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Hero Wanted: must be dark and dangerous. Insight into writing an antihero #Pietas #MFRWhooks #MFRWauthor

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Hero Wanted: must be dark and dangerous. Insight into writing an antihero #Pietas #MFRWhooks #MFRWauthor When I started writing Bringer of Chaos, it was supposed to be a book about Pietas, king of the immortal race called the Sempervians. About a third of the way in, I realized I needed more than one volume for my dark and dangerous hero. I changed the name to Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas. Book two was Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, which came out in December last year. Currently, I’m working on Bringer of Chaos: Watch Your Six. I’ve written about 10k words so far. Pietas — who is a villain in books set in the far future — is descending into darkness.

Pietas is not a true villain. He’s a flawed hero and an antihero. He was a complex enigma when I began the first book. I know him now. My dark and dangeous hero suffers in the Chaos series. I’m not kind to my characters. I’m sure he would gladly throttle me if he could, but his story is richer and more layered because of his trials.

In Watch Your Six, he’s decided that his mortal friend, Six, must not be allowed to die. Pietas believes he can impart his own immortality to this “ghost” — a human warrior who has been resurrected with immortal blood. He refuses to part with this man he has come to trust, depend upon, and even love. He has never had a friend who treats him like he’s just another man. Though he doesn’t know how to deal with that at times, he loves their camaraderie. Anytime he interacts with Six, there is a thread of humor. Sometimes, it’s almost a rope!

In the part below, from my work in progress (subject to final editing), Pietas and Six have had a serious falling out over the imparted immortality. Six does not want it — Pietas refuses to accept that decision. Their disagreement has led to blows that both regret and Pietas, always the gentleman, has apologized.

“You’re only sorry I haven’t given in yet, but apology accepted.” Six offered his hand.

Pietas took it.

The mortal clasped his forearm. “Warrior to warrior, Pi.”

“Aye, my friend.” He could not say more without his voice breaking. How much longer would he have with this man at his side? This brother who reached him in ways no friend ever had? How would he ever survive on this world without Six? Pietas gave himself a moment, squeezed his friend’s arm. “Always. More than brothers. I should not have hit you.”

“Actually, you missed me completely.”

He jerked Six closer. “Rub it in, why don’t you?”

Deadpan, the man stood stock still, but then burst into a smile. “I just did.” He nudged Pietas with a shoulder. “Doesn’t mean this is over, Ultra.”

“I never thought it was.” He released his friend. “Ghost, I am sorry.”

“The minute you said the words, I knew you didn’t mean them.”

“Yet you punched me anyway.” He rubbed the tender spot on his chest. “That was a lucky hit.”

“Yeah, lucky. Here and on Enderium Six.” Six tossed up a dangerous hunting knife and caught it. “Where you surrendered.”

“Stop saying that.”

“What? ‘Where you surrendered?’ You prefer ‘Where you were defeated’ instead?”

He narrowed his eyes in warning. “You caught me off guard. Both times.”

“The mighty Pietas, War Leader of the Ultras, Chancellor of the High Council. Caught off guard by a dead human.” He held up two fingers. “Twice. Wow.”

“Ghost!” Pietas tightened his fists. “Did you not hear me say I want you to live forever? Don’t make me kill you.”

Hero Wanted: must be dark and dangerous #Pietas #SciFi #SpaceOpera Click To Tweet

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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover a current WIP or previously published books by new-to-you authors.

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Charon’s Blade and Watch Your Six #SpaceOpera #SciFi #MFRWhooks

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Charon's Blade and Watch Your Six #SpaceOpera #SciFi #MFRWhooksThere were surprises as I started putting together Bringer of Chaos: Watch Your Six. This is the final book of the Bringer of Chaos trilogy, so tying up loose ends is important. I went to great lengths to ensure everything was covered, right down to creating weapons like Charon’s Blade (shown here).

