Happy Easter! Here’s some more Alex for you:
“There are things I can’t talk about.”
“Why not? Don’t you trust me?”
She didn’t get it, and how could she? Hayley had parents that loved her, a brother that loved her. She’d never been beaten, she hadn’t been isolated from the world, she hadn’t been born to destroy the world, and most of all, she was human.
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Animus leapt from her sheath as I crossed the distance between us. The man didn’t even have time to bow his head. I ran Animus through his shoulder and her singing ran in counterpoint to his screams. I slammed my foot into his stomach, cutting off the scream, and pushed him to the floor. “You murdered a cat,” I said as I looked down at him. “In my name.”
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And there it was, the chariot of the sun, coming at us along the curve of the horizon. Behind it was the huge black wolf Skoll. When I say huge I mean huge, like I underestimated how big he was.
This thing was like, the size of a motherfucking elephant. And me, Stefan and Colin could still barely lift the damn spears we were supposed to fight him off with. Shit.
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The other two couldn’t stop laughing and I told them to shut up because they were making the horses nervous. I got right back up on the horse (there’s a metaphor about that, isn’t there?) and this time I was a little more careful. There wasn’t anything to hold onto except the fiery mane so I grabbed that and hoped it wasn’t going to piss the horse off. He seemed okay with it.
So now I was sitting on a sun horse and I wasn’t sure what to do next. “Um, giddyup?” I said.
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Everyone went quiet.
Here’s the thing: I’m supposed help my father end the world, but I’ve never been on board with that. Even though we were dealing with a different pantheon it was the same problem. I stood up and said, “Fuck this.” They looked at me. “I’m not going to let the world end.”
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She arched into his touch. “I think you win.”
“No.” He bent and traced his tongue around her other nipple. “This is the kind of game we both win.”
The building need between her legs said he was right.
(Through The Fire is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)
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He moved faster, still looking at her. His irises were burning flames now, undeniably demon and yet the look in them was so…human. Everyone else ignored her or wanted something from her, used her, but Xemriel was giving. Giving her his love, even though he didn’t know where that love came from.
Fire burned all around them, burned without touching the bed or the walls, an inferno born of magic. Heat rose in her, impossibly higher, as she looked at the flames in Xemriel’s eyes.
(Through The Fire is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)
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Back in August, I self-published a short story without telling anyone (I’ve nicknamed it “stealth story”). I did it partly for practice so I could go through the steps of publishing, and partly out of curiosity. What would happen to a story if I didn’t do any marketing at all? The answer, as far as I knew from Amazon, was nothing. I didn’t sell a single copy. I checked there a few times after I published, and then I forgot about it.
When I went back to Barnes & Noble to upload Through The Fire, I got a little surprise. The short story “Chained” had actually been selling. A few copies here and there, but not bad for something I didn’t tell anyone about. I mean, how the heck are people finding it? They must just be stumbling across it in genre or tag searches.
Here’s how it’s been doing:
August (the month it went up): 3
September: 9
October: 4
November: 7
December: 5
January: 8
I can’t remember how much I paid for the cover image, around $5 or $10, so that means the story already earned out on its expenses. I’m earning a teeny little profit from something that had just been sitting on my computer. Go, little story, go!
She shuddered from his words as much as his touch. She slid her free hand up to his shoulder and brushed lightly over his collar bone. “I want to touch you everywhere. I want to memorize every inch of you.”
“Yes,” he agreed in a low voice. Xemriel released her hand and reached for the hem of her shirt.
(Through The Fire is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)
Yesterday I put Through The Fire up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’ll put it up on Smashwords over the weekend. It’s a little frightening but also incredibly freeing to be making all the decisions myself. I hired a cover artist because my art skills are terrible, and I hired an editor because I believe a book benefits from being professionally edited. I did the formatting myself, and to be honest it was actually kinda fun. With future books I hope to get better at creating front and back matter (the copyright page, about the author, links to other books, maybe excerpts). I admit I rushed that a bit with this book, but for the actual text I made sure everything was correct and it looks very nice.
This is the start of a long and hopefully very rewarding journey. I’m working to get two more books out by the end of the year, and I have a rough plan for 2013 as well.
While I was uploading at B&N, I discovered something interesting, but I think I’ll save that for another post.
Here’s the blurb for Through The Fire:
Love is stronger than Hell.
The demon Xemriel spends his life killing disobedient wizards and hopes to lead his Master’s army in the coming war. Then he sets eyes on the achingly familiar Sahyuri and everything changes. He needs to find out why neither of them can remember their past and what their strong connection means. His searches turn up more questions than answers, but then a night of passion brings their memories crashing back.
Before meeting Xemriel, Sahyuri’s life was full of bitter hatred at her lowly position and the struggle to move up in rank. Now all she wants is Xemriel — and freedom. Her Master stands in the way of both and escaping him isn’t going to be easy. She’s got a plan, though, and it will give her more power than she imagined.
Xemriel and Sahyuri shared a life together before their Master tore them apart and erased their memories. This time nothing will stand in their way. Risky deals with rival demons, stealing power from a magical artifact, starting a war in Hell … they will do anything to be together. Their rare connection gives them a power few can match, but it might not be enough for both of them to get out alive.