Author: Cameron

M. Timothy Murray has a new space opera out: Time Paradox. And there’s a giveaway!

The time crew are unexpectedly thrust six hundred years into Thumar’s past, where a planet wide plague is raging. These intrepid time travelers are predestined to find a cure. When they return to the future, they discover their actions dramatically changed their original timeline.

With help from Derak’s brother and the mysterious Time Sentinels of the universe, they set out across time, space, and dimension to fix their time paradox. Can they stop the space-time-continuum from tearing itself apart and destroying the known universe?

| Amazon | iUniverse |

Giveaway

Timothy is giving away an Amazon gift card with this tour:

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Excerpt

Prologue

The large scorpion centered in a barbed circle glowed blood red on the back wall of the Supreme Council chamber. Imbedded computer screens illuminated the ominous faces of the council members. A single blinding white spotlight in front of the raised curved dais focused on the poor soul being interrogated in the center of the darkened room.

Number Three continued. “Commander Thompson, are you telling us this is all you found? What good are you and your men if this is all you return with? You’re useless, we can assign you a more appropriate mission.”

Charlie Thompson served the council for over two hundred years. He was their best assassin. He could infiltrate any government, corporation, or secured site, until now. This perplexed Charlie and infuriated the council which never accepted failure at any level.

“Number Three,” he choked out. “We exhausted all our resources and tortured everyone who had momentary contact with Derak Jamar. His immediate and extended family disappeared. Their files are closed. Not even our highly placed mole had the security clearance to view Jamar’s files. It’s as if his entire history never existed.”

Number Two addressed the commander. “What about his friend, Jack Morgan, and his family? We can get to him that way.”

“They disappeared too. Their files have the same security clearance. Our mole informed me she couldn’t spy any further without risking her cover.”

“Then what use do we have for this worthless slug?” Number Three demanded.

“None, Sir. She and her entire family met a slow, painful end, one of my more creative works of art. I brought her deputy into the fold with a little persuasion. He should prove more useful,” commander Thompson reported.

“Let’s hope so, for your sake, Commander,” Number Two threatened.

Number One spoke. “Commander, did you bring back any useful information?”

“Yes, Number One. There are three intergalactic corporations that have equal security measures. They have Derak Jamar’s fingerprints all over them. He is a dangerous enemy; it is reported he single-handedly took out a battalion of Kek in the Chambar Valley Offensive. It is rumored that Master Li trained him.”

“That traitor!” Number One exploded. “I have a special death reserved for him. We must tread cautiously with these two. Find a hole in Jamar’s security. Don’t fail us this time, Commander. Dismissed!”

The commander left the dreaded chambers and made his way to April’s Pleasure Palace. Maybe he could catch up with his buddy, Dr. Vander.

After the chamber doors closed behind the commander, Number One went off. “Is that what we’re down to? Pansies and cowards who have forgotten all the good we’ve done for them? I’ll show them all! Number Nine, make sure the commander’s wife dies in premature childbirth, along with the child. That will send the proper message.”

“Isn’t that extreme, Number One? He has served us…”

“Number Nine! Would you like to keep your seat?”

“Yes, Number One,” he choked out. “I’ll see to the arrangements.”

“If the known galaxy doesn’t want to acknowledge our honorable intentions and peaceful salutations, we must give them something to pay attention to. Our goal is the same, a unified galaxy ruled by our values of fairness and judgment. Who could ask for a better arrangement?”

The Planetary Survey

Derak commanded the planetary survey mission, Jack was the pilot. Shesain, Shenar, Dr. Bundett, Thumar’s leading herbal doctor, and Seamus McGrew, a planetary geologist from Earth, rounded out the crew. Jack laid in the course to the first set of coordinates.

While on the flight controls under Jack’s watchful eye, Shesain became curious about a section he had not taught her. “What does this do?” she asked, pointing to a yellow touch pad with a warning light flashing red.

“Don’t touch that.” Jack said. Damn techs were supposed to disengage that time-control panel before we left. Why is it still on? “That’s part of the time travel circuit.”

