Category Archives: writing

August Blog Chain

By | |
6 Comments

It’s that time of the month again- AW‘s blog chain is here!!! lol What did you think I meant?!?! My flash fiction piece is below. At the end is a list of the other participant’s blogs where their flash fiction pieces will be. It’s a kinda cool topic this month, so go read some of the others.

 

This month’s prompt:
Child of the devil

Whether the devil be literal, figurative, or Cruella. As always, can be prose, poetry, play, fiction, nonfiction.

Instructions:
Simply post your blog’s URL in this thread to join. I’ll let you know in this thread when it’s your turn. Once your turn comes up, you have two days to complete a blog post using the prompt. When you are finished, please add a link to your post on the thread.

1000 words or less

Date Night at the Devil’s House

“Don’t scare Trevor, dad,” she told her father. Then she turned to Trevor. “Don’t let dad scare you. I’ll only be a second grabbing my wrap.”

She turned and walked out of the room confident the two she’d left behind would get along. Her surety lasted only so long as it took to grab her wrap from her room and return. She almost walked into a low yet heartfelt discussion.

“I promise I only have the utmost respect for your daughter, sir.” She heard Trevor say so earnestly, it almost colored the room.

“Don’t stay out past her curfew. And if I find out that you’ve laid one single hand on my daughter, I promise I’ll make your life hell.” Her dad’s tone of voice was even, which was incongruous with the words he’d spoken.

She didn’t doubt her dad would make any guy who hurt her regret it. Could possibly make that guy’s life a living hell if he desired. Literally. He was the Lord of the Underworld. The proverbial devil- with a capital D,  after all. Satan. Beelzebub. And a host of other really odd sounding and spelled names.

She’d long ago given up the hope of having a second date with any guy while she still lived at home. Most guys took her out once.

Before meeting her dad, they would be all excited to have her agree to a date. Then they would meet her dad. Not wanting to offend him, they couldn’t very well turn tail and run on the spot. So invariably the date would proceed. But it would proceed in the sense that the guy would treat her like his kid sister and not an almost adult female. A few had given her a chaste kiss goodbye. Most just said ‘see ya later’ and then ran-walked as fast as they could far, far away from her and her house and her dad.

In the beginning, she’d just thought the guys were being nice in a gentlemanly sort of way. But as she waited and waited and then waited some more for a phone call about a second date, she’d finally gotten a clue they hadn’t been nice or gentlemanly. No, they’d been petrified of her father.

At first, her feelings had been hurt. But over time, she’d realized that such spineless ninnies weren’t for her anyway. Still, she’d wished that at least one of them had had a backbone. Seriously, was every guy such a wuss? Apparently, all the ones that came into her sphere of existence were.

Trevor would be the same. She had no doubt he would be like all the others. After overhearing her dad’s spiel, she at least understood why her other dates had all but peed themselves.

Resigned, she stepped back into the front room where Trevor was standing close to her father.

“I’m ready,” she said in a cheerful manner that belied her certainty that this date would be like all the others and just fizzle.

“I forgot to tell you that you looked fabulous, Lily,” Trevor said.

He walked over to her, pretended to help adjust her wrap and then kissed her lightly on the cheek.

She was so surprised by his actions, she couldn’t form a reply.

Her dad looked murderous. Whether it was because she was in the room, her dad kept his silence, however, just glowering in his dadly way. On anybody else, the the smoke coming out his nose would have been hypothetical. But since her dad was her dad, he had real little puffs of smoke coming out of his nostrils. Not a lot. But enough for her to know he was ticked.

She’d have to talk to him later. It wasn’t as if she were a child. She was 17 after all and a kiss on the cheek was pretty damn tame compared to some of the stories she’d heard from other girls.

She smiled. Maybe this date wasn’t going to be like all the others. It had certainly started out different.

She turned her head slightly so she could look directly into Trevor’s eyes. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Her dad followed her to the door and waited with the door open as they got into the car. As soon as the doors were shut, words tumbled out of her mouth.

“You’re brave, you know.”

“Not really. But if I had let him see I was afraid it would have colored our relationship.”

“Yeah? How?”

“I just wanted him to know he could care about you but so can I. Plus, it was a man thing. Trust me, he’ll respect me more for it and next time I come pick you up, he’ll be less intense.”

“Seriously? Is there like a handbook on this?”

“Nah. It’s just that my dad behaved like your dad when my sisters were dating. I figured it out then.”

“You’re dad’s a dick too?”

