Striker Update

I just realized that I hadn't posted the tentative date for Striker's release. >.<  I apologize. I received the first round of edits at the same time and jumped right into them. I came across a couple of comments from the editor last night that just tickled me pink. I wanted to post one and realized I hadn't posted anything on Striker for a while.

June 4th is the tentative date given to me. Yay!

I've looked at this short except trying to think if it gave away any spoilers. I don't think that it does but if you don't want to chance it then hurry, close your eyes and quickly close the browser window!

The very kind comment the editor left was simply: "What an awesome moment. Gave me goosebumps!!"

When I'm writing, it is hard to tell if a reader will read what I wrote and feel what I do. I can only hope to be articulate enough to convey what I see and hear in my head when I put pen to paper.

Note: I will admit that I cut a little from the excerpt so I didn't disclose their whereabouts or to whom Zeus spoke with at the end of the excerpt. ^_^ Removing the possible spoilers and all that. 

Enjoy!!


Excerpt

Before he could formally greet Athena she talked over him. "How do you expect me to go when you stay? When mother and father separated us, I did my duty. I went with father and in doing so, I lost all of my family. The cost is too high."

"Athena."

"No, Zeus, I will not leave you again."

"I will be fine."

"No! Do you think I did not hear when you told Hadon that staying could mean death? I know what is coming. You will send nearly every last warrior to protect us and keep a handful for yourself. You cannot fight such odds alone!"

"The people need you to lead them." He held Athena's shimmering gaze. "I will do my very best to make it out of this situation alive but you must do your duty, again, just as I must mine." He could see her warring with several different emotions, her face so easy for him to read.

The Fal'Amorics incapable of making the journey on foot began to file into the bay. The weakest among them were assisted down the ramp to the waiting shuttle. The sight was a reminder to Athena that Zeus stayed to make sure the infirm were able to escape.

"I will lead the people to safety as you say. But if you do not hurry, I will return with an army," she warned.

She quickly kissed his cheek and left to help a limping male shuffle down the ramp. Zeus grinned after her, scooping up two toddling younglings, and followed. They loaded as many people as they could onto the shuttle. Several ignored the safety protocols by sitting in the aisles, cradling the young.

Standing at a safe distance, Zeus watched the shuttle lift straight off the ground, rotating as it rose. Once the vessel reached a good altitude it sped away. The sound of the engines left behind an echo even after the ship disappeared.

His gaze roamed over the cliffs behind the Oethra 7. Gaex was correct when he said he set down close to the sheer rock wall. There was maybe two meters between the ship and the vertical rock face. A path of packed dirt instead of paving stones led to the pass.

If he remembered his studies correctly, all the land this side of the wall belonged to Athena's people. Zeus took in the flat plain with grass tall enough to brush his knees, topped with pink fluffy puffs. Not far away, maybe half a kilometer, the jungle began. The noise of insects, chirping and buzzing, proclaimed the area full of unseen life. To the left, the blue-green swells of the sea caressed yellow sand.

The guards said nothing when he moved toward the water. The smell of salt and kelp reminded him of home. The moisture in the air caressed his exposed skin and all he wanted to do was toss away his clothes and run naked into the surf and swim. Even though he could not frolic like a youngling, the water beckoned to him.

Standing on the edge, the sea almost touched his boots before withdrawing, only to return as if reaching out. Zeus crouched to sit on his heels, mesmerized, unable to look away as the water withdrew then stretched toward him and—he touched the edge of the water. All else fell away, time slowed and then came to a halt.

"Say my name."

He could see each diamond burst of sunlight reflected off the water, every rounded foam bubble, how clear the water was around his submerged fingers.

"If I am to die here today, I will not bring another to share death with me. Already too many will stay," he whispered.

"Say my name."

"Brother, I would spare you—please."

"Say. My. Name."

If he could save another life, he would. He could not call upon someone now, not when he had no hope of seeing the sun rise tomorrow.

"I have enough hope for the both of us. Trust me. Now, call my name."

Why Are My Feet In My Mouth? - Banned Subjects

I deleted a Facebook post today. I try to make sure my Facebook wall is clean of politics and religion. I think I'm adding 'fandoms' to the list.