Before Jack could reach the control to disable it, Shesain’s hand slid in the direction of the yellow touch pad. Derak moved to stop her, but her fingers brushed the pad. Everyone in the ship froze. Derak, in mid-stride, felt queasy.  As the crew recovered, Derak’s momentum carried him forward, and he touched the pad before hitting the floor hard. He got up and removed Shesain from the pilot’s seat. Jack took the science station.

“What did I do?” Shesain asked in shock.

“I don’t know yet!” Derak growled.

The indicator upon entering hyperspace is a clockwise swirling of stars in an inverted cone shape. This tells the Captain and navigator that they entered an artificially created wormhole. The wormhole they entered rotated counterclockwise.

“What did I do?” Shesain asked. Her voice quivered.

“I don’t know yet. I have to check the navigation computer,” Derak answered, in a consoling tone this time.

“Jack, what are you seeing?”

“The readings are crazy! Wait, the chronometer is running backwards! We’re going back in time, and I don’t know how far.”

“Is the ship recording this? We’ll need the data to return,” Derak said.

“From the start,” Jack responded.

“We should stop soon,” Derak said.

They watched in horror as the cone of earth and sky rotated counterclockwise. It slowed down, and the crew went through the same transitional sensations as they had in the beginning. When they entered normal space again, they held their breath as they hovered over a similar, yet unfamiliar feeling landscape.

“Put her in D-gen, Jack, we don’t want to be seen. We must not cause a time paradox. There is no way to know how this will affect the future we originated from, or the present timeline.” Derak ordered.

“D-gen activated. We should land and access the situation.”

“Excellent idea, Jack. Set her down in a concealed area.”

Jack landed The Shesain in a well-protected meadow outside a sizable village and shut down the engines. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Jack and Derak turned to Shesain sitting in a corner hiding her head.

“I told you NOT to touch that pad!” Jack yelled at Shesain.

“I…I…didn’t mean to. It…it…was an accident,” she answered, breaking down into tears.

Derak stopped Jack before he could go any further. He sat down next to Shesain and put his arm around her as she buried her head into his shoulder. “My dear, Chimera, when a flight instructor tells you no, they mean it.”

Derak turned towards the others. “We need to know how far back we travelled.” He lifted Shesain’s chin; smiled and kissed her. She wiped her eyes and sniffled before looking up at the others. “Shesain, you and Shenar look up the histories while Jack and I figure out how far back in time we traveled. Seamus and Dr. Bundett help the girls out, will you?” They nodded and led Shenar and Shesain to the computer station.

Jack and Derak looked at each other and shook their heads. After consulting the ship’s chronometer and computer, they time-traveled back to the year 1814.

Author Bio

Tim lives in Nevada City, California, with his wife, Ronna Lee Joseph, and their scrappy cat, Harley. He is involved with several writers groups.

Besides documenting the adventures of Thumar, he writes short stories about talking animals and rude Christmas trees.

Where to Find M. Timothy Murray

| Website | Facebook (Personal) | Facebook (Author Page) | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads |

J. Scott Coatsworth’s MM “elf-meets-trans-man in post-climate-change San Francisco” book Cailleadhama is now out in audiobook format. And there’s a giveaway!

Colton is a trans man living in a climate-changed world. He plies the canals that used to be city streets, earning a living taking tourists on illicit journeys through San Francisco’s flooded edges beneath the imposing bulk of the Wall.

Tris is an elf who comes through the veil to the City by the Bay – the Caille – on a coming of age pilgrimage called the Cailleadhama. He is searching for his brother Laris, who went missing after crossing through the Caille years before.

The two men find they have common cause, and together they set off to find Laris in a world transformed by the twin forces of greed and climate change. And in the end, they find out more than they ever expected, both about the warming world and their own selves.

| Audible Audiobook | Amazon Kindle EBook Amazon Paperback |

Giveaway

Scott is giving away your choice of a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate or a signed first edition of the Liminal Sky: Ariadne Cycle Trilogy (USA only). Enter via Rafflecopter:

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Excerpt

Audio Excerpt:

Text Excerpt:

Colton sat at the old, salvaged mirror in his wreck of an apartment, high above the Main Street Canal on San Francisco’s drowned waterfront. Not that San Francisco didn’t have its pride. As the Capital of Pacifica, she was still a center of commerce and politics.

But canal rats like Colton didn’t matter much anymore.

