Blog hop

February 15, 2014 0 comments

Saturday stuff: happenings; hop; new stove; Harvey Birdman

Okay. Hopefully I’ve managed to wrangle all the commenters and everything. A couple of people didn’t give me their preferred format, so I’m going to have to hunt them down (full on safari style).

Other than that, this hop has been going great. Thank you to everyone that has entered. I love you!

Btw, I found out I could export my feedback for various posts as a .csv file, which has been extremely helpful.

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Cool shizz: my dad bought me a brand new electric cook stove with a glass range top and a self-cleaning, coil-free oven. It’s so beautiful that I want to marry it and have its stovey babies.

I may have cried a bit when I saw it. Wonderful gift.

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I’ve broken out my old Harvey Birdman DVDs and I’ve been enjoying rewatching them. They really are very good. Especially since Harvey Birdman is voiced by Gary Cole (not Gary Coleman, but the guy from Brady Bunch and Office Space) and the other man star is Stephen Colbert. That’s right. The man hisself 😛

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Title: Faizel 02
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Deacon
Genre: mm paranormal romance

EXCERPT —

He could feel dawn approaching, an encroaching unease across his every nerve, and wrapped himself closer against Faizel, never wanting to let go. He had never loved another as much as he did Faizel.

He fretted that someone would discover his secret and Faizel would be taken from him. To be used and abused, or worse, killed as an Abomination.

For once Charlemagne wished that he was stronger. He finally had something worth protecting, and he was weak. It had never bothered him that he was the meat of stronger Masters until now. Until Faizel had given to him his love.

“I will protect you,” he whispered. He let his hands make promises against Faizel’s bare skin.

“Or perhaps I will protect you.”

Once again Charlemagne swallowed back his instinctive fear. Faizel did not understand how dangerous and subversive their enemies could be. Charlemagne had protected him from the world outside, had watered down the horrors that existed outside of the apartment’s safety.

“I think that you would try and that frightens me,” Charlemagne said. “I could not bear to see you hurt for my sake.”

Faizel propped himself up on his elbows so he was above Charlemagne looking down. “And I don’t like you being hurt at all. I don’t like how Isadore or the others treat you. I don’t like that you let them abuse you and you don’t even imagine a world where things could be better.” He leaned close, his nose almost touching Charlemagne’s, his eyes fervent. “You are beautiful and gentle, yes, but you are also stronger than you dare to show.”

Charlemagne was humbled. “You have such faith in me.”

“Because you have none in yourself. You don’t see what I see when I look at you: the strength, the spirit, the fact that you could be so much more than you allow yourself to be. If you would only fight for what should be yours, you could be great.”

Charlemagne felt hypnotized by the fire in Faizel’s eyes, the pure conviction. He had never had so much faith focused on him, raw belief that he could be greater if he only wanted it enough.”

“I look at you and I don’t see a lesser master Made to serve others,” Faizel said. “I see an uncrowned king.”

Charlemagne gasped and flipped them over on the bed, pressing the fingers of one hand against Faizel’s lips to silence him. “Do not say such a thing. If anyone were to hear …”

Faizel pushed his hand away. “You are the only one here to listen and I hope that you do. Take my words to heart: you are so much more than you’ve let yourself be. you have greatness in you if you would only accept it.”

“You think too much of me.”

“And you don’t think about yourself enough,” Faizel said. “It makes me sad.”

Charlemagne wanted to tell Faizel that he was being foolish. He prepared himself to destroy the illusions Faizel had about his strength. But dawn was no longer approaching.

“It’s here,” Charlemagne whispered.

He slumped against the bed, shifting himself so he lay alongside Faizel as his body turned to dead-weight.

Dimly he felt a kiss pressed against his forehead and a brush of fingers through his hair. “I wish that you could see what I see when I look at you. If only you could believe in yourself a little bit.”

Charlemagne hated that hint of despair in Faizel’s voice. Hated that he had disappointed his only love by not being the well of strength he desired.

