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Tag: Writing

Tips about writing, suggestions for better writing, how to write.

100-Word Flash Fiction Bits from Peace to Flashionation #FlashFiction #MFRWhooks #AmEditing

Good flash fiction takes time, skill, and patient editing. But it teaches you to write.

For several months, I was part of an author's group that practiced weekly writing skills. Some of our best work was created in "flash sessions" where we limited ourselves to 100 words. No more, no less. Good flash fiction takes time, skill, and patient editing. But it teaches you to write. I saved mine, and thought you might like a peek.

Peace

Jon took a breather. The other guy wasn't firing. Jon imagined him doing what he was doing. Sitting back, Jon listened for more gunfire. More sounds of war. What if neither of them fired again? What if they sat here, neither of them moving, and didn't fight? Was that what peace was all about? Not shooting at one another? Wasn't peace more than not having to fight for the right to exist, to simply be? Wasn't that what Jon was out here to do? Provide his people freedom from tyranny? Shooting began again. He scrambled to his knees and fired.

Waiting

Just a little more... don't stop. Don't stop! Need this so bad. Need this. Please don't stop. A little bit more. Come on. Come on. That's it. Let it go. So close. Almost there. Hungry for it. So hungry for it.
He blew out the breath he'd been holding and took another one, hands shaking.
Been waiting for this. Been wanting it, so, so damn bad. He licked his lips. I should've started so much earlier, taken more time, gotten all of it ready. Oh! Yes. Yes... Here it comes!
The last little bit of ketchup landed on his fries.

Helping

He spread his thighs wider and slid down a little. "There. Can you get it in now?"
"No. Not yet." He hooched over to the right, grunting a bit as he pushed harder. "Hold still."
"Hurry up, baby."
"I'm trying!" He shifted his shoulders, angled one foot against the ground for better leverage. "It's almost in the hole. Just a little..."
"Do it harder! I can't keep this up."
"Hold on, baby. Hold on." He wiped sweat from his brow. The heat rose. Fingertips slick with lubricant, he rubbed the opening. With a click, the car's axle slid into place.

Red

So much for avoiding embarrassing myself. She's wearing red. Again.
I needed her to wear one more red dress to haunt my memories. This one was sleeveless, baring perfectly formed arms, strong and feminine. Strapless too, revealing skin the color of mahogany cream.
A man doesn't stand a chance with her in that dress. Long, slinky, shiny, scarlet. Oh, God. It looks-- wet. Perfect. Slick and smooth.
Her mouth is the same red, her lips plump, like she's just been kissed. Like she ran her tongue across them. Like she wants me. Is she wet anywhere else?
Damn, damn, damn.

Senses

He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus in the dimness. Dawn's grey light filtered through curtains billowing at the open window. A soft shriek of autumn wind whistled outside, and a gust of wind tossed the curtains apart, letting in a chill that pebbled his skin. Tossing back the silken sheets, he padded across the cold wooden floor and reached up to shut the window.
The sound of the wind silenced, leaving an utter calm. "Ahh." Shivering, he hurried back to bed.
"You cold?" His lover reached out one powerful arm and dragged him closer, up against his radiant heat.

Replacing Her

"If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." The words to the old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song kept running through this head as he walked up the sidewalk. Friends assured him he'd get over her loss by starting over. But though his feet carried him forward, his heart wanted to run back.
Nothing could substitute for her. She'd been his first. Had taught him so much. Sure, she'd had her flaws, but they'd been together so many years... How could ever just buy another motorcycle now that his baby had been totaled?

Taste

"Almost like blueberry." He licked. "With a little licorice."
"Is not! Stop that." His lover tried to sit up, but was pushed back against the bed.
"Lie still. It's my turn." Licking again, he trailed his tongue all the way up along the entire length. The tip was different. A nice, interesting mixture of the blueberry and licorice. He circled his tongue all the way around it, lapping the tip. Why didn't I ever try this before? It's really good. I could get used to this.
"You've had enough." He managed to sit up this time. "Give me the popsicle."

Revenge

"Guys! Check out this gun. It shoots around corners." Jase waited for the hysterical laughter to die down so he could continue. "Look, I'm not faking this. It really works."
Guffaws filled the barracks. His sergeant slapped him on the back. "Rookie, you got taken."
"Okay. Stand in front of it then." Jase flipped out the supports for the gun, set it down and turned its nose 90 degrees to the left, then sighted along the special scope.
Snickering, elbowing each other, whispering, his bullies clustered in front of the weapon.
Jase pulled the trigger. When it worked, nobody laughed.