The bed behind him, salvaged from another abandoned apartment, was a mess of sheets, a reminder of the trick he’d brought home the night before, someone who’d been paid enough to overlook Colton’s shortcomings.

Colton took out a vial of testosterone—his last one, bought at a dear price from the Pharmacist. He pulled out a clean syringe and took off the plastic top, pulling out the stopper to 5 milliliters. He inserted the needle into the bottle, and pushed the air in, an act familiar to him from long practice. Then he pulled out the last of the drug, flicking the syringe twice and pushing out all the air bubbles.

He replaced the needle with a smaller gauge, dumping the larger one into an old caramel corn can he kept for his medical waste.

He used a piece of cotton and a bottle of cheap liquor to wipe down the injection site on his thigh, sterilizing it as best he could. Once it was dry, he took a deep breath, pinching his muscle and pulling his skin to the side. He inserted the needle into his leg, drawing the syringe back a bit to make sure there was no blood. He had to be careful to avoid injecting the hormone directly into his bloodstream.

It hurt a little, but he was used to it.

He dumped the used syringe and the empty vial into the can. He had friends who weren’t so careful to use clean needles, for their hormones or recreational drugs. Some of those friends were now dead, or worse.

Next, he took the medical bandages that he carefully washed every day, and wrapped them around his chest, binding his breasts tightly.

He didn’t look at them. He hated those reminders of his female body—he’d been running from that accident of birth for years.

He wrapped the bandages around himself three or four times, holding in his breath. Once he had his breasts secured, he adjusted them to the side to make his chest as flat as possible.

He looked at the results in the mirror. It would have to do.

He wished he could afford to be re-sequenced. To truly make his body match his gender, to not feel counterfeit in his own form.

Colton glanced out through the broken window. The lights of the City were starting to come on over there as dusk approached. He lived in a no man’s land, the part of the City where the water encroaching from the Bay had reached the old first and second floors. Toward the heart of the City, on the other side of the Wall, the rich still carried on as if nothing had changed.

Those with money called the drowned parts of the city the Canal District. It ran from the old Levis Plaza down to China Basin along the City’s Bay side. There were a number of tony restaurants on the roofs and higher floors of the City behind the Wall that offered views of this supposedly “romantic” neighborhood. For a fee, you could even take a ride through the ruins on a gondola.

That was Colton’s “day job”. It brought in enough money to afford food, hormones, and little else, at least, when he was able to pay Mason his overdue boat storage fees.

So at night, he haunted the drowned streets, looking for those he could help, or sometimes relieve of their excess cash.

Author Bio

Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.

He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Where to Find J. Scott Coatsworth

| Website | Facebook (Personal) | Facebook (Author Page) | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads |
| QueeRomance Ink | Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com) | Amazon |

Shea Balik has a new MM paranormal dystopian romance out in eBook and audio formats: “Mating the Enemy.”

Siberian Tiger shifter, Aleksi Rykov, is amused to watch the enemy chasing one of their own, psy, Seth Tilton, until he realizes it’s his mate. Rescuing his mate isn’t difficult for the powerful Alpha but keeping his mate safe from the war raging between their races may be more difficult.

Seth is taking a chance running to the one man he knows can keep him safe, Aleksi. Seth knows the psy’s secrets and the psy will do anything to get him back but with Aleksi’s help Seth can help turn the tide of the war and uncover the horrible truth. The question is will Aleksi be willing to help the enemy?

Both sides are against their mating and doing their best to tear the two apart but Aleksi and Seth are determined to stay together against all odds. Can Aleksi and Seth manage to find happiness by mating the enemy?

Mating the Enemy Links

Amazon eBook | Audible Audio | Amazon UK | QueeRomance Ink

Giveaway

Shea is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour – enter via Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Excerpt

December 21, 2012, 4:00 a.m., Sydney, Australia.

“Aahhhh!”

“That’s it. You’re doing a great job.” Even with his body begging for just a few hours of sleep, the adrenaline was keeping Eli alert as he was only two hours shy of finishing a forty-eight-hour rotation on the maternity ward. His only chance at a nap had been interrupted when Abbey and her husband, Frank, came in. Eli would swear there was a conspiracy to keep him awake. How he was even functioning he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Okay, it’s time to push again,” he gently told Abbey, who was about to be a mom for the first time. Frank held her hand, or to be more precise she gripped his hand like a vise. It looked like the circulation had been cut off from the man’s hand for some time but Frank never once complained, just encouraged his wife and kept her as calm as possible.

