Black ties, babies & Mohawks

I know I haven’t posted in awhile now, my apologies for that.  It’s been… interesting, lol.

For the first time in my life I find myself trying to organize when I can shave my head to work around a black tie affair and I’m seriously hoping that it doesn’t coincide with my friend’s firstborn and his arrival, but you know it will. 

Long story short – My mother requires two brain surgeries and one of them is going to require her to shave her head on the side so I will be doing that with her, but my husband was also nominated for an award for his newest program that means mandatory wife attendance at the event.  They haven’t confirmed the dates of either event yet, so I’m just screwed lol.  I'll rock a Mohawk, but not in an event that can cost my husband his job and the president of his company will be meeting me there for the first time...  I play with fire but I only want to burn my own hands, so that's going to be fun to try and work around.

The book is coming along well but has been on hold for a few days because I knew something was wrong with the beginning, and at almost 400 pages in, I wanted to fix that before I made more work for myself.  Problem was discovered when one of my friends claimed that she wanted one of the characters to die, by choking on a bag of dicks if at all possible, or being run off of a cliff onto rusty bayonets and teddy bears with machine guns in paw.  My reaction to that was to laugh myself into a table while I choked on my coffee and promptly burned my fingers on my cigarette.

And she was totally right, so I’m fixing that as quickly as possible.  As odd as it sounds I take criticism better than praise, because then I know that people are being honest with me lol – She was a bit over the top, the problem was only with about four chapters but they’re early in the book and easy to remedy. 

That’s all for now folks, I need to go and finish editing that problem out of there so we can get back to rollerskates, door-guns, rock candy and wrenches. 

Happy hunting ;)

S. <3

The Turkey Apocolypse of 2013

I usually try to keep my blog related only to my work, but this one's too good NOT to share.

So one of my friends has her 30th birthday this week, and I tend to be a rotten nasty horrible person by making every birthday as painful as possible.  A good example; I gave my brother a single cupcake of normal size with 30 birthday candles jammed into it for his 30th. 

The resulting fire was dangerously hilarious -

 That's an actual image, I thought it was funny and when his eyebrows grew back, so did he.

Then, for his wonderful husband's birthday, my friends and I assailed him with a pinata dragon.  Many dorky references were made.  The dragon was decapitated.  I was gifted the head, which is named Dan (haha you'll get it eventually) and have him mounted in my car to warn other pinatas that I'm not playing around.


That picture will not be shared because I'm in it and look like a collection of sticks.

So, when I was trying to think of what to put on a card for my friend who lives too far away to do such things to, I happened to open the door to let the dog out and had to slam it shut on invading turkey neck #1. 

I live in Massachusetts - we have wild turkeys and for anyone who doesn't know they're the type of birds that will kill you, then go to your funeral and murder everyone who loved you enough to show up.  That's probably one of the reasons we made a holiday to specifically consume in large quantities.  REVENGE. 

Well, our cat is very ballsy, apparently tried to snag one of a turkey's babies, decided to hide in the house, and now the birds are circling in a gang that I really wish I could get a decent picture of.  They're camera shy, I guess, I don't know.

Well - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Your Card, dear;

Kisses  :)

S. <3

Nine consecutive hours of sleep = IDDQD/Godly

After spending about three months working with only 4 hours of broken sleep, 9 hours in a row just feels like cheating, haha. Part one of Duncan has been finished (more or less), sent to proofreaders and returned with an overwhelming thumbs up and a few buckets of drool for part two, which I'll be working on all weekend. 

Funny thing - I can't think of an overall title, and nobody else apparently can either, haha.... oh what've I gotten myself into?

On a completely different note, I have the cover for Duncan here.  Sadly I cannot share until I think of a title for the book, because right now it's just an image and I don't want it stolen.

But don't leave yet - I do have a sketch done by yours truly, which a very amazing young woman cleaned up and colored for me.

Here's her cleaned up and very sexy Duncan:

I just want to make it clear how much work she did here, haha.  This was my original sketch.  It looks like someone rubbed ashes onto an envelope by comparison.  It wasn't just cleaned up, it was rebuilt lol

How's that for professionalism?

I don't ever do this, but anyone looking for a great line artist/color;
here's your chick -> http://crochetamommy.deviantart.com/  Which is also an address where anyone who likes it could let her know, because she doesn't seem to believe me, despite the mad cackle/gigglefit that I described for her when she sent me that.  I'll be sending her more of my drawings once I make them, and maybe doing comics because honestly...  my life is a damn strip comic lol.

Is it bad that I'm writing about an amputee with a prosthetic leg that he keeps having to put back together, while listening to a tetris theme remix?  Hmm. 