One-sided Conversation

(imagine you can only hear one side of a conversation)

"Hey, Mom. It's me. I tried that recipe you sent me. It sucked."
"No, not the roast. Those cookies."
"No. Not Aunt Matilda's. The cookies with mashed potatoes."
"Yes you did so give me a cookie recipe with mashed potatoes in it! You said to use leftovers."
"Oh, now you remember. Well, it sucked. I threw mine out."
"Cause nobody'd eat 'em!"
"I didn't do anything wrong, Mom. Why do you jump to conclusions about my cooking?"
"Substituted one thing. I didn't have mashed potatoes. Not everybody's got cooked taters laying around."
"Three cans of Pringles."
"What's so damn funny?"

Jailhouse Singer

Stones were belting out another tune as I pulled in and parked. I sat there, motor running, singing along, mumbling parts I didn't know. Jailhouse singer, that's me. Behind a few bars and can't find the key, but I love to sing.
A car door across and down opened, and out popped the prettiest thing I'd ever saw. Big brown eyes, sweet mouth, not a day over twenty. Heart raced like a bucking stallion at the thought of that tight ass inside tighter jeans. That lusty gaze of his met mine. He smiled. Just like that, I fell in love.

Flashionation, the Art of Clarityness and Succinctation

This flash was an exercise with a group of author friends, and was done as a joke on one of the other regulars. He was the only one who didn't know we were going to make up crazy words and use them as often as possible. Here's the explanation, which did not go toward the word count.
"Today we're talking about clarityness and succinctation. This is what flashion is all about. The ability to shortspress yourself. Tell us in 100 words or less what could have taken multinormously more words to do. The topic is speed. Anything to do with being fast, quick, or a blend of the two -- fuick. Use 100 words or less."  Here's mine.

Flashification

The conceptation of flash sites is to further accenticate good grammarage. Using too many words is called overwriting, or as some call it, desimplification. Doublespeak, the government version of desimplification, is also known as govspeak, govbabble, and politalk. Plague-avoid this. It's deadlious.
Flashion is the heightest form of trusimplification, or the art of unmystifying meaning. Like the hero called Flash himself, be the quickifest version possible. Use your smoothliest expressifications. Hammer home meaningnails.
Trash frillinormous adverbs and unconnect from ginormous nounwords. Present the smoothliest cream of meaning possible -- a banana smoothie of wordage. Blendification of understanding is the goal.

Overwritten Hunk

(Like "Flashionation" for this flash we were supposed to over-write a description for a simple thing.)
The meatiness of it thrilled her from her tiny, itty bitty little feet to her abundantly flowing cascade of rich streaming hair. She flounced said locks, running a manicured hand through the generous quantity of golden curls that bounced around her shoulders. Her fingertips, painted white by the French manicure process, which was not truly paint but a type of pencil painstakingly etched underneath her long, oval shaped nails, tapped the edge of the meat delicately.
Too much pressure on such a tender hunk might cause everything to slip, spreading juices over the white tablecloth as she cut the steak.

I hope you enjoyed this! Feel free to leave a flash of your own.

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Welcome to Book Hooks!

Marketing for Romance Writers Book HooksBook Hooks is a weekly cooperative blog hop hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog.
It's a chance each week for you to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors.
Thank you for stopping by.

Links below lead to other sites also taking part. You can "hop" from mine to theirs with one click.

Feel free to say hello or leave a note in the comments.

Any of my characters mentioned on this page might be found in multiple books in my story universe. Download a printable book list and check them off as you read.


~ Copyright ©2024 Kayelle Allen. All rights reserved ~ Kayelle Allen participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program which provides the means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com. If you purchase an item listed on the site from Amazon.com, Kayelle will earn a small commission. Other sites might be affiliate links as well. These will not result in higher prices for you. Thank you for your support!


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Story: When the truth isn’t reality #SciFi #PietasFans #MFRWhooks

Origin of Pietas: Bringer of Chaos - #SciFi #SpaceOpera

You know that feeling when you think you know the whole story? You know the truth? So you make a decision and you run with it. When you careen into a wall you didn't see, you pick yourself up and take a second look at where you're headed. Or, if you're stubborn like me, you back up and run at it again. POW! Down you go one more time.

When I began writing my Tarthian Empire series books I knew who the villain was. His name was Pietas and his story was obvious. He was irredeemable, bad through and through. End of story.

About five books in, I hit a wall.

I couldn't make sense of this villain of mine. Pietas was clearly the bad guy, yet while his people feared him--with good reason--they were loyal to the death. He hated humans with such great passion that he wanted to destroy them all, yet he was taking his sweet time going about it. He could have wiped out humanity a thousand years ago.

He hadn't. Why not?