You see, I typed up this rant over Hollywood's choice for Wonder Woman. I snarked on the body type not fitting my idea of my childhood hero when I could have simply said I didn't think she was a good fit. Someone I respected called me to the carpet and pointed out that what I said was terrible and made me look cold.

They had a point and I deleted my post. It had only been up a half an hour but that was a half an hour too long.

The irony in this was I always thought of Wonder Woman as the normal woman representation and was excited that maybe my nieces would have a super hero with a body type that they could identify with.

The roll of Wonder Woman is not about body type. Anybody should be able to play Wonder Woman because her body isn't what makes her a hero.

Open mouth and insert both feet, please and thank you.

As embarrassing as it was, I needed that knock on the head.

So the lesson(s) of the day. Be aware of my words. How I say something, has an impact. Being upset, indignant, {insert emotion} is no excuse for bad behavior. When I catch myself focusing on the shell of something and not the heart, stop. Step back and take a look at my feet. Are one or both of them in my mouth?

Guest Post By LM Brown: Why Authors Are Like Magpies

 

Why Authors are like Magpies

 

I suppose it must seem a little strange to compare authors to a breed of bird, but please bear with me whilst I explain.  

Magpies, as I am sure you will know, are rather distinctive birds who are quite taken with shiny things, often stealing them for their own.  I recall as a child losing one half of a set of earrings that I had carelessly left on the ground whilst I was enjoying the summer sun.  The bird, with no regard at all for me and my friends, swooped down and took off with the little silver bauble and it was never seen again.   

There is far more to the magpies than you might at first realise, as I found out while looking them up for this blog post.  They are actually very intelligent creatures and are one of the few to be able to recognise themselves in the mirror.  They engage in elaborate social rituals and some studies even indicate that they are capable of expressing grief.   

However, they are most famous for stealing things for themselves.  

Now, I am not calling authors thieves, but we are easily distracted by new shiny things that come across our paths.  We’ve all been there.  You hit Google to go research some vitally important detail for your latest story and before you know it a new shiny has appeared before your eyes and you are off on some tangent, gathering together your new idea, often completely forgetting what you came online for in the first place.  

Facebook is probably my worst hangout for losing track of time when I should be doing something more productive, but it is also a place where you can find a lot of inspiration when you are starting a new project.  Unlike Twitter, where you usually have to click a link to see a picture that has been shared, on Facebook it is right there in front of you (depending on whether Facebook is sharing things properly of course).  

A picture may say a thousand words, but a good inspirational one can generate ten or even a hundred times as many words when a writer sees it.  

My latest novel however, is not one that was inspired by a picture, but by a UFO sighting of my own. 

Now, before you all start pointing and laughing at the crazy author who thinks she has seen aliens, let me remind you that UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object, which is exactly what I saw. To this day I still have no idea what it was.  

What I saw was the commonly seen formations of orange lights travelling across the sky one night.  The popular belief about these is that they are Chinese lanterns, but I disagree. They were in perfect formation and remained so the entire time they stayed in my line of sight. They also travelled far too quickly to be such things and speed was constant.  Having seen Chinese lanterns on numerous occasions, I like to think I know the difference.  

They could have been aircraft, though something about them made me doubt that was the case.  If they were aircraft, they weren’t the usual ones, which I could actually see in the sky at the same time and looked completely different.  My doubt was only tiny, since I am usually quite sensible, but since me and my family are firm believers in the paranormal and I have certainly seen some strange stuff myself over the years, the doubt was enough to spawn a story about a young man who sees a spacecraft coming into land, without realising the love of his life is on board and that his own life is about to change forever.  

 

My Boyfriend’s an Alien by L.M. Brown

Blurb

Zak, an alien from the planet Trimmeron, is a member of a race of beings who transform into other species during their years of puberty. It’s customary for the youngsters to be fostered to the worlds native to their new forms, to study and learn about the races who will play an important part in their lives.

