Tuesday Guest Post: Kathryn Scannell

Today I’m offering readers here a free sample. If you’d like to read a short story set in the same universe as my new release, Embracing the Dragon, drop me an email (Kathryn.scannell@gmail.com) and I’ll send you a copy.  The title is Leap of Faith. It takes place about a year before the events in Embracing the Dragon, and features two minor characters who appear in Embracing the Dragon. It’s a M/M romance, and includes an explicit M/M sex scene with knife play and BDSM, so if those things would make you uncomfortable, you should not read this story.  Embracing the Dragon does not include any BDSM scenes – Danny is depressingly vanilla.

Danny O’Riordan, the main character of Embracing the Dragon, is near and dear to my heart. I’ve grown very fond of him, but one of my beta readers made a comment while I was working on this book that made me stop and think. He commented, based on this book and on some other stories involving this character that haven’t seen publication yet, that he would not want Danny to live next door to him because he decided far too easily to solve problems by killing someone. I see it a little differently – I wouldn’t be worried about having him as a next door neighbor (other than the possibility of getting caught in the line of fire when someone tried to shoot at him). 

Yes, he kills when he needs to. But it’s never without looking at whether there are other options. Killing is not something he wants to do, but he sees a lot of situations where that’s the only acceptable option.  This story is an interlude of a few weeks snatched from the middle of a war. He’s been through enough that he takes a very professional attitude toward violence – once you’ve decided you need to do it, you do it as efficiently and with as little risk to yourself, your people, and bystanders as you can manage. That’s an attitude that puts him outside most people’s comfort zone. There are times when he sets aside a lot of our fundamental rules for dealing with other human beings, and that scares people when they run into someone who does it.

At the same time, he has what I see as redeeming features that balance that violence. He’s tremendously loyal to his friends. When he takes responsibility for leading people, he cares deeply about their interests. He loves his family.  It doesn’t come into play in a large way in the book, but he has a huge soft spot for kids. Outside those situations where violence is required, he’s really a pretty nice guy.

But that leaves me with a question.  Lots of romance readers like a darker hero. We love out bad boys.  But how dark is too dark? Do you draw a line somewhere? Is there a magic number where the body count is just too high to find a hero appealing anymore? If he gets into a situation where he needs information to keep his friends safe and gets it by beating it out of someone, is that crossing the line? Or does it not matter as long as the author doesn’t describe it too graphically?

Is that line different depending on the subgenre? Is a body count for the hero acceptable if it’s a historical romance, but not if it’s a contemporary?

Finally, does the ending matter in answering that question? Is it okay for the hero to have done unacceptable things in his past, or even at the beginning of the book, as long as he’s redeemed by the love of a good woman/man and intends not to do those things again? What if he *isn’t* changed by the relationship? How dark is it OK for him to be at the end of the book?  And, since hero is an ambiguous term when you’re talking about M/M romance, what about the love interest?

These are serious questions for me, and for Danny, because not only is Danny fairly dark by many standards, but Emperor Mordellir, one of the people in the story who wants him as a lover, is a far darker character. Mordellir is pretty far beyond the pale in terms of both his past and what he’s likely to do in the future. This is one of the issues Danny has to wrestle with – how can you justify to yourself loving someone who commits terrible acts, even if they are committed in the name of the greater good? What’s your answer?

Embracing the Dragon is available in various electronic formats from Torquere Press: 

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3116

Blurb:

Danny O’Riordan’s life was complicated before he had the vision of a past life that forced him to admit to himself that he was bisexual. There’s a war going on, and being Liegeman to Aran, the Elven King of Avalon puts Danny squarely in the middle of the politics of two worlds, Earth and Avalon. Adding a romantic relationship to the mix could be explosive.

His lover from that previous life has been reborn as Mordellir, the ruler of the Tengri Empire. The Dragon of Heaven is the most powerful person in his world. Will he want Danny back once he knows he’s been reborn? If he does, how far will he go to get his way?

Danny knows it isn’t smart to get involved with the Dragon of Heaven. Aran hates the Tengri. Following his heart and renewing that old relationship with Mordellir will leave him torn between his commitment to Aran and those old feelings which are still frighteningly strong. If he yields to temptation, can he balance his love for both men? 

Excerpt:

[This excerpt is several chapters into the story.  Danny has just found himself needing to entertain Emperor Mordellir very unexpectedly. His reactions are complicated by the fact that he’s an empath, and thus he knows more of what Mordellir is feeling than is reasonable.]

Looking at him now, in this mood it was easy to see the resemblance to Demeth. Certainly there were differences. Demeth had been only part Tengri. He'd been shorter and a bit heavier built. Demeth's hair had reddish highlights, which hinted at demon in his family somewhere. But there was still something in the body language, and the aura which reminded Danny achingly of those memories of Demeth. It wouldn't be hard to put this man in place of the image of Demeth in those memories...