As I wrote, I got to thinking, what would humans need ghosts for with all the Ultras in exile? How many ghosts had there been? Would the Ultras who’d been captured be released? How many Ultras were there? What were the powers they imparted to the various ghosts? Why didn’t Six get much of those powers?

The biggest surprise to me was discovering Pietas’s real agenda for humans. I’d always known he wanted to destroy them, but why would he after coming to respect and love Six? And if he wanted to kill them, why hadn’t he already done it? After all, he holds the title Destroyer of Worlds. He could do it. What’s stopping him?

I wrote a spinoff short story about Ghost Corps. Lights Out will release in mid September inside The Expanding Universe Vol 4, edited by Craig Martelle. The anthology will feature multiple authors, all with stories in the sci fi and space opera genres. It’s going to be a real treat for fans of the genre.

Charon’s Blade

I hired an artist to create images of the Ghost Corps weapons. They were designed to kill Ultras, so they’re formidable (and nasty). Livius designs scifi weapons as art. I found him on DeviantArt.com. Having the images and the technical aspects of these helps me create the people who wield them.

What kind of person would carry a weapon called Charon’s Blade designed to stab and then inject the victim with poison? Why such an extreme weapon?

Considering it was designed to wound creatures who come back from the dead, it’s at least a little bit understandable. Even so, Charon was the mythical guide to the underworld in ancient mythology. This knife has quite a legacy just in its name.

I know the answers to all these questions and have the basics of the journey plotted. But as I write, this story reveals more and more. I plan many more books featuring Pietas, his family and fellow immortals.

To see all the art, join one of my reader groups. You’ll get four free books and news about books coming soon. I’ll be sharing a member-only first peek at the art, plus other inside secrets about the Ghost Corps.
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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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Heroes Using Weapons: writing a story with guns #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks

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Heroes Using Weapons: writing a story with guns #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks In today’s society with arguments for and against gun control, is it smart to write a story in which weapons play a large part? What if heroes using weapons is the wrong thing to write about?

I’m working on a short story that might never see the light of day. The hero keeps hiding his motives from me, which makes it difficult to write about him. But if it does manage to burst into being, Lights Out will have a lot to do with weapons, guns, soldiers, and war. It’s the tale of a soldier who dies and is brought back to fight again.

Heroes Using Weapons

In the Bringer of Chaos series, the sidekick of the immortal hero is a human warrior who’d been killed in action and then revived.

To accomplish the rebirth, all the blood in the soldier’s body is replaced with the blood of an immortal. When he or she comes back to life, the training and natural abilities are all still present, but so are abilities of the immortal. If they were telepathic, so is the soldier. If they possessed enhanced speed, so does the soldier. There are dozens of “gifts” and each has both a benefit and a drawback. If you can hear the thoughts of others but can’t forget them, life could get uncomfortable fast.

With my heroes using weapons it meant I needed to understand what they do. As I prepared to write this new short story as well as book three in the Chaos trilogy, I had to understand how these weapons were used. To do that, I researched weapons of today and weapon concepts of the future.

I have a military background and enlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam era. When I write a military sci fi or romance, I’m speaking from experience. My heroes using weapons is a result of that experience.

I’m going to take shooting lessons and learn how to use weapons myself. I want to write from experience with this as well.

Rather than shy away from the topic, I thought I’d see what my readers think about stories concerning guns. Do you read them? What do you think about stories concerning them? Do you look for stories that have a moral implication or do you prefer a rock-em-sock-em robot sort of tale?

Image credit: Nano-Core (commission for KayelleAllen.com)

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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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What Humans Say — What Humans Mean about Immortals #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

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I’m writing Watch Your Six, book three in the Bringer of Chaos series. The others are the Origin of Pietas and Forged in Fire. When you have a huge story that unfolds in sections, it’s helpful to give readers a place to start. That’s usually the job of a prologue. Sometimes, it’s a foreword or another intro of some kind.

