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Emmi Lawrence

~ MM Fantasy Romance Writer

Emmi  Lawrence

Tag Archives: Short Fiction

Canvas Blues – LII: Yesteryears

20 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, Flash, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, prose, reading, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

LII: Yesteryears

The races grew dull that summer, at least in Brendon’s eyes. Same roaring engines. Same pisswater beers. Same booming music. He spent the time drawing cars, peeking in at engines Casey could identify by sound alone.

They would linger far into the warm nights, creeping through tall grass, scratching at mosquito bites for days and days after. Casey got to sit in Taylor L.’s car—black leather seat sticking to the underside of his knees—and press that pedal like he owned it, blowing smoke and cooking oil like butter in a pan, but sweeter. Least that’s how Casey described it, all tingling from the tips of his fingers to the bottom of his soles.

Taylor L. would nudge and chuckle and sit a little too close, always with that swagger that made him seem like a God with a capital. Magnanimous and easy with his blessings, though Brendon always got the impression that Taylor L. would have been just as happy to forget Brendon existed, especially when he spoke in a foreign language—spouting torque and horsepower while Brendon’s pencil focused on the glint of light off the studded belt one of the other boys wore.

“Dad’s gone, for the whole week. Heading out west—Tennessee to see family and a doctor out there for a second opinion.” Casey threw up a hand and waved in the general direction of west, which also happened to be upstreet, road coursing off, gravel offshoots spitting out like branches from a trunk.

“So you’re staying with your mom?”

“Nah. Becks is still mad at me. Says I wasn’t empathetic enough to her situation.” Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – LI: Yesteryears

13 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, prose, reading, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

LI: Yesteryears

The summer before high school sped past at a sprint, his mom and Aunt Laurel still gushing about the painting Brendon had at The Bayscape to anyone who would listen. He started ducking his head whenever he heard his name fall off their lips and picked up the habit of throwing something up to cover his face whenever the camera turned his way: a hand, a hood, his sketchbook.

“He’s my quiet one,” his mom would tell people. “The only one of the bunch. Buy him a stack of sketchbooks at Christmas and you won’t see him till Easter and only then to ask for another stack.”

Fair’s fair, he reasoned, though he’d still duck his head and scribble cross-hatches faster.

Donna Pierceman rang him up mid-summer. July 17th. Hot and humid, skin smelling like his mom’s lotion because the unscented had run out. He’d been curled on the cushioned bench on the porch, drinking sugar with ice tea in it and playing on Robbie’s tablet when his mom came out with the phone.

“Ms. Pierceman’s called for you.”

“Who’s that?” asked Robbie as Brendon sat up and reached for the phone.

He made a hushing noise and cleared his throat, scarcely noticing his mom still lingering in the doorway, holding open the screen in the way she’d have yelled at him for.

“Ms. Pierceman, this is Brendon.” Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – L: Present

06 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, Love, M/M, microfiction, Mystery, Novel, prose, reading, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

L: Present

That night, Brendon spent an hour peeling his bedroom walls. Photos and pictures and sketches going in piles in the living room and kitchen. Every single piece of art torn down, until the barrenness became oppressive, the blankness like a canvas daring him to start.

Then he opened the hall closet and flicked through history: Robbie perched on a fence post near the bay, Aunt Laurel in her flowing skirts at her wedding, Mom in the kitchen, flour on her apron and pecan bread dough being beaten within an inch of its life. In the far back, sticking to the old paint on the wall it’d been hidden for so long, Casey grinned, his head thrown back, his hair a wild, wild mess, and the straightaway outside St. Thomas’s soaring into the distance behind him.

Brendon pulled the painting out and held it in two hands, his vision going double, seeing into the past. He’d used pale ivories and peachy tones to capture Casey’s body. Dressed him in a tank and greased him with summer sweat. Like the way he’d look after they’d parked in the field in the growing development, hot hands against one another. Skin sticky, as if the humidity conspired to glue them together in the back seat of Casey’s car.

Their world had been tight and narrow and Casey never had seen the side streets. Brendon hadn’t either, too focused on the car in front of him, uncaring where it might be heading.

He hung Casey’s portrait in his bedroom, a singular point in the barrenness.

“If it’s true,” he whispered to Casey. Continue reading →

New Release: Rise of the Snowmen!

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Publication

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adventure fantasy, Author's Notes, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Novel, prose, Publication, reading, Romance, Series, Short Fiction, Writing

RISE OF THE SNOWMEN
A Deadly Holidays Novel

Dec 15th 2020
(gay romance/fantasy adventure)
55k words
Amazon Link

As is my tradition, here are a few interesting tidbits about working on this novel!

1) This novel was supposed to be a novella. (Angry writer face!) It was supposed to be only around 37k in order to match up with Those Bloody Christmas Elves. But, as you can see, this novel decided it was not satisfied with 37k words. Which, honestly, I’m still not sure why. WHY?!