I've been helping the hottest woman alive with her story when I'm not working on Duncan so no work has gotten done on anything else, reference last post for updates there.  Between dying a 9 year old's head blue, rescuing a baby from the toilet (it got him by the ankle) and convincing my mother-in-law that the alleged man with telekenisis is probably not trying to breed an army to rid the city of minorities, I don't have time for much else.  I really wish that those had been jokes.  See why the comic would be super easy?  *sigh*

Anyway, off to work for me - As always I can be reached on Goodreads.com or here, and I thank you all for your continued support!

S. <3

Coffee break!

I've been meaning to update my blog for anyone looking for info on upcoming work, so here it is  ;)

My new book (title still pending) is coming along nicely.  I usually publish very quickly, but I decided to try something different with this one.  The two - possibly three - parts will probably be published at once, in a bundle.

When I say parts, each one is a full length novel.  So it's taking me some time.  The overall length dwarfs every other work that I've released, it's a huge undertaking.  The way that I set this one up is different than my other work because of the change in setting and character.  Putting these two in a bed early would be a critical error, so it takes awhile to heat up, but the usual fun is still there.  Actually, the more I look at it, the more crazy it gets, haha.  The other reason for publishing them together, is that they take place a literal day after each other, so it seems smarter to go about it that way.  It also allows me to add intermission chapters, which I'm sure will be fun to read because they show a different perspective of what's happening in the book.  A glimpse of what's taking place across town. 

I have been putting down some work on the next Playing with Tigers, and I've been editing the first two in my spare time.  They read like a slap in the face, so I'm fixing them. 

The same can be said for Swordmaster Dasan, because I really didn't intend to publish it when I wrote it, so the ending is leaving too many people angry with me.  Sorry!  I will remedy it and release a second edition, it was meant as a fun freebie, I will fix it!  Same goes for the second one, I'm repairing some wording problems and redundancies as I go through them.

Wolves are still set aside, but I have taken a quick read through on a few of them.  The question is which one to finish first, haha.

I have four novels mostly done for that project, and a few sort story ideas.  When I finish the series that I've promised, then I'll move on to them.  Three are in third person, one is in first. 

The first person one is actually pretty funny, I was skimming through it and laughing at my own jokes, like an imbecile.  That quote on goodreads is from that unfinished novel.  This one:  “I'm no doormat.  At worst, I'm a very attractive accent rug, because if I get stained or damaged; someone is going to f---ing die.”  I need to get around to that one eventually, I cackled when I read the part where my dreamy-eyed narrator very literally walks into a wall. 

And when I do eventually finish Swordmaster Dasan, I might carry on the series with the character who is going to debut in Playing with Tigers 3, because the level of kink actually spikes when he's in a room, and I rather enjoy the challenge. 

That's all for today, anyone looking to contact me can find me on Goodreads or on this blog.  Thank you for your support, everyone!  :)

S. <3

I need to stop making these books so long...

I have two things to say in this post.  THREE - I lied.

First thing - updates on upcoming publications.

New book (title pending) -
m/m - potential for dom/sub/switch scenarios - paranormal romance - off scene non-con and on scene r/p dub-con

Kinkier than The Cat& the Crow, tamer than Swordmaster Dasan 2  (haha, well.  Really that's a huge gap, isn't it?)

I want to start by saying that this is Steampunk inspired.  I will not say that in the description or in the book, or probably ever again after this.  It seems that Steampunk books have a very specific set of rules and guidelines, and I don't want any usual Steampunk fans to build a train to run me down with for forgetting one lol.  I like being alive, it agrees with me.
 
Since I have a following of fans that may or may not want to stab/lynch/drown/strangle me for not releasing the next book in a series fast enough, I have listened to you.  This book would already be published with a huge cliffhanger ending, so I'm writing the sequel right on to it.  I'm nice.  Sometimes.  The book will be separated into two parts instead, so you'll get two books in one with a very short intermission as a bonus.  Closure straight from me to you with hugs and kisses and sexy men hooray. 

Because of the MASSIVE shift in character from Tarro, I can't just toss my newest MC straight into a bed, so the first part of the book is mostly him getting to know and love his new man.  Romance, some erotica, lots of lead-ins for the second part.

The second part, my inner pervert came out to play.  My inner creep did too, thank you very much to the person who pissed me off.  Therapeutic and fictional evil...  So, the second part is an erotic romance with a paranormal plot.  Because...  Well, because. 



Swordmaster Dasan Series -
m/m - bondage - dom/dom struggle - non-con - dub-con - every time of con lol

These two.  Well.  I originally wrote the first one because I thought it would be nice to have a backstory for Loki, who even the MC in Playing with Tigers is overwhelmed by.  A friend was extremely happy with the results, so I threw it out there for free, thinking that I was being kind and giving away decent m/m erotica.  It seems that people enjoy the story but not my writing style.  My apologies, the first one was written in full, in two weeks.  I wasn't applying myself.  The second one took me a bit longer, and anyone who can stomach the first  one would probably enjoy the second.  It's available on smashwords, free, and will remain there until it has a decent cover. 