I’m considering a bit of the story’s history by listing what humans say about the immortals they created, and compare it to what humans mean.

What Humans Say

  • We fashion creatures genetically designed for toil.
  • We make them strong, vital, robust, able to work hard.What Humans Say -- What Humans Mean @KayelleAllen #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks
  • We ingrain them with abilities to make mundane jobs easier.
  • We create soldiers who recover from every injury.
  • Genslave scientists design more genslaves to enhance our way of life.
  • Renegade scientists design genslaves without proper safeguards.
  • Soulless rebels refuse to accept human authority.
  • These ingrates reject their proper name.
  • The so-called Ultras usurp mankind’s authority.
  • Surprisingly, genetic enhancements result in failure.
  • We purge ourselves of the taint of genetic enhancements.
  • We take back our birthright: Human Pure is our battle cry.
  • We discover ways to kill immortals and keep them from rising.
  • We wish we could turn back time and correct our folly.
  • We regret our lack of wisdom in creating such beings.

What Humans Mean

  • We create genslaves.
  • We permit them no rest.
  • We make sure they can never rise above their station.
  • We create savage warriors.
  • We hand over to slaves the means of creating more slaves.
  • Rebels overthrow the genetic shackles keeping them enslaved.
  • Renegades lead other genslaves to freedom.
  • The rebels call themselves Ultras: ultra smart, ultra strong, ultra powerful.
  • Ultras dominate every part of the galaxy.
  • Obviously, we can no longer control what we created.
  • We destroy anyone with non-human traits and enhanced sensory perceptions.
  • Anyone enhanced or genetically altered or “different” is the enemy.
  • We burn anything and anyone “unnatural.”
  • We don’t know how to undo what we’ve done.
  • We made a mistake…

Pietas

Immortal. King. Exile. All are what humans say about Pietas. None show the depth of the man known by his peers as the Bringer of Chaos. This series is military science fiction with elements of humor, a small touch of romance, a ginormous black panther “kitty”, a telepathic weapons designer, one used-to-be-human, and the most dysfunctional family since forever.

The Bringer of Chaos series focuses on Pietas and his friendship with the human, Six. In books set in different series in the far future, Pietas is king, and he terrifies everyone. I wanted to understand why his people were so steadfastly loyal to him despite that, so I started this series to find out.

If you want a good read, check out the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group. You get four free books right away and you’ll be first to know when the new book about Pietas is released.

What humans say is not what humans mean #SciFi #SpaceOpera Click To Tweet

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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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We’ll call that one Trouble #MFRWhooks #SciFi

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In this scene from Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, Pietas discovers a different sort of trouble. The good kind.

This one is Trouble

We'll call that one Trouble #MFRWhooks #SciFiJoss unfastened her hair, let it fall around her shoulders and shook it loose. The blond waves caught the fading light and gave her the soft glow of a goddess, as feminine and powerful as if she radiated sunlight. She combed her fingers through it, giving him an odd look.

Pietas coughed. “Um… What’s up?”

She gestured to herself. “You’re asking me ‘what’s up’?”

What had he missed? “Yes. Why?”

“Because I asked you what was up, and you just stared at me.”

“I did? Sorry. I was lost in thought.”

“I see.” Her coy smile said she did indeed. “So, Pietas, what’s up?”

Now she was teasing him with double meanings and ambiguities. He’d love to join her in play, but until he’d learned what he needed, he ignored the temptation.

“Dessy says you’re in charge of camp security.”

“True.”

“Has my father returned, or attempted to?”

“No. I’ve kept a close watch. The twins reported no sightings. He’s laying low.” She pulled back her hair and fastened it again. “But we’re not the sole source of security. I don’t see him getting past them.”

“Them? Who is ‘them’?”

“I’ll show you.” She motioned for him to follow. “Look over there.”

On a promontory overlooking the pods, a panther sat beside a bare tree, scanning the area.

“You’re referring to the cat?”

