Sunday Snippet: Creative Ink

January 27, 2013

Greetings! Week number four and a milestone for me. A full month of posts. Woo!!

It's probably ridiculous, but once I find a groove, I tend to stick with things. And I've seen and heard about keeping blog content fresh and regular for reader who want to interact with authors. I'm one step closer to getting on that track.

Tonight's Sunday Snippet features a preview of my upcoming release, Creative Ink. I don't have a date for it yet, but it's off with the editor. Creative Ink will be launching the Black Unicorn Comics series, which I've sort of set up to resemble episodes. They'll be fairly quick reads, but should be packed with snarky fun times. And this cast of characters is so much fun to write. The story concept came from a friend of mine who posted this prompt, an inside look at a small indie publisher, as a cast the TV show challenge. I got so inspired by casting the characters, the sages got busy and started throwing plot bombs. Seriously, the first episode nearly wrote itself. (That so doesn't happen very often. LOL)

So, here's the tag line:

Brian Wells and Lucy Sanderson are the creative duo behind the rising success of Black Unicorn Comics. Surrounded by a close knit group of co-workers they have fun and crazy adventures, keeping their relationship burning hot in spite of it.

And here's the snippety peek…

Brian always sent his hero, Xavier, on the best adventures. But he'd turned things upside down for his next issue. Instead of having Xavier outsmart the Zone militia, Brian ended the installment with Xavier behind bars. The last panel would be a full page rendering of Xavier's confinement in a rat infested cell.

Lucy shuddered. "I'm not kidding, Brian. It's awesome."

He smiled sheepishly. "It is coming together brilliantly."

She nodded. "There's only one thing I gotta know…"

He answered before she even voiced the question. "Yes. Marta is going to save him." He gave her a sly smile. "She'll have strip for the regiment to get Xavier out of hack, but it's a small price to pay, yeah?"

Lucy threw her ever handy stress ball at him. "You shit. Tell me you didn't promise Harry I'd pose for that."

It wouldn't be the first time she questioned her sanity about agreeing to be the model for Marta, Brian's alien warrior/goddess/side kick for his epic hero, Xavier the X-Tra-Terrestrial.

Brian lifted a brow. "It might be too late for that."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You can tell Harry to eff off. I will not add more material for his masturbatory fantasies." Harry might be incredible with ink, but his people skills were sorely lacking sometimes.

Brian smirked. "Uh, love…it's definitely too late for that. He has an entire wall of you in…well, let's call them compromising positions."

Lucy rose slowly from her seat, walked gracefully around the desk and stood behind Brian. She leaned forward and let her lips graze over his ear.

"If you ever want to have me in a compromising position again, you'll rectify that." Her hands lightly squeezed Brian's shoulders then smoothed down the front of his chest. "Make sure those drawings are gone by the end of the day, 'kay?"

Straightening back up, she flicked her tongue against his ear—it always made him wild—then turned and walked away.

I mentioned the characters are loads of fun to write, yeah? The next episode has Brian, Lucy and crew at Crazy Con (fictional as far as I know. :D) and hijinks ensue, per usual.

And that's it for this week's post. I hope you enjoyed.

(Inspiration for the BU offices)

Happy Reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet

Wow. Week three. Is it safe to say I've got a trend going? Or do I need to have a few more consistent weeks posted before I can claim the title? LOL

Today's snippet is from one of my favorite WIPs, Belle of the Underground. And I say 'favorite WIPs' a lot, but this one truly is a lot of fun to write. I'm really hoping it's well-received and turns into the series I'd like to make it. *crosses fingers*

A little background...I love urban legends and crazy conspiracies. This manuscript features both and the main female character, Raven, is a mixture of the two. The story got started after I had a dream about the main female character and how she meets the main male character. I don't get the vivid recall I had with this one very often, so I wrote it down.

And a manuscript began...

All right, let's hit the tag line:

Raven Malone doesn't have an easy job, but she's the reluctant leader of a mix of freaks and geeks and both groups look to her for answers. She meets her match when regular guy, Gio Roberts, starts poking around in her cover up of an unexplained murder. Sparks fly, especially when she lets him in on the underground community she's established. They forge a bond and work side by side, trying to keep everything together. 

And a snippety peek:

Raven Malone never liked three a.m. phone calls.

Lately, she really, really loathed them. By nature, it made sense she'd get more calls between midnight and six in the morning. After all, the witching hours were considered play time for her kind. When it didn't matter if the strangest of the strange walked around the city in the wee hours.

But over the past few weeks that play had turned deadly and Raven didn't like it. Not one damn bit.

Her rag tag group looked to her for leadership and she had zero clue what to do with the bizarre series of events unfolding. Okay, she knew what to do, but she had to find out the who before she could exact punishment.

Crawling out of bed, Raven stumbled over to her wardrobe and yanked out several items of clothing. She heard the approach of footsteps and caught the scent of Vince Grillo, her self-appointed second in command and a shape shifter, before he rounded the door of her rooms. She could guess what he'd ask without using her pre-cog skills. She could count on Vince to be fairly predictable when they had trouble.

"You want company?"

Ding. Ding. Ding. She'd totally called that one.

Turning toward him, she didn't let the fact her only attire at the moment happened to be a pair of hipster undies and a tiny camisole faze her. Vince had seen her in less.

She shoved her legs into a pair of dark jeans and yanked them up. "No. I've got this." Throwing on a leather jacket, she grabbed a beat up ball cap and slapped it on her head.

