Edited Dec. 28, 2014: Barnacle Tide has been removed and is now only an excerpt. The entire Siren Song novella will be available in January 2015.

Barnacle Tide has been published. It’s the fourth installment of Siren Song, a story featuring a M/M pair in a fantasy world. It is about 8500 words long and is preceded by Like Dark Algae, Bright Storm and Run Aground.

Normally I wouldn’t publish something quite so long in one go, but I didn’t want to break up this story any more than I already have. It was actually going to be even longer on the first draft, but I rearranged a few things and kicked a plot point to later on to keep sections less cumbersome.

As to the story itself, I wanted Rikel’s family to have a real part in it ever since I came back to writing more about him. I thought it was a little inevitable given his motivations in the story I published back in February. But more characters means more relationships and that means either more words overall or less words for the MC and love interest to interact. I tried to keep a balance in the overall story so Caarafk still has half a chance at becoming a real person in my readers’ eyes but doesn’t monopolize Rikel’s time too completely (despite monopolizing his thoughts).

Next Sunday, Dec 14th: One Last Song (Siren Song 5) – When the song fades for a final time, there might be nothing left to salvage.

Edited Dec. 28, 2014: Run Aground has been removed and is now only an excerpt. The entire Siren Song novella will be available in January 2015.

Run Aground has been published. It’s the third installment of Siren Song, a story featuring a M/M pair, and is about 6900 words long. Previous stories are Like Dark Algae and Bright Storm.

This piece is far more erotic than the last, mostly out of necessity, though I had to be careful. Part of the problem with writing this story was the issue of consent because of the naturally occurring ability I gave the sirens that incites uncontrollable lust. To even out the issue, instead of making the siren in the story unaware or uncaring about the problem, I made him a victim as well as someone who can’t stop the way his voice affects Rikel.

And that’s about all I want to say because this part is really the middle of the story.

Next Sunday, Dec 7th: Barnacle Tide (Siren Song 4) – Temptation is never far away, sticking like barnacles to his mind and body.

Edited Dec. 28, 2014: Bright Storm has been removed and is now only an excerpt. The entire Siren Song novella will be available in January 2015.

Bright Storm has been published. It is 6800 words, featuring a M/M pair and is the second in the Siren Song stories.

Back in March I published Like Dark Algae, a story about a man heading into siren territory and subsequently becoming enamored by one of them. It’s been a standalone for that long. A few months ago, probably because I was thinking about the syrens in Dark Phoenix, I came up with a continuing storyline for the characters in Like Dark Algae.

Bright Storm is thus the second piece of Rikel’s story. It mostly deals with the aftermath of the events in Like Dark Algae. Of course, because I had never intended on continuing the story, I hadn’t done anything excessive in the matter of world building, so I had to rectify that when I began working on the subsequent parts. I will probably end up folding some of those details into Like Dark Algae when I gather all the pieces of Siren Song together.

Next Sunday, Nov. 30: Run Aground (Siren Song 3) – There’s always something left to lose.

Sun Kissed has been published. It is a 7400 word short story that is more science fantasy rather than sitting firmly on one side or the other of those genres.

As to the pair featured in this (sweet) romance, the sex of the MC is ambiguous, but the love interest is considered male. I left the story with the ambiguous MC on purpose, though I hadn’t intended on making it that way when I started writing. On my first read-through (I cycle so this occurred when the story was about half-finished) I realized I didn’t have a single instance where I gave any indication of sex. Not a single one. Even the MC’s name–Jari–was a sexless one and stemmed from the unisex name Jerry.

It wasn’t on purpose, but it got me thinking about a situation in a workshop I attended a few years ago…

Continue reading →

Edited Nov. 25, 2014: Violet Flames has been removed and is now only an excerpt. To read the entire Dark Phoenix novella, you can go to the Books page for retailer links.

The story Violet Flames (Dark Phoenix 5) has been published. It is the 5200 word conclusion to the Dark Phoenix series. Previous stories are Phoenix Fire, Heated Invasion, Searing Betrayal and Gentle Burn.

Just like last week, I can’t say much about this story. What I can tell you was Violet Flames was easier to write than the previous two stories. My assumption on that is that when the end is near, words come faster. It’s a proven fact.

When I first started putting up short stories on my site back in February, I always intended on my long-term plan being to eventually have enough to group them together and publish them independently. Dark Phoenix has the distinction of being the first to undergo this change.

All five stories will remain on my site until Nov. 25th. On that day, I will be removing the complete stories, leaving excerpts up only. I will then be putting them together into a novella and republishing it on distributor platforms for $2.99 a few days later. I wanted to give a heads up so anyone who wants to read the stories for free can do so before they’re pulled.

Just to be clear, Dark Phoenix, when published, will have no new material added. The story will remain practically untouched with the exception of having another couple of rounds of editing done to it.

Next Sunday, Nov. 16: Sun Kissed – So bright it’s hard to stare at him. So shy it’s hard to speak with him. So kind it’s hard to forget him.