Daris was not forthcoming. I couldn't seem to figure out what I wanted to write for the next king of the Dagerstanteen. I'm simmering.
But I wrote something... Here is a part of the novel I'm tapping on. Please read this keeping in mind that the work is raw. It has not been edited yet. *** THROUGH THE THICK foliage, Nigel watched. Silently and cautiously, all four of his tentacles twitched at the ready. The rest of his body was tranquil as he balanced on the balls of his feet. Waiting. Observing. Assessing. No ship had landed on his planet since— No. No ship had ever landed on his planet for as long as he could remember. He wasn’t even sure if a spacecraft had ever visited here while his creator and mum were alive. The giant cylindrical vessel powered down and went silent. Lights dimmed. Black smoke cleared. The back hatch at the rear of the craft began to lower. A soft hiss sounded on the wind. Nigel sniffed and stayed vigilant. He scanned for anything that might eat him. His eyes flickered over the trees for drop snakes and skin roaches. There was the scent of metal and fire and something that wasn’t his home. The new smells had him on alert. The back door continued to lower with a low hum and then the flat part dropped right into a patch of what his mom called mega sludge. Foul stuff that burned like the dickens. Nigel eyed the partially sinking access door. What a horrid place to land a spaceship. Not that any other place on this forsaken planet was any better. But still. Nasty spot of luck. Dropping into a crouch, Nigel slipped close to a clipper tree careful to dodge the spikes on the trunk. He inched toward the wet slime of the swamp making sure not to touch the glowing gunk. When he lifted his eyes, his breath caught. A Dagerstanteen. A tall, muscular, shiny Dagerstanteen. Crickey, he didn’t see that shade of blue often. The stranger’s scent floated lightly when a breeze ruffled Nigel’s short hair tubes. He smelled berries. Not good. If Nigel could smell the new bloke so could the herd of delinters twenty meters away from here. The blue skinned alien stood on the walkway that led down into the marsh. The outsider didn’t appear distraught over landing in the middle of a marsh on Umicore Prime. In fact, it was the opposite. The new arrival looked around and grinned like a bloody twit. His brown hair tubes were stick straight and fell around his second set of tentacles. Artistic black decorative beads hung off the strands and sparkled and clicked when he tossed his hair over his shoulder. The young Dagerstanteen looked well-off, well-fed, and healthy. As Nigel considered that this was probably not a criminal escaping his home, he glided noiselessly behind a poisonous coralline bush. This new alien had all his tentacles and not an injury, scar, or gash to mar his flawless sparkling skin. In the gray of the surrounding land, this newcomer was a shade of blue that was breathtaking. His brown hair tubes looked touchable, and his overall large muscular body was stunning and captivating. Nigel shook himself. What in the bloody hell? He shouldn’t be captivated. He should be weary. Who was this dingo and why was he here? Maybe the alien was sent here from his home planet by a hateful creator that wanted him gone. That’s what happened to Nigel’s father, Warrior Nightmen. His eyes narrowed as he watched. It didn’t matter who this bloke was or why the outsider was on his planet. None of this situation was Nigel’s problem. He should go home. The Dagerstanteen should go home as well. “I can feel you watching me,” the stranger announced. Bugs scurried under boulders. Small rodents ducked into holes. A set of big birds fluttered with the disruption and flew off making a nearby tree branch bounce. Nigel glanced around. Loud noises would bring a gaggle of weebills or worse, a pack of branchias. One thing he’d learned fresh out of the womb was that silence was best on Umicore Prime. “I am here for you to teach me, Grand Warrior Nightmensotom. I’m a royal from the Dagerstanteen palace. My name is Peltratria, and I have come to beg for your help. Please let me learn and study your fighting skills. I’ll offer you anything in my sphere for your assistance in this matter.” Could this silly sod get any louder? He might be pretty, but the alien had a few kangaroos loose in the paddock. Clearly the bloke had gotten zero information on the planet he was visiting. Oh yeah. Good-on-ya, mate. Go to an unknown planet and chatter. This action seemed spot-on for a dizzy royal dink. A minute ticked by as Nigel smoothed a tentacle over his shorts and then over the belt that held his eight knives. He shifted slightly as he considered his next move. His muscles bunched. His gut instinct told him the attack was coming. Then he heard it. The delinters were galloping this way. He’d guessed that they would. Peltratria smelled like sweet blackberries and sounded like a dying fogou fish. The ground began to vibrate as mighty hooves trampled everything in their path. His eyes flipped behind him. Trees crashed in the distance. His mom used to call them cranky horned hippos and his creator thought that was cute. Nothing about delinters were cute. The tops of the trees shook as the herd headed straight for the ship. The yelling Dagerstanteen would have called to them as much as the smell. Delinters were nailing the huge trunks with their horns as they stampeded. Now the new alien looked around like maybe he should do something. Nigel’s brow furrowed. On Umicore Prime if you were edible and had legs, the consensus was run. Royal Peltratria took a step backward but not toward the interior of the ship. Oi, where are you going, you cane-toad? Instead of hiding in the ship, the bloke inched until he was on the edge of the ramp. One more step backward and the royal would fall into the super sludge. Dizzy git. Slipping out of the trees, Nigel jumped the narrowest part of the bog. He landed on a solid rock and then tackled the terrified alien on the walkway. The move stopped the chap from falling into the slush. His opponent went down so easily he could be called a mole. Oi, the chap should be ashamed. Nigel pinned Peltratria. The Dagerstanteen didn’t push or fight or move even though the royal had all his tentacles and Nigel was missing his bottom two. “Oi, you need to go home, mate,” Nigel whispered.
