Tag Archives: Bridle the Unicorn

Bridle the Unicorn Published!

28 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by in Announcement

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Publication Day!

I always reveal a couple of neat tidbits about the writing of a novel on publication day. I figure that’s better than just saying Whoo-hoo! or something to that effect.

1) Bridle the Unicorn was never meant to be a novel. Though this happens so much to me I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise when characters in a short story start waving their hands and shouting about how they are most definitely not finished. In this case, it was Ari. Roan probably wouldn’t have cared had I stopped his story after chapter one, though I think he’s far happier having it told in its entirety.

2) Bridle the Unicorn takes place in the town of Mattateque. This is the setting for the three short stories, Kiss. Mouth. Red., Aura of Happiness, Aura of Love, and Wish Delivery. It was also the main setting for the trilogy featuring Clay and Jacob: Alley, Grave and Dream.

That being said, only one character (from Wish Delivery) made an appearance in the first draft of Bridle the Unicorn, though I added another small mention of another later.

3) I didn’t know any of the reveals/twists when I started, since it was only going to be a single short story. I had to figure out where I was going by adding details that ended up being clues, both for me and for others.

4) This one is a little more personal. I caught a lovely case of pneumonia and fractured a rib while writing this particular novel. I think I went two months barely writing anything at all. I’ve never had that long of a span where I didn’t write, not since 2008. And then, of course, I finished Murder in Color first since I’d begun to feel guilty that poor Salain had been left in limbo for almost two years.

5) This story has sooo few characters. If you’ve read any of my other novels you’d think I use every letter of the alphabet twice over to start names. This one, not so much. This is mostly because Roan is anti-social by choice and the plot itself is quite narrowly focused on him and Ari most of the time.

So if you prefer more contained, micro-oriented romantic stories over sprawling adventures and/or a dozen suspects in a murder mystery, then Bridle the Unicorn would be more your kind of book.

And like always…

6) My favorite character is Ari Nix. He was a blast to write from Roan’s perspective.

I’ve obviously done some from Ari’s perspective on his Tour, but I seemed to have difficulty catching his personality from the inside since now you (and I) know exactly what he’s thinking and how he gets there. It’s like watching a magician’s tricks from behind where you can see exactly how he does everything. Makes it all less…magical.

Bridle the Unicorn is now on sale at Amazon for 4.99. The novel is also available through Kindle Unlimited. If you have the time, I would greatly appreciate reviews :)

And if you want first crack on my newest novels in return for your honest reviews, please consider signing up for my ARC Team via my newsletter!

Morgan Liu and her Obsession with Fairy Tales (4D)

15 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Serial, Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ari’s Tour
(previous installments)
4A—Ari Nix and How It All Began
4C—Mrs. Jameson and Her African Violets
4B—Jasmine Leit and her Collection of High Heels
The Rooftop Garden and the Terror of Heights

4D—Morgan Liu and her Obsession with Fairy Tales

 

Ari sailed straight through the layers of concrete and insulation and piping and wood. Straight into an apartment lit with a purplish hue from a fish tank sitting against the wall. And he knew this because he found his head in said fish tank, fake seaweed flowing so close to his eye he flinched, just as a brilliantly blue tang darted through his open mouth.

He gagged, though there was nothing at all to actually gag on.

His flinching caused him to spin sideways, his downward plunge halting somewhat as he spilled free from the brightness of the fish tank and into a living room he’d never before set foot within. He caught glimpses of open books, pages upon pages cut, folded. Words, blended ink, while on the left-hand sides chapter headings curled with fantastical fonts. Shadows from the tank lights swam upon the carpet, giving it a rippled effect.

“Oh thank goodness. This must be Morgan’s place.” He took a breath that smelled nothing of fish or mugginess, though he knew quite well that it should have. That scent had escaped down the hall often enough whenever Morgan opened her door. Continue reading →

The Rooftop Garden and the Terror of Heights

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Serial, Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ari’s Tour
(previous installments)
4A—Ari Nix and How It All Began
4C—Mrs. Jameson and Her African Violets
4B—Jasmine Leit and her Collection of High Heels

The Rooftop Garden and the Terror of Heights

Not everyone could be as boring as Jasmine Leit though. Ari hoped at any rate. There was the artist in 2B who never showed Ari his work and then the glamourist in 3C. Maybe they held secrets in their apartments? Or maybe, he just needed to be looking in bedrooms rather than living rooms.

In fact, one bedroom in particular stood out in his mind. A bedroom with a delightfully attractive man in its bed. A delightfully attractive man who ignored and dismissed Ari on a constant basis.

“Never mind. We’ll go see the artist’s secret paintings,” he said to the swaying branches of the bushes as he finally flew free of the oppressive building.