So there I am, telling everyone I’m working on a novella and they kept saying: “Still?? How long is this novella??”

Me: *mumble, mumble* “almost 55k” *mumble*

2) The character of Mandy was originally modeled after the children collectively in my daughter’s kindergarten class because that’s how old she was when I was writing Those Bloody Christmas Elves. My intention was to age her one year each year so I had a clear research path to knowing exactly how children that age would act.

Whelp, that didn’t work, because here we are nearly three years later and Mandy has only grown one year in that time. If I keep this up, by the time I publish Christmas is Cancelled, my daughter will be in college or something.

3) Like Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, I wrote this novel in two parts, broken up by a few years. If you can guess exactly where I stopped and then restarted, I’ll give you fake internet points as a reward :) (Hint: I don’t write linearly XD)

4) Perie Wolford, who did the cover for Those Bloody Christmas Elves, has also done the cover for Rise of the Snowmen. He’s absolutely amazing! And I adore how he managed to capture all the different tonal elements of the stories–the actual danger/adventure; the ridiculous Christmas elements that are still portrayed in a serious manner throughout; the characters themselves.

5) I always choose a different notebook for each project. With certain connected stories, that notebook carries through to each of the stories. For my Christmas series with Greg and Taylor I have this floppy, teal notebook that has gold balls across it. I originally chose it because it was greenish and reminded me of ornaments.

It now has the completed outline for Christmas is Cancelled in it, which may or may not be longer than Rise of the Snowmen, given it’s got a planned 17 sections/chapters.

Also, it’s really, really hard to write about snow when it’s summer.

I hope you give Rise of the Snowmen a chance this holiday season! It’s a bit dark; it’s a bit dangerous; but there’s still holiday spirit and Christmas presents and a lovely romance that just keeps figuring itself out!

~Emmi

Rise of the Snowmen Deleted Scene

12 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Excerpt, Teaser

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adventure fantasy, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, Flash, gay romance, LGBT, Love, M/M, Novel, prose, reading, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

As a fun extra for the upcoming publication of Rise of the Snowmen, I’ve decided to post a deleted scene from the novel, a piece that takes place early on from Greg’s perspective.

But first, a bit of background!

Why does the scene switch tenses?

Because I cut this scene, this piece is still in first draft form. What this means is that the words here show the thought process that goes from outline drafting within present tense to dropping into past tense as I picked up the narrative during that writing session.

Had this scene been within the final draft, I would have edited the first half into past tense, removed the repetition, and smoothed out the barrage of telling words, leaning the story to a more limited POV vs. the omniscient narrator (me!) who was talking.

What’s wrong with the scene? Why cut it?

This scene ended up being cut for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wrote the other side of this scene from Taylor’s perspective and I decided that his side was more powerful and necessary to show because of their character arcs. He’s the one who gets to make a choice during this sequence.

And secondly, I was able to show the emotion Greg feels here in other sequences, so this bit felt too repetitive in a general sense.

Tension loses intensity when it’s too repetitive. Tension also loses intensity when the character isn’t an active participant. In this case, Taylor’s side allows you, my dear reader, to see someone actively struggling against a choice, where Greg’s side…well, you’ll see.

Why haven’t we seen many other deleted scenes from your novels? Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – XXIX: Present

12 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, prose, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

XXIX: Present

The painting Jennifer Craugh had bought had been done in shades of gray and green with hints of maroon and purple if one knew where to look. A wolf pack in the mist that Brendon had entitled Come From Wisps on account of the glows he’d embedded in the depths of the forest to give the painting better contrast. A mysterious piece, of a world that might exist anywhere. Or nowhere.

Jennifer Craugh, on the other hand, had not a mysterious bone in her body. Bright blonde hair, skin the color of an alabaster statue, eyes blue as the summer sky and manner open, honest, and welcoming.

“Brendon?” Her surprise melted away into warmth. “How are you?”

They exchanged pleasantries, Brendon with some reservations, in Jennifer’s entryway, down her hall, and into her living space. Orion seemed right at home, his voice a constant companion as he responded to Jennifer’s inquires and turned them back around fluidly.

“You’re here to see the painting?”

“A professional curiosity. My client is considering sponsoring Brendon and tasked me to check the durability and satisfaction of some of his sales.”

Jennifer cast a glance over her shoulder, but there existed no suspicion in her gaze. “Your client couldn’t go wrong with a Kotes painting.” She winked at Brendon. “You can tell him satisfaction is a high in this customer.”

“I most certainly will tell her that,” Orion corrected fluidly, stepping around Jennifer and up to the painting, leaving nothing but the smell of his aftershave—sandalwood and iron, though the iron might have been fancy on Brendon’s part. “This is incredible. Such detail in the brush strokes, every hair on the beast’s body. How many colors did you use on these creatures?” Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – XXVIII: Yesteryears

05 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, prose, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

XXVIII: Yesteryears

Girls at the races during humid autumn nights wore skimpy shorts and loose, flowy tops. They wore hair down, letting it fly and whip when the cars zipped past. Some of them would disappear into backs of cars and come out clothes askew.

