Torquere Press' Happy Hour's Journal

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Thank you and good night!
Don't forget the contest, which is running until midnight tomorrow! There have been two great responses and one intriguing teaser so far...I can't wait to see what else shows up!

And "Troubles" is available this Saturday from Torquere!

Contest Time!
When I was last here, back in April, I had people submit pictures from a royalty-free stock photo site, and I wrote very short stories to go along with them. (In case you missed it, the results are here.)

This time, I'm switching things up. Below the cut is an intriguing summer-themed picture I found on the same stock photo site. It's up to you to tell me what's going on. Make it funny, make it sad, make it romantic, whatever strikes your fancy, and post it here between now and midnight Eastern tomorrow. (5 AM GMT Friday.) If creativity overwhelms you and the story is too long for a comment, you can email it to me.

If you're a newbie writer (or not a writer at all), fear not. I won't be judging the entries on merit, but every story will be entered into a random draw to win an advance copy of "Troubles" and an extra-special bonus prize (since I'm making you work so hard and all.) It would be nice if someone new could win, but I know there are a core group of participants around here, and I don't want to discourage anyone from entering just because they've won from me before!

( On to the picture (worksafe)... )

So get busy! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

An excerpt to get started...
I was featured on the Yahoo Social group's "Ask the Author" day last week, where I posted about my upcoming release "Troubles."

In case you missed it, "Troubles" is set in the early 1990s, when the world is in the middle of a crippling economic recession. Belfast-born London bartender Donal Cassidy is trying to make his way in life, when a new man unexpectedly comes onto the scene.

( Shown here... )

This is one of the first Single Shots to have one of the new personalized covers. I like it!

Good morning!
I'll be in and out today, mostly promoting my new Taste Test, "Troubles", which is being released Saturday. I'll have a few snippets from some upcoming stories as well, so stay tuned!

To start us off, since it's finally a nice day here, what are some of your favourite summer activities? Reading on the beach? Barbecuing? Even (gasp) camping?

Contest! And goodnight!
Sorry, saw family that I haven't seen in a decade plus, so there was a bit of a diversion...

I'm going to close the night with a contest! Kara's Kiwi Khallenge #2. All answers can be found through google, or by checking out my Torquere Books page.

1. What is Amiri's long-time partner's name?
2. What is the name of the New Zealand Christmas Tree?
3. Whangarei is north or south of Auckland?

Bonus: What is the Maori name for Mt. Eden in Auckland?

Answers are due by midnight Wednesday night, PST. Email them to karalarsonwrites@gmail.com. A winner will be chosen randomly from those who get all the questions right. :)

It's been fun! Thank you for all those great states to prompt me to write more. Believe it or not, I've never been to any of those. ;) That'll all change as of Thursday...

Snippet: Defining Right: The Page of Pentacles
Amiri's had a hard life. He's tried to find the right boyfriend, but none of them seem to fit. Back in the beginning, he kissed around a bit, trying to find the right guy, the right page of pentacles to complete his outlook on life.

( Worksafe - Amiri and Tane )

This is a prequel of sorts to "And a Chook" and "Sliding Down the Pohutukawa Root", telling the story of how Amiri came to live in Auckland with Auntie Moana. Defining Right: The Page of Pentacles is available here.

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it...
Kara, you have the conn...

Whoo! I am in control of the TQ social LJ today! I'm also moving cross-country in two days AND celebrating a new release. It's a whole day of fantasticness!

So, to start off the morning, we're going to play a bit of cross-country fic bingo. We'll follow that off with snippets of Defining Right: The Page of Pentacles, and end the day with an other edition of Kara's Kiwi Khallenge, to win your very own copy of Defining Right.

Moving on to the cross-country fic bingo. How we play:

Name a state in the US.
If I've been there, I'll write a fic that takes place in that state.
if I haven't been there, I'll write a fic that takes place in that state.

Feel free to include some of my characters, like Amiri and Graeme from Family Matters, or Kit and Drew from At the Sign of the Ancestors, or anyone else on my backlist.

Let the games begin!

Excerpt: "Scarred Silk," from the upcoming TQ Toybox, "Silk"
I also have a story in the upcoming Torquere "Silk" Toybox called, "Scarred Silk." In it, Alec is a model who's career was cut short after a brutal attack. He lost everything that day...his career, his looks, and his lover, Kale. When Kale suddenly appears after a long absence, Alec must find a way to recover his lost memories, and maybe, a heart he'd thought dead forever.

