Tag Archive: Stone Cold


Rainbow Snippets, December 31, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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December 31, 2016

kevintie

Hello, Snippetteers! — rather than try to come up with an appropriate epitaph for 2016, I decided to just do my bit to make sure the year ends on a high note. Those of you who have read HARD AS STONE (SoulShares #1) know exactly what this picture signifies — and those of you who haven’t will at least have an inkling by the time you finish this Snippet from STONE COLD. Yes, it’s seven sentences, but as usual, I trust you’ll understand the necessity. The POV character is Kevin Almstead, the human main character from HARD AS STONE. Oh, and just remember — Fae can Fade. *winks*

And here’s wishing everyone a peaceful — and powerful — New Year.

*******

Tiernan had taught Kevin to love breath play, early on in their relationship, and by now his response when Tiernan slipped his tie up over the collar of his dress shirt and started tugging to tighten it again around his throat was pure reflex: rapid heartbeat, shallow panting breaths, and a hard-on that could have used its own zip code.

“Maybe you should lie down.” Tiernan started slowly backing them up toward their bed, still tightening the improvised noose around Kevin’s neck and working his body against Kevin’s in a way that made Kevin pretty sure he wasn’t going to make it to blackout before he came like a —

“Oh, sorry, bad time?”

Kevin didn’t understand the Faen obscenity his husband whispered. He didn’t need to, though. “Yes, Conall. A very bad time.”

********

And a few links to round out the post, and the year —

Rainbow Snippets, your Facebook home for more LGBTQIA+ goodies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

And my Amazon page, where you can find Fae and shapeshifters and just a bit of SF: http://ow.ly/Ocze307AdKv

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Rainbow Snippets, December 18, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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December 17, 2016

fullsizerender

Hello, Snippetteers! — you can see why this is a little late, I’ve been in cryogenic suspension and it’s taken me just a little while to thaw out. (Seriously, if I’m going to live where the air hurts my face, I’d better be getting SOME benefit out of it!)

I’m attaching pretty much the hottest-off-the-presses excerpt I have — I’ve been snowed and frozen in all day, so I’ve been spending my time writing, and as of this moment there are only two sentences beyond this point in the WIP. And for once, it’s actually six sentences — and, really, needs no introduction.

********

Fae were naturally immune to human diseases, but it hadn’t taken Conall long, after his arrival in the human world, to learn that he was as prone as any human to tension headaches. And he could feel a dandy coming on. Yet another wellspring had emerged within shouting distance of the great nexus. His partner’s ex-boyfriend was trapped in it, and Conall would eat someone else’s shorts, since he never wore any himself, if the trap had been laid by anyone other than the incredibly touchy daragin and Gille Dubh. And then there was the problem of Tiernan Guaire’s newly-arrived long-lost nephew, who claimed a SoulShare bond with said ex, not to mention the right to blood vengeance for the crime that had originally gotten Tiernan thrown out of the Realm.

At least there’s nothing left to go wrong.

********

And your links for the week —

Rainbow Snippets on Facebook, your home for all things LGBTQIA+: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

And my Amazon page, for all the Fae, oboroten’, fading Shakespearean actors, and science fiction, all under one roof: http://ow.ly/KcyG307ebKp

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Rainbow Snippets, December 3, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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December 3, 2016

RainbowShoes

Good morning, Snippetteers! I haven’t been able to write a lot this week, because family, but I do have a bit here from Maelduin and Terry. Maelduin is trying to convince a magick-oblivious Terry that the two of them are magickally bonded. So, at great personal cost (remember, Maelduin is totally phobic about the subway, or any enclosed form of transportation), he’s taken Terry back to the construction site where they first met, to see if he can feel the wellspring of magick that’s appeared following Maelduin’s transition from the Realm. (Seven sentences again, sorry — we really need to add another stripe to the rainbow flag…)

*******

“Do you feel it?”

Terry followed Maelduin’s clear blue gaze, his pointing finger, down toward his feet. Light pooled there, the way so many spotlights had surrounded him in the past.

Only… there were no spotlights here in this half-built shell of a dance studio.

And this light was coming from underneath the floor.

Terry’s feet tingled.

“What the hell…?”

********

And a couple of links —

Rainbow Snippets, your Facebook home for LGBTQIA+ goodies of all kinds: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

And my Amazon page, so you can get caught up on the whole saga of the Fae of Purgatory: http://ow.ly/KdNR306Mhj2

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Rainbow Snippets, November 26, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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November 26, 2016

tulum1

Hello, Snippetteers! — my apologies for being MIA for so long… last weekend, I was off the grid, on a Caribbean cruise. (My picture for this week is one I took at the Mayan ruins in Tulum — if I ever self-pub “Obsidian,” my snake shifter story, one of these shots just might be the cover, because I definitely found the ruined city where the Lamiae live!) And the weekend before that, the weekend after the election, frankly, I wasn’t up for much except staring at the wall in a more-or-less catatonic state…

This week’s snippet was written somewhere between Grand Cayman and the Bahamas 😉 and it involves Tiernan and Kevin, the main characters from HARD AS STONE (SoulShares #1), trying to have a conversation in a hot tub. It goes about as well as you might expect…. (Oh, and it’s seven sentences. I really don’t think the first “sentence” ought to count….)