Secrets Behind the Story

I sensed a conspiracy. My characters were keeping a truth from me. How could I write a proper story if I didn't know what was going on?

After flipping through copious notes and rereading my own books, I realized I had a ton of material on Pietas. I began writing down impressions, verifying them against the canon of the books and making sure I had the real story.

The Story Iceberg

Pietas had revealed only ten percent of the story. Like an iceberg, only a small part of a story is visible. The rest comprises its true reality.

I needed to learn more.

It took me months of digging, talking with readers, talking with my beta readers and editors, inundating my critique group with multiple versions of the story's first chapters, but finally I figured out the true story.

My villain wasn't a villain.

I literally sat back in my chair and slapped my forehead. How could I have been so blind? I had allowed his actions to become my interpretation of the truth. In the story world, Pietas was playing a part. Making himself out to be the bad guy, while in reality, he was far from it.

Oh, I can hear you thinking. "You wrote the guy, Kayelle. How can he be any kind of mystery?" Well, that's because you just don't know him yet. Read one of the books about him and you'll see. He is not easy to know, but he's fascinating once you do.

After I wrote the first book about his real story, Origin of Pietas: Bringer of Chaos, a reviewer said: "He's painted as a complete psycho in other books. It's really great to get some insight into who he truly is." I had a jump-up-and-down happy-shouting fit when I read that.

I had succeeded in revealing the truth. That was what I had wanted more than anything.

As soon as I finished the first book, I jumped in on the second.


Model for Pietas: Nik Nitsvetov

Bringer of Chaos

Bringer of Chaos Bundle 1 - Science Fiction and Space Opera #SciFi #SpaceOpera #PietasFans

Click covers for the buy link. Click text for the website page and excerpts.
Series page: https://kayelleallen.com/chaos-series/

#SciFi #SpaceOpera

Bringer of Chaos
Bundle 1

Bringer of Chaos Bundle 1 #SpaceOpera #SciFi

Pick up the first story in the Bringer of Chaos series, Lights Out, plus an illustrated look at the series free by signing up for my newsletter
https://kayelleallen.com/immortality


Welcome to Book Hooks!

Book Hooks is a weekly cooperative blog hop hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog.
It's a chance each week for you to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors.
Thank you for stopping by.

Links below lead to other sites also taking part. You can "hop" from mine to theirs with one click.

Feel free to say hello or leave a note in the comments.

Any of my characters mentioned on this page might be found in multiple books in my story universe. Download a printable book list and check them off as you read.


~ Copyright ©2024 Kayelle Allen. All rights reserved ~ Kayelle Allen participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program which provides the means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com. If you purchase an item listed on the site from Amazon.com, Kayelle will earn a small commission. Other sites might be affiliate links as well. These will not result in higher prices for you. Thank you for your support!


To experience art, sci-fi, romance, and space opera with unstoppable, unshakeable, unforgettable characters so real you'll swear you've met them, join my newsletter.

6 Ways to review a book and 4 ways not to #BookReview #Read #FreeBook

6 Ways to review a book and 4 ways not to #BookReview #Read

I'm not the only author who adores reviews.

Honestly, they can be worth more than a sale.

Think of it this way: I make about thirty-five cents on every dollar of a book. True story. Obviously, that amount isn't going to make or break me financially. But if someone leaves a great review on a book, it might entice more readers to pick it up. Which means over time, those little bits add up.

Readers count on reviews to tell them whether a book is worth buying. I know I do. What about you?

As an indie author, every review I get helps my visibility, which means I can spend more time writing and less time marketing. If you want me to put out more books and sequels faster, giving me reviews is one way to make that happen.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of reviewers who don't do reviews correctly, or truly don't know how to write one.

I've given you some basic dos and don'ts below. Glance through them to make sure you are including some of the dos, and are not guilty of the don'ts.

The Do List

Do leave a line or two (or more, if you wish) about your experience with the book.

Do talk about how it made you feel. The emotional experience is the most important one you have while reading a book, and the same is true of other readers who might be looking for that type of experience.

Do let people know why you liked or didn't like the book, and why you will or won't read subsequent books in the series or by the same author.

Do share how it starts and what drew you into the story.

Do talk about the positive aspects of the story, the world, and the characters you met inside the story.

Do be direct and to the point.

The Don't List

Don't leave novella-length reviews. It's okay to gush about how much you loved a book, or use whatever words are necessary to warn readers about books they shouldn't waste their money on, but again, direct and to-the-point is best.

Don't give a strong opinion without a reason. "I hate this book" or "I love this book" but without saying why doesn't help other readers form an opinion. For example, if a book was too spicy for your taste, say so, because readers who prefer spicy books will be more likely to buy it.