The third book was sent to proofreaders, and for the first time I got a red light on publication.  They accused me of rushing it and cramming too much into one book, so I concede and now I'm breaking it up into two more books.  I apologize for the wait.  But quality control said no, so the wait goes on for a bit longer.




Playing with Tigers -
f/m/m - erotica - you name it, it's in there or on it's way

I started writing the third book.  *smile*  I found the perfect plotline for it (finally) so all I have to do now is rewrite the first two.  AGAIN.

It was my first book, and after losing all of my backup files of the original aside from an 80 page draft, I had to rewrite it.  So when I finished, I was aggravated, felt nobody would probably really give a damn anyway and published it went.  That was a mistake.  I read it now and anyone who walks by and looks at my face when I do asks me if I'm sick.  It reads like someone has taken the e-reader and started to club the reader over the head with it.  Typos, spelling errors, redundancies...  I am sooo incredibly sorry!

And the sequel; I changed the story because the only in depth feedback that I had received on the first, was that it had too much sex.  Another mistake, toning it down, now I've been told that it's boring as hell.  I'll just spike it back up.   :)

So, I'm fixing them.  Yeah that's right, I've got most of the first one redone right here.  That way, I can stop trying to slam a closet door on that ugly skeleton.  And guess what?  I never made a damn thing off of it, so FREE it will become.  Both of them.  The third book, I don't know.  It'll take a lot to write it, I might sadly have to charge for that one.  Try to compensate for the coffee I drink when I write it, we'll see how Duncan does in sales when I toss him out there before I decide.



The Cat & the Crow potential sequel!

I am still thinking about this one.  Theoretically, since Ryosho is not stupid so much as nasty and shallow, she would be smart enough to play along until they had no reason to keep her in Greywood, right?  And they would want to relinquish her into the care of her closest family member.  Which would happen to be her son-in-law, who even made a huge production over how he reaaaaallly loves her.  So much that it hurts him, haha
Also, I did leave myself plenty of strings hanging.  Nerin knew quite a bit about him at the end of the book.  I never said how, even though I had a story for that.  And Tarro has a hell of a past.  Would be a shame if certain people showed up again.  Especially anyone who Tarro might actually want to see, who wouldn't do well with Nerin.  Would be a pity.  Why, he'd have to be clever all over again.  Hmm.
I'll think on it and get back to everyone.



Werewolves are in limbo.  They can stay there for now, there are enough shifter stories that I don't think anyone would care about mine, lol



Second thing -
The Cat & the Crow was stolen.  The reason that this really pisses me off is that it's the only book that I actually charge for, because I know it's my best so far.  Personally, I think Tarro was fucked enough.  This almost had me flip a table and stop publishing.  I don't make a ton of money, because I only charge what I think is fair, and someone thought that stealing my work and offering it for free on their site would be fine.  It's not.  My sales dropped by more than half on the exact day that this was done.  That situation is handled, but I'm sure it will happen again.  And I'll be pissed off again.

Oh.  *chuckle*  Everyone should be careful about bit-torrents.  I hear that it's super easy to take a virus and put it in a copy of an e-book.  Would be a shame if any thieves downloaded malicious software.

As always, anyone who cannot afford my book can contact me on goodreads.  I'll mail it to you in whatever format you want, free of fucking charge, as I say whenever I remember.  I like when people read my work, that's rather the point.  But I do not like when people steal it.  Especially when I offer most of it for free.  That's currently my best published piece.  I will share, if you ask.  If you take it, I will immortalize you in history as a laughably incompetent villain in a gay erotic story, and I will dedicate it you along with the best attorneys that money can buy. 


Third thing -
I think it's funny that every time I get down on my writing, when I'm wondering if anyone even gives a damn, I get an email telling me that I have a review.  And every time they make me smile, 1 or 5 stars, loved it or hated it.  I don't just take good feedback with a smile, I enjoy when people read my book and feel the need to comment about it. 

But the ones that like my book, those reviews can end a write-or-quit moment of doubt in an instant.  Most people who read never review the book after.  No way to know if you did good, not as a self-pub.  I really appreciate every word of feedback that I get, I wanted to say that.  :)

Thank you.  I really do mean that. 

;)  Back to work for me.

S. <3

Still alive. Mostly.

Despite the flu's best attempt, I'm recovering and back on track with my work.  I was too sick to eat, so I'm boney enough now that I look like some terrifying bobblehead-woman, and smoking has made my sick cough last longer than it should, but I'll manage.  Scheduling has made it very hard for me to work when I want/need to, but I have found a solution!  Laptop.  Problem solved. 