( Click for a peek at )

Excerpt from "First of Foot, Right of the Line"
Here's an excerpt from "First of Foot, Right of the Line," in the newly released anthology, "Cherry," available at Torquere Press!

( Click for F.B. and Matt! )

Morning...zzz
I rolled out of bed this morning, and made the mistake of glancing in the mirror hanging on the wall on the way into the kitchen.

Damn, I'm freaking scary at this hour.

Mornings must be an inside joke of the cosmos. Somewhere, someone is watching me stumble around in all my red-eyed, drool-encrusted, hair-sticking-straight-up-in-defiance-of-gravity splendor and laughing their celestial ass off.

In any case, I was supposed to host this journal last Sunday, but had a brain meltdown and totally forgot. Monday morning I woke up with a sick feeling, the kind I used to get when I was in grade school and woke up in the morning realizing I'd forgotten to do my homework the night before. Believe me, there's nothing more frightening to a second-grader than the gleam in a nun's eye when she's meting out punishment for not having written out the multiplication table a couple of dozen times. I still have nightmares about it.

Anyway, I'm here today, instead, trying to flood my system with caffeine, and not fall face-first onto my keyboard.

I do have a new story out this week. It's called "First of Foot, Right of the LIne," and is in the "Cherry" anthology just released last Wednesday. For those readers who might remember them, I've brought F.B. and Matt out to play again in this one. :) I'll have an excerpt coming up shortly!

Kiernan

Weekend's here!
It's time for the weekend, which means... that Dianne and I will STILL BE EDITING... But, it was nice to check in. I hope everyone has a great weekend. :) Dianne and I have two releases upcoming:

Pit Road: Training Wheels will be available on 25th July: Somebody needs to teach the guys at the track how to keep the cars out of the wall, and Sully's boss thinks Denny's just the man for the job. Denny's not so sure, though, and it takes all the patience and strength Sully has to prove to Denny they're doing the right thing.

Renovations 6: Coming Home will be available on 29th of July: Ven has strong beliefs about commitment: no matter what the law says, he wants to marry his man. But to make his plan to pop the question work, he needs the support of his family, Toby's family, and Toby's ex-wife, Brenda. And he has to do it while renovating his future in-laws' house...

We'll be back to see you before you know it! Feel free to look us up any time before then. :) We love to hear from readers.

(PS: Missed the free (NWS) fiction? It's right here.)

Coming out of Pit Road
On Saturday, July 25, the last Pit Road story will be released. Training Wheels brings Sully and Denny to the resolution of the issues they've been dealing with since Denny's racing accident a year ago.

Training Wheels isn't the end of the road for Denny and Sully, though. It simply sets them on the path toward all new issues to be dealt with. It's not life without a bit of a struggle! We definitely plan on revisiting Denny and Sully later, to show how they cope with their new set of problems, but that will be within the bounds of a new series. With the release of Training Wheels, Pit Road's story will be complete.

So, what stories make up Pit Road? Here they are, in order:

"Support System" in Toy Box: Slings
--Denny is a sprint car driver stuck at home dealing with multiple surgeries and endless physical therapy after an accident on the track. When his secret boyfriend and team mechanic shows up, everything changes.
[Excerpt]

"Home Team" in Toy Box: Kitchen Sink
--Sully was only supposed to stay for a couple days, but when he sees how messed up Denny is, he can't just up and leave again. He likes to fix things, and he's good at it, but Denny's not so good at letting somebody -- even Sully -- fix him.
[Excerpt]

Percussive Maintenance
--Denny doesn't think Sully should be hanging around, waiting on him to get better, but Sully doesn't want anyone but Denny, and he comes up with some creative ways to show Denny just what he thinks of Denny trying to push him away.
[Excerpt]

Heating Up
--Denny's leg is getting worse, not better, but he's still not ready to let Sully come with him to hear what the doctor has to say. When Sully shows him that what they have isn't anybody's business but theirs, Denny finds the strength to let Sully in.
[Excerpt]

Oil Change
--After his latest surgery, Denny wants to show Sully how much he appreciates what Sully does for him, and he wants to find a way to take a bit of Sully's burden. What he ends up with instead is the realization that he's been looking at Sully all wrong.
[Excerpt]