“Yes. Now look over there.” She pointed in the other direction. On that side, another cat prowled beneath a tree on the trail leading to the pods. “They’ve been there all day. They switch every few hours. Every time they do, the big one that attacked your father stands on the edge of the caldera where you first saw the pods. After the cats change places, it goes away. It’s the changing of the guard. I can see what they’re doing and I’m grateful for it, but they’re so intelligent it scares me. They bump noses and then take up the position of the cat they’re replacing. I think they might be telepathic, but with each other, not me. I don’t pick up anything.”

“They’ve done this all day?”

“Like clockwork. You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Yes. I can get some sleep tonight.” A yawn overtook him.

“I was going to say we should name them.”

Pietas nudged his chin toward a cat. “We’ll call that one Trouble.”

Forged in Fire…

Love Romances Cafe Best in Science Fiction/Futuristic Nominee
When the immortal Pietas is marooned on a barren world with no food and few survival tools, he knows it could be worse. He could be alone. But that’s the problem.
He’s not.
Half a million of his people sleep in cryostasis, trapped inside their pods and it’s up to Pietas to free them. He can’t release one at a time. It’s all or nothing. He’s facing over five hundred thousand hungry, thirsty, homeless immortals who will call on him for rescue and he has no way to answer.
It’s not all bad. The beautiful telepathic warrior he’s loved for lifetimes is at his side. He’s bonded with a sentient panther. He hates humans but the one dumped on this planet with him has become a trusted friend.
Before Pietas can build shelter, figure out how to grow food, or set up a government, he must take back command from a ruthless enemy he’s fought for centuries. His brutal, merciless father.
Immortals may heal, but a wound of the heart lasts forever…

Warning: Contains angst, humor, sweet romance, betrayal, vengeance… a ginormous, sentient panther who wants to be Pietas’s “kitty,” and a different kind of trouble with the rest of the panther tribe…
Amazon http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI

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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current WIP or previously published book by possibly new-to-you authors.

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This is why humans do not deserve freedom #SciFi #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

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Pietas knows what’s good for humans, and it’s not freedom. An excerpt from book one of the Bringer of Chaos series.

Humans deserve nothing

The leaders of his people gathered in sleep around him, sealed inside their curved, steel stasis tubes. Above him, humans waited for Pietas to enter the last one.

He folded his arms.

“Feast your eyes, vultures.” Pietas lifted his chin. “Humans are ruled, not obeyed. You think to imprison me? You think to bring me down like a hunted animal?” He spread his hands outward, indicating the pods. “I will not cower before you. I will not bow. I will not kneel. I will not serve. I will never submit. Humans were made to be ruled, not by my people, but by me.”

The silhouettes of humans above him contrasted with the bright light behind them. One by one, they slipped away, until a single silhouette remained.

“Fighting us accomplishes nothing.” The disembodied voice echoed in the chamber. “You won’t leave that room until you’re in stasis. Enter the pod or we’ll siphon the air, and let you die.”

“I’ve died countless times. I do not fear death. Death fears me.”

“So be it. Since you’re so set on dying, have it your way. I told you if you didn’t cooperate, I would detonate the bombs within the hostages you took aboard your ship. See for yourself.”

On the opposite wall, an image of the Uurahkal sparkled into life, and a bloom of light filled the screen. A mass of debris shot in all directions.

“Your crew has ceased to exist.”
Bringer of Chaos: Origin of Pietas. He must do what he detests. Trust a human... #SciFi #Pietas #SpaceOpera Click To Tweet “That image is a farce. You would not dare to destroy the council’s flagship, and you will not destroy the council. You humans are cowards. You lock us away in a barren room and threaten our people. This is why humans do not deserve freedom. You are worthless, miserable liars.”

“Believe me, your crew is quite dead. The universe is a safer place for it.”

“It will never be safe. Not for you.”

Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current WIP or previously published book by possibly new-to-you authors.

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