwise dark and secretive life. As the rest of AURA tries to discover the root of the inexplicable rise in violence and large-scale Events, Kellen fights to preserve his own life and what dignity he has left.
Nicki's on holiday still, so it's sort of a present waiting in her inbox for her return, I hope. This one is the second Jason and Wolf story, stands at about 58K currently (more than twice the wordage of the original, first edition OC stories) and if I haven't sent you scrambling for Google with the title, you probably will be at some point in the story. Tentative release date at Pride Publishing on September 5.
We started this as something of an experiment in serial fiction and co-authoring (what happens when you put four authors with different focuses in a story - sounds like a sitcom pitch.) What we ended up with was a wonderfully varied cast of characters and a story that wound its way through danger, strife and romance to its whirlwind ending. You can read the chapters on the blog (there are 144 posts divided into 36 chapters) or wait until we get the expanded story into novel format.  Hello and happy Friday! I'm reading from the porch of the lovely place where we're staying in Florida with Bellora and Sadie lurking inside and trying to be unobtrusive. ;) Today's reading, despite the rude interruption of a jet plane, is from book two of the Elemntal Evidence series, Burning Boundaries. Burning Boundaries Elemental Evidence 2 Publisher: Pride Publishing Authors: Bellora Quinn and Sadie Rose Bermingham Cover Artist: Emmy Ellis Length: 103,000 Words Pairing: MM Heat Level: 4 out of 5 Genre(s): Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Fantasy - Urban & Magical Beings, Mystery & Thriller, Paranormal, Paranormal - Psychic Talents Blurb: Mari Gale’s life has been a whirlwind since meeting Jake Chivis. A new job prospect and his mother’s health preoccupy him, so when Jake invites him on a date he’s ready to cut loose. Their night out turns into a nightmare when a fire breaks out in the basement of the bar and they barely escape. Soon Jake learns that the horrific accident is being investigated as a possible homicide, and it’s not the only case. Detective Inspector Cordiline of the London Met hints at spontaneous human combustion, but as far as Jake knows, SHC doesn’t exist. When Mari looks into a group called Birthright, he finds a connection to the victims of the fires and Jake risks himself to go undercover at the shadowy organization. The race is on to determine the truth before Jake becomes the next target.. Elemental Evidence Series Info: Former Detective Jake Chivis is a Fire Elemental who uses psychometry to see the past. Doctor Ilmarinen Gale is an Air Elemental, a human/cybernetic interface, able to infiltrate even the toughest information systems. Together they find out just how potent a combination Fire and Air can be when it comes to solving crimes. Amid murder, conspiracy and a world that views them with suspicion, and sometimes contempt, Jake and Mari circumvent the conventional. While the police aren't always appreciative of their methods they can't deny the results. When they aren't busy consulting for the police, figuring one another out is their next big mystery. One that proves as frustrating as it is passionate. Between hunting killers and avoiding competing government agencies that want the two of them working on their side, they just might have enough time for love. Pride Publishing: https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/burning-boundaries Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Burning-Boundaries-Elemental-Evidence-Book-ebook/dp/B071ZGP541 Hello everyone from sunny Florida! Not a lot of book news this week but I am in sunny Florida having a mini writing retreat with Bellora Quinn and Sadie Rose Bermingham. We've spent some careful time on beaches (never to long since some of us channel our inner vampires in direst sunlight), went to a nature preserve, had a lovely get together with Lisa Arbitrary and OJ Cast and hubbies and have talked more in a few days than any of us generally do in months. it's amazing to have other authors in the same room to talk to. I can't stress that enough. Working on the rewrites for Jackalopes and Woofenpoofs which I should be able to finish before I fly home. I didn't realize how much I needed this until I was here.  |
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About Angel
Angel writes (mostly) Science Fiction and Fantasy centered around queer heroes. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware and full time inside her head, she has one husband, one son, two cats, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate. |
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