new story

Okay, it's not ten thousand words in one of my many WIPs, but at least it's SOMETHING. I've posted a new short story on my website--a very short one (just a little over 1000 words)--that I wrote today when I was supposed to be vacuuming my living room (sorry, mom).

It's a little more...intense than most of the other stuff I've written. So I'm going to post a little disclaimer about the content. It's not only dirty, it's kind of uh..."caveman" and might not be everyone's thing. I'm not expecting that it will upset most people, but survivors of sexual assault might find it triggering. Just sayin'.

what the...

Okay, so I just brushed my hideously shedding dog, and the pile of hair I got was bigger than the dog. And yet she still has hair on her body. In fact, she looks no smaller and no less fluffy than she did before I brushed her. WTF? How is this possible?

In other news, due to two power surges yesterday, my toaster oven is...uh, toast. Wonder if I can find an el-cheapo one at the local bargain store? If not, that's the end of my bacon-wrapped chestnut addiction for a while. But at least the fridge (my beautiful new fridge, OMG), which issued some seriously disgruntled noises when the lights flickered, seems to have recovered and is chugging along nicely.

In other other news, next Sunday is my last night of work at the local Chinese joint--doctor's orders. And strangely enough, a lot of old, favorite customers, some of whom hadn't been in in over a year, came in to eat last night. It was like revisiting my past or something. Surreal, and kind of sad, but at least with one less thing to angst and stress and obsess about, I won't end up committed anytime soon. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully... Heh.

I've been plodding along on the upgrades to the house, while at the same time trying to tame the heinous mess my kids leave in their wake--which is all the more heinous because it's migrated from the bedrooms I'm working on right into the middle of my living room.

Oh, and I posted a new story on my website. It's been on my hard drive for a few months, but I was feeling lazy and unmotivated and signing into my webhost is just SUCH a bother, lol. Standard disclaimer applies: it's dirty (like you all didn't already know that). And Mom? Don't look.

New Project!

Okay, I've mostly resisted bragging all over blogland about Ellora's Cave inviting me to submit my work to them (direct to their EIC, no less), based on their reading of Crossing Swords and Bound by Steel. All question of modesty aside (because I have none), I was keeping fairly mum because I wasn't sure I had a project to send them. It's been my intention from the start to keep all my Emissaries-related books at Samhain (unless I manage to flog them to Tor or something--hey, hope springs eternal, right?), and since I've always set my stories in the universe of the Emissaries, well, I was kind of stymied.

I wasn't sure I was up to building another world. Thousands of years of history and mythology, religion and politics, cultures and customs? Oy.

But pretty much everything I've ever written has evolved from a handful of characters and a single scene, and a week ago, three characters popped into my head. Ralameis Antiog, a princess raised in a glittering palace where men rule and women are silent, forced into a political marriage with fierce tribal prince, Yavarro Singael. Harsh and ambitious, the finger-bones of his enemies woven through a hundred braids of his hair, he scares the living bejabbers out of her. Between them stands his vessel, Roucana, the shield upon whom each blow meant for him must fall, his will made flesh, obedient in all things. His vessel happens to be a woman. She also happens to be in love with him.

As you can see from the new wordmeter below and to the right, I'm already more than 5000 words in, and things are about to get complicated between the prince, his new bride and his vessel. Bad decisions will be made, feelings will be hurt, the heart's innermost longings will be laid bare.

And yes, there will be plenty of hot girl-on-girl-on-guy sexx0ring. Because with EC now considering dipping its toes back into the girl-on-girl pool, despite the fact that they told me I could send them whatever I liked, well, I'm the stubborn type. I know m/m/f BDSM would likely be received better, but being contrary by nature, it will be one man and two strong women from me, and all the bondage will be on the inside.

I'll be posting an excerpt from this WIP on Excerpt Monday, which is in just a week. Considering how my stomach was all tight and tingly playing out the scene in my head, I have some hope it will be both hot and heart-wrenching.

Hugs

Inspired...

...by an intriguing but questionable conversation with...someone who shall remain nameless *ahem*, I have penned a new short story and posted it on my website under the dubious title of Purple Panties**. It is entirely, completely, thoroughly not my usual thing, but it kinda wrote itself in a few frenetic hours and I feel much better now.

You see? This is what happens when I talk to people. *sigh*

And y'all, comments are still open in my revenge-o-rama contest. You've got 'til tomorrow night to enter, so do it!

**And mom, just in case you don't pay attention to the tags, I'm gonna bold it here: Don't look, mom.