********

“Shit.” Tiernan worked the fingers of his crystal hand into Kevin’s dark hair, drawing his husband’s head to rest on his shoulder. “Stay up here, at least your mouth isn’t distracting me this way.”

“Optimist, aren’t you?” Kevin nipped at Tiernan’s throat.

“Scilim g’fua lom tú.”

“I hate you too, just as much.”

********

And a few links for you —

Rainbow Snippets on Facebook, your home away from home for all sorts of LGBTQIA+ goodies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

And how about pretty much everything, all in one? — my Amazon author page, where you’ll find everything from Fae to shapeshifters to Shakespeare to science fiction: http://ow.ly/tJAe306yiu0

See you next week — promise!

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Rainbow Snippets, October 29, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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October 29, 2016

rainbowbuilding

Hello, Snippetteers! — sorry for the week away, I was at GRL (GayRomLit Retreat) in Kansas City, Missouri, having the time of my life, seeing old friends and making soooooo many new ones! (And being able to say things like ‘I’ll meet you for dinner in a few minutes, I just have to go give Edmond and Anne my cock.’) Already looking forward to next year, needless to say.

This week’s Snippet involves Terry and Maelduin, again. Quick setup: Terry has just told Maelduin that he, Maelduin, isn’t following the rules that govern one-night stands. Maelduin, needless to say, has less than no idea what those rules are, and could not possibly care less. Oh, and they first met inside Terry’s dance studio, still under construction (with things like concrete rakes lying around where clumsy Fae could step on them) and locked from the inside. Terry speaks first. And… seven sentences. Forgive me?

********

“I suppose I should have guessed you don’t give a damn about rules. After all, we met while you were breaking and entering.”

“Breaking, yes.” Maelduin could not help wincing at the memory of the long-handled implement, and the crunch as it had impacted his nose. And the blood. Noses always bled copiously, so he had learned. “The entering came later.”

********

And a few links —

Rainbow Snippets, your Facebook home for more LGBTQIA+ goodies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

And tomorrow and Monday (October 30-31), all the SoulShares will be available on ARe for a 50 percent rebate! — NOT a sale, you buy the book at full price, and get a credit for 50 percent of the value. Which means, let’s see, you can buy four SoulShares, then use the rebate credit to buy two more… or five, then use the rebate credit to get the other two and something else nummy…. oh, well, there’s a reason I’m a lawyer and not an accountant! — http://ow.ly/Mggr305FaSv

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Rainbow Snippets, October 15, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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October 15, 2016

8FlagOne

Good morning, Snippetteers! — this week’s Snippet is going to have to do double duty, I’m afraid, since I’m going to be away at GRL next weekend. But here’s a bit from STONE COLD, in which Terry has just arrived home after a long day at the tattoo parlor, and after spotting his most recent ex canoodling on a park bench with his ex’s new boyfriend. (Bryce Newhouse and Lasair Faol, from BLOWING SMOKE, for those of you keeping score at home.) The two of them are in the kitchen, Terry having just brought home Thai food from his favorite take-out restaurant.

********

Terry shook his head and looked away, leaning against the counter and staring at the gray stone between the heels of his hands. “Would you quit being so fucking perfect?”

Maelduin had hoped for something that would make him feel less confused, rather than more. “If I am perfect, why would you want me to be less so?”

Terry had beautiful eyes, even when he was regarding Maelduin with an easy-to-read you make as much sense as an inebriated Sibyl expression. “Because then your leaving wouldn’t suck quite so badly.”

********

And a few links to tide you over for the next couple of weeks *winks*

Rainbow Snippets on Facebook, your home for other LGBTQIA+ goodies — https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

My Amazon author page, where you can find ALL the SoulShares, plus WOLF, BECOMING, A SUMMER’S DAY, the German edition of HARD AS STONE, and both Queer Sci Fi flash fiction anthologies — http://ow.ly/YNcc305dcJn

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Rainbow Snippets, October 8-9, 2016 — STONE COLD

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October 9, 2016

tv-rainbow

Hello, Snippetteers! — I’ve spent the weekend helping to run the Queer Sci Fi vendor table at Gaylaxicon, but I’m back now! And I think you’re going to enjoy this week’s snippet, fresh from STONE COLD, my work-in-progress. Just a bit of intro — Maelduin has only recently arrived from the Fae Realm, and there’s a channeling on him (Fae channel magick rather than casting spells) that lets him understand any word he hears. As you might recall, he’s also having issues with extreme clumsiness, which in this instance has caused him to sit on the remote to Terry’s television, while Terry’s off at work. Maelduin, of course, has never seen or heard of a television…

********

The apartment seemed very quiet when Maelduin pushed the button and silenced the spirits. He wondered where they went, when darkness fell over their prison, the trapped spirits with the strange names — HBO, Food Network, Animal Planet, SSTARMAX, National Geographic. Perhaps they appreciated not being forced to entertain any longer at the whim of the one who held the flat black rectangular key to their prison — or sat on it, as he had done initially. It puzzled him that none of them attempted to escape — none of them listened to his exhortations, although he supposed he understood, as whatever channeling kept them imprisoned kept them from hearing or seeing him — but surely they wanted their freedom? Yet instead of attempting to flee, or planning escape, they persisted in creating food out of ingredients even a Fae found peculiar, engaging in palace intrigues and debaucheries that were nearly Fae in their complexity and the rhythm of their speech, whispering to cats possessed by demons, and attempting to sell him Medicare supplement plans, whatever those were.