Trevor laughed. “Not normally. But the guys my sisters would date thought so. Until they started bring home guys he couldn’t intimidate. Then he chilled.”

“Great,” she muttered. “Wished I’d figured that out ages ago.”

Trevor broke out into a full on smile then. “No way, babe. Then you might’ve been taken when I was ready to ask you out. Besides, your dad’s gonna be more pissed when he figures out who my dad is.”

“Who’s your dad?”

“Michael.”

Well shit. What were the odds?

“Umm, my dad and your dad used to be friends. I overheard my mom talking about it once when she was complaining to her BFF that dad doesn’t get out for a guy’s night out anymore.”

“Yeah, I think they had a falling out.”

“Must have been serious. How long have they been on the outs?”

“A pretty long time,” Trevor told her. “But maybe if we keep going out, we can get them back together again.”

“The world might end if we do.”  Literally.

“True.”

“We’re going out again?” She couldn’t keep the hope and surprise out of her voice.

“Absolutely.”

“Cool.”

 

Participants and posts:

ishtar’sgate – http://chickenscratchbc.blogspot.ca/ (link to post)
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
areteus – http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
BDavidHughes – http://bdavidhughes.com/ (link to post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
articshark – http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post)<———–me
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Anarchic Q – http://anarchicq.com/ (link to post)
meowzbark – http://www.lizzylessard.com/ (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes – http://www.taraquan.com/ (link to post)
grace elliot – http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)

milkweed – http://www.thistlequill.blogspot.com/ (link to post) [after 8/15]

Home Run Release Day Snippet

By | | ,
Comments Off on Home Run Release Day Snippet

So the release day for Home Run was yesterday. I had planned to post a snippet when the book released. But for some reason, my brain told me Home Run was releasing today. I was totally off by a day. lol Go figure. I think my dates got all mixed up because I was at the Nora Roberts Writing Conference and for some reason, my brain juxtaposed the dates. So for whatever reason, the snippet didn’t go out yesterday. Instead, it is being posted today.

The snippet is racy- so BE WARE!

Chapter One

“Put your hands on the wall,” he told her. “Don’t turn around.”

At first she was startled. No one had been in the hallway. No one had been in the room. She was alone. At least she thought she was.

“And if I don’t?” she asked.

“Saucy,” he said. “Well, you know what happens to bad girls, don’t you?”

“Maybe. Tell me and I’ll decide if I want to be good or bad.” He couldn’t see the small smile that played on her face.

“Oh, you’ll want to be good. I have a feeling you’ll like what good girls get.” He punctuated his words with a brief touch of his groin against her ass.

She shivered. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” his voice was close to her ear, the breath whispering by, igniting her sense of want. He bit down gently. Her ear was delicate like everything
about her. His hands slide down the sides of her body, capturing her skirt then his hands slid up. Only this time, his hands held her skirt.

Just the nearness of him and she was ready to explode. She’d been dripping from his first words, his first touch.

She didn’t know it could be like this.

One hand rose to capture her breast over her clothes. It was frustrating. So very frustrating when what she really wanted was his hands on her bare flesh.

That thought disappeared the moment his other hand slipped into her panties.

He purred his approval when he felt how much she wanted him. If she wasn’t with him, she was thinking about him. Plotting when they could be together again. It scared her how much she anticipated when they could be together again.

Home Run Release

By | |
Comments Off on Home Run Release

Home Run released today from Rebel Ink Press. Woohoo!! The blurb and buy links are pasted below. Enjoy.

HomeRun_Cover

Rebel Ink Press
Release date: 8/3/13
Amazon
ARe
Barnes & Noble

Blurb:

Daniela Sinclair is a trust fund baby who believes she can make a difference in the world by making the wishes of sick children come true. Noah Barker is a major league baseball player from a common background who agrees to fulfill a sick child’s wish. Together they burn up the sheets. Unfortunately, they also cause a family member to burn in anger. In a stunning case of betrayal, the home run ending they both envisioned is threatened and they teeter on the brink of striking out.

Websites for Self- Publishers

By | |
Comments Off on Websites for Self- Publishers

There are lot of choices in publishing today. The landscape is changing. One of the myriad of options is self-publishing your work. But don’t cut corners. Can’t stress this enough. If you self-publish, please hire an editor to edit your work. There is nothing worse than reading a good story and tripping over misspelled words and improper syntax. Just because you are doing it yourself doesn’t mean that you should do it sloppy. Like my dad always said, if you’re gonna do something, do it right the first time. Hire an editor. You’ll be glad you did. But more importantly, your readers will be glad you did.