My next book, by which I mean my next new book, is coming along well.  It's getting out of hand in length, but I found a way to make it manageable, I think.  Haha, nothing like confidence, right?  The first part is already about 20 pages longer than the Cat & the Crow was, so for anyone who read that, we're already looking at double the length.  Closer to the size of Playing with Tigers.  I know a lot of readers prefer a longer book, but there's still the challenge of holding attention throughout each novel.  The longer it is, the more likely it is to drag in places.  I will not tolerate becoming a drag.  It's one of the things that will make me drop a book at any point in its story, because my ability to pay attention is incredibly fickle. 

I can't give an estimate regarding the completion of this book, because I still feel that it's missing something.  I can, however, give an educated guess about the other impending publications. 
Swordmaster Dasan 2 has been at Smashwords for a very long time, but has not been put up anywhere else.  It needs a better cover, to be honest.  A friend was working on that, but she also lives in Boston and recent events have stressed her out enough that I'm willing to wait a bit longer before I start to shove and harass her.  Once that's done, it'll be put up on Amazon and shipped to B&N as a free book. 

The third SMD book was completed and sent to proofreaders, but came back with many complaints, because they wanted me to break the content up over two books instead of one.  So I am.  They'll also probably remain free ebooks, because the entire series is a side note to Playing with Tigers.  Charging for additional content is low, even for a gutter crawler like myself.

Playing with Tigers 1&2 will be rewritten and republished over this summer, and the third book is in the planning stage.  That means that any requests for certain kinks to have a cameo appearance need to be made now, haha.  I humor almost everything, but I will not write scat or snuff, so don't ask.  Other than that, sure.  Just let me know what floats your boat, or trust me to get crazy on my own.  Please note that this is the only series I even take requests for, and only ones for specific fetishes or kinks.  To respond to one inquiry that was sent to me - No.  I will not alter my characters or the society that they're in.  The reason that I like the Sahrketh society is because it is competitive and therefore fair.  I made a race of people that compete for everything and apologize for nothing, not just a gender.  It's not intended as a 'look how evil women are' statement.  If you took it that way, then you need to ask yourself why, lol.

Werewolves are in limbo for the moment.  Sorry.  Well, sort of.  There have been a flood of shifter erotica stories lately and I don't like the idea of being overlooked as white noise.  They're on hold.  All of them. 

Duncan.  Ha.  Well, that's the new book, title pending.  I haven't had this much fun with a setting in a long damn time.  I only hope that readers will enjoy it too.  More on him some other time, it's complicated lol.

If anyone sees the door-to-door fanatics that just left my property, please apologize to them on my behalf.  I didn't mean to swear.  In retrospect I realize that I had meant to inflict bodily harm.  With my boney hands, or if they would wait a moment, with the bat that I keep for any sudden urge for baseball/fighting.  If one more asshole comes here portraying what happened in Boston as a crime that was planned and paid for by the gay community, then I'll let them meet their fucking God.  For realsies.  There's a church, and only one church that's started this bullshit, and I shudder to think what may happen if they actually convert anyone. 

That's all for me for today.  Still alive, incredibly bitchy, and working my ass off.  Cheers.  ;)

S.  <3

Victory & Updates

Swordmaster Dasan is now available for free at Amazon, the second installment will be sitting at Smashwords until a friend of mine finishes the cover for that one.  I poured plaster on her head and laughed at her misfortune, she owes me.  For anyone looking for the second book, it's here and it is as edited as I'm going to make it without charging for it.  I've got the third one done, but I'm waiting on proofreaders to get back to me so, that'll have to wait for a bit. 
(If you have the adult filter on at smashwords, then the book won't show.  Just reminding everyone.)

Please note - Swordmaster Dasan is a side series that goes with Playing with Tigers.  I'm currently rewriting that series as well, and re-releasing it for free later this year.  I feel that the copy that is out now is abysmally written, it was my first book and I learned from many mistakes I made in it haha
The second one is getting ripped apart and rebuilt as well, so hang in there if you can't stand mistypes and misuses of apostrophes.  I'm working on it lol

I have a few up and coming books in the works right now.  I found a perfect way to do a steampunk story, so when I start tearing my hair out looking at Playing with Tigers, I have werewolves and coal power to keep my attention. 

Anyone looking to contact me, just find me at Goodreads.com - I lurk on there when I go for my coffee breaks so it's the best way to locate me.  I am very open to criticism, and I thank anyone who has left a review for me in the past (especially shiny nickel that was hilariously accurate and my brow knits with how true your statement was.  I am FIXING that! lol) because feedback helps me improve and I have a very short list of people that work with me. 

Back to work for me, I was just letting anyone looking for Swordmaster Dasan 2 & 3 know that technically one's there, and the other is on it's way as well.  

Happy hunting everyone, expect a novel within the next two months along with the last story starring my demented sword-toting nuisances. 

S. K. <3

*undecided on a second book for Tarro. 