This was the type of delivery Eli preferred, the parents not screaming at each other, just happy to bring their child into the world. Yeah, he knew it was painful, but still, he really hated it when the women got hysterical.

The head pushed through and he went to work cleaning out the baby’s airway. One more push and he held the infant as it took a stuttering breath before letting out a cry at being shoved out into the cold, unforgiving world.

The parents were smiling, beaming as Eli brought the child up to lie on his mother’s stomach. “It’s a boy—” was barely out his mouth before the infant changed into a dog. No, more like a dingo.

There was no way he was seeing this. Scrunching his eyes closed and shaking his head, Eli quickly reopened his eyes and, yep, it was a dingo he was holding instead of a baby. Suddenly the baby was back and screaming at the top of his little lungs.

Without missing a beat he laid the child on his mother’s stomach, cut the umbilical cord, and let one of the nurses quickly take the baby away to be cleaned. It just couldn’t have happened and he hoped if he ignored it so would everyone else.

“What…” Frank’s mouth kept moving but no sound came out as his eyes stayed on his son. Suddenly his gaze found the doctor’s and he demanded, “What happened?”

Damn. Somehow Eli didn’t think he’d be leaving when his shift was over.

#

Same day, 5:00 a.m., small village in India.

Murali ran as fast as his legs would carry him from his family’s home, a small hut set in the middle of the land they farmed. It took him just a few minutes to reach Nanda, the woman who would help his mother deliver his next brother or sister. “Come, come. She is ready,” he told Nanda when she came to the doorway.

When she nodded her understanding, Murali rushed back home to let his parents know Nanda was on her way. Once he told his parents, he quickly went out to start his chores along with his brothers and sisters.

He’d just turned eight and with each birthday his list of chores grew. Each morning he had to help feed the animals and shovel the manure. He loved the animals and enjoyed the time he spent feeding and watering them but today he rushed through his chores so he could get back and see the new baby. Was it even born yet?

The urgency to get back to the hut to find out had him finishing quickly. A loud scream from his mother as he neared told him the baby hadn’t been born yet. Without making any noise he quickly darted into the hut so he could watch.

Just as he got into position, his mom let out an exhausted shout and the next thing he knew Nanda was holding a baby. Wanting to get closer, he stepped over to the mat his mom was lying on, his gaze completely focused on his little sister.

Suddenly, his sister was completely surrounded by flames that licked over her body, consuming her. Nanda screamed and dropped her. Fortunately, she was only inches off the ground. Nanda started spewing horrible names at his sister and mom.

The blankets around his mother caught fire and before Murali knew what was happening the entire hut was engulfed in flames. Nanda ran, leaving his mom and sister to die.

Murali jumped into action by running to his mom but by then the blankets had done their damage and he knew there was no way he could save her. Turning to his sister, Murali could see the flames around her were no longer there. In fact, it looked like the flames were avoiding her.

Picking her up, he ran from the hut just before the roof collapsed.

#

Same day, 12:00 p.m., Nashville, TN

“You no good redneck. How dare ya do this to me? I swear ya ain’t touching me again, do ya hear me, Billy Joe?”

It had been like this for the last three or four hours, and as much as Betty enjoyed seeing the stupidity of first-time parents, she was over it.

Her shift ended an hour ago but her replacement was late, again. So here she stood, trying to encourage the woman to push as Betty waited for the doctor to get in. Seeing the head crown, she hoped the doctor got in quickly or she’d be delivering this baby.

Not that she was surprised. The doctors tended to waltz in at the last second to basically sit down, catch the baby, and walk back out, while she had to sit with the parents the whole time, listening to them bitching.

The door swished open and in strode the biggest jerk on the planet. “Good afternoon, folks.” Betty quickly hopped out of his way as the doctor sat. “Looks like it will be just another couple of pushes and your new son will be born.”

Just as predicated, two more pushes and the baby boy was in his hands. Holding the newborn up, the doctor announced, “I’d like you to meet your son.” A round of shocked gasps were heard as the baby suddenly changed into a bear cub.