Here is a list of several editors that you can hire to edit your work. The cost varies depending on the level of editing you wish to contract. Fade into Fantasy is editing services by Teresa, an Entangled editor. Between the Line Edits has three editors of varying levels of experience. Alphabet Editing is owned by Sarah Frantz, a Riptide editor. There are many more good editors out there. Search for them. Ask for references. Ask which other books they’ve edited. Ask your questions before you  hire them. Going the independent route necessarily costs more upfront. However, there is no reason that the cost outlay should be worthless. Due diligence on your part should help ferret out the worthless editors. Cause there’s nothing worse than spending good money on shitty service.

Lillie’s Literary Services offers proofreading services. Which is slightly different than editing services and the cost level is different as well. Erin Lark Designs offers stock and custom book cover designs to help round out the professional look and feel of your book. Take the time to search out a variety of different service to make your book the best it can be. Seriously. Google is your friend. Word of mouth is your friend.

Home Run- Snippet 2

By | | ,
Comments Off on Home Run- Snippet 2

Gonna do a snippet a week until my August 3rd release date. Here is number 2. Enjoy!

 

HomeRun_Cover

She blasted Rihanna from the car stereo, pumping out the bass to get her groove going as she belted out the lyrics. Music helped her reset and she wasn’t going to let the other drivers’ stares stop her from enjoying the upgraded stereo she’d chosen for her sporty little Beemer. Her hair was whipping around because she’d rolled down windows and she probably looked ridiculous singing at the top of her lungs. She didn’t care. It made her happy.

She made it to Noah’s netting only a few uptight looks from his closest neighbors. Surely they were skeptical seeing so many women come and go. But Dani had grown up around uptight and she knew the look well. If she had her way, uptight would be a thing of the past for everybody.

Thinking of uptight people always made her think of her parents, the epitome of uptight, snobby and unwelcoming. She wasn’t sure how she had ever grown up in a house so cold, so devoid of laughter, love and joy. Then she thought of spending time with Betty in the kitchen and the answer was right there. Betty was how she had survived. Thank God for Betty.

She wanted to keep Noah and her parents in different spheres so those two worlds didn’t collide or even intersect. Noah was too precious and her parents too relentless. A shudder went through her at what would happen if they ever met. Dani would prevent that for as long as possible even though she knew if she kept dating Noah, a confrontation with her parents would be inevitable.

Her car glided to a stop and as she reached Noah’s front door, he opened it, grabbed her and hustled her inside as fast as her feet allowed.

Guess someone missed me.

Writerly Web Sites

By | |
Comments Off on Writerly Web Sites

So the last time, I focused on sites that helped with the craft of writing, namely editing. Today, I am going to give you a few sites to help with some other things.

First up is David P. Vandagriff‘s Contract Counsel page. He also writes the Passive Voice blog and tweets as Passive guy. Passive guy has breaking news on the business and legal aspects of the writerly life. Both pages that he maintains has a wealth of information about the business of writing. Because, like me, I am assuming that writing is not something being done for the fun of it or as a when I think about it kind of hobby. But rather, because writing AND making some money is the goal. So while I know that it might be more pleasant to focus on the art aspect of writing, don’t do that at the expense of the business of writing. Stay abreast of current happenings. You’ll be glad you did. Plus, if you are unagented and get a big 6 5 publishing contract, he has rates for having a professional look it over for you. Always a good thing.

Next up is Stephie Smith‘s contest chart. Yes, that’s right- contests. At some point, you will need or want or be encouraged to enter your writing in a contest to pitch it in battle against other writerly types. Seriously. Even if you don’t like competition, writing as a business is ALL about competing. When you submit to an agent, you are competing. When an agent or you submits to a publisher, you are competing. When your books get released into the world wide marketplace, you are competing. So take this shit seriously. And along the way, enter a few contests. Not only does this help develop you as a writer- it really does, it also gets your writing much needed exposure. Maybe a few of the judges in the competition see your work. Never hurts. Especially if you are unagented and the judge is from a house that only accepts agented work. This gets your writing which would have never crossed their desk in front of them. And if you win? Sheesh, accolades are never a bad thing.

