Split City Waltz

Goodness, it’s been a while. Do pardon the dust in here, but I thought I’d stop by to make a quick post about a story of mine that’s being released tomorrow.

Split City Waltz is a short LGBTQ novella starring the rather conflicted private investigator Allyn Morgan. Capable, curious, flirtatious and practical, she’s a really fun character to write about, and hopefully to read about too!

She’s been hanging around inside my head for a while now, but to be honest, I just couldn’t find a world to put her in. Thankfully, an anthology call over at Less Than Three Press helped solve that problem.

Living in London was always fun, and I miss it in a lot of ways – the fast flow and constant noise. And one of the things that always struck me about being there was how divided it was between the waking hours and the darker ones. It was incredible watching as one part of society headed indoors while another slipped out into the evening light.

It was as though the whole vibe of the city changed, as the tourists made their way back to their temporary beds and the locals came out to play after a hard day’s graft.

This novella was very much inspired by the idea that a single city can have two very different sides. In this world, London is inhabited by two very different societies – one basking in the new technological advances being used above ground, and another taking refuge from it in the former underground network below.

There are two types of people in the world these days; ones who feel safe knowing someone’s watching them, and those who don’t.

Allyn couldn’t imagine a world without the chip that rests just underneath the skin of her right wrist, while a mysterious hacker named Terminal couldn’t think of anything worse. This story is about what happens when they’re forced to work together.

The London of tomorrow is a city that couldn’t care less what you do – as long as everyone can see you doing it.

It’s available from tomorrow from Less Than Three Press, Smashwords, All Romance and more!

Click here for an excerpt and links to reviews!

All I’ll Ever See

From Sean Creamer’s ‘Crystal Castles’ collection, via hongwrong.com.

The world is very small.

It’s the bed you woke up in and the number of contacts in your phone.
The friends you meet for lunch and the TV shows you talk about.
It’s your mother reminding you of birthdays and the line at the bus stop.
Your most visited websites and the paper cut you didn’t realise you had.
It’s the ads you ignore as you cook and the song stuck in your head.
The characters you want to be and the ones you know you are.
It’s the faces of those who reject you and the words of the ones that don’t.
The light that flickers and the floorboards that creak under your feet.

It’s intricate and fragile.
Singular and certain.
It’s life.
And it’s the truth.

But it’s not the only one.

Backstory

Imagination by Mauricio Abril

After my mother read Henny Penny to me when I was little I spent the next few weeks sleeping with an umbrella over my head*. I’m not entirely sure how I thought that flimsy pink thing was going to protect me from the sky falling down; but I guess it was better than nothing. I was also so convinced that my teddys would come to life during the night, that I made sure there was always enough room for all of them on my bed. I think I used to worry that if I left one or two of them on the floor that they would feel left out. I hosted tea parties for imaginary aliens; I guess because I figured they’d have more interesting things to talk about than my dolls, who I knew didn’t get out much.

Writing Resources and NaNo Prep: Creating a Story Bible

 

With NaNoWriMo a little under two weeks away, now is usually about the time I start thinking about which story I’m going to have a bash at telling. I’m kind of a mix between a planner and a panster, to be honest. I always like to start out with a plan (however basic and vague it might be), though plots and characters often end up changing dramatically as I write. But as I get started with my own prep, today I thought I’d share with you a template for my version of a ‘story bible’.

Creation

The Robotic Hermit

Surreal Digital Art from Rolan Gonzalez, see more of his work here!

Now sit here my love and watch, just watch. Watch as I stand apart but steady, arms wide open in invitation as our new world forms before us.

Feel the breeze across the skin of your cheek and know that I am conjuring a place so sublime you’ll shed tears for me once more. Listen to the sounds of a Universe all our own gasping into existence. Smell the new grass beneath and the fresh leaves above and know that never again will we be denied. Taste the clear waters that clash around us, that flow and bend and rain.

This place, this bright open space where no single man is yet King, is mine to mold and yours to protect. For we are done with smite and folly, done with jealousy and malice. We rise higher…

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The Dark Room

Nobody Behind the Door by Nicolas Gouny

You know exactly what they look like; black and shimmering, with big long jaws full of bright white teeth. They stretch their arms out, but never come closer than you allow them to.

You stand there and wait, using the light beyond the door to study every shiny scale. They growl and sniff and howl, restless in the dim.

You think they’re the reason you’re still here, that you can’t leave until they are gone. They know better.

Our New Pet

A little mushroom alien by Zeldacw

Flangiprop n. a small, “mushroom-like” carnivorous mammal found native to a cave network on DK-233. Appears to possess an acute sense of smell, not unlike an Earth dog. Communicates in high-pitched squeaks.

“It’s a stupid word,” he told her, staring into the cage.

“Well, I think it suits him,” she replied, tapping at the glass.

A series of low, happy sounding chirps echoed around the small container as the… Flangiprop sat down and blinked up at them. One of it’s his short little arms made a sort of waving motion. He watched her coo at it out of the corner of his eye. “I can’t believe they let you keep it.”

Her smile was like something out of an old holograph, bright and stunning and a tiny bit irritating. “I know, right!?”

The little brown and red thing let out a long, cheerful squeak in response. He was gonna have to run a neuroscan on the damn thing later, make sure there wasn’t some sort of telepathic link going on. He leaned back against the hull of the carrier, watching the techs load up the rest of their equipment. She was too busy making weird ass baby noises at the thing to pay any attention to them tipping her core samples the wrong way up.

“That thing is messing with your mind,” he said, crossing his arms.

He thought she was ignoring him until –

“I think I’m gonna name him Henry!”

He sighed. It was gonna be one hell of a long ride back to base.

The First Line

 

Today’s blog post is brought to you by massive amounts of excitement as one of my short stories, ‘History’ has been published in The First Line by BlueCubiclePublications!

The story is a science fiction short about a young woman making her way through the ruins of her old home city, which suffered a catastrophic event. It’s a piece that came out of my CampNaNo project and I’m really proud of it.

If you’ve enjoyed the stories on this blog, I think you’ll like this one, so why not head over here and grab yourself a copy of the magazine!

Happy Sunday everyone!