Don't share spoilers that reveal secrets, or talk about how the book ends. Not cool!

Don't give super-intricate plot details Readers want quick and to-the-point reviews.

Now what?

You don't have to do all the dos, but this is a good starting point. Leaving a review helps support both authors and fellow readers.

Thank you in advance for taking time to share your opinion.

Love to review? Join my team!

You can sign up and pick your first book right away.

6 Ways to review a book and 4 ways not to #BookReview #Read

What members are asked to do:

* Sign up on StoryOrigin (it's free). This is where you will pick up all books available for review.

* A review can be placed on any site.

* It doesn't have to be a five star review. I prefer honest responses.

* Once you've posted the review, enter the link on the book's StoryOrigin page (hint: save the email you get with the link to the book). That's it!

Once you create an account on StoryOrigin, you'll be able to choose from many other authors, but you are under no obligation to do so.

Please, if you hate a book -- email me instead of reviewing. I love talking to readers. And if you LOVE it -- definitely feel free to email me! I listen and want to know what you think. Your input makes a difference.

You may invite a friend to join.

Any of my characters mentioned on this page might be found in multiple books in my story universe. Download a printable book list and check them off as you read.


~ Copyright ©2024 Kayelle Allen. All rights reserved ~ Kayelle Allen participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program which provides the means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com. If you purchase an item listed on the site from Amazon.com, Kayelle will earn a small commission. Other sites might be affiliate links as well. These will not result in higher prices for you. Thank you for your support!


To experience art, sci-fi, romance, and space opera with unstoppable, unshakeable, unforgettable characters so real you'll swear you've met them, join my newsletter.

#CyberMonday Savings for Authors Nov 30th until #SmallBusinessSaturday Dec 5th #Authors @CoffeeTimeRoman @pmnp #PMInc

#CyberMonday Savings for Authors Nov 30th until #SmallBusinessSaturday Dec 5th #Authors  


#CyberMonday Savings for Authors Nov 30th until #SmallBusinessSaturday Dec 5th #Authors

Dee Carver (my web designer) clued me in about a unique Cyber sale this week. She and Coffee Time Romance are partnering to offer some serious discounts on promo, web services, and marketing. If you are at all interested in those things, there's a link below.

I am a Coffee House Author - which means I get a lot of freebie promotion from them. They do a lot so I don't have to.

Plus they are an awesome place to find new books and authors.

This is good starting Monday Nov 30 through Dec 5th.

https://personalizedmarketing.info/cybermonday-savings/

Use the code CTR-PMINC in the contact form at the bottom.

You can also use that promo code for Coffee Time Romance.

https://coffeetimeromance.com/advertising-services/

Oh, and if you tell Dee I sent you, she will give me a small bonus, which I would appreciate a lot. 🙂

I've worked with Dee for four years now. She handles upkeep on 7 websites for me and we do a little marketing together. She literally holds the keys to my entire kingdom. That's how much I trust her. I highly recommend her services.

Go grab these deals before they are gone!

 


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Ready: Fight! Choreographing a fight scene #SciFi #MFRWhooks #PietasFans

Ready: Fight! Choreographing a fight scene #SciFi #MFRWhooks #PietasFans

Choreographing a fight scene is a challenge for any writer. Rewriting it in another story from a different character's point of view is a special kind of madness.

Ready: Fight!

Having written Origin of Pietas first, when I wrote Lights Out, a prequel introducing Six, I had to retell some of the story the way Six saw it. Note: Six was using the name Tornahdo then, a special ops moniker for the way he fought.

What did I do to ensure I got all the hits and bumps right? You can read about it in this post. In Lights Out, Tornahdo (as Six was known then) was one of eight special ops soldiers. They had all been in fights with immortals before this, but none of them had faced Pietas, the immortal king. Here's the scene from Lights Out, Tornahdo's POV.

Tornahdo has entered a closed section of a space station. It's been several minutes since all the air has been removed. Pietas is on the ground, but he's where cameras can't get a good look at him. While Tornahdo and the soldiers can hold their breaths a long time, no one is sure just how long the king can accomplish this feat. Immortals can manipulate human emotions, so to protect the ghosts, they've been fitted with a chip to suppress emotion.


Ready: Fight! Choreographing a fight scene #SciFi #MFRWhooks #PietasFansInside, as instructed, Tornahdo stayed near the back. Two of the eight ghosts closed in on the pod.

Pietas lay on the floor behind it. His body showed, not his face.

Tornahdo tingled with a fighter's high. The mix of anxiety and excitement kept his instincts on maximum alert.