At least the spirit named Gordon Ramsay had taught Maelduin the proper use of a stove, assuming it would ever be safe for him to be around open flame again.

********

And a few links for you —

Rainbow Snippets on Facebook, your home for all kinds of LGBTQIA+ goodies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

UNDERTOW, the latest in the SoulShares series: http://ow.ly/8EEb3050BVX

WOLF, BECOMING, my Russian shapeshifter novella: http://ow.ly/zBGD3050BSf

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Rainbow Snippets, October 1-2, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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October 2, 2016

rainbowbed

Hello, Snippetteers! — sorry to be so late this weekend, but I was off at the Renaissance Festival yesterday, and came home too tired to do anything but make the better acquaintance of my pillow!

I’m afraid I’ve gone to seven sentences again — but once again, I think you’ll understand why when you read the snippet. This scene involves Lasair Faol and Bryce Newhouse, the SoulShares introduced in BLOWING SMOKE; they normally live in Greenwich Village, but they’re currently in Washington, D.C. with the other Fae and humans of Purgatory to help out with a growing problem with the way the Fae Realm and the human world interact. Which is what they’ve been discussing just before this excerpt; the first speaker is Lasair.

********

“You fret too much, sumiúl, over things you cannot help.”

“Only because you gave me the soul that makes me give a damn.” Bryce’s eyes watered, stung.

“Would you give it back, if you could?”

The question was like cold water flung over him; Bryce couldn’t breathe with the shock of it. He’d been stupid enough to try to reject Lasair’s gift, over and over again; he still wanted to curl up and die with the shame of it, when he remembered how one of his rejections had driven his Fae lover to try to flee back to the Realm. There was nothing inevitable about a SoulShare joining, and he’d damn near thrown the other half of his soul away.

********

For any of you who are going to be at Gaylaxicon this coming weekend (October 7-9), please stop by the Queer Sci Fi table in the vendor room and say hello!

********

And a few links, for your continued reading pleasure:

Rainbow Snippets on Facebook, for more LGBTQIA+ goodies — https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

BLOWING SMOKE (SoulShares #5), Lasair and Bryce’s whole story — http://ow.ly/Xava304M0tD

A SUMMER’S DAY — Shakespearean m/m romance anthology, and a benefit for the It Gets Better Project (my short story, “Deeper Than Did Ever Plummet Sound,” kicks it off) — http://ow.ly/M9Kp304M0jw

FLIGHT — Queer Sci Fi’s third annual flash fiction contest, a fundraiser for the Queer Sci Fi blog (my “Life/Flight” leads it off) — http://ow.ly/PDyp304M0mY

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Rainbow Snippets, September 24, 2016 — STONE COLD (SoulShares #8)

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September 24, 2016

Hello, Snippetteers! It’s been a seriously wet wek around here — the suburb just to the north of us got 10 inches of rain in one storm the other night, and I came way too close to finding out if VWs actually float…

All I’m going to say about this week’s Snippet is that it’s a memory sequence from STONE COLD, the WIP, taking place while Terry’s on the bus to his favorite Thai take-out place. And Maelduin’s waiting for him back at his apartment.

********

“Hey. You okay?”

The words washed over Terry without registering. Nothing was registering, really. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten to the sidewalk outside the Duplex, or why he’d come there in the first place. He sat on his hard-shell suitcase, the only one he’d felt like taking the time to pack — maybe Bryce would send the rest of his stuff along to wherever he found to crash, maybe not. He wasn’t even sure what was in the suitcase.

********

And some links for you —

Rainbow Snippets, your home for LGBTQIA+ goodness on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/

ZWISCHEN ZWEI WELTEN, the German-language edition of HARD AS STONE (SoulShares #1), currently on pre-order status, release date November 1 — http://ow.ly/JEGz304wWiy

A SUMMER’S DAY, an anthology of Shakespearean-based stories with an m/m twist, benefitting the It Gets Better Project — http://ow.ly/9FdK304wWai

FLIGHT, a flash fiction anthology, 300-word speculative fiction stories, every flavor of fantasy, science fiction, and other spec fic from all over the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, proceeds to benefit the Queer Sci Fi blog — http://ow.ly/S6XJ304wWcf

Oh, and come see me at the QSF table at Gaylaxicon, the World LGBTQ Fantasy and Science Fiction Convention, October 7-9 in Minneapolis — http://www.gaylaxicon2016.org/

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