Then he knew nothing at all.

/EXCERPT

February 10, 2014 26 comments

Valentine’s Day Gift Hop

Valentine’s Day is here again, another chance for coupley romance, or another night spent hanging out with the rest of the Lonely Hearts Club. Either way, it’s a time of year when chalky candy hearts taste a little bit sweeter and their messages of “CALL ME” and “LET’S GET TOGETHER” seem a bit more apt.

Valentine’s is the time of year when everyone hopes to receive a card and some candy from the person they like the most. Or jewelry, if you’ve already caught that special someone. It’s a time of candlelight and romance, when the temperatures are low outside but the heat is kept warm inside. It’s a time of curling up with a willing partner, or going to bed with a good book or a movie.

And this year, it’s a chance to enjoy the Valentine’s Day Gift Hop and all of the great prizes being handed out. Including a Kindle Paperwhite and a new adult romance basket.

So use the form or comment below, saying whether you would prefer an m/m or m/f short story, and on February 16th you’ll receive an email.

Entries are for adults 18+, stories may contain explicit sexual situations and adult language. They are Valentine’s themed romance, no BDSM or kink warning, featuring consenting adults.

Remember to leave a comment to be entered into the grand prize drawing. I’ll try to catch any stragglers, but you don’t want to miss out on a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite or a gift basket of fabulous romance ebooks.

December 19, 2013 16 comments

Mistletoe Hop: Dec 20-23

Christmas Trees. Holiday Music. Sugar Cookies. Glitter and Bows. And Best Of All … the Mistletoe. Romance books enhance our holiday traditions. Who doesn’t love to cuddle under a warm blanket near a fire place on a cold day and read? Hop around with us to celebrate the best romance books of the season.

Read excerpts from some good books. Enter each of the author contests. Tell us what you like to read during the holidays. Find some new-to-you authors to ring in the New Year with.

For the Mistletop Hop I’m giving out eight copies of my newest collection “Shorts and Squares: Jagged Blade.”

As the title suggests, it’s a collection of short stories and vignettes. Included are a couple of Human Pets Verse vignettes like the excerpt, and the short story Black Friday which is set in the Heroes & Villains universe and features a young pre-Starburst Vereint Georges.

Most of the stories are gen, though there are some genhet, mm, and ff. Hopefully there’s something for everyone 🙂 There’s a rafflecopter after the excerpt, so please feel free to enter. Otherwise, follow the Linky at the bottom and check out the rest of the hop.

Good luck to everyone, and happy holidays!

Reef had been alone with only alien company for so long he thought he’d already lost his mind. There were some days when he had to force himself up out of bed, fearful of what would happen if he was thought to be sick. He really didn’t want to be put down.

He forced himself up and was cheerful and affectionate toward the Owner. It earned him tasty treats and lavish attention that were a lot better than the old mattress pad and dry kibble he’d had to put up with at the pet shop. The Owner would feed him real food, meat and vegetables, and even though everything was blandly prepared, it was positively gourmet when compared to the kibble and tepid water. He could almost get himself to believe that everything was going to be okay.

It was strange to think that he’d been free once. He’d been a kid with parents and a house and a future that had stretched before him with possibility. He’d still thought humans were going to turn it around, right up until he was marched onto a ship and sold on the galactic slave market. And then he’d learned to follow the commands he was given and keep his head down.

The Owner wasn’t so bad. He was one of the big furry bear ones versus the more sinister lizard ones that had conquered Earth and eaten his parents. The Owner had seemed to think Reef was fascinating and exotic; for the first few months he’d constantly checked what Reef thought was a book on pets. He’d read a few pages and then try to teach Reef simple tricks.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Reef could understand what the Owner was saying, but his ears just weren’t built to handle the bear speech. Every once and a while he could make out a sound or two, but for the most part he just saw that mouth open and close and he had to figure out what was happening from the rather erratic gestures.