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![]() I didn't plan to write another alien love book. I really didn't. But then I got an idea. My plan is that Daris will be the next alien. He is the next king of the Dagerstanteen and I think I might create a story for him. The idea is still just swirling around in my brain, but I guess I wanted to tell you that this might happen.
Right now, Connor is after me to work on the next Ice Era Chronicle. We are done with One Strong Gale and Sky's The Limit. So, I get it. It is time for 4:05 a.m. but... the aliens do call to me. I like that in this world there are no rules. If I write more alien books, I am planning to have the young offspring fall in love with aliens all over the universe, and I do not think I will stay with just humans from Earth. If I get something down, I will post a preview. Aren't all romance novels the same? If you are asking that, you might be new to this genre.
The main idea around romance fiction is a story built around the development of a romantic relationship. And it can be combined with so many plots and premises. I think that the external conflicts and romantic conflicts work as a team. They add depth to one another. Plus, sex is fun to write. I write a dystopian set of romance books. I like to think of the Ice Era Chronicles as a dark romance. I promise you that the end of the books is always happy, but I like the characters to bleed and feel raw and to struggle. I also like my people to be flawed and unattractive. I don't like perfection. Because I like writing darker things, I have considered writing Mafia romance or something more with killers. The In The Mountains books are much lighter. They are fluffy gay romance with softer themes, and I stay away from adding politics to my books. The aliens? I am not sure what subgenre I would put those in, but I don't worry about it. Those are just fun. I sometimes get asked why I don't write other things, like a mystery or about my time in the military. I don't know what I want to write yet. That's why. But I will get it figured it out one day and may dive into something that isn't a romance, but for now, here we are. Try a romance. It won't bite. Unless it's a vampire book. You've probably heard the old adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Well, I do it and you might do it too. In the end, the cover of a book ultimately matters. Yes, yes, the writing and the story are important. However, for readers to judge the merit of your book, you need to first convince them to put in the time to read it. And this is where covers come into play.
For me, this is a place that I struggle with. I like super sexy covers that let you know you are going to be reading the steamy things. At the same time I don't want someone to be holding a book with a half naked man on the cover. So back and forth I go. In today's world, readers are slammed with images, all vying for their attention. Physical bookstores and online ones alike display dozens of titles in any one genre or style, all of which will seem interchangeable to the customer they target. How do you increase the odds the book they pick is yours? This is a good question and I have not found the answer. As it is, right now I just choose what feels like the pictures and designs that capture what this book is about. Its the best I can do without a huge marketing team behind me. Honestly, I think the blurb is what gets the reader to take a book home, but I could be wrong. I have never chosen a book purely on the cover art alone. I have to read the back. Do people just choose a book by the cover? If they do, I have not met them. One of the most read tropes in writing is enemies to lovers. I'm sure that you have read a romance novel like that before. Most of the time you know that a lot of them start with the two protagonists fighting or at odds with each other only for them to fall in love by the end.
But sadly, as much as this sounds like a fun thing to write... I am so bad at it. I know why these stories appeal to readers to much. There are two clear points of appeal. One... There is this great tension around the two characters that bicker and fight. Even boring scenes about making a sandwich become interesting when the characters hate each other. Two... their love seems impossible and that adds intrigue and adds to the overall story. You find yourself asking how will they get together? But here's the thing, I cant do it. I love when my characters love each other. I am not much of a fighter myself so I think that comes out in my writing. I want them to get along just like I want to get along with the people in my life. So here I am missing out on such a great trope because I can't get my people to fight. Alas. I guess I should simply thank my luck stars that there are so many different readers out there in the world. I may not be able to write many love to hate novels, but there is a lot of other writing I do very well! (If you aren't sure, it's the steamy bits.) |
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