Last but not least, boys and girls, are writer conferences, retreats and workshops. Stacey O’Neale has a list on her site. It is by no means a comprehensive list. Locus has a conference list and there are several other sites that list lots of these go and learn some crap events. Going to these events serves several purposes. First, there is the networking aspect. You get to meet a lot of people you normally wouldn’t have ever met if you’d stayed in your writing bat cave. Second, you might actually learn some new shit about writing. No one knows everything about how to be a great writer. No one. You can always learn something whether it is an advanced class or a beginners class. Even if you think you already do it correctly, go take an entry level class to reaffirm you are the shit. Or it might show you a new way of doing old shit. And last, writing is about what’s happening IN THE WORLD. Get out from behind your computer and/or desk and go experience some shit so you can incorporate that shit into some new writing. Seriously.

Home Run- Snippet 1

By | | ,
Comments Off on Home Run- Snippet 1

Here is a snippet from Home Run. It’ll be released from Rebel Ink Press August 3, 2013.

HomeRun_Cover

 

Noah was amazingly magnetic. She fully understood why women stood in line for a night with him. In addition to his personality, he was ruggedly handsome. But it was his mouth that set him apart from most other handsome men. It was surprisingly lush and full, almost but not quite feminine. His good looks combined with his soft heart for sick kids were a lethal combination and Dani wasn’t immune.

That same care he showed Juan then was how he took care of her now. He remembered the big things but he paid special attention to the small things and that set him apart from other men she’d dated. It was the beginning of the steamiest, yet sweetest, relationship she’d ever had.

He was addictive. But he was a complication. Her parents would surely hate him.

Open Road Release

By | |
Comments Off on Open Road Release

HotRodsHotBods_200

Open Road Release on Jupiter Gardens Press today.
AllRomance
Coffee Time Romance
Amazon

 

Here’s the blurb:

Zoe Akio is a professional dirt bike racer who decides to ride her motorcycle across the country and think about a future post motocross racing. Her manager hires two bodyguards, Deke and Nathan, to travel with her. The three weeks with the three of them in close quarters changes all of their lives as a new, unexpected road opens up.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Malcolm, I don’t need anyone to go with me. I’ve got three weeks between races, and I just want to ride. I can make it from Cali to the East Coast in that time with no problem.” Zoe knew she was whining, but she really didn’t care. It didn’t matter that she was talking so loud people on the other side of the bar could hear her. But, Mal wasn’t listening to what she was saying. Typical.

“It’s not safe for you to be on the road by yourself, Zoe. I need you to get to the next races on time and in one piece. I’m sending some riders with you. And that’s final.” Mal’s tone brooked no argument.

She grunted at him and took a long pull off her beer. She was tired of listening to him yap. Soon she’d be on the road riding her bike for fun. Not for work. God, when had her passion turned into work?

If she didn’t argue with him, maybe he would just shut up and go away. Being her manager didn’t give him license to constantly tell her what to do, where to go or how to live . He was worse than owning a little yappy dog, always dogging her heels.

She could see the disgusted look on Mal’s face and the tightening of his mouth as he looked around the rundown bar. She didn’t care about his discomfort at being in a place like this. The bar was old, dirty, and smelly. But she’d been coming here since she could legally drink. She was comfortable here, and the bartenders knew her name.

Plus she was surrounded by other bikers. They gave her respect and space. Being a motocross rider had some pull with the patrons in this bar.

Dressed in faded Levis that looked almost broken down and her motorcycle boots, all scuffed and worn, she fit right in. At least in the way she dressed she fit in with the guys. Most of the girls were biker sluts, wearing short skirts and too much makeup. Zoe kept her face relatively free of face paint, and her hair was all teased out but hanging in soft curls down her back.

At Mama’s, she was more like a guy than a girl. She liked that. She liked that most of the people in this bar liked to ride for fun. She needed that energy now more than ever. She was just so damn tired of competing. It had become all about the money and not about the ride.

“Look Mal, you get my rigs to Pennsylvania and I’ll show up to ride,” she declared. “You send people with me, it’ll take planning and shit, and I’m trying to avoid that. I need this ride.”

“I’m not telling you not to make the drive, Zoe,” he spoke slowly. “I’m just asking you not to ride alone. In fact, I won’t let you.”

Enough with the Hating

By | | , ,
3 Comments

I was informed that m/f sex in m/m books was offensive, disrespectful, yada, yada, yada. And all I have to say is Fuck You JesseWave.

Read what you want. Write what you want. Review what you want. But don’t couch your misogyny in terms of choice and needing warnings that a vagina is about to be used for sex. Warnings on books should be and traditionally has been about rape, incest, excess violence and the like. Not about vaginas being fucked. Ain’t nothing disrespectful about vaginas being used for their intended purpose. Not at all.