Reef had taken to teaching the Owner various broad gestures that he’d decided would mean certain things. He wished he could use sign language, but he didn’t know any and he wasn’t sure the Owner would pay attention anyway.

Over the past two years he’d come to realize that the Owner was some kind of rich socialite or something. His clothes were different from other bear-things and the way he held himself was different. He also seemed to be really attractive to some others of his species, because there were always dozens of males and females hanging around and Reef was pretty sure there was sex happening in the house when he was locked in his kennel. And to the Owner, Reef was a purse dog.

Reef had seen the way humans and animals from Earth were treated. He guessed they were so new on the market that they cost a lot of money and were currently some kind of status symbol. Only the richest of aliens were buying them. He supposed he should be flattered that he’d cost a ton of money, but mostly Reef just wished he could go home.

Until the day he found himself being led on his leash through some kind of market and the Owner took him to a fenced in area full of people. He’d never imagined how emotional it would be to see other human faces. He’d nearly forgotten what a face other than his own looked like.

He was momentarily frightened that he was being resold. He liked being the Owner’s pet. It was so much better than being locked in a small cage at the pet shop, shivering and naked as only purchased humans were allowed clothes. Then he realized that the Owner was going to buy another human. He wouldn’t have to be alone.

From the gesture the Owner made, Reef saw that he was supposed to help pick the new human. He was being allowed to choose his new companion. It was a frightening and heady prospect. Who was he supposed to save? How was he supposed to know who he would get along with from this desperate group of strangers? He almost wanted to turn away.

“Reef! Is that you, Reef Galloway?”

Reef traced the shouts and his breath caught for a second. Then he screamed, “Ryan!”

The other was older than the last time they’d seen each other and seemed to have filled out some in the interim, but there was no doubt in his mind that that was Ryan Bellows. The boy he’d had a crush on back before the end of the world.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

December 11, 2013 4 comments

Winter Warmers Giveaway Hop: Dec 12-16

As everyone knows, I love books. From the time I was nine years old, books have been one of the biggest parts of my life, not just the reading of them, but the writing of them. And when I was fourteen years old, I discovered my first romance novel, The Prize by Julie Garwood.

With time, I grew up and discovered other romance authors — Jude Deveraux, Amanda Quick, Susan Elizabeth Phillips — and I’ve found my tastes focusing on happily ever afters where everyone gets their prince or princess. Maybe my vision of the way things should be is shaded by rose-colored glass, but that’s what I want to read, that’s mostly what I want to write (there’s been a few angstfests that have crept up on me), and that’s what I wish the real world was like.

Books have always been an escape for me, a freedom from a harsher reality. It’s the reason why I mostly avoid so-called “realistic” stories featuring heroes that are reformed sex offenders, drug dealers, or just all around skeevy people. Because I’ve seen those stories play out in real life and they never end well. I want my bad people to fully embrace the fact that they’re bad people, not sugarcoat their acts of evil as being for the greater good or whatever. As such, my villains are gleefully villainous, my heroes are firmly antiheroic, and more often than not everything ends with a kiss, a happy ever after, and at least one person finds the someone or something they want to spend the rest of their life with.

There’s nothing like curling up with a sugary sweet romance novel and reading about someone finding their happily ever after.

Here’s my backlist. Leave a comment with the book you’d like to receive, and I will choose a winner using Random.org. (Not all are romance, or contain romantic elements.) The ebook will be presented through a Smashwords coupon, but if you don’t want to make an account, let me know what format you read (Mobi, PDF, Epub) and I’ll send you the ebook direct.
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And this is my attempt at writing first person. Feel free to judge. I’ve probably said it all myself. The narrator is a woman, the eventual relationship is f/f/m.

Once when I was young I fell in love and it was like tumbling into the sea. The waves caught me and pulled me down and before I knew it I was completely wrapped up in the girl I loved.

She was beautiful and smart and seeing her always made my heart beat fast. She could dry up my throat quicker than anything and for the longest time my every glimpse of her left me completely tongue-tied.