Thoughts and junk

So, Smashwords is having a promotion to encourage people to read e-books - all of mine are enrolled.  I hate to admit that every time someone downloads Playing with Tigers or it's sequel I wince, because they are so much worse than the other stuff I have out, but the people who do review the series seem to like it... so I did well?

Anyway, I contacted Miss Fang for a new cover for Swordmaster Dasan, and I walked into a door when she sent me a sketch on my phone.  Gotta love the woman, she does great work and soooo fast haha
You'll all see shortly, I'm sure. 
She was the artist responsible for The Cat & the Crow, so I don't need to tell anyone who saw that how good it is.
She doesn't just do anime art, either.  I highly recommend her to anyone who needs a cover, genre and style aside, if she can't do it, she'll tell you, and if she can, it'll be fan-freaking-tastic.

Speaking of Kyo, the pain, I keep adding more to the third book.  Can't leave any unresolved issues and he has so many hahaha
To be fair, by the time Loki is done with what I had him put through, he has his share as well.  Perfect match if I ever imagined one. 

The complete tear-down and rewrite of Playing with Tigers is only at about ch20 on the first book, because it lacked a lot and I was done having that skeleton popping out of my closet and wagging it's stupid stupid head.  It's much better now though, haha.  Will be putting that up for free with the original cover when it's finished.  Sorry, I am not investing my cash into a cover for something I don't plan to charge for.  I just can't leave it as it is, especially with people requesting the third book on that series.  The writing is inconsistent as it is from the beginning to the end, just imagine how bad it will look in comparison to the third book when I get around to it.  No, I am not getting around to it yet.  Thinking about it, but not actively working on it. 

Kyo and my wolves are taking up too much time haha

I am trying not to rush with the last Swordmaster book, because patience is a virtue and I want to do it right the first time.  But, my god, it's hard.  I have so many versions that are complete and the temptation to just toss one up and be done with it is grating at me lol
I will try my hardest not to screw it up  *bow*

So, back to it for me. 
Anyone who has received a free copy of my work from smashwords - Please feel free to review to your heart's content.  I love feedback, in any form.  I admit that I check goodreads far more often, and if anyone wishes to contact me, that would be the best place to do so.  I'm not as bad as you probably think I am.  Probably.  *evil smile*

Happy hunting, and I hope that everyone is taking advantage of the opportunity at Smashwords.

~ S. K. <3

Curses!

I have good news and bad news for anyone anticipating a sequel/end of a trilogy.  I have been working on rebooting the Playing with Tigers series, and plotting out the third, I have been editing my brains out on the Swordmaster Dasan series, and I've been putting in plenty of time on my upcoming wolf shifter stories.  I even threw together a crappy cover for the Dasan series, which is slightly less bad than the one I've been using!  YAY!

Problem - I've been working on them all, so none are done...

Time constraints here have made it so that I can only work for about two hours a day on anything that I'm writing before I need to go and tend to some manner of bullshit.  I apologize for the delay, but I can't work around the schedule that I am being stuck into, no matter how much I want to.  And trust me when I say that I really, really want to.  If I don't write, the people who know me well can tell.  It's sick, withdrawals that are comparable to my failed attempt to quit smoking.  My husband caught me talking to the Kuerig and losing an argument against it a few days ago, it's rather pathetic and somewhat entertaining.

My thanks to a shiny nickel and Jconn for yelling at me, lol!  I tend to forget that people give half of a crap about my older books, since the nature of them ensures that they aren't discussed often face-to-face and the PWT series is so large that only two of my friends even read it.  Speaking of which, I want to take a moment to remind people that the Playing with Tigers series is based on feedback and suggestions when it comes to the sex scenes.  In the first book, the graphic rape, and the second time Keel stays with Loki are prime examples of suggestions/challenges that were issued by friends.  Jade's kink as well, now that I think of it.  I will be hacking the second one to pieces and spicing it up, because I had left out the bondage between Loki and Keel since I had received requests for so much other stuff.  A large portion of the racier scenes hit the folder of no return because the first in depth review that I had stated that the first book had way to much sex in it, and I shrugged and took the advice.  The only problem is that it is now very boring lol.  So I'll be fixing that after I fix the first and finish the third SMdasan book.

And if by chance my shiny nickel finds her way here, I had a guilty laugh over the *brow knit* line that had coffee running out of my nose.  Well played, Miss.  The Cat & the Crow was the first book that I took my time with, and as a result, the ones before it are very obnoxious to read.  Amateur writing at it's worst, I apologize again haha.  I will get to your Playing with Tigers 3 after I finish the other series that accompanies it, I promise. 

Which brings me to Swordmaster Dasan 3 - This book is trying to kill me.  I keep changing my mind over how I want things to go, and then arguing with myself.  I think that I have like, six versions of it now?  The problem that I backed myself into is a difficult one to explain, because I don't want to give much away.  Let's just say that Kyo is a violent lover and Loki is in a position that makes that impossible to work with.  I refuse to have Kyo drop the bondage and humiliation tactics, because unlike some people, I don't believe that it's a disease that can be cured, merely a taste that is acquired.  Once it's there, it can't be forgotten. 