And trying to play off your vagina hating rant as anything but HATING is a lie. Don’t want to play in my sandbox? Fine. Don’t want me to play in your sandbox? Fine. But don’t call me, the toys I bring to the sandbox or anything about me names. Derogatory names and tell me I’m being disrespectful. Apologizing for calling my vagina and vaginas around the world as being cootie filled is full of hate. Cause you shouldn’t have said it in the first place. Now I know how you really feel about vaginas.

And I don’t normally write m/m stuff. I do write menage stuff. I read a whole lot of shit though.

This whole issue pisses me off.

Not long ago, just WRITING about m/m romances and sex could get you tarred and feathered. So the m/f community excluded it from ALL writing and pairings regardless of the reality of the situation. Then someone got a clue, smacked the shit out of the m/f community with a two-by-four of common sense, and viola, we get some m/m action. Then m/m took the fuck off. Which I applaud. Seriously. Love having some diversity in my ability to read some different stuff. But now, to be told that women writers of m/m are clueless and/or having women having sex in m/m stories is denigrating in some fashion pisses me the fuck off.

Don’t we have enough hang ups about fucking in this society without the m/m community- which, by the way, should be MORE tolerant, having hang ups about some people having sex. I don’t have girl cooties. None of my gay friends have fag cooties. None of my multi-gendered friends have freak cooties. I don’t care who’s catching or pitching. Nor do I care what instrument they are using. What I care about is the derogatory terms with which they are being described.

Fuck you. It is hard enough in this puritanical society to be free to express ourselves sexually. To be labeled as having girl cooties makes me feel about the same as being referenced as a breeder. I won’t stand for it in RL. I won’t stand for it in my writerly life. Just like I wouldn’t stand for nasty shit being said about others who have sex not in conformance with the “norm.”

It is beyond time to have m/m sex portrayed in mainstream fiction of all genres. Just as it is beyond time to have m/f sex portrayed in m/m fiction of all genres. M/m should be leading the way, not crying that there are vaginas in the m/m world. No m/m couple lives in a vacuum. Surprisingly, there are lots of vaginas in the world- yes, even in the m/m world. And sometimes, they even get used.

I don’t write off-scene sex often. So if the peeps in my books are fucking, you’re seeing it. I’m sure there are authors that write off-scene sex. I’m sure there are authors that write explicit sex scenes. I bet the heat level has nothing to do with sexual orientation or preference. It’s just the way they write about sex in their books.

So here’s your fucking warning: People in my books like to fuck. Some have dicks. Some have pussies.

That is all.

July Blog Chain

By | |
13 Comments

Doing AW‘s July Blog Chain. I hadn’t planned to do this month’s cause I am seriously busy, busy, busy. I just left editing hell for revision hell and am on a crash course for more writing, editing and revisions. But I couldn’t resist the prompt.

This month’s prompt:
Dog Days of Summer

In other words, the hottest and most sultry part of summer. Etymology lesson here. As always, can be prose, poetry, play, fiction, nonfiction.

Instructions:
Simply post your blog’s URL in this thread to join. I’ll let you know in this thread when it’s your turn. Once your turn comes up, you have two days to complete a blog post using the prompt. When you are finished, please add a link to your post on the thread.

Each post should be less than 1000 words if possible.

Dog Days

“Did you find them?”

“No, my Lord. They’ve hidden themselves well,” replied the soldier. His mouth was in a tight line. His eyes showing the fatigue his body did not.

“Search every house in the quarter. I want my slave back. And I want him back too,” Lord Andier’s voice sounded calm. His eyes were fevered, however.

The soldier kept his thoughts to himself. Wisely. The heat was making everyone crazy. Although, the soldier knew it wasn’t just the heat making Andier crazy. Andier had been crazy long before the sweltering summer heat. Trying to find Dideron and the stolen slave, Isla, was trying to find a needle in a haystack. There were too many people. Too many poor. Dideron and Isla could be hiding anywhere.

“If you can’t find them by tomorrow night, there will be hell to pay,” Lord Andier’s voice was still flat, holding no emotion. “Do I make myself clear, Major Ascanto?”

“Perfectly, my Lord. It shall be done,” Ascanto replied.

“Excellent. Find Isla. Bring her to me bound and naked. Bring them both to me bound and naked. Then raze the entire city,” Andier spoke.  Ascanto wasn’t sure he heard correctly.

“My Lord?”

“Bring that bitch to me and the mongrel she’s fucking, then kill everyone on this planet,” Andier’s voice was razor sharp.

Ascanto kept the horror off his face, but it was a near thing.

