Tag Archives: Fiction

Tall, Dark & Handsome

03 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by in Contemporary, M/M, Short Story

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Every coffee shop needs three things: black coffee, free Wi-Fi and a hot barista. The trifecta for all our caffeine-addicted, lust-driven and connectivity issues.

Perfection is not easy to find.

That place off Mackle Street has spotty internet. The cafe down on the corner of Humble Way and 4th has burnt coffee and a stream of loud teens. The place a street off of that—Cloud Coffee and Tea—is so quiet you’ll know every bit of drama between the two baristas before an hour is out.

The discovery of the century is this narrow cafe called Tall, Dark & Handsome—or TDH to us regulars. The windows have navy blue, yet sheer, curtains that both let in the light but stop nosy window gazers from seeing computer screens. The hum of activity, while just a murmur, is enough to give a sense of cover. The tables are small but rounded, hard wood yet curved comfortably, obviously meant to entice a person to sit for long lengths of time because they don’t numb backsides or leave lines of pain behind the knees.

Small shelves, each filled with a spattering of books, are scattered throughout, some of the tables having them built into their single center legs. The unwritten rule is you take one, you leave another. One kind, though likely anal, older gentleman has taken it upon himself to keep those shelves sorted. There’s a fantasy and sci-fi table, another with romance and paranormals and two more with dramas and thrillers. The non-fiction fills the largest shelves by the bakery window.

The coffee beans are ground by hand in-house, the occasional humming of that pestle no where near as ear-splittingly painful as the machines in other places. The baristas make hot cocoa from scratch as well, their pots of melted chocolate and warm milk a constant aphrodisiac.

They wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for the lean specimen of male beauty always standing behind that stove. He wears no name tag, though his apron is as black as his hair and his coffee-flavored eyes are as hypnotizing as the real thing. His smiles are brief, his attention briefer. His hands move deftly in their work, skills that likely translate well into the bedroom. His book bag is filled with computer and textbooks when he leaves at noon and the occasional overheard conversation puts him in law school.

A man like that is sure to be attached. His ability to be an ardent lover a byproduct of all that unwavering focus and intense ambition. How he must feel, hot and willing, sweet and strong, moving over his partners… Continue reading →

August ’17, Briefly

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Updates

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Considering I knew August would be a low-output month, I’m pretty pleased with what I was still able to accomplish. Libraries with Mine-craft to eat into children’s brain cells are the best.

1) Worked on Steampunk Novelette

Still unnamed, but here’s crossing my fingers I can get it finished by the end of next month despite everything else I have to do.

2) Houndmaster WIPs

I have words completed in two more novels. Wrote about 12k total between them, some fleshing out of outlines. My hope is to spend a good chunk of 2018 finishing up this monster of a trilogy that terrifies me.

3) Pup Games (A Houndmaster Novel)

Another 20k done. Did edits on what I’d completed sometimes when the library was loud. Also created the base rules for a game in the story since I’d only had the bare bones before.

As a side note, the name on the room is literally “Quiet Study Room” and yet there are people who insist on having full-on phone conversations in there, loud enough I can hear the people on the other end. People who come in, claim a table and chat. People who bring in small children despite the library having a huge, and pretty good, kid’s section–I should know since mine were over there. One day there was even a woman in there tutoring an elementary-aged kid in math. I passed not one, not two, but THREE empty tables outside the quiet room in the main part of the library that day. I just don’t get it. Is there something difficult about the definition of quiet? This was torturous some days when I was desperately trying to get work done.

4) I also beta-read a novel for a close friend, set up some promo, a few read-through edits, worked on a relaunch idea, wrote a few poems, and (this last isn’t technically writing related, but still managed to eat into a lot of my time) prepared for back-to-school.

Footsteps echoed on that path

20 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by in Poem

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Footsteps echoed on that path
and strident voices screamed,
yet when I crossed beneath the eaves
not all was as it seemed.

For empty was the entrance
and the corridor beyond.
All that moved within that gloom
were opinions right or wrong.

They flew on wings of torrid air
and cried their thoughts aloft,
a cacophony of scorching sound
and winners missing oft.

I listened to the arguments
debates in endless rounds
circling within that hall
no solutions in those sounds.

Temptation grew within my breast
to join the deafening heights
becoming one with all that air,
a soldier for those fights.

Then came a tread upon the walk,
another just like me
coming to investigate
that loud cacophony.

She stood within the doorway
looking up within that gloom,
then glanced at me with little care
before she left the room.

I followed in explicit wonder
that the shouts she did not feed
and found her kneeling in the garden
tearing out the weeds.

For what is better, I don’t know,
but I did know which I liked
for the noisy heated air inside
did not change the real fight.

Lines to Read By (July)

13 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by in Teaser

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Here are some of my favorite lines I posted in July. Most from Pup Games, though some are from tangents I’ve placed in an Unused File that probably won’t end up in the final version.