Beside Pietas, a ghost stooped. The change in lighting angle showed the Ultra, limp on the floor. When turned, the body flopped. The ghost pressed two fingers against the throat.

With a jerk, Pietas yanked the man down while thrusting a hand up.

A pierce of mindless fear stabbed Tornahdo. He'd faced that snap of terror before. It meant two things. First, the Ultra was controlling their emotions. Second, the chip was worthless.

Pietas tripped the next ghost, jabbed an elbow into his neck.

Another spurt of fear and confusion.

All that training. Days of suffering, learning control. For nothing.

Pietas flashed into speed mode.

Tornahdo's world moved in slow motion.

A blur showed where the Ultra had been. Pietas halted, braced both hands on a pod and kicked a pair of ghosts behind him.

They flew backward. Slow.

Momentum carried the Ultra straight toward Tornahdo.

Stumbling out of the way, Tornahdo went down in a tumble, taking out the ghost beside him, who knocked down the last two.


From Origin of Pietas: Bringer of Chaos

Pietas's point of view, same scene. No air means no sound.

Crowded as the space was between his life-pod and the wall, two ghosts crept into it. Six spots of light showed on the other side. Eight ghosts then. That would be a much better fight. One nudged him with a foot.

Suppressing a smile, Pietas continued to play dead.Ready: Fight! Choreographing a fight scene #SciFi #MFRWhooks #PietasFans

Ghost One bent down, turned him onto his back.

Pietas let his body flop.

The guy came in closer, checked for a pulse.

Pietas opened his eyes.

The ghost's alarm fed Pietas energy.

He yanked him down, hard, while jamming the heel of his hand up. The ghost's head snapped back, and Pietas felt his bones crack. He shoved him aside and went after Ghost Two.

Pietas gripped his leg and tripped him. He jammed an elbow down onto the man's neck. Bones broke. The ghost's stab of dying fear spiked the energy from the first, and Pietas mixed it with his gift of chaos. He flung the vortex of emotions outward, broadcasting confusion and terror.

He activated his ability called zip. The pseudo speed meant he could move at a regular pace, but humans perceived him as a blur. They could not focus on him long enough to get close. To him, everyone moved in slow motion.

He flipped onto his feet, braced both hands on his pod, and kicked Three and Four square in the chest.

He pushed off the pod, and the momentum carried him straight into the arms of Five and Six. They stumbled backward, tumbling Seven and Eight onto the floor.

Writing different points of view

As you can see, the two viewpoints tell the same story, but the emotions reveal levels of attachment that are quite different.

Tornahdo knows he's had.

Pietas has hope he can escape.

Each is facing a person who refuses to quit, no matter how hard the going gets. Which will prevail?

Read the full story in Lights Out: Bringer of Chaos, and follow through with Origin of Pietas and its sequel, Forged in Fire.

If you like Pietas, you're in luck. He's in most of the Antonello Brothers series set in the far future from the Bringer of Chaos series. When you're immortal, you come back over and over and over. But does that mean he wins the fight in this scene? What's the word for damned if you do and damned if you don't? Hmm, how about screwed...

Check the links below to find more authors in this blog hop.

Pick up the first story in the Bringer of Chaos series, Lights Out, free by joining a reader group!
https://kayelleallen.com/reader-groups

Origin of Pietas

Origin of Pietas: Bringer of Chaos #SpaceOpera #SciFi

Forged in Fire

Forged in Fire: Bringer of Chaos #SpaceOpera #SciFi

Lights Out

Lights Out: Bringer of Chaos #SpaceOpera #SciFi


JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
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.

Did you ever dream a story? #MFRWhooks #SciFi

Did you ever dream a story? #MFRWhooks #SciFi

 

Did you ever dream a story?

I almost never dream.
My husband has vivid ones.
While I sometimes wish I could, there is
one dream I cannot forget.
Dream a story. Sounds fascinating.
But this one scared me.

When You Dream a Story...

I started writing the Bringer of Chaos series when I was seventeen years old. I was sound asleep at home, dreaming about walking the length of a vast receiving chamber, heading for a woman who sat on the throne at the end. The empress was the twin sister of a dangerous man who was not present. He was older than she but he wasn't the king. I didn't know why he wasn't at the time, but that fact worried me. Honestly, to dream a story was never something I thought I could do, but there it was.

I had to walk through rows of soldiers who stood at attention, facing forward. I could not see their faces. I was not afraid to approach the throne. The woman looked amused at how long it took me to reach her. I kept walking and walking but never seemed to get closer. I turned around to see how far I had come. That's when I saw the faces of the soldiers, and my breath caught.

Every one of them had the heads of gray cats.