The mother of the bouncing baby bear passed out. The father just stood there, his mouth agape and his eyes opening and shutting repeatedly as if hoping that would change things. The doctor screamed like a girl and dropped the bear onto its passed-out mother’s stomach.

Betty was just glad the doctor had come in before this happened.

#

Same day, 6:00 p.m., Oahu, Hawaii.

The storm was bad, trees were down, the electricity was out, and Tia knew there was no way she was going to get to the hospital before she delivered. She tried 9-1-1 and they told her it would be miracle if they could get out there, but they would try.

Her lover of ten years, Trent, was online trying to find information about delivering a baby from home. She knew she should be panicking about now, but she wasn’t. What was the point really? There was nothing she could do about it.

It had been that way through much of her pregnancy and she often wondered about it. She was normally a nervous person, prone to anxiety attacks. When she first learned she was pregnant, she had to be hospitalized. But sometime around the third month a sense of peace and calm fell over her like a veil, shielding her from all those chaotic feelings she normally had.

So now she lay in the guest bedroom, because she refused to ruin her own mattress, and waited patiently for her baby to be born. There was no doubt in her mind her son would come with or without a doctor.

It wasn’t until the need to push came that she finally called for Trent, who looked about ready to pass out as all the color bled from his body. She honestly didn’t think a guy who spent so much time in the sun surfing could be that white.

He’d only just made it into the room when she started pushing, her body not willing to wait any longer. Trent’s eyes filled with panic, but he still came over to help. Grabbing one of the towels he’d set next to the bed as he got into position to deliver their son.

A new life came into the world, one that looked like every other healthy child. A baby boy who had the gift of empathy, one who not only could feel the emotions of others but could change their feelings also. He would quickly learn to hide his abilities, which would save his kind from the torture of the scientific community.

Author Bio

Bestselling author of the Cedar Falls Series, Miracle Series, and Paranormal Wars Series, Shea Balik has always had a vivid imagination with stories running around in her head. Often her stories are taken from observations of other people with her own spin. Traveling is one of her favorite ways of fulfilling her passion of people watching. You never know, one day you may spark her imagination for her next book.

Whether at home or traveling she is usually in front of her computer writing or curled up with a good book. Find Shea at any of the links below!

Where to Find Shea Balik

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | QueeRomance Ink | Amazon

Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus have a new MM fantasy book out: The Demon of Hagermarsh.

“The Emperor cares for each and every one of his subjects.”

Many consider the catchphrase of the imperial Lotus Knights to be nothing more but well-polished propaganda, but for Yaden, it is a way of life.

A young Lotus Knight himself, his first mission in service of the Emperor sends him to the remote village of Hagermarsh, a suspiciously friendly place on a planet known for its inhospitable people. But how to uncover a demonist coven when nothing bad ever happens?
Getting to know the villagers only makes things more difficult – the motherly fishmonger surely isn’t a demonist. Nor the gruff leader of the local militia. And definitely not the cute baker from across the street.

Or are they?

Come discover a dazzling, hopeful universe of knights and monsters, of psions, aliens and ancient deities! The Demon of Hagermarsh is the first book of ‘Sir Yaden’, an epic SF saga of grand adventure, romance, bromance and family, set in the multi-faceted Virasana Empire. It is a romantic adventure and can be read as a standalone. 

Excerpt

“How did you come to work for Master Darios?” Colin asked after a while.

“My parents paid him to take me on as an apprentice,” Yaden told the story MissionPrep had set up for him. “After learning the trade, I was supposed to have my own shop at some point. But it turned out I can’t seem to learn to read and write. The letters keep jumping around in front of my eyes.” Colin looked like he was going to say something pitying, so Yaden quickly continued. “Master Darios doesn’t mind me, though, so he kept me as his shop assistant, even when he moved out here. Means he doesn’t have to talk to the customers much. He doesn’t like people.”

“Well, you could always go into a career as crab picker,” Colin said, clearly aiming to cheer him up. “One of these cages is worth five chicks.”

Yaden chuckled. “Actually I prefer working with a roof over my head most of time. And I like my job.”

“So if Master Darios doesn’t like people I’m guessing he isn’t interested in getting married?”