Out to Lunch
--Denny's on the mend, but he's still skittish about being seen in public with Sully. He wants to spend some quality time with his man, though, and taking Sully out to lunch seems like a good start.
[Excerpt]

Southern Comfort
--When his mother falls ill, Sully tries not to panic. Denny's there to support him, but Sully can't help worrying that the stress of being with Sully's family -- who all know Sully's queer as a two dollar bill and about as in love with Denny as a body can be -- will rip Denny up. Denny's strong enough for both of them, though, and by the end of the ordeal, they've both come to some important realizations about their relationship.
[Excerpt]

Training Wheels
--Somebody needs to teach the guys at the track how to keep the cars out of the wall, and Sully's boss thinks Denny's just the man for the job. Denny's not so sure, though, and it takes all the patience and strength Sully has to prove to Denny they're doing the right thing.

And here's a sneak peek of Training Wheels to get your gears turning:

( Sunday morning, just past dawn. )

Good morning!
Did I beat Dianne to the posting this morning? I think I did!

We're in final edits on the next Pandora Project story, which is so exciting. This one features some new characters (giving Sender and Elios a break for a little while) and a lighter tone. You'll have a chance to get out into deep space, meet Pandora, learn more about the cultures that make up the Auriga's population, and make some new friends. We're very fond of all the characters in the next story, including the anti-social and irascible engineer responsible for Sender's and Macy's Harpies. I'm a sucker for a soft-centered grump.

Your stories of your worst summer ever make me long for the climate-controlled future! Would you miss the extremes of summer and winter, rain and drought if you moved out to a carefully engineered colony in space? Are we going to take our weather with us? I often think that if we could manage to do so, we'd definitely keep sunshowers and rainbows.

Until tomorrow!
Tomorrow, Dianne and I will be back. It's a lovely, cool summer where we are, though the young people are complaining vigorously about the lack of heat. I have to disagree with them. I like it boring.

What was your WORST summer day? I can't decide between the multi-day power outage in the heat of summer or maybe it was the heatwave the week before we had the AC installed when I was sitting in a baby pool full of ice water in the living room. ...so many choices. Maybe the campout when I got sick from so many mosquito bites... we stopped counting at 20 on each arm and leg. What about you?

Renovations I: Framework
Anah and I absolutely love our Renovations series. Ven and Toby hold special places in our hearts, and we've felt absolutely blessed that so many of you have taken a shine to them, too.

As some of you already know, Anah and I have been given the opportunity to collect the Renovations stories into two print collections. The first of those collections, Renovations I: Framework is now available, and includes:

Renovations 1: Flipping Out
Renovations 2: Playing House
Renovations: Making Time
Renovations 3: Moving Day
and the special bonus novelette, "A Renovations Addition: Counting Blessings," which picks up where Moving Day left off.

Now, Anah and I were just talking about how we wanted to share something from the collection with y'all, and we thought you might like a sneak peek at that bonus story I mentioned. So here's an excerpt from "A Renovations Addition: Counting Blessings."

( Do you boys want some more pie before I'm done in here? )

The second print collection, Renovations II: Foundation, will be available in September, and it'll include a bonus story, too...

Friends with Benefits: Free Fiction (NWS)
Jamie and Riaz are best friends who keep busy with all the usual things life has to offer a pair of young men, while sharing a house just outside of town. They also (now) have a bit of an agreement, that their friendship can include all the benefits that one could dream up, but being best friends comes first. The links below lead to the (NWS) stories that came first.

http://foxwrites.com/?p=455 "Life in the Country"
http://foxwrites.com/?p=458 "The Clothes Make the Man...Crazy!"
http://foxwrites.com/?p=460 "The Gift That Keeps On Giving"

"Exactly Right" is a short story that adds another chapter to their little saga. Poor Jamie is pining because his ex is getting married, and at the same time he's almost dreading Riaz's attempt to cheer him up. They may be best friends, but Riaz can be a bit too much of a boy for Jamie's tastes. It turns out that neither of them is correct in their assumptions about the whole situation. (The first little bit of this story appeared in TOTS "Blue Monday" last month, but here it is in its entirety!)