Brendon had never noticed before what all those girls did. Not even Casey’s sister remained on his mind after she’d inevitably vanish with friends or soon-to-be-friends who had something powdery or smoky to offer. But he couldn’t help but notice when that seemed to be all Robbie saw, eyes wide in a combination of fright and aspirations.

Couldn’t help noticing because Casey noticed and ragged on Robbie mercilessly. Brendon had multiple sketches of Robbie’s face from that night and a few after, and every one caught the brightness in Robbie’s eyes, the rampant confused desire burning out from within. And Casey looking on, a similar desire unhidden, yet somehow gone missed, right there to be read by anyone who knew the language.

Lewd jokes rippled through their tiny friend group. Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – XXVII: Yesteryears

29 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, paranormal, prose, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

XXVII: Yesteryears

Brendon had long replaced the sketches of Casey when the tapping came on his window. He woke sluggishly to a pale face outside, a face full of promise. Casey’s whisper through the screen a few moments later came fast and breathless.

“There’s a night tonight. Big Man Skiv and Taylor L. are going to tear up the street. Becks has a cooler full of beer and a hankering not to go alone. Come on.”

And that night, a cool September twenty-eighth, only five months before Tori Kel smiled and said yes to Robbie, was the first night the boys snuck to the track all together. Not the first night for Casey, not by a long shot. Not even the first time Casey had dragged Brendon, but the first time Robbie—straight-laced Robbie and his worried eyes—finally gave in and slipped his bedroom window and snuck through the fence to join them. Blame an argument with his father for that one.

They piled into Becky’s car, glitter shining on her eyelids and a familiar scent, that Brendon did not identify as weed until later, ghosting about the interior. She had a low voice, but a high laugh as she went roaring through the neighborhood, the engine yowling like a cat in heat (Casey’s words) and the moon like a fingernail hanging onto the sky for dear life. Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – XXVI: Present

22 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, prose, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

XXVI: Present

They started locally, which wasn’t difficult as many of Brendon’s original sales had come from studio exhibitions. He sat in Orion’s passenger seat, conscious that the BMW cost a great deal more than Brendon tended to make in an average year. The leather seats stuck to his arms despite the air conditioning and Orion had paused the audio book he’d been listening to out of politeness sake.

“Thriller?” asked Brendon, randomly running a finger along his side of the center console.

“Non-fiction.”

“That sounds like you,” murmured Brendon.

Orion laughed. A quiet sound, but deep, deep in his chest, a rumbling that Brendon felt all the way to his bones. He clutched at the sketchbook in his lap. Orion had stared at the crumpled spiral-bound and graphite-smudged book, but hadn’t said a word.

“Am I so easy to read?” asked Orion.

“No,” murmured Brendon. “But when things fit, they fit.”

“And how does that…fit…with me?” Continue reading →

Canvas Blues – XXV: Yesteryears

15 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M, Serial

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Canvas Blues, Erotica, Fantasy, fantasy romance, Fiction, gay romance, LGBT, long-reads, Love, M/M, Mystery, Novel, prose, Romance, Short Fiction, Writing

CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

XXV: Yesteryears

The first time Brendon woke choking on an orgasm, he lay shivering in bed, limbs a twitching, Casey’s laughter ringing in his ears, Casey’s scent lingering in his nostrils. He’d sweat through his pants and his sheets clung to his skin despite the autumn gentleness. Outside, the moon had risen, bright and almost whole, as if it had delivered Brendon the sweetest of dreams on a ray of pale light.

He did not move, too confused. The mind, he discovered later, did not work as well in the midnight hours, but right then, he found in himself a growing terror that he could not put name to. This welling feeling—both physical and emotional—that stirred in his belly and took claim to his mind.

In a spattering of nights after, months and years, Brendon would wake at odd hours, Casey’s name a moan on his lips. He found himself comfortable with the idea of holding his friend, of kissing him, of sharing intimacy that one couldn’t do with superheroes who did not exist. Continue reading →

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CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

A serialized novel begun Jan 29th 2020. Here you can find links to the beginning and the most recent additions.

I: Prologue
II: Present
III: Yesteryears
IV: Yesteryears
V: Present

……….

XXXXIII: Yesteryears
XXXXIV: Present
XXXXV: Yesteryears
XXXXVI: Yesteryears
XXXXVII: Present

New chapters published every Wednesday!
Next up: Dec 30th 2020

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What’s Up!

  • Canvas Blues – LII: Yesteryears
  • Coffee & Conversation: Have you ever written fan fiction?
  • Canvas Blues – LI: Yesteryears
  • Coffee & Conversation: How important are looks to your characters’ relationships?
  • Canvas Blues – L: Present
  • Coffee & Conversation: What’s the biggest thing you need to improve?

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