“Say what?” Yaden wasn’t sure how Colin had jumped from one subject to the next and Colin looked slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry, bad habit.” He chuckled at his own silliness. “The elderly ladies of the village always try to match everyone up, and it’s infectious. At first, I got the usual suspicious treatment, but now that they have decided I’m alright, they keep trying to get me together with one of the girls. I bet they’ll do the same with Master Darios.”

Yaden wondered how that would go over with Darios. In all the years that Darios had been his guardian, he had never shown any romantic interest in anyone. Was that because he didn’t fancy anyone or because he had been too busy taking care of Yaden? 

At least, Yaden was sure it wasn’t some strange notion that, as a slave, he would need Yaden’s permission. Their relationship had never been one of master and slave. More like child and single parent.

If it had been up to him, he would have freed Darios in a heartbeat, but there was no way of legally doing so apart from Darios marrying a commoner or being adopted by one, neither of which was an option in this case. Yaden could have bypassed the law by simply setting up Darios with enough funds to comfortably live on some other backwater planet where nobody would be aware he had ever been a slave, but Darios had refused that offer. 

“I think they will find Master Darios rather reluctant,” Yaden tried to deflect Colin’s suggestion politely. “What about you? Are you with any of the suggested girls?”

“Naw. They are all too eager to call themselves ‘the baker’s wife’ and not interested in me at all. I had a few boyfriends back in Schimmelbach. But those were short flings. You know, guys picking me up as the cute trophy to brag about.”

No, Yaden didn’t know. Was that a thing that people did? Whatever it was, he very much thought that Colin deserved better.

“And you?” Colin asked. “Did you have a special someone before you moved here?”

“Still looking for the right one.”

That sounded cheesy, but it didn’t make it any less true. Between his job of keeping Erys safe and his training on Lagoona, he had never felt the urge to go and search for someone. If there was someone out there for someone like him, they would meet eventually. He cast a shy glance over to Colin. The way the baker flirted with him it sounded very much like Colin thought Yaden could be his special someone. Or at least, the shop assistant Yaden was currently pretending to be. 

With a sinking heart, Yaden realised this was a lot more complicated than it had looked in the beginning. And it hadn’t looked simple at all. 

Colin didn’t say anything, either, and they walked the rest of the way in silence, but again it was a comfortable silence. If Yaden weren’t pretending to be someone else, and if he were planning to stay here for real, he would be looking forward to spending more time like this. But he wasn’t, and it made his heart sink. He had a job to do, yes, but was it so wrong to want something for himself for once? If only that something weren’t so complicated and probably unattainable. Surely Colin would run the other way if he learned who Yaden truly was.

He still hadn’t sorted out his feelings when they reached the side entrance of the bakery. 

Yaden handed over his basket of crabs with a shy smile. “So when can we eat them?”

Complicated feelings aside, Yaden wanted to eat those crabs. And he wanted to spend more time with Colin. Maybe going through this step by step was better than worrying about the problems of tomorrow. 

“I need to boil them and they’ll marinade for a day before frying them up. So if you are free tomorrow evening…?”

“As it happens, I am.” Unless a demon went rampaging through the village, that was, but Yaden doubted this mission would wrap itself up that easily.

“Great. I’ll start preparing dinner after I lock up the shop, so you come over about an hour after that?”

“I’ll be there.”

For a moment longer, they stood in the soft drizzle. Yaden almost thought he should say something more, but he had no clue how to phrase his feelings. So when Colin turned away with a “see you tomorrow” thrown over his shoulder, he was almost grateful.

We hope you enjoyed your time in the Virasana Empire. 

Yaden’s adventures continue in

Book #2 The Windmines of Bora Bora

You can find more information about the Virasana Empire at

www.virasanapedia.fandom.com

For more information about our books, visit us at 

www.Brackhaus.com

Author Bio

We are Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus, a couple currently living our happily ever after in the very heart of Germany, under the stern but loving surveillance of our cat.

Both of us are voracious but picky readers, we love telling stories and drinking tea, good food and the occasional violent movie. Together, we write novels of adventure and romance, hoping to share a little of our happiness with our readers.