“Lord, there are a little over a million people just in this settlement,” Ascanto tried to reason with his Lord.

“Yes, and they hid my traitorous Isla, no? And spawned Dideron from their loins,” Andier’s eyes lost their feverishness as he spoke. “I loved her. I gave her everything. She betrayed me. With a street rat. Kill them all. They are mine. This planet is mine. The city is mine. They live by my sufferance. And now they will die by my sufferance as well.”

Ascanto knew better than to answer. Not this time. Andier had just dropped verbal landmines. But Ascanto couldn’t hide his thoughts from himself. It hadn’t taken long for Ascanto to realize Andier was insane. Completely and clinically insane. Andier was also too powerful for any to speak of his insanity.

The vision of the city burning along with its inhabitants made Ascanto’s stomach turn. He knew it then. He should have never accepted this post. He’s had reservations about it from the first. He knew the superstition about the Sirius sector. Had chalked it up to imagination and the need to blame the unseeable on the unknowable and hadn’t put credence in the warnings that something was wrong, seriously fucking wrong, here.

Now Ascanto knew it was true. All of it. It was also too late. He’d been caught in the madness. Caught by his arrogance.

“Shall I warn them, my Lord. At least tell them to evacuate?” Ascanto kept the horror from his voice, knowing it would fuel Andier’s anger to even greater heights.

Andier didn’t speak for long moments. “Yes. Let them scurry to try and evade the destruction. Whoever remains will be sacrificed. Those left behind will be payment for those allowed to escape.”

“It shall be done, my Lord,” Ascanto replied as if Andier had made the suggestion. It was safer for all of them if Andier thought it was so.

Ascanto turned and walked to the door.

“Major,” Andier called. “Don’t fail me. Your men will pay for your failure. While you watch.”

Ascanto was glad his back was turned and he was facing away from Andier. He wasn’t sure he could kept the revulsion from his face. This Sirius sector assignment had been a clusterfuck from the first. It had just gone past clusterfuckiness all the way to fucked up beyond all belief.

“It will be as you wish, my Lord.”

Ascanto stepped out of the Lord’s chambers and into the scorching summer heat. It was so hot, it felt as if the flesh was melting straight off his bones. His men should be resting, sleeping off the heat. Instead, they were going to go searching for a missing slave and her lover. House to house.

Sacrifice. Sirius. The height of summer. The words kept repeating in Ascanto’s mind. Over and over again. Until Ascanto threw back his head and laughed. It wasn’t a laugh of amusement. Not at all.

“Perfect. History is come alive. Repeating after nearly a millennia,” Ascanto spoke to himself. He entertained the thought that he was perhaps going slowly mad himself. Cracked. Like Andier. It wasn’t the first time he entertained the thought that it was the sector driving them crazy. Something in the air, or not in the air.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Height of summer.

It was a loop none of them could avoid.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Height of summer.

He should have never taken this assignment. He should have begged for the spot in the Orion sector. On his knees if he had to. He should have pleaded for a transfer when he realized the extent of the rot in the Sirius sector. He didn’t. And now he would pay. His men would pay. They would all pay.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Height of summer.

Madness had come for them all. All because of a crazed Lord, and a love affair. Forbidden love affair, true. It was the insane Lord that turned the love affair from a romance to a tragedy. That turned the sheltering of lovers into a mass treason. That was going to turn this city from a bustling market into a slaughterhouse. And make everyone on the planet a sacrifice.

Ascanto gave orders to his men. His men were too well trained to show any emotion. They moved to carry out his orders.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Summer.

Ascanto wondered if other soldiers in other times listened as those very same words reverberated within their minds. He should have never accepted this assignment. His realization came too late, however.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Summer.

Three words. Embedded forever in his brain. He wouldn’t survive. He knew it. He accepted the inevitable. Then he moved to follow his men. Searching each house. Until death came for them all.

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to post)
articshark – http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post) <———— you are here
Sunwords – http://susannedoering.wordpress.com (link to post)
Diem_Allen – http://mindovermistakes.blogspot.com (link to post)
U2Girl – http://ancatdubh.org (link to post)
robynmackenzie – http://www.iwanttobeawesomewhenigrowup.com (link to post)
Lady Cat – http://radomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.ca (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes – http://www.taraquan.com (link to post)
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com (link to post)
Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
SuzanneSeese – http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Diana_Rajchel – http://blog.dianarajchel.com/ (link to post)
HistorySleuth – http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
AshleyEpidemic – http://www.soipondered.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
SRHowen – http://srhowen1.blogspot.com (link to post)