New Release - ITHANI - by J. Scott Coatsworth

I am delighted to be among the first to announce this exciting new release, ITHANI  by J. Scott Coatsworth

Ithani

The final MM sci fi book in Coatsworth’s trilogy releases February 19!! 

 

Time is running out.

After saving the world twice, Xander, Jameson and friends plunge headlong into a new crisis. The ithani–the aliens who broke the world–have reawakened from their hundred millennia-long slumber. When Xander and Jameson disappear in a flash, an already fractured world is thrown into chaos.

The ithani plans, laid a hundred thousand years before, are finally coming to pass, and they threaten all life on Erro. Venin and Alix go on a desperate search for their missing and find more than they bargained for. And Quince, Robin and Jessa discover a secret as old as the skythane themselves.

Will alien technology, unexpected help from the distant past, destiny and some good old-fashioned firepower be enough to defeat an enemy with the power to split a world? The final battle of the epic science fiction adventure that began in Skythane will decide the fate of lander and Skythane alike. And in the north, the ithani rise…

Oberon Cycle Trilogy

Ithani Buy Links

Dreamspinner eBook | Dreamspinner Paperback | Amazon eBook | Amazon Paperback | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | QueeRomance Ink | Goodreads

Book 1: Skythane:

Dreamspinner eBook | Dreamspinner Paperback | Amazon Kindle | Amazon paperback | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | QueeRomance Ink | Goodreads

Book Two: Lander:

Dreamspinner eBook | Dreamspinner Paperback | Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | QueeRomance Ink | Goodreads


Giveaway

Scott is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and ten copies of “The Stark Divide,” the first book in his other trilogy, his other trilogy, “Liminal Sky,” with this tour. Enter via Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d4753/?


Excerpt

Venin stood under the dome of the chapel, the waters of the Orn rushing past the small island to crash over the edge of the crater rim, where they fell a thousand meters to the broken city of Errian below.

The Erriani chapel was different from what he was used to back home. The Gaelani chapel in Gaelan had sat at the top of a tall pillar of stone, open to the night sky, a wide space of grass and trees that intertwined in a natural dome through which moonlight filtered down to make dappled shadows on the ground.

This chapel, instead, was a wonder of streaming sunlight, the columns a polished eggshell marble with glimmering seams of gold. Red creeper vines climbed up the columns, festooned with clusters of yellow flowers that gave off a sweet scent.

Both were bright and airy, but the Erriani chapel lay under a dome supported by fluted marble columns, a painted arch of daytime sky and the rose-colored sun blazing overhead.

The last time he’d gone to chapel had been with Tazim, before his untimely death.

Long before the troubles that roiled the world now.

Something drew him back. A need to reconnect with his past. To bridge the gap between then and now, between who he was and who he had become. Taz would have liked this place.

The chapel here had survived the attack, while much of Errian had not. The city below was a jumble of broken corrinder, the multistory plants that were the main building stock for the city. They would grow again, but the sight of the city’s beautiful white towers laid low struck him to the core.

So had Gaelan looked, after the flood.

Venin turned back to the chapel and unlaced his boots, baring his muscular calves before he approached the fountain that splashed at its center. The cool flagstone beneath his feet sent a shiver up his spine, and green moss filled the gaps between the stones.

Some builder whose name was lost to time had tapped into the river itself to make the fountain run, and the water leapt into the air with a manic energy around the golden statue of Erro, before falling back down to the pool.

Venin knelt at the fountain’s edge on one of the well-worn pads, laid his hands in the shallow water, and let his wings rest over himself, making a private place to pray.

Erro and Gael, spare us from danger and lift us up into the sky with your powerful wings. He gave Erro deference, being that this was his chapel, but he hoped Gael would hear him too. The god of his own people had been known to intervene in mortal affairs before, and if what Quince had told them about these ithaniwas true, they would need all the help they could get.

Venin’s wings warmed.

He looked up in astonishment to see the statue of Erro giving off an intense golden glow. His mouth dropped open, and he stood and stared at its beautiful male curves and muscles. Maybe the gods were answering him.

Venin reached up and touched the statue’s outstretched hand. The shock knocked him backward onto his ass, and he hit the ground hard, slamming into one of the marble columns.

Venin groaned, stunned, and reached back to feel his wings and spine. He seemed to be in one piece.

Taz would have laughed his ass off at the whole thing.

After a moment he sat up cautiously. He wrapped his arms around his legs and stared up at the statue, his chin on his knees.

The glow was gone.

Did I imagine it? He stood and felt the back of his head. A lump was already forming there. That’s gonna leave a mark.

Something had changed. Venin didn’t know what yet, but he was sure of that much.

He pulled his boots back on and laced them up. With one last suspicious glare at the statue, he turned and stepped out of the chapel, taking a deep breath of the moisture-laden air.

Then he leapt into the sky to soar down to the broken city.


Author Bio

Scott lives with his husband of twenty five years in a Sacramento suburb, in a cute little yellow house with a brick fireplace and two pink flamingoes out front.

He inhabits in the space between the here and now and the what could be. Indoctrinated into science fiction and fantasy by his mom at the tender age of nine, he quickly finished her entire library. But he soon began to wonder where all the queer people were.

After coming out at twenty three, he started writing the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at Crown Books. If there weren’t many queer characters in his favorite genres, he would will them into existence, subverting them to his own ends. And if he was lucky enough, someone else would want to read them.

His friends say Scott’s mind works a little differently than most – he makes connections between ideas that others don’t, and somehow does more in a day than most people manage in a week. Although born an introvert, he forced himself to reach outside himself, and learned to connect with others like him.

Scott’s stories subvert expectations that transform traditional science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something different and unexpected. He runs both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark.

His romance and genre fiction writing brings a queer energy to his stories, filling them with love, beauty and power. He imagines how the world could be – in the process, he hopes to change the world, just a little.

Scott was recognized as one of the top new gay authors in the 2017 Rainbow Awards, and his debut novel “Skythane” received two awards and an honorable mention.

You can find him at Dreamspinner here, Goodreads here, on Amazon here, on QueeRomance Ink here, and on Facebook here.

LOGO - Other Worlds Ink

Thank you for coming by.
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

I love you. Maybe.

I Love You. Maybe.

Contemporary romance is blooming. Book covers show couples embracing, sexy girls and guys are wrapped around sexy backs and fronts of other sexy girls and guys. Lips are barely touching and some covers how bared legs with creeping hands of guys and/or gals. Dark fiction is oozing blood and vampire eyes are shining bright with lust (or else its just colored lights). Even the titles are all about the romance: harems and lovers, his woman, her hero, his and her lovers. And the bedroom sheets are flying with “seduced, compelled, driven, broken, bound,” etc.

I really enjoy a good love story. They don’t have to be happy-ever-after ones either. I don’t mind if I cry or laugh as long as the story itself is well told. 

What I don’t enjoy is using love as a tool. “I love you,” he said — it’s not enough. Don’t tell me how much you love me. SHOW me. 

Valentine’s Day is upon us and soon the commercial snake will rear its head and lovers everywhere will receive chocolates and flowers, tokens of affection from sexy soaps to books, and couples will head out to that romantic dinner. I heard on the television that men will pay over $300 on the big day and women won’t pay more than $70. I don’t think I understand that difference but I can tell you that for me, if you really want to wow me with your love, SHOW ME.

Now I’m not knocking an engagement ring (though I really wish you wouldn’t propose on V-day since that’