The brightness of the night sky lit up the roof, the moonlight shining off leaves and causing the glass of the nearby wind chimes to glow. He couldn’t hear his music from up here, just the swishing of the occasional cars driving past and the tapping of the larger wooden chimes along the edges of the roof. That breeze likely held a chill, though Ari couldn’t feel it. Couldn’t feel the wind at all in fact.

“Can you imagine being blown away on the wind,” he mused to himself.

He fluttered his fingers just as a bat came dodging through the small trees. Ari followed the creature’s progress, only noticing after the fact that those trees were quickly shrinking in his sight. The outer edge of the rooftop became visible, concrete ledges that wrapped about the deep wooden planter boxes and the paths between them.

“Oh no. Wait, not good.” Continue reading →

Jasmine Leit and her Collection of High Heels (4B)

08 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Serial, Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ari’s Tour
(previous installments)
4A—Ari Nix and How It All Began
4C—Mrs. Jameson and Her African Violets

4B—Jasmine Leit and her Collection of High Heels

Ari’s sickeningly fast spin did not end in the hall. It continued onward, like a ride he couldn’t escape from no matter how many times he insisted the contraption to stop, stop, stop. It was as if he were on some carnival attraction meant to destroy his inner ears and send him puking in the grass afterward. Only, while the world, yes, was a blur of bright light and greyish carpet, his stomach, which technically was lying upon his kitchen floor back in his apartment, seemed to be able to handle the dreadful sensation with ease.

With that revelation, he slowly opened his eyes as he spun, noticing with amusement that both his feet had disappeared within the wall next to the door to 4D. He twisted in the opposite direction of his spin, attempting to roll back the way he’d come. Not to happen, it seemed. Nothing about this would be easy.

He sighed and settled his hands behind his head in acceptance of the inevitable as he glided down the hall at an upward angle that sent him straight into 4B. Jasmine Leit’s apartment. He mused over calling out to her, but decided against it. She didn’t normally complain about the noise from his place, but he’d caught glances from her randomly that spoke louder than any words. And since he could still hear his music playing on, rising and falling with unintelligible words, words he could have sung from heart by now, he didn’t want to push her into a possible confrontation.

She, unlike others in the building, might have the patience of a saint, but Ari didn’t want to see what might happen if that patience snapped. Continue reading →

Mrs. Jameson and her African Violets (4C)

06 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Serial, Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ari’s Tour
(previous installments)
4A—Ari Nix and How It All Began

4C—Mrs. Jameson and Her African Violets

Now this had happened once before when he’d been a child. He remembered the day, or at least those few moments, quite vividly. But at that time his sister had been in the room and she’d almost instantly jumped on him, sending him swooping back into his body. He hadn’t had enough time to truly panic then.

Not so now.

The dark kitchen he sailed through was one he’d seen before, though not for quite a long time. Mrs. Jameson kept her pots and pans in an organized line hanging from the wall and a triplicate of feeding bowls ran parallel upon the floor underneath. And at the furthest feeding bowl was a black and white cat, a skinny thing that jerked as Ari floated above its head.

“Hello, hello,” he said with a wave that sent the cat crouching, her eyes glowing in the frail light sneaking in from behind the blinds in the next room. “Don’t mind me. Is your cat lady up? That wonderful woman who feeds you?”

The cat, predictably, did not answer. Continue reading →

Ari Nix and How It All Began (4A)

01 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Serial, Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

4A—Ari Nix and How It All Began

Tequila had never been Ari’s spirit of choice. In fact, he didn’t have a spirit of choice at all given bad things happen when alcohol was involved and bad things on top of bad luck just didn’t mix. Not like a well-shaken drink.

But on this auspicious evening, at, oh, eight o’clock, after having nicked a bottle from Chase down in 1C, Ari opened up a brand new app and attempted not one, not two, but three separate recipes all involving a cheap, gold liquid that tasted surprising like melancholy and self-pity. Not a bad combination if he was any judge. And then the app crashed. And he broke his tumbler. Leading to a not-very-smart-decision to switch to a shot glass.

With breath tasting of orange juice and a sticky residue clinging to his pale blue shirt, Ari threw himself into the chair by his full-length keyboard and began to stumble through the beginnings of sad melodies he’d memorized in his youth during his angstiest stage. And then, for some dreadful reason, he switched to love songs. The sort of love songs that would leave a lonely man sobbing if he didn’t have a lick of sense not to delve too deeply into emotions best left alone.

And Ari was a little short on sense this evening. Even he could admit that. Continue reading →

May, Briefly

31 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of my personal problems is that I tend to forget anything and everything I’ve accomplished in a given time period, thus leading to the thought I haven’t actually accomplished anything at all. Which, I’ve been informed, is completely wrong.