I'd know.

Moving on, I'm trying to decide if I want to re-release both of my earlier books for free, since I've made virtually nothing off of them when compared to the new one.  Especially Playing with Tigers, since bisexual romance erotica is such a small and specific field to write in.


Anyway, I am going to go and get to work, the clock is ticking and I have a huge amount to get done.

Also, this.

I may not use that for the cover, but if you know what it is, perhaps that's enough to convince people that I am working on it, haha 

Off I go, happy hunting everyone!  Friend/follow me on goodreads, I lounge on there when writing isn't possible.

S. <3

Snowstorms call for Deathmatches

For anyone who may not know because they don't live in New England, or plain don't care, we just had a storm run through and flip all of our tables.  The media has a tendency to take every weather warning and blow it out of proportion for our area, which makes it extremely difficult to discern what will actually be dangerous and what they are trying to terrify us into watching them talk about.  And on occasion, even they're surprised, which doesn't lend them much credibility. 

I have an example!  This was a 'slight flood chance' in my last apartment.  Notice the amazing driving skills of Massachusetts citizens.  That 'minor' flood turned out to be one of the worst we ever had, and destroyed most of the bridges in the area and ended up isolating entire city blocks because the road had become a river.  

Look at that car in the background, you know he was going to try to cross until he saw that car-turned-fishing bobber.  What you can't see is my husband and I laughing and sipping our coffee from our perch on the trunk of my car or the ducks that were swimming in the parking lot to the left. 

Well, this time, the bastards were sadly right.  Bastards. 

As prepared as ever, I was working on my new novel and of course, the power went out juuuust long enough that my computer fainted.  We live in the backwater end of nowhere, so it's sort of normal for the power to just take a quick break and come back.  Not wanting to deal with that bullshit all night, I powered up the pc, and figured, "Okay.  I'll print it and read it on the couch."  My new printer is weird, it prints from the last page backwards to the first.  So, when the power went out after four pages, it left me with part of one scene that I didn't need to be reminded of, because I had just written it. 

I glared at my husband, at the printer and then the monitor and in the words of some of my first role models, I told all three that this meant war.  My next attempt got me half of one more page, then the attempt after that my printer ran out of paper and after I reloaded it, I got less than ever.  This carried on until I admit defeat and went upstairs with many copies of one scene that I had already read. 

And the power stayed on.  Are you laughing, because my eye was twitching haha.  For an hour, no breaks in power.  So, I snuck downstairs, went to print it again, and out it went.   For good.  My husband blames me for my war with the electricity, because I had clearly offended it by assuming a truce would be had, and it had undermined me and hurt his programming in the process. 

Having no power means having no heat, but if you have well water instead of city water, then the electric pump is useless and you don't have that necessary water either.  That left the woodburning stove and the grill as our only functioning utilities, which had been more than enough when we had lost power for five days in the summer.  Not the same in a blizzard. 

The house only dropped to 45 degrees on the first night, but I was very eager to accept the invite from my brother and crash the hell out of his place, because he not only had power; he had internet.  And a kuerig, so I wouldn't even need to bring mine or murder anyone. Good thing I left, when we did end up coming back to check the house had gone down to 38...

Despite other driver's best efforts we arrived at my brother's safely.  Yes, thank you to man in the SUV with rear wheel drive for demonstrating how to spin wildly out of control at 10 mph.  You would think people that live in Massachusetts would know how to deal with snow and you would be absolutely wrong.  They see it fall and look at it as if they've never seen it before, screaming, "White demon powder is falling from the sky!!!  I am amazed by its beauty so much that I wish to celebrate by crashing my vehicle into the nearest object!"

Trip and new surroundings aside, I enjoyed my work break more than I thought I would.  I spent a night with searing hot coffee and every multiplayer steam game that I had shooting zombies/mutants/dragons/ghosts and/or my brothers in the face.  Some of my best ideas come to me when I'm not looking for them, I think that's common for everyone.  Tarro's speech in The Cat & the Crow about how amusing it is to have a problem and stumble on the solution purely by chance was something I had said the afternoon of the same day that I wrote it because it's true to life.  When you give up, inspiration hits. 

Not allowed to smoke in my brother's apartment, I eventually caved and went outside in an outfit that had me looking like a secondhand runway model, knee deep in snow, and when I looked around I had a chill.  Not from the cold, mind you, from a story idea being created and finalized in an instant.   I started writing it as soon as I had the opportunity, and in two evenings of working it's already at 15k words on the draft.  I even used the life out of my new keyboard, but it's cool; I had a spare.  It may be done before my new novel, because it has my interest and gratitude for popping into my head.  And the more I work on it, the better the ideas are that are coming to me.  