Beryll: An artist by heart, Beryll was writing stories even before she knew what letters were. As easily inspired as she is frustrated, her own work is never good enough (in her eyes). A perfectionist in the best and worst sense of the word at the same time and the driving creative force of our duo.

Osiris: An entertainer and craftsman in his approach to writing, Osiris is the down-to-earth, practical part of our duo. Broadly interested in almost every subject and skill, with a sunny mood and caring personality, he strives to bring the human nature into focus of each of his stories.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CAN | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | QueeRomance Ink | Smashwords | Goodreads

Where to Find Beryll & Osiris

Website | Facebook (Personal) | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

Warren Rochelle stopped by the blog today for some good ole Q&A on world building, favorite works, and his writing process. Thanks for stopping by, Professor!

AQG: So, tell us three things about your worlds that your readers love!

WR: The first thing that comes to mind would be what I call the intersection of the magical and mundane. By mundane, I mean stories in which the characters exist in worlds the readers know. For example, my novel, Harvest of Changelings, is set in the Triangle region of central North Carolina. Characters walk (or run, if the bad guys are after them) down real streets, drive real cars. Yes, there is some fictionalizing, a few name changes, but not very much. By magical, I mean that in this mundane world the characters encounter witches and dragons and spells and charms. Reality is not as it seems. This intersection fascinates me.

The second thing, which could be an extension of the first, is that as the characters deal with magical bad guys, they also deal with issues of the mundane world, such as learning disabilities, and abusive parents.  To me, this makes the world richer and the characters far more human.

The third thing that comes to mind is an attention to detail on multiple levels. A few examples: if there are two moons, then there needs to be two tides, the correct spelling of 7-Eleven, and so on.

AQG: What are your biggest challenges when it comes to world building?

WR:

1. Getting the details right!
2. Finding the answers to get those details right.
3. Remembering the details.  By that I mean once something is established as part of the world, I have to make sure that this is maintained throughout the story and not forgotten or let slide.
4. Telling the truth.

AQG: What are some lessons you’ve learned in your writing journey?

WR:

1. To take my time. Yes, deadlines must be met, but stories tend to have their own time and I try to plan ahead if I am on a deadline, so that the story can do the gestating it needs. Alas, this doesn’t always work.
2. Stories and novels need many, many, many drafts. The stories that come completely formed, like Athena from the head of Zeus, are rare indeed.
3. To remember what one of my first writing teachers told me: to get out of the way of the story and let the dream tell itself to me.
4. And to not give up.  The publishers of my four novels have all, sadly, gone out of business. But I keep writing and sending things out. Besides, I would be a lousy plumber.

AQG: What are your three favorite sci-fi/fantasy book books, movies, or TV shows?

WR: Just three?

1. The first book that I think of is A Wrinkle in Time. I reread it every so often.
2. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman.  I am quite fond of Richard Mayhew.
3. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin.  I love Shevek.
4. And …. Okay, just one more, Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009).

AQG: What would be your top three examples of stellar character development?

WR:

1. Shevek is a character whose growth and development I find fascinating and believable.  He has core truths to which he remains faithful, but he is forced to grow and change as his life demands, and he chooses to grow and change and mature as well. His growth is complicated, contradictory, and sometimes ambiguous and confusing—as it is for most of us.
2. I hope it is okay to use my own characters here. (AQG: Yes, please!) Given that, I would mention my character, Russell White, in Harvest of Changelings and The Called.  When readers first meet Russell in Harvest, he is around 12 years, and in the fifth grade (he had to repeat kindergarten and first grade). He has a learning disability and an abusive father. Russell’s stepmother hates him. His mother abandoned him when he was little, choosing to taking his younger brother with her and not Russell. Russell is angry. But, when he comes into his magical powers and makes friends, especially Jeff, he begins to slowly grow out of the desert of his early childhood. The reader gets to experience Russell’s development, which is sometimes ragged and uneven, with lapses, as it would be for almost all of us. Russell makes peace with, and learns to live with, his past. However, he still has to deal with its shadows.
3. I had thought, briefly, to discuss the development of Jeff Gates, who becomes Russell’s best friend in Harvest. Like Russell, he almost must grow out of the desert of his childhood—in his case, sexual abuse by his father. But I am thinking maybe this question is meant to be about characters more familiar to the general reader. In that case, I think J.K. Rowling did a fine job developing Harry’s character through the seven novels in the series. We get to experience Harry’s growing up and coming of age. We see Harry as “tween” who sees the world as more black and white than it can be, as a snarky teenager, as a young man accepting his destiny, as an adult, with a family.