When Zak turns into a human, it comes as a surprise to everyone, for only one other before him has ever done so. Nevertheless he is sent to Earth, a world he views as primitive and barbaric. He arrives with a chip on his shoulder and attitude to spare. He does not believe that anyone on Earth could have anything to teach him.

When Zak meets college student Sam he soon discovers he has a lot to learn, not only about humans, but also about himself.

Trapped on an unfamiliar world and in a strange body that seems to have a mind of its own, Zak has no idea what is happening to him—only that Sam seems to be the key to the strange afflictions he is suffering from.

But can an alien find love with a human being?

 

Excerpt

 

The lights were already down when they made their way to a pair of seats near the back of the room. Sam sat down first and Zak took the seat near the aisle.  

“You’ll really enjoy this,” Sam whispered as the big screen in front of them played a commercial for some kind of vehicle.  

Zak whispered back to Sam that he was sure he would. 

As the film played on the screen, Zak began to feel rather strange. There was something happening down there and it was totally out of his control. He shifted in his seat and tried to change his position so it wasn’t as obvious. 

Sam laughed at something happening up on the big screen in front of them. The sound sent a zing right through Zak’s body, culminating in an uncomfortable tightening of his jeans. This had been happening to him quite a lot recently, but not to this extent.  

Zak tried to concentrate on the movie, but it wasn’t holding his attention as it had before. His awareness of Sam heightened with every minute.  

“Are you okay?” Sam whispered.  

Zak groaned as Sam’s warm breath against his ear added to the problem down below. 

“Fine,” Zak hissed. 

Sam took him at his word and dipped his hand into the big tub of popcorn. At the touch of Sam’s fingers brushing against his own, hidden in the confectionary, Zak sank even lower into his seat as he tried to figure out what was happening to him. 

Sam put a handful of popcorn into his mouth and started to chew. When Sam placed a hand on Zak’s thigh the pain in his groin became unbearable and he shot up from his seat. “I’ve got to go,” he said, causing several other people in the cinema to shush at him. 

He didn’t wait for Sam to reply. He grabbed his jacket and bolted for the exit.

 

Buy Links

Available from Totally Bound

https://www.totallybound.com/my-boyfriends-an-alien 

Or, if you can wait a couple of days, it will also be available at Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, Barnes & Noble and other online stores from 24^th January 2014.  

 

Bio 

L.M. Brown lives in England, in a quaint little village that time doesn't seem to have touched. No, wait a minute—that's the retirement biography. Right now she is in England in a medium sized town that no one has ever heard of, so she won't bore you with the details. Keeping her company are numerous sexy men. She just wishes that they weren't all inside her head. 

L.M. Brown loves hearing from readers so don't be shy. 

 

Links 

Where to find L.M. Brown

Website & Blog – http://lmbrownauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/L.M.Brown.author

Twitter - @LMBrownAuthor

William Cooper: Cabin Boys Blog Tour

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Movie Review: Capitol Games

Over the holidays I bought several movies I'd never seen before--which if you know me, it's really not that unusual anymore because I just don't watch much TV the last several years. I used to be a huge movie goer but found I prefer reading to watching, but there are times when I want to just be... you know?

One of the movies I bought was Capital Games. When I first started dipping my toe in the gay romance pool I naturally went to my local library. Surprisingly they had a great selection. My first authors were T.A. Chase, Jordan Castillo Price, Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban, J.L. Langley, Alley Blue, and G.A. Hauser. Have I said yet how awesome my library is?

These discoveries through the library helped immensely because then I could go to Amazon and know who to ask for in the search field. I seriously love the "people who bought this also bought" suggestions, allowing me to gorge myself on back list, try new authors, and branch out.

Capital Games was one of my first M/M reads and admittedly the only book in which I remotely liked Mark Richfield. But I'll get to that in a minute. On Amazon this had high reviews and I was curious how the movie compared with the book. I think it stayed pretty close to the book, and watching it I remembered some of my reactions when I first read the story.

I liked Steve Miller in the book. An ex-cop who I imagined as blond, muscular, and broad through the shoulders. Initially I liked Mark as well with his refinement. I had forgotten he had an accent. How did the actors fit my metal image? Meh.