It just goes to show that senselessly murdering hordes of imaginary friends can solve almost any problem. (claim subject to reality) 

Passion returned, writers block murdered - my thanks for the crippling storm!

Also, I found my music for my homoerotic werewolf story.  Stories now, actually. 

I win!

Also, SMD 1 & 2 are going to be republished in the upcoming weeks as free e-books.  So, yay for that!

Much love to everyone and my wishes for the very best Valentine's Day that you can have. The storm tried to kill me and my family and we came back just fine, thought I'd let my friends who read this nonsense know what's up. 

S. K. <3

Now, back to Sadko...

It's all in my headset

I mentioned before that I was working on a piece with wolf shifters, and because my friends want to read it I've been forcing myself to stay on task, which is surprisingly difficult.  I had decided to do the book because I had some ideas, and I was asked by a few people to do my own spin on the wolf craze.  I just can't find the right freaking music to use to zone out while I write it...

The Cat & the Crow was easy work because of a playlist that only had three songs.  That might've driven my husband slowly insane, since he can hear what I'm listening to from his desk, I put the volume on my headset so high.  But, it let me get into the story again in an instant, and the overall feeling that Tarro held through most of the book was set by one song in particular.  (Gaelic storm - the storm.  For any who were curious.)  The song itself inspired the scene where he's standing in the rain and staring at the sky when I happened across it.  So, in many ways music is necessary for me to write.

One broken headset and a depleted collection of mp3's and CD's later, I am stuck haha.  Not for long, I never am, thankfully.  Already have another headset, fear not.  But the lack of theme song is making it very hard to decide what direction I want the end of the book to take, and...  well anyone that has read my stuff knows I try to do a lot in each book.  It could go anywhere.  I give myself various plot threads and a mix of music, coffee, and insomnia show me the best way to braid all of those interesting threads into one fun story.

I have, however, found plenty to inspire a lot of the folklore and belief system for them.  I kind of backed myself into a corner in my previous books by describing the "Kyathe" people, or "People of the Wolf" as having a very rich background in storytelling.  It means I have to apply myself.

I'll be uploading the prologue from it on Goodreads, since a few people have expressed a mild interest in it and I'm nearly satisfied with the beginning.  The ending is a different story, but rest assured, I will find a way and kick its ass.  Then, I'm off to hunt appropriate steampunk werewolf homoerotic music.  You know, after typing that I realize why maybe I'm having some trouble haha

Happy hunting and a huge thank you to everyone who has expressed an opinion about any of my work.  :)

S. <3

For anyone who's actually curious, this was my playlist for the last book;
Gaelic Storm - The Storm
Parov Stelar - The Snake
Parov Stelar (again!) - Booty Swing

(last one's quite awesome, just saying.)

In Loving Memory

In mid October last year, while playing World of Warcraft of all things, I was surprised to meet someone who instantly took my heart.  Singing on the vent, laughing with the lot of us, proud to run with idiots like we are.  I had been laughing and making fun of Playing with Tigers, because as I've said before, I'm all for insulting myself (that way, nobody else has the chance.).  A few days later, she came online again, and I hate to admit that I had been waiting for her, because it makes me feel like a bad friend to everyone else that I was so eager to get to know her better, but I had been hooked from the first twenty minutes of conversation, and I've developed the knack for spotting a good relationship coming. 

She bought and read the book.  For anyone who hasn't, that's a lot of work.  It reads as if someone is clubbing you in the face, it's far too long and sort of bland in my opinion.  And she encouraged me to keep going.  She had met me two days prior, and she already felt the need to tell me not to give up on my writing.  She asked what project I had in the works, and as many of you can likely guess, that would've been The Cat & the Crow.  At the time I was very unsure of whether I should do much of anything with it, and I was hesitant to discuss it, but she got it out of me.  And she loved the idea of it.  I am thankful that I have two friends other than this young woman who are excellent support when I am writing, but I was speechless to have someone who came out of nowhere and read the book (and of course it had to be THAT book too right?), and could tell me so quickly that she could see a lot of me in it.  That I had potential, and that with every book I wrote I could only stand to get better. 

We didn't see her for a week after that, and when she did come online again, she sounded different.  When we asked she explained that something had bitten her, but that she wasn't extremely concerned, since she was given antibiotics for it, and it was no worse than the brown recluse bite she had dealt with a few years prior.  Honestly, I would just move after that first bite.  Spiders *shudder*  We had a fun night and by the time she left she was laughing as well, although exhausted.  The very last time I spoke to her, she was preparing to go in for surgery, because the bite had caused a MRSR/staph infection, and since it was her chest that was bitten, it needed to be tended to. 