I loved her so much. I thought it was always going to be forever. The way I felt about her, it had to be real.

My feelings were honest and true, hers not so much. She chewed me up and spit me out, cheating on me several times. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to realize that I was nothing but a game to her, and then I only understood after she’d tired of playing.

She hurt me more than anything before or since. I’ve sworn off love; love is for saps and losers. It’s better to wander free and play the field than to settle down with someone that’s just going to hurt me.

I’m not a fool.

“Clarity, what are you doing?”

I gave Adam a smile. “Daydreaming.”

I pushed out his chair with my foot, waving a hand at the spot across from me. I’d been holding his seat and had already earned myself the stink eye from several other people in the breakroom. Whatever. They could deal.

“Daydreaming about what?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I was just reaffirming my vow to never love again.”

He made a moue. “There will be so many guys sobbing from the heartbreak.”

“They’d be crying anyway.” I lowered my voice for him alone, “I don’t drive stick.”

Adam’s eyes went wide and he made a “Really?” hand gesture. I nodded.

“Whoa,” he said, raking a hand through his spiky hair. “I just need a moment to process that into my memory banks.”

“You’re a nerd,” I teased.

He puffed out his chest and stroked an invisible goatee. “You better believe it. And I’m dragging you with me when I go to Sakura-con. So you better be ready to sync vacations with me.”

I gave him an OK sign. “I will let you dress me up in full anime style. It is not a problem.” I’d been jealous when he’d gone to Sakura-con last year, but we’d just met then. Getting an invite this time … That was pretty damn awesome.

That’s the thing about Adam. Somehow he’s become my best friend and I’m still not quite sure how it happened. One minute he was just some guy I’d seen around work, the next we were eating lunch together in the breakroom and going to see movies on our days off.

I’d never had a friendship happen so easily before.

It’s my nature. I’m naturally very standoffish and I have a severe lack of social skills. It’s my curse that while people are attracted to my appearance, one conversation and they’re running for the hills.

Adam could listen to me babble for hours about movies or video games or just whatever random thought passed through my head, and he always seemed incredibly interested. He was comfortable to be around, though for some reason some of our co-workers really didn’t like him. A few had even tried to warn me that he was bad news, which I took to be sour grapes because he was young and good looking and his father was big in the company, like the number five or something.

That was another thing about Adam. I would have thought the kid of one of the bosses would be bringing it up all the time and just be a total nuisance. Not Adam. He was making his own way, and though he talked to his dad everyday, it was usually about things outside of work, like the garden Adam’s dad, Gary, was trying to put together. From what I understand, it’s not going too well.

“I’ll start thinking about costumes.” Adam pulled his phone out of the breast pocket of his blue uniform shirt and happily wrote himself a note. “We are going to blow everyone away. We are going to be internet famous when our pictures get around.”

“Nothing *too* sexy,” I warned. The last thing I wanted was my dad to see me in a bikini or something, covered in bodypaint. He would lose his ever loving mind.

Adam waved his right hand at me while he continued to text with his left. “Eat your food. I’m almost done here.”

I sighed and focused on the tray in front of me: stuffed cabbage, cherry tomatoes, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, and a plastic tumbler full of unsweetened iced tea. It was all leftovers from the buffet, recycled to feed the full-time employees their one mandatory meal per shift.

Even though it wasn’t food I would have bought with money, I ate. There was no sense wasting it and I was going to be hungry as my shift progressed. Besides, once I shook on the Choloula sauce it wasn’t so bad, though I would have much preferred Sriracha instead.

As I ate I watched Adam enjoy himself playing with his phone. He would turn the odd comment my way and I would nod or grunt or give him a thumb’s up depending.

Having a friend in my life–even if it was pathetically enough just the one–was making the whole “I’m never going to fall in love again” vow a lot more bearable.

Peace, love, joy,
~Harper Kingsley
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