AQG: What would be a few fun facts readers would discover in your own work?

WR:

1. Depending on which novel you read, the reader gets to learn odds and ends and fun facts about North Carolina and Virginia. Some of the haunted places, or those associated with magic, are where important scenes take place, such as the Devil’s Tramping Ground in NC.
2. Many of [my characters]—maybe most, if not all—are Outsiders.
3. Being gay is often associated with being magical.

AQG: How are your worlds similar, or conversely, dissimiliar to the real world?

WR:

The Wild Boy, my first novel, is set mostly in the ruins of 22^nd-century Greensboro, NC. Readers will find familiar names and places and the same time, find themselves in a future world that is very different from the real world.

Harvest of Changelings and The Called, my second and third novels, are set primarily in the Research Triangle area of central North Carolina. The Werewolf and His Boy is set primarily in central Virginia. Like The Wild Boy, readers will find familiar names and places, and they will find these familiar names and places are also magical—they are different in a fundamental way.

The histories of each of these worlds are parallel to the real world. For example, in our world, the US Civil War is fought between the North and the South, the US and the CSA. In the world of The Golden Boy,one of my current works-in-progress, there is no US, rather there is the Columbian Empire, whose history often parallels that of the US. The Columbian Civil War is fought between the Emperor and Parliament.

AQG: What helps you write what you do?

WR: In no particular order: reading a lot of speculative fiction, particularly fantasy, reading and studying the building blocks of fantasy, including mythology, magic, and religion. I also find it helps, if I can, to go where the stories are set.

AQG: What do you look for in cover design?

WR: What do I look for in cover design? So far, my control over how the cover looks has been limited. Given that, what I look for, and what I have suggested for inclusion, is an iconic image of some kind: of the characters, who they are, how they are together—something that says these are the people I created, or a particular place that, in somehow, typifies where the novel is set. I want to look at a drawing of a particular character and say, yes that is how they could look.

AQG: Describe your writing process! Do you set goals for yourself? Where do you write? Is there a time of day that works best for you?

I have as an ongoing goal, to write every day. Sometimes I stretch that to include reviewing and rereading and revising the previous day’s work. But, alas, given how busy things get during the school year (I teach creative writing at the University of Mary Washington), sometimes this goal—more often than I like—is not met.  But it is always there and I can tell when I have neglected my daily time at the keyboard or at the desk for revisions. I feel somewhat out of sorts, as I am not quite connected to the universe. Something is missing.

I write in my study, although when I travel, I take a notebook for inspiration or sudden ideas.  I often take a work-in-progress.  I keep note paper on the night table by my bed. When I am in the middle of a project, I find myself living, at least partially, in this other world. Thoughts, connections, aha! moments, will arise out of the story cauldron unbidden.

Mornings are best, but I find it more productive to just write, regardless of time of day, and to be satisfied with just one paragraph.

About Warren Rochelle

Warren Rochelle has taught English at the University of Mary Washington since 2000. Rochelle’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in various journals, including the North Carolina Literary Review, Forbidden Lines, Aboriginal Science Fiction, Colonnades, Graffiti, Collective Fallout, Queer Fish 2, and Icarus, as well as the Asheville Poetry Review, GW Magazine, Crucible, The Charlotte Poetry Review, Second Hand Stories, and Romance and Beyond. His short story, “The Golden Boy (published in The Silver Gryphon) was a Finalist for the 2004 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Short Story. His most recent publication, “Luck,” came out in Fae Wings and Hidden Things in July 2017. His short story, “Mirrors,” a gay-themed retelling of Beauty and the Beast, is forthcoming in the Cuil Press anthology, So You Think You Know Love.

Rochelle is the author of four novels. The first three, The Wild Boy (2001), Harvest of Changelings (2007), and The Called (2010), all published by Golden Gryphon Press. His fourth novel, The Werewolf and His Boy, was published in September 2016 by Samhain Publishing.

Titles by Warren Rochelle:

Where to Find Warren Rochelle

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