I’m hoping that listing everything I’ve done each month will help remove this thought-process while giving everyone updates on where I am in differing projects.

May accomplishments:

1) Prepared Pre-order for Bridle the Unicorn

This includes Edits, Blurb, Formatting, ISBN info and Promotional Schedule.

2) Wrote 6 short stories.

I did a question challenge in May where I would ‘answer’ a question given to me in story format in a character’s POV. Wrote:

  •  The Illusion That is Failure (I really liked this one so it got bumped ahead of the story I’d originally finished for June)
  • The Baywater and the Hurricane (Set in the same city as The Cascade and the Firebrand)
  • Just a Typical Day in a Nurse’s Life (Sort of a conglomeration of first and second person that is supposed to be humorous)
  • The Choice in the Inevitable (Ideological World-building for a country that never falls to the Merandin Empire)
  • Tall, Dark & Handsome (Coffee shop romance and only non-fantasy I wrote)
  • First Date Taboo (A confession on a dinner date)

I also have a few more small stories started but not finished, but they have dropped to least priority now that May is over.

3) Prepped Bridle the Unicorn Promo

  • Roan’s Interview
  • Ari’s Interview
  • Ari’s Tour
  • Quotes

4) Prepped Blog Posts

I lost count of how many I prepped this month. All the short stories and poems I finished were edited and prepped as well as anything else I finished having to do with Bridle the Unicorn. This was in anticipation of having a bunch of things ready to go in the coming months so I can concentrate on completing longer projects.

5) Requested Cover Date

For a new houndmaster novella set mostly in Crafton. Tentative release next winter/early spring.

Ari’s Interview (Bridle the Unicorn)

30 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by in Fantasy, M/M, Short Story, Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Ari’s Interview

Copyright © Emmi Lawrence

No one had ever sat in my office who could quite compare to Ari Nix. He had an insatiable, yet conflicting curiosity that did not breed questions. Rather, he just touched and poked at my things, chuckling under his breath at jokes to which only he knew the punch-lines. His nose crinkled constantly, in bemusement, disgust or delight, his emotions on parade across his face with little care over who might see them.

This man did not hide things. At least, he did not hide them well.

By the time I managed to cajole him into settling onto the bench, I had already discussed my last few books—which he lost interest in quickly—my taste in music—which he mocked incessantly—and my fashion sense—where he claimed my clothes needed a few more holes and much less grey. I disagreed silently and with a roll of internal eyes, but as I was enjoying his energy and discussion, I said nothing out loud of my thoughts.

“All right, Ari. Let’s get right to it. Since you’ve already pretty much introduced yourself, how are you feeling today?”

“Uh, good. I guess. At the moment at any rate. That might change.”

“Why might it change?”

He shrugged and rubbed at the frayed edges of the cushion. “Life throws things at me constantly. Luck takes its toll. You never know what might happen.”

“Of course. Luck is an interesting topic—”

“So are a great many things,” he interrupted. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay.” I glanced at my list of questions. “Are you involved with anyone right now?”

Ari did not have the same resistance as I, so when he rolled his eyes, it was a dramatic and very outward sign. “These questions are incredibly boring. Predictable. You need to ask more thought-provoking questions like… If you could know when and how you die, would you want to know?” Continue reading →

Roan’s Interview (Bridle the Unicorn)

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Teaser

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Roan’s Interview

Copyright © Emmi Lawrence

He had a curious, but careful, gaze as he sat on the bench I indicated. His hair, brown with just a hint of a reddish tinge, flowed almost to his shoulders and his eyes were the color of charcoal in the shadows cast by my single lamp. He had a easy smile, but a slight one, that came fast and disappeared just as quickly.

“Thank you for stopping by,” I said. “I only have a couple of questions if you don’t mind sparing a few moments for our readers.”

“Not at all.” That smile again, a flash of light before it faded once more. “It’s my pleasure.”

“Just for the record, your name?”

“Roan Baylor.” Continue reading →

Bridle the Unicorn: Ari’s Tour

23 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by in Announcement

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Plan

Hey everyone! Bridle the Unicorn’s publication date is set for July 28th, but before my novels come out I always like to publish some free promotional pieces to whet your appetite. In this case, I wanted to come up with something that even those of you who have read the story might still enjoy!

Anyone who followed along last year knows there were a number of times I really—really—wanted to write some of the story from Ari’s point of view, but was unable to because of spoiler city in his mind. So! As a way to let me finally play around in his point of view I came up with an idea that intermixes writing in Ari’s mind with an introduction to the apartment building inside which most of the story takes place.

I call it: Ari’s Tour. Continue reading →