Word of advice. Don't use the cover of the movie because I thought the guy playing Mark (the one on the left) was actor, John Glover. And my first thought was, "Nooooo, he's too old." No worries it wasn't him.

The actor is Gregor Crosgrove. Who in the movie was more attractive than I thought he would be, with great eyes. In the book the reason Mark's family accused him of being gay was because he appeared effeminate which was never mentioned in the movie, appropriately so. Gregor was pretty but he was almost more buff than Eric Presnall, who played Steve Miller.

There were distinct moments when Gregor, with the British accent, when he reminded me of the actor in The Princess Bride. I kept squinting wondering if... and then I'd say no... because really Gregor was much too young unless he was the child of or cousin... The resemblance and the tone was uncanny.

Moving on, so I was watching the movie, remembering the different thoughts the characters were having and wondering if the dialogue in the book was that simple and un-engaging. I didn't remember THAT much from a book I read four + years ago so I shrugged it off, sort of vegging as I watched until it came to the their first kiss. Steve and Mark are lost in the desert at night, fighting and pushing, and then they kiss.

Seriously, the on screen kiss was pretty good... until... (I'm already laughing) the mutual hand job. You see their feet with their jeans and undies around their ankles, feet kicking a little bit, and then a shot of their faces. They are laying on their backs, shoulder to shoulder, rubbing each other off, although you can't see it. I had exact same thought when I read the book.

Sand in the ass crack hurts.

I think it every time when I see pictures of model covered in sand. I don't find it sexy. I can only cringe. That was exactly what happened as I watched. But that first kiss was really great.

The next morning, the lost duo get rescued. Mark turns cold and Steve leaves the company trip to go home. One thing I never realized was how stalkerish Steve was. We get to meet Adam, I liked movie Adam, but still it was sort of creepy to see Steve act that way when Mark avoided him. I had forgotten Steve really wasn't shy about having sexual and emotional feelings for Mark. He was aggressive. This new occurrence in this life he wanted to explore with Mark and Mark couldn't get away fast enough and then other times he gave in. Always the frustrating back and forth. But then again, Steve was always pursuing Mark in the office where they could get caught. The HR side of me had a field day marking up violations my company would have pinned them with if they had been caught.

Mark's fiancé, my only comment was my husband said he couldn't stand her and cringed at her voice. It seemed high pitched and when she raised her voice to yell...

Steve strong-arms Mark to work with him. While at Steve's house, Mark goes through Steve's closet. When I read that I thought, how rude. Do guys go through each other's stuff without permission? I had the same thought watching and then it came to Steve's old uniform... when Mark confronted Steve with it, I made my own porno music sounds.

Hot scene alert...

I had forgotten Mark's fettish with police uniforms. Seriously, it was a smokin' scene that made me gulp, several times.

And then we skipped to the next morning, the guys were naked in bed, and as Steve walked in the bathroom he looked at Mark rolling around on the bed. We get a hiney shot and then a full frontal. In my opinion, neither was necessary and the music was like ta-da and Cut!

Mark waxed and waned, which was almost as bad as reading the back forth. Steve became sulky but ended up crashing a wedding. I think what bugged me the most about the book was Mark would willingly get married and have a horrible life, all to prove others wrong. He made terrible decisions because he couldn't stand up for himself. He didn't adjust his course when he figured out his decisions were wrong. And he was willing to take other people down with him.

Overall the movie was okay. I'm not a fan of the sound track which was either awkward or jolting. The last couple of minutes was completely unnecessary. Just the guys riding around in the car after Steve crashes the wedding. It could have stopped when they walked  hand in hand out of the church doors. They could have given us another one of those amazing kisses, or a couple of lines with declarations of love and devotion, but instead they went cruising which added no content to the movie.

Those are my thoughts on the book/movie of Capital Games. I know a lot of time and hard work went into scripting and shooting the movie. I ended up really enjoying the actors as they replaced the mental images I had already cultivated.

I hope you guys have a great weekend. I have a couple of other movies to watch and hopefully a couple of movie reviews to follow.

Between writing, of course.