Vince frowned. "If it's the same as last time, you might need some help."

Raven shook her head. "If it's the same as last time—and my gut says it is—I'll need you here." Understatement of the year.

He wanted to argue. "But—"

She didn't have time for it. "No, Vince. I can handle it out there. I'll lay money word is already out and you're the only one I can count on to keep the peace down here until I get back." She almost wanted to wish him luck.

Vince narrowed his eyes. "How the hell would anyone know about this yet?"

She gave him a bland stare. "Body was found by a lake. You know the aquatics pick up on vibes and can't ever keep it to themselves. They knew about this before I even got the call." She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her boots on.

Vince snorted. "Damned gill gabbers." He said it without heat. He understood their genetic make-up and school mentality trumped everything. Even common sense sometimes. "What do you want me to do?"

Raven jerked her head toward the door. She'd heard the onslaught coming a few moments ago.

"Clear a path for starters."

Vince grinned. "At least I get to have fun before the headache stuff starts."

Raven pulled the cap off and grabbed her hair, wound it on top of her head and jammed the hat back on.

Tugging the bill down low, she nodded. "Have at it."

And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed. (See…I can NEVER keep it at six sentences. LOL)

Happy Reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Forever Young

Woo! Two weeks in a row, only fifty more to achieve my goal for this year. LOL

For my Sunday Snippet post this week—I decided I can't really call them Six Sentence Sunday posts because I can't seem to follow the rules and limit things—I thought I'd post one of my favorite sibling conversations from Forever Young.

Gabe and Zak McTavish fight fires and save lives and try to stay out of each other's way when it comes to dating. This one isn't very far along, but the entire story is locked up in my brain, I swear. Seriously…when is someone going to invent the thing that jacks directly into our heads and downloads all the lovely stories we authors have to tell? LOL

Let's start with a tag line:

Gabe McTavish meets the woman of his dreams. Too bad she's his brother's date.

(Remember, I did say try to stay out of each other's way. LOL)

And here's the snippety peek:

"Bro, I'm in love."

Gabe McTavish rolled his eyes and settled back on the sofa, wishing he'd jumped in the shower right when he got home. His brother, Zak, made that announcement at least twice a month. Gabe wondered who the lucky woman would turn out to be this time.

"And does the mother of my future niece or nephew have a name?" He didn't have to ask what the new woman looked like. Zak's type never changed. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and big tits. Always.

"Her name is Tara Lowes and she's the newest paramedic at five house." His brother paused and Gabe braced himself. "You gotta come out with me tonight and meet her."

Gabe sighed. He'd rather spork his eyeballs out than watch Zak try to woo his latest and greatest.

His brother knew him too well. "Come on, Gabe. It's been months since we've gone out together."

Gabe clarified. "It's been three weeks and I had to pour you into a cab the last time." Love of Zak's life number 97 had dumped him the previous night. "Call Laz and ask him to babysit."

Muffled sounds of Zak's hand over the phone met Gabe's ears. "Sorry, bro. Laz is booked up tonight. He's got that sweet new ER nurse primed and ready. Gonna slip her the Laz Special before the night is over."

Yes…I'm really going to leave it there. Suffice it to say, Laz is an interesting character. :D

This kind of story is near and dear to me. Half my family is in the fire and emergency medical services. :D They're all pretty awesome people.

Happy Reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Along the Shore

This is a snippet from the follow up to Down in Mexico. If you haven't read that one yet...why not? LOL

The main characters, Lars and Kiernan, will feature in this one to help Vail and Ellery along their journey. :)

Here's a tag line: Vail Ericsson, a freelance security expert and skilled tracker, can find anyone for a price. But when he trails Ellery Quantrell to Mexico, he discovers she's not an escapee but target and his role changes from pursuer to protector, whether Ellery wants him as a shield or not.

And the snippet for Along the Shore...

"Come on, let's go." Vail Ericcson extended his hand, offering assistance.

Ellery Quantrell glanced up through her eyelashes. "I know you're not talking to me." She blew her limp bangs out of her face. "I just told you, I'm done taking orders."

Vail made a choking sound. "Then by all means, consider it a request, but get your ass up and get moving. The shooter could still be on our trail." His eyes scanned the horizon, his gaze shooting up to check the rooftops.

Ellery snorted. "On your trail, not mine. I've been here two months with nothing but rest and relaxation. You show up and less than twenty-four hours later, I'm dodging bullets." She glared. "Thanks for that."

Vail responded with a nasty look. What else could he do? She spoke the truth.

Ellery shrugged. "Like I said. I'm done. Until you can convince me it's worth my time and effort to help you out, I'm sitting right here in this park, on this bench, and enjoying the sun."

This one has been so much fun to write but still has a long way to go. Stay tuned for more sneak peeks.

Happy Reading!

Skylin

2013 is Here!!

And boy did I fail to start my Six Sentence Sunday posts.

In my defense, December ended up being a ROUGH month. I started it by getting the flu and the whole family followed...one by one...taking us through two days after Xmas. Seriously, I hope no one else gets the icky virus going 'round. (My husband even got a flu shot and he STILL ended up with it. Bleh.)

We followed the flu with a kidney stone attack on my husband. He doesn't get them often, but wow...when he does they're HORRIBLE.

So, thankfully that's all behind us and we're ready for the bright, shiny new year. And to get off on the right foot, I'm shooting for weekly posts. I'm hoping the Six Sentence Sunday snippets will keep me on track.

*Pops the cork* Cheers to all!