Thinking that had not been a good idea. Danny realized his mistake when he felt his cock start to swell. Just remembering the damned dreams he'd been having was enough to get him hard again, and the bathrobe he was wearing was not going to hide it. He could see a telltale bulge already. He shifted to cross his legs, hoping to keep things under control, but it just didn't work.

Mordellir had noticed, too. His gaze followed that moving bulge, and he gave off a mix of amusement and interest. All the extra blood that wasn't already in Danny's cock rose promptly to his face as he realized that.

Mordellir grew even more amused as Danny turned bright red. "I didn't think you were interested, Daniel. It's certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. You're a handsome young man. I'm not intimate with all my Favorites, but it's certainly an option."

Danny cursed inwardly. This was rapidly becoming a disaster. "No! I'm not-- I mean I don't-- Oh Hell." He ground to a halt. Doing anything would be stupid, and guaranteed to make settling the problem of those old memories worse, not better, but how did he say no without insulting the Emperor? Especially when his cock was obviously saying yes.

"Slowly, Daniel," Mordellir said gently. "If I read that wrong, I'm sorry. Will you tell me why you’re so confused and embarrassed? It can't be just having an erection in front of someone else, not after living among the Elves and the Kennakriz. What is it?" He looked probingly at Danny out of his good eye.

Danny took a deep breath to try to calm himself. "No. This isn't simple to explain. You didn't misread my reaction, but it would be a terrible idea to act on it."

"Why?" Mordellir sounded genuinely puzzled.

"Because you're the Emperor of the Tengri, and I'm the senior Liegeman to the King of Avalon, who happens to hate Tengri in general, and you in particular. That gives whole new levels of meaning to conflict of interest," Danny said, wondering why he was explaining the obvious to someone this experienced in politics.

"So?" Mordellir felt perplexed. "Is this an Earth thing? A little sex hardly constitutes anything important. It's not as if there was a commitment involved. There isn't even a chance of children to worry about negotiating."

Email: Kathryn.scannell@gmail.com

Website: http://www.kathrynscannell.com

Blog: http://kathryn-scannell.dreamwidth.org

Death Sword Blog Tour Day 3: Trivia

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 3 of my mini blog tour. Today I'm sharing trivia about Death Sword. The first draft was written in 2008 for NaNoWriMo and over 90% of the book was rewritten in subsequent drafts. Which only proves that no matter how happy you are with your initial draft, there's probably room for improvement. :-)


1. Death Sword was originally written in 1st person POV.

2. Karla's name was originally Kyra.

3. Samael wasn't the antagonist. Instead, he was a minor character.

4. Sariel was the antagonist, an archangel of death who stole Samael's poisonous rapier and killed angels and humans with it.

5. Sariel's name was changed to Xariel because of the possible confusion between Samael and Sariel.

6. Samael and Xariel weren't lovers nor was Samael Xariel's boss.

7. Xariel wasn't afflicted with the sex curses.

8. Gabriel was a computer hacker.

Tuesday Guest Post: Maeve Alpin

Victorian Sex Trivia & Steampunk with Maeve Alpin

Like most steampunk/romances As Timeless As Stone takes place in the 19th century. It’s an era of contradictions when it comes to romance. Though women’s sexual desires were suppressed in the Victorian era here’s some titillating trivia which calls for a second look at that theory, like looking for sexy corsets, stockings, and garters hidden under layers of petticoats.

One of the most amazing finds is a survey on Victorian women's sexual habits which began in 1892, compiled by Dr. Clelia Duel Mosher, who held an MD from John Hopkins and a master's in physiology from Stanford, and indicates many Victorian women admitted to experiencing sexual desires, pleasures, and orgasms, they even used available forms of birth control. A German doctor, Wilhelm Peter Mensinga, is credited with the invention of the diaphragm in 1882 and in the 1850’s the development of Vulcanized rubber lowered the cost of condemns, they’d been very expensive previously when made from animal skins. The next bit of trivia seems a bit strange but it was popular in the Victorian era for lovers to exchange pubic hair as tokens of affection and they kept these curls in lockets and snuff boxes. If I ever go into an antique store, open up a locket or snuff box and find a whorl of hair in it, I’m going to scream.

As Timeless As Stone is set in Paris in 1830, but the heroine, Seshat, is an ancient Egyptian priestess, and, unlike Victorian Society, the ancient Egyptians valued sex and considered it an important part of life. One fun fact is the symbol of the ankh actually represents the male and female sex organs. One of the most amazing pieces of trivia regarding the ancient Egyptians’ belief in sex after death was that they attached false penises to the mummified bodies of men and added artificial nipples to the mummies of women. Another quaint custom was that of sacred prostitutes, who weren’t really prostitutes, they were linked with the divine and held in high regard and honored for the fertility rites they performed with their sexual activity, and their clothes were fascinating. They wore blue beaded fishnet dresses, and tattooed their breasts or thighs. They would fit in so well, dancing in a modern rap video.