I woke up and sat straight up in bed.

Why that image should have been so frightening, I don't know. No one was attacking me. No one glared at me. They just looked right at me, and that was enough. To this day, I can see that image.

From that dream was born most of the Tarthian Empire series. The woman on the throne became Empress Rheyn Destoiya. The cat-headed soldiers became the Praetorian Guard, peopled with the Kin, a feline-humanoid race. My Kin do not have cat-heads but they are quite catlike and have pointed ears higher up on their heads than a human's.

Her missing, older brother became Pietas, hero of the Bringer of Chaos series. Discovering Pietas has been a lifelong attempt. Below is an excerpt from the book for you to sample, and you can download the entire first three chapters here.

Excerpt from Forged in Fire

In this scene, Pietas discovers that his friend, Six, has been taken hostage.

"Are you looking for this?" His father's unmistakable voice came to him before the man's faint outline revealed itself in the dark.

Mahikos had captured Six and pressed a knife blade to the ghost's throat. At the point where the blade dug into him, blood oozed.

The blank passivity on his friend's face revealed what Pietas had feared. Six had been compelled into submission. He would stand there and let Mahikos kill him.

Rage propelled Pietas forward.

"That's far enough, Son." He dragged Six backward. "Unless you want your own hands covered in this human's blood."

Pietas ground his teeth. "I will end you, old man."

"Will you?" Mahikos dug the knife edge into Six's neck. "You dared bring this abomination into our camp after it threatened your mother--the woman I love--and you want to end me? This thing is going to die by my hands!"

Origin of Pietas
Panthers like belly rubs #SciFi #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

 

To save his people, a genetically enhanced warrior must do the one thing he detests... trust a human.
Origin of Pietas
https://books2read.com/u/4DovO7

 

An exiled, immortal king and his not-quite human friend join a ginormous panther "kitty" and the most dysfunctional family since forever.
Forged in Fire
https://books2read.com/u/bpW7Kg

Forged in Fire
Panthers like belly rubs #SciFi #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks


JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
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.

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

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.

Time Travel (part 2): Sci Fi or Historical? #SciFi #Historical #Book

In this two-part discussion on time travel, I’ll share a fascinating discussion in my reader group. I love science fiction and fantasy, space opera, whether film, TV, book, or magazine. Likewise, time travel has always fascinated me. But is it sci fi or historical? I decided to ask my readers. Here is the winning response, from Jackie. We had a great discussion.

QUESTION: Is a time travel in which characters travel to the future a Sci Fi? Would one in which they traveled to the past be historical?

Time Travel (part 2): Sci Fi or Historical? #SciFi #Historical #Book

 

I offered a $10 gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon (winner’s choice) for the best answer. One of my readers is author Dariel Raye, who in turn asked some of her readers. I got responses from both groups. (read part 1 of this discussion)

Jackie:

Your description of sci/fi and historical time travel seems right. Also if its not too far into the future or past then I suppose it would just be plain old time travel. I guess one would have to know how long ago historical really is, and how far into the future is really sci/fi. Interesting time line question to think about.

Kayelle:

Hadn’t considered that. So maybe there could even be levels of historical or futuristic. Maybe ancient history or far future? I like that!

Jackie:

Yeah I think there would have to be different levels. Not as simple as 1 2 3 or A B C. Maybe more like middle ages or maybe even just a simple as a year like 1800’s historical. Now future we would have to come up with different era names.

Kayelle:

Any in mind? What would you call them?

Jackie:

I am not sure what I would call them. Maybe something involving destiny, or future generations, or the coming of? What do you think?

Kayelle:

Well now that’s different. A time travel to the future wouldn’t affect the past, until you were in the future — and then your actions would be in the past. So the new future’s past would definitely be altered. Kind of makes your head spin, doesn’t it? 😉

Jackie:

LOL yes it does. I actually read what you wrote twice. I am reading a series now that has time travel involved, both past, present and future. So many things change and sometimes one doesn’t realize when you change one thing it can bring about a much different out come than you expected or wanted.

Kayelle:

I love the idea of time travel. Time is moving, but so is space — the Earth will never again be physically in the same place it was when we leave a specific time. Which means if we tried to go back in time, we would also have to go back in space. So not only would time travel be traveling within time, but also everything time affects. Wear, distance, surroundings… how could we ever create something complex enough to take all that into consideration?

Which just fascinates me. I don’t think I’ve come across time travel that deals with that aspect. What about the series you’re reading now? What is it?

Jackie:

Wow I had not thought about that. The series I am reading did take some of those thoughts into consideration. Not only did circumstances change but so did the surroundings and also the people. They looked very different as well. I am reading a YA book series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Its called the chronicles of Nick. Very cool with a dark humor to it. It was fun picking each others brains and trying to come up with a creative idea.

Time Travel: Sci Fi or Historical? #SciFi #Historical #Book

Time Travel: Sci Fi or Historical? #SciFi #Historical #BookIn this two-part discussion on time travel, I’ll share a fascinating discussion in my reader group. I love science fiction and fantasy, space opera, whether film, TV, book, or magazine. Likewise, time travel has always fascinated me. But is it sci fi or historical? I decided to ask my readers.

QUESTION: Is a time travel in which characters travel to the future a Sci Fi? Would one in which they traveled to the past be historical?

I offered a $10 gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon (winner’s choice) for the best answer. One of my readers is author Dariel Raye, who in turn asked some of her readers. I got responses from both groups. I’ll share some here and the winning response next week.

Jean:

Anything that removes you from your present time, whether it be future or past, in my opinion is SyFy.

Kayelle:

Good point! I suppose that is quite true. 🙂

Donna:

I think they both would be Sci Fi as the ability to time travel does not exist at this time.

Kayelle:

ooh very clever answer! So true. Do you think it’s something we’ll ever have?

Donna:

At this point in time, I don’t think it is possible (who knows what the future holds) but it would sure be nice to be able to go back in time to experience history (there is so much I would like to experience) without changing it (be like a fly on the wall). One can dream. I’m not sure how going forward would work — would we be going into our own future or the future in general is the question. Would we be able to change anything in the future if it was bad? Future time travel generates a lot of ethical questions. What do you think?

Kayelle:

I know current science says it’s impossible. But 500 years ago, smartphones would have been considered witchcraft. Who knows? But wow I would like to be that fly on the wall myself. Long as someone didn’t swat me! LOL

I’d love to go into the past. Always been fascinated by Alexander the Great. I think a time travel story about a doctor going back in time to save Alexander’s life might be good. Except maybe it turns out that his being there is actually what killed him… Which means he had already gone back before he decided to take the trip. No matter how you look at these stories, you get mental vertigo!

Lacey:

I think that while time travel is Sci-Fi a book that uses it as part of the plot doesn’t have to be in that category. There’s a big difference between a story based on a time-traveller (where the main point of the story is that the character time travels and their adventures doing so) and a story where time travel is used as a plot device to get a character to a specific period of time (where the main point of the story is what happens to the character after time travelling).

I don’t think a book where the character gets to the past through time travel would be a historical novel because the character’s perspecitive and attitudes would still be from current times even after arriving in the past.

Kayelle:

Nice insight! You make great points. It’s still contemporary to the time traveler in a sense. And since it’s not the main plot (necessarily) it could be just a plot device.

I hadn’t considered that traveling to the past would still keep the person with a contemporary attitude. That’s excellent! Have you read any good time travel stories lately?

Lacey:

This one is awesome. It’s actually part of a series but I read them out of order lol, I bought the first one but haven’t gotten into it yet but they can be read stand-alone.

https://www.amazon.com/Chronothon-Time-Travel-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00QHIYBZ4

Kayelle:

Wow that is one different idea. A time traveling Amazing Race. I can see that could be totally misused and abused. I put that on my wishlist. Thank you. 🙂

Glenda:

I did see what Wikipedia said (the first paragraph) which is very similar to what I learned. The last sentence sums up the total.

Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre encompassing narrative fiction with supernatural or futuristic elements. This includes, but not limited to, the genres science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, science fantasy, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, supernatural fiction, as well as their combinations. Anything using speculative science– something that hasn’t been invented– is also Science fiction. (Science- not invented- speculative- fiction)

Kayelle:

Good answer! So by these standards, you think time travel is always scifi?

Glenda:

Yup… It can be historical Science fiction (Yes, it really does exist) as well as speculative fiction. I would go with historical science fiction but I have seen time travel to the past and it is always in the science fiction/romantic section – if that is the premise.

Kayelle:

I can believe that. I have a sci fi that has a major plot of archaeology. Trailing Kaiwulf is about a character who’s trying to discover the history and meaning of these huge “gates” they are finding on multiple planets. Think mini size St Louis Arches side by side. So while the story is very much sci fi it is also very much archaeology. I guess you could have historical sci fi as well.

Kind of spins your head around, doesn’t it?

Glenda:

All if it does. I go with science fiction when anything has hard science and fantasy if it is based on ‘magic’. If it can be explained with speculative science—SciFi. If it relies on anything of the paranormal—fantasy. Of course, that all spreads over into other branches. Mind boggling possibilities with all of it. 😀

I would love to read it when you have it completed.

Kayelle:

Oh, that book is done. Want it in Kindle, epub or pdf? I’ll send you a copy.

Glenda:

Kindle and thank you!

Kayelle:

Here you go. This is the story concept:

Find an invisible man in another dimension? All in a day’s work at TRAIL.
Travel to a godforsaken planet on the outskirts of space. Check. Hold intrusive military goons at bay. Check. Find an invisible man in a different dimension. Check. Finish the vacation TRAIL yanked you back from to do it? Easier said than done…

I plan more books in the TRAIL series. Trace, Rescue and Identification League is a group of bounty hunters, missing person investigators, and agents who recover the unrecoverable.

Characters from this book will cross over to another book’s sequel. The “gates” they are investigating were created by the immortal king in my current Bringer of Chaos series. I write in a huge universe and it’s all tied together by this king, either as his loyal followers, his enemies, or someone being manipulated by one of the two. The one thing I haven’t done yet is a time travel. I’d like to try it one of these days.

Glenda:

Thank you! I will definitely read and review. Time travel has a wide variety of possibilities. Research whatever time period is going to be time consuming but it will definitely be worth it. I do read a lot of historical fiction and if something seems off—I research. (I can’t stand glaring errors! LOL) Of course, I like research so that is a plus or negative depending on what side of the book you’re on.
The bottom line that I have found over time – As long as you don’t make glaring mistakes–it is your world, your mind, and your creation. Have fun!

Tune in for part two next week…


What do you think?

All these comments spurred wonderful discussion and thoughts. I’m more fired up than ever and eager to write a time travel. Someday! Not sure when.

What is your favorite time travel book, film, or TV show? Share it in the comments.


Would you like to be part of next month’s discussion? To participate, join the reader group. Kayelle’s Reader Group

 

Author Facade: being who you are as a writer #Author #MFRWauthor #INFJ

Author façade. Do those words go together? Yes. When people ask me what I do, I could say I’m a wife or mother. I could say I’m a veteran. Or retired. Or any number of things. So could you, right? But what I say is, “I’m a writer.” An author.

The Author Façade

I’ve been published since 2004, and without exaggeration, I can say I’ve written hundreds of blog posts, tens of thousands of emails, and millions of words. I’ve posted on blogs all over the net.  Why? So readers can know the person behind the author façade. Is Kayelle Allen an author façade? Well, maybe façade is not the best word. One dictionary I consulted defines it like this:Kayelle Allen

Façade (1) A showy misrepresentation intended to conceal something unpleasant. — I certainly hope I’m not unpleasant. That doesn’t sound good, does it? No, not at all. I think my author facade fits the second definition better.
Façade (2): Frontage, the face or front of a building. Window dressing. — Or does that make my author façade somehow equal to drapes? Surely not.

I prefer to see my author façade as the best of who I am. My best-foot-forward attitude. My who-I-am when I’m on-my-best-behavior self. Okay, those of you who know me best can stop snickering. I can hear you all the way over here.

The thing is, my author façade is reality. The Kayelle Allen online is who I really am. Every person has something of a façade when it comes to public life and there are things I don’t share online. But I strive to be faithful to my private life when presenting my author self in public. I attempt to keep my author façade true to my real persona. So who am I?

I’m an INFJ (Myers Briggs temperament). The letters stand for Introversion (I), Intuition (N), Feeling (F), Judgment (J). I’m an introvert (I) in that I get my energy by being alone. I have blazingly fast insight (N) into people. I tend to go with feelings (F) over facts because I trust my own intuition, and once I make up my mind (J), I act without hesitation or looking back. Who are some other INFJs? Oprah Winfrey, Billy Crystal, Nelson Mandela, Carrie Fisher, Nicole Kidman, and Adam Sandler. Try this article if you want more insight.

My inside age and outside age are not equal. I may have aged, but I am not old. Wiser? Yes. Goodness. You couldn’t live my life without learning a few things. Smarter? Debatable.  I’m a US Navy veteran (Viet Nam era) and a member of RomVets (female romance writers who served in the military). I’m also a former Toastmaster. I love getting up in front of people and talking. That’s the number one fear in America, but I happen to love public speaking. You’d get me on a roller coaster only by dragging my dead body, but I will happily speak to a convention full of people. Weird, huh? I’m the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers, a peer-mentoring group for authors. Don’t get me started on that. I love MFRW! Click the link for in depth info about MFRW.

I think I’m someone you’d like if you got to know me. Because as much as being a writer is like being a different person, my author façade is the presentation of a real person. I invite you to follow and get to know me. I’d like to get to know you too. Please, tell me about your “façade” as a person. Who are you?