My friend Ferran died on January second of 2013.  Her lungs failed on her, and she was too weak for a transplant, or I would've given her one of mine.  I'm not lying, I asked.  I was told that she wouldn't survive the procedure, and no doctors were willing to try.  My thoughts are currently on her and her boyfriend John, because when I asked if she had someone, the way she spoke of him made me truly believe that she had found her happily ever after.  I've never heard someone speak of their partner with such sincere affection, and in many ways it effected my work, and I hate to say it, even me.  I've been happily married for a few years now, but she made me remember just how lucky I am to have him in my life.  And I am very sorry that I didn't get my chance to get to know her better before she went, because she was one of the very few that I could tell in an instant, was someone spectacular.
I write gay novels, most people would make fun of me for that.  She was working in a pharmaceutical company that made chemo therapy materials and worked with charities to ensure everyone got their treatment when they needed it regardless of ability to pay, and she encouraged me.

I thought I would pass on the thoughts that she and I had on one of our literally six hour discussions.  That there's only so much time in your life, and you only get to live it once.  So enjoy it, do what you like, and hold your head high when you do it.  When you start to do well, others will hate you for it and many times they won't even realize that they do.  Because it can be hard to be friends with someone who's happy when you're stressed.  Life can kick you in the ass, but most people try to brush it off.  The key is, to kick it right back.  To never show the people who try to put you down that they're succeeding, and to keep moving in the direction that you want to travel.

I only knew Ferran for a little over 3 months of my life.  But she was amazing, and I wanted to share that. 

Here's hoping she's singing an off tune operatic version of Metallica somewhere right now. 

(I will not use her full name on the blog I use to write novels such as I do, out of respect for the shock that it may bring to her church group.  I don't care to bring them any more shocks right now.)

I loved this woman, and trust me, if you had known her, you would've as well.

Ferran R. A.

8/11/91 - 1/2/13

Techno, fresh coffee, suger rush... Work time >:)

So, whilst discussing predicament bondage involving full suspension and piercing fetishes with my longest standing and closest friend (this was done over coffee, naturally.) it occurred to me that I have too many projects going and need to put everything in order. 

But first, don't forget that Swordmaster Dasan has a code that is still active to get a free copy at Smashwords.
Enter this;
KP29S
at checkout and it will give you the book at 100% off. 


Now for anyone who's curious -
What I'm working on right now in order of what I deem important -

- Playing with Tigers is getting a reboot.  The original release stars VARIOUS atrocities that I would've been more likely to notice before publishing if I hadn't been reading it so often at the time that I felt I could tell the story from memory alone.  Some scenes are acceptable enough to have a mere edit, others are getting scrapped and redone completely.  The story itself will not change, only the manner in which I tell it.  The sequel will be attacked once this one is complete as well, because it's boring by comparison and that can't happen.  I was considering just unpublishing it, but 2/3 reviews were that they reaaaallly liked it.  I don't understand why, I don't anymore.  It's my dark secret and even though I keep slamming the closet door on that skeleton, the lure of making it acceptable as a past work is too great.  So, it begrudgingly stays as I work on the plot for the third and fix the original two to my liking. 

- Swordmaster Dasan 2 & 3 are being polished and covers are being worked on for all three.  Option to buy each individually or as a bundle is what I'm thinking, but as always, I'll put a code up on my blog and twitter to get it for free at smashwords when it's released. 

- Wolves of Kureshna - New series involving the Kyathe people from my little world.  They've been mentioned in passing a few times, as Kyathe or 'People of the Wolf.'  Wolf shifters, very fun.  Still working out the deities that they hail from, which led to a hilarious discussion about 'building wolves' that was aided by a dizzying number of alcoholic beverages.  The first will have the spice, the second the sweet, the third is not going to be discussed because it surpasses the level of kink from the first Swordmaster Dasan and I'm still debating whether I'll publish it at all lol

- Elpis Society - this one has been written as a draft twice already, once as a m/m paranormal romance, and once as a regular old paranormal thriller.  Still deciding what to do with it exactly, but it should be loads of fun.  Admittedly, more loads of fun if it's a m/m ro...  It was a bad joke, give me time.  I'll do better.

and finally -

I have been asked if I am planning a second book for The Cat & the Crow.  On this, I am undecided.  Could I?  Yes, I very easily could.  Ryosho is arguably smart enough to shut her mouth until she is freed from her situation in the story.  I never mentioned how Nerin found all of that information on him and Tarro never asked, but there are plenty of people in the book that I intended to have still be alive and well that he wouldn't expect to see.  In fact, in my mind, Nerin has already met a few of them.  The question is, should I write a sequel?  I've developed the bad habit of making sequels for everything and look up there, just look!  That's...  *counts* seven.  7 books that I'm working on.  8 if we count the Elpis society, which I didn't because I'm still working on those other seven.  I will consider it for awhile and keep anyone that reads posted, because I like Tarro.  But first, I need to get back to my other seven things to do haha

S. <3