 

Continue reading →

The Choice in the Inevitable

06 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by in Fantasy, M/M, Mini

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Fate & Destiny

In the province of Scuvorya there exists a prevailing belief in both fate and destiny. A strong enough belief that two of their most revered gods are the Dual Lovers of the Pre-Ordained. When texts were translated and the tenants of Scuvoryan ideology were introduced to the provinces that would one day make up the northern counties of the Merandin Empire, the Lovers were turned into a male/female pair, their names altered to ones more acceptable to older Meranish sensibilities.

However, the original Scuvoryan texts indicate the gods of the pre-ordained, Ahcton and Dvid, were sons of two warring goddesses—Vlerica and Lialornca. Continue reading →

July ’17, Briefly

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

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This past month I didn’t keep as good of records of my hours spent working unfortunately, partly due to the fact my computer decided to die on me. Hard drive seemed fine and backups had already been made so all my work was completely good. I’ve learned that lesson already. However, I was bumming computer time for a couple of weeks. I’m actually typing this up on a brand new computer that finally came in yesterday :)

1) Bridle the Unicorn Published

Still need to finish up my New Release Alert newsletter and send that out by the end of the week. Given how a few distributor platforms work and a couple other experiences with unavailable links at first publication, I decided giving a habitual week leeway after publication for the newsletter would be beneficial for certain publications in the future.

2) Outlined and Began a Novelette

This WIP I started because I didn’t have my main files with me at the time, but there’s always a notebook. It’s steampunky/metalpunky, with a sports feature.

3)  Worked on Pup Games (A Houndmaster Novel)

Yes, you read that right; Pup Games has officially become a novel :) Still due out early ’18.

Here’s another teaser from chapter one that introduces La’vii’s pack.

~ ~ ~

I crouched and wrapped an arm around Sed, her light brown coat long enough it’d been picking up debris all day from her time in and out of the soggy edges of the marsh. The rest of my pack–Ris, Mit and Aim–still sniffed around the bushes, searching for a recent trail. They sent flashes through our collective consciousness, reminding me the hares were more numerous further in, away from the salt and tang of the marsh.

“I know,” I said as I pressed my cheek against Sed’s dirty coat. “We have to check everywhere though, you know that.”

Then they sent me images of Co’mil from the night he’d bested El’mik. As if I needed their help to remind myself how he’d looked. Like a dog blessed by the ancestral bitch herself, his hair holding the tiniest hint of red as it curled in an unruly mop on his head, his eyes a piercing gray I wouldn’t have minded staring into as he’d thrown me to the sand.

~ ~ ~

Bridle the Unicorn Published!

28 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by in Announcement

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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!

Each note, rising, falling, out of tune

16 Sunday Jul 2017

Posted by in Poem

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Each note, rising, falling, out of tune

underneath the brightening moon

Those words, joyful, fading, as sleep comes

that wakeful fight that can’t be won

 

Each breath, sighing, trying, to stay strong

yet quickly slipping far beyond

Moonbeams, softly, sweetly, touch her head

and into dreams she falls instead

© EMMI LAWRENCE (4.25.2017)

Lines to Read By (June)

09 Sunday Jul 2017

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Hello All! These are just a few of my favorite lines that I shared in June. Most are from Pup Games, some are from other WIPS. Of course, a number have been altered already, or were cut from larger lines so they might not appear the same in their story :)

 

Continue reading →

June ’17, Briefly

30 Friday Jun 2017

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June accomplishments:

1) Created Newsletter

It finally happened. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long while, but I admit to being technologically challenged so it took me time to figure out how to create one.

However, it’s here now!

And since I don’t plan on waxing on about myself in a newsletter, I’ve set it up so anyone who subscribes will have the option to choose whether they’ll receive New Release Alerts, Sales & Promo opportunities and/or join my ARC Team.

I would love it if you joined my ARC Team so please consider helping me out!

2) Wrote in Pup Games (A Houndmaster Novella)

This has been what I spent the bulk of the month on. I started this story two years ago, back when I was knee-deep in that A-Z challenge for The Wilds Duology and came back to it in June because I wanted to publish a completed houndmaster story. Pup Games was actually almost done this month until I decided I wanted to add, oh, two more chapters or so to flesh out a section I’d originally been going to gloss over.

It’s a story about La’vii, a young houndmaster hailing from the marshes to the east of the city of Crafton. Special appearances by an annoying brother, Cha’ree (Ni’vaa’s sister), and puppies!

Here’s the first paragraph:

The first time I saw Co’mil he’d been schooling my brother on the sands of a doghouse. He won that fight with only three dogs, one of whom had been gravely pregnant and had mostly just stood growling on the sidelines. My brother, a good seven years older than me with a pack of nine, had been left embarrassed, bloody and bitter in the center of the sands. I’d been left hard and gaping, my gaze locked on Co’mil’s wry expression as he shared a loving, celebratory kiss with one of his dogs.

In early 2018, you’ll be able to follow La’vii’s journey as one of his dogs gives birth in close proximity to his puphood crush and watch as his youthful adoration dissolves into something different.

3) Ari’s Tour

As you can see, I’m falling down a bit on this challenge. I have to delete a whole section because I decided I hate it and deleting whole pieces like that always sparks the desire to write in something entirely different. Which is why Pup Games is almost finished.

More words to write. Will update you again in July :)