Along with the differences in views on sex there was a tremendous difference in fashion between the Victorians and the ancient Egyptians. In the Victorian era one of the most confining things for women were the clothes, layers of them from head to toe, including hats and gloves but also one of the sexiest things were the clothes, all those lacy corsets. Since my heroine in As Timeless As Stone, Seshat, is an ancient Egyptian priestess, she’s not impressed with layers of confining garments. As an Egyptian priestess it is a taboo for her to wear anything made from animals, such as wool, and this comes into play when the couturier is garbing her in the latest Paris fashions. Here is an excerpt:

“Why are the sleeves shaped so oddly? No one’s arms are like this. They look bigger than a falcon's wings.” She flapped her arms in front of the couturier.
Mademoiselle swept her hands dramatically through the air “Oui.” She pointed at the large sleeves then the tight waistline and flashed a broad smile.
Seshat had never felt so frightened in her life. She’d rather face Hyksos warriors than this woman babbling in that foreign language with her never-ending garments. A voice inside her head screamed at her to escape while she still could. No, she promised Ricard she’d wear the dresses he bought her. Though she wanted to return to the temple and her life, she didn’t want to leave Ricard. Seshat needed to look at and be with Ricard for now.
As mademoiselle gestured to her to remove the gown, she slipped it off and laid it on the chest they called a dresser, on top of the pile of clothing there. Seshat wished she stood bare before Ricard instead of the couturier, to have his shimmering gaze rake boldly over her body. She imagined he’d step up to her, cup her breasts, mold and squeeze them. Her body throbbed with need at just the thought of what the touch of his warm, firm hands would feel like.
The loud sound of the couturier clearing her throat pulled Seshat from her musings. Mademoiselle held up a pale green floral print dress with a pleated bodice and puffy sleeves. She pulled up the skirt to reveal the white cotton lining.
The moment the couturier pulled the dress over Seshat’s head, she recognized the fabric—wool, from sheep. Jerking her hands, she pushed the dress off her skin. She jumped back as if the gown was a venomous cobra. “Unclean.” Seshat pointed at the dress she’d thrown on the floor. “I am a priestess. I must stay pure for the gods. I cannot wear anything made from the flesh of animals. Wool is taboo.”
The couturier looked at her askance.
“No, I cannot wear that. Now I must take a bath to purify myself.” With her arms crossed, she clutched her shoulders, and shook her head violently. “My flesh came into contact with unclean fabric.”
Mademoiselle’s face grew as red as rouge and she huffed. She laid the offending gown on the bed and picked up a dainty dress in a floral print of blue-and-yellow pastel ferns against white with a bell skirt and sleeves shaped like a leg of mutton.
Seshat reached out to touch the fabric. It was cotton, therefore wearable. Once she pulled on the dress, Seshat spun and nodded her head in agreement. Maybe the woman would stop now that she had two of these huge, confining gowns and her Egyptian shift. These were more than enough garments, and she had to take a bath to wash the touch of wool off her skin.
Mademoiselle put her hands on her hips as her gaze roamed up and down Seshat’s body. “Oui.” She picked up a shawl off the bed and held it up.
Though she had no idea what the couturier was babbling about, Seshat admired the square shawl with its gold background, centered with a black star design, and large motifs lined in turquoise, filled in with hues of red, green, purple and orange. “This design reminds me of the shoot of a date palm, it is a sign of fertility.” Seshat drank in the beautiful colors. “It looks like silk.” She reached out her fingers, took the shawl in her hands, and wrapped it around her shoulders. Suddenly, she felt uncomfortable, the beautiful cloth felt strange beneath her skin. “Mademoiselle, what is this weave?” But she knew, she could tell now, it was a blend of silk and wool. Seshat screamed. “It is unclean! I am a priestess! I cannot wear clothes made from a living creature.” She threw the shawl down. “No! I have to escape the taint of these cursed clothes.” She whirled around toward the front door and pushed past a startled Ricard.
Mademoiselle chased her all the way.
Ricard ran behind the couturier, yelling to Seshat, “What happened?”
Seshat flew out the door. She shed the floral pastel day dress, leaving it lying on the street. Pulling down the petticoat, she stepped out of it. In naught but a chemise with her arms and legs, from knees to ankles, as bare as her feet, she sprinted down the hard, narrow lane, lined with tall, straight homes of timber and stone.

Blogging Contest: Enter a comment or question, one winner will be selected for a free pdf download of my Steampunk/Erotica/Romance, As Timeless As Stone
For more on As Timeless As Stone, please visit my website http://MaeveAlpin.com and
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