EXACTLY RIGHT
Anah Crow & Dianne Fox

Jamie shoved the photos into the shoebox he'd dragged out of the closet and flopped back on the bed. Dammit. Steve wasn't supposed to up and get married like this, little gold-foil wedding announcements and everything. And Jamie wasn't supposed to be left feeling all bitter and mopey about it. He'd gotten over Steve a long time ago; he was supposed to be happy for Steve.

And yet, here he was, all alone and staring at old photos of them together, way back when Jamie'd still been the type to fall head-over-heels. Not that he wasn't still that type, but back then, he'd been a lot more honest about it. Now, he was stuck being head-over-heels in love with his best friend. Live-in best friend. Best friend with benefits, even, so Jamie shouldn't have had a damn thing to complain about, but he wanted more. He wanted the stupid fucking white picket fence and the happily ever after and he couldn't say a word about it.

And what made it all even better -- worse -- was that said best friend, Riaz, wasn't even home to notice that Jamie was moping, watching My Best Friend's Wedding and eating ice cream straight from the tub like a woman who'd been dumped.

Jamie was moping so hard, he must've blocked out the sound of Riaz's car pulling up, or maybe they'd lived together so long that the sound was just part of the background noise by now. The front door popping open startled him into swallowing a huge spoonful of ice cream before he was ready for it. "Lucy, I'm home!" Riaz, still out of sight downstairs, sounded cheerful as hell.

Jamie jammed the spoon into the soggy tub of ice cream and sighed, then rolled to put it on the bedside table and hit the pause button on the remote. Julia Roberts stopped mid-word and Jamie flopped onto his belly. Stupid Riaz, being all happy. It wasn't like Jamie could even tell Riaz what he was so depressed about; Riaz wouldn't understand, would just feel pressured. Besides, Riaz's idea of 'cheering up' involved football -- the kind with the round ball -- and a lot of beer. Jamie wasn't interested.

( Jamie knew what he wanted. )

Good morning, sunshine!
Anah Crow and I will be your gracious, entertaining hosts for today (and tomorrow!), and we have lots to show you!

Taste Test: K9

To start us off, I wanted to share an excerpt from one of our most recent stories. "Heightened Senses" appears in the K9 Taste Test, and our story puts a bit of a different twist on the idea of canine shapeshifters.

Samson has been away for the first time since he was assigned to Jasper, and he's more than a little wound up about finally coming back. What he finds, though, isn't what he expected at all.

( The house was empty. )

Contest Winners

Hello again! I'm just sneaking in (with permission from one of today's hosts) to post the winners of yesterday's contest. There were so many entries I chose two winners (random drawing, btw…I put them in a bowl). The winners are

gaycrow and

jl_merrow. Congratulations! Please contact me at…

…with your email address and format preference (you'll get pdf by default, if not otherwise specified) and I'll get your copy of Another Dream right out to you!

Thank you to all who played along yesterday! :-D

Current Mood: giddy

Thank You & Goodnight :-]

Thank you all so much for playing along with me today--you've been great! This is my last post for the day. I believe Anah Crow & Dianne Fox will be entertaining you tomorrow and Friday.

This is your final reminder, if you haven't scrolled back to the contest post, you have until tomorrow (7/9/09) at 8:00 AM CDT (GMT minus 5) to post your entry into the contest. There have been a number of entries so I'll be giving away at least two copies, so keep on entering!

For a final send off I'm going to give you a short prequel scene to Another Dream that you will not find in the book. This is a little thank-you bonus for you.

( Another Dream Mini-Prequel )

Current Mood: tired

Midnight Encounter!

Whew! Well, it's done. Here are the words I was given (I used them all):

lilygcs - thunderstorm, condo, purple, antique
akmmiles - elbow, frantic, ridiculous, preserves
winnie_jerome - doppelganger, Schadenfreude, regeneration, Excalibur

This ficlet is not another "Ben and Jerry" installment. These words drew me back to a couple of ficlets I'd written called "Midnight Encounter". You don't necessarily need to read the first two installments to follow along here, but if you want to, this is where you can find them on my website:

Ficlet #008 - Midnight Encounter
Ficlet #013 - Midnight Encounter Part 2

OR, you can skip all the clicking and read those first two installments, plus the new one that can be found behind the cut, all together on this one handy PDF document.

( Midnight Encounter - Part 3 )

Current Mood: accomplished