Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Soothsayer Ch. 15 Pt. 2

Notes: Okay, explanation time! God, I hope this all makes sense. This story has been a bit of a "fly by the seat of my pants" experience, but I hope you enjoy having some resolution. I think all I need to throw in there at this point is an epilogue, and then we're done! And yes, it needs a sequel for things to really be wrapped up, but I'm doing the best I can with the setup I've got. So...enjoy!


Title: Soothsayer Chapter 15, Part Two.


***

“All’s fair in love and war.”


                The first thing I felt—and some little part of me was incredibly pleased to be feeling anything, I remembered enough to be sure of that—as I began to wake up was a fairly hard slap across the cheek. Not quite hard enough to make my head turn on the pillow, but it definitely wasn’t a friendly caress. I groaned and slowly blinked my eyes open.

                “Ah good, you’re awake. You fucking fool.”

                That wasn’t Sören’s voice. That was… “Jakob?” I asked hoarsely.

                “Correct.”

                “Where’s Sören?”


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Ha, no. Or maybe. Not sure.

Omigosh guys, the ending's not what you think. At least, I don't think it's what you think. Various forces are pushing and pulling at Soothsayer, and it's going to end up being a surprise. I hope. I hope it's surprising, in the details if not the major content.

Anyway! My 2 cents before next week;)

Soothsayer Ch. 15, Pt. 1

Notes: Oh my god, what have I done? What is this madness?!? We're so close to the end, guys, wow. And it's nasty. Never fear, though, we'll get through this.


Title: Soothsayer Chapter 15, Part One.

***





“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” – George S. Patton



“We meet again, Mr. Kelly.”

                “So we do.” I couldn’t make myself smile back at Ólafur, I just didn’t have it in me. “I guess you got pretty much everything you wanted last time though, huh?”

                “Well, you were being recalcitrant, Mr. Kelly,” he replied. Ólafur looked at ease, but just like before I saw the whip-fast capacity for violence inside of him. The last time I’d looked into Papa Egilsson’s eyes, I’d seen him kill, both under the effect of the geas and of his own volition. “I had to make do some way.”

                “Bullshit. You used me to set this up exactly the way you wanted.” I shook my head. “You had this planned from the start. The sacrifice had to be meaningful in order to matter to the landvaettir, and how much more meaningful could it get than your own son?” Now for the part I was really interested in, though. “How did you know to use me, though? Why bother, when you didn’t really need my talent for anything?”

    

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Soothsayer Ch. 14, Pt. 2

Notes: Not quite explosive yet, but we finally meet the enigmatic father figure! It's the Egillsons all together at last, oh my god, someone's going to die. Hopefully not Cillian, though. Also, omg Rutger Hauer. Dreamcast, right there. Be my awful, loathsome patriarch.

Title: Soothsayer Chapter 14, Part 2.

***




“The harsh truth of every relationship, even between those who love each other, like fathers and sons…is that the love is always unequal.” – Karl Taro Greenfield, Triburbia


                The SUV wasn’t as luxurious as I’d expected, but it was gratifying not to be cuffed immediately and stripped of everything I had on me. The driver who met us did take my gun, but that was just good business. He considered over the lighter and the pack of cigarettes, but I gave him a look and said, “Those might be my last fucking request, okay? Can I have that?” After a moment he shrugged and handed them back, then showed us into the back of the car.

                The youngest brother was inside, waiting for us. He also held a gun on both of us. “Hello Rolf,” Sören said pleasantly as he settled into a seat.

                “Just keep your mouth shut,” Rolf snapped, his eyes darting anxiously between us. He was shorter than his older brothers, a little slimmer and had none of the stolid forcefulness of Artύr or the whiplash intelligence of Jakob. He looked even younger than Sören, honestly, and I was a little surprised that he was the one who’d been sent to fetch us. “Both of you.”

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Soothsayer Ch. 14, Pt. 1

Notes: Oh my god, what's this, a vaguely naughty chapter at last? How have I written this much and not had any sex in it so far! Goddamn plot. Still, slightly elevated rating for this one, darlins, and we're careening toward the end now! Woooohoooo!


Title: Soothsayer Chapter 14, Part 1.

***

"Failure to plan is planning to fail." -- Adam Lakein

                There was a long list of stuff I needed to go over before my actual confrontation with Olafur and his brood. The trouble was, I couldn’t quite remember any of it. Most of it was set-up, things that I needed to do at just the right time in order to get the result I wanted. I was heading out to conduct a symphony of violence and lies, and there was no time for rehearsal. Everything had to happen just right, and that would take an unholy amount of concentration, but my mind swam around like a drunk fish, turning circles and not getting anywhere at all.

          

Sunday, March 1, 2015

New stuff and my DRitC 2015 prompt!

Oh my god.

So much stuff. So much writing! Why, why do I still have a day job, whyyy... (glances at W-2 and taxes) Oh yeah. Being able to live. *ahem*

First things first, I've signed a contract for a novella sequel to my Super Villain story. Yes, Where There's Smoke, which comes out in April, will have a sequel coming out in July called Where There's Fire! Because my life with Riptide wasn't awesome enough!  Want a blurb? It's unofficial so far, but I love it:

Panopolis: a rough place to be an average Joe. I came here a couple years ago looking for adventure and excitement, but nobody cares about one more normal guy in a city filled with super-powered Heroes. The closest I’ve come to glory is working in a bank that’s often robbed by Villains.

But then I maybe accidentally-on-purpose helped a Villain escape the Hero who was trying to save the day. Imagine my shock a week later when that Villain asked me out for coffee. One date turned into more, and now I’m head over heels in love with Raul.

Falling in love with the guy dubbed The Mad Bombardier isn’t without its downsides, though. I’ve had to deal with near-death encounters with other Villains, awkwardly flirtatious Heroes who won’t take no for an answer, and a lover I’m not sure I can trust. It’s getting to the point where I know I’ll have to make a choice: side with the Heroes, or stand fast by my Villain.


Either way, I think my days as a normal guy are over.


This means that all of March will be spent writing said sequel, which should clock in at around 20-25k words. 

By the way, speaking generally for my editing process, I like rigor. I like seeing what I can do better and I like encouragement to make changes, and I get a LOT of that from Riptide. It's the most painfully wonderful thing ever.


Second thing: I've snagged a prompt from the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's event this year, Love is an Open Road. And my prompt is amazing. Amaaaazing!





Dear Author,

Those of us who survived the virus that wiped out 50% of the population are the lucky ones. Those of us who survived the subsequent wars that decimated the world as we know it, throwing us back into a pre-industrial era are the lucky ones. Those of us who survived are the lucky ones.

Except… Some of us are different. Some of us are changing. Some say the virus mutated. Some say it is a result of genetic warfare. All I know is that I can see better in the dark, I can hear from further away and I am stronger now than I ever have been before. And I have claws.

We may not be the lucky ones after all.

Sincerely,

Jenni Lea


Amazing, right? It's going to be a BAMFY, snark-filled dystopian adventure fic! *everyone who reads me on a regular basis goes "We knooooow*  Yeah, you know what I like ;)


Plus this will probably be the month I wrap up Soothsayer, I've got to finish revising my novel and query the agent of my dreams, I've got to work on 2 gift fics on AO3, and I've got to finish a short story m/m retelling of Vasilissa the Beautiful for the Out In Colorado boxed set we're presenting at this year's Pride Fest. All in March, or at least starting in March for the prompt fic, because FML and fuck my sense of timing too. Exciting!


That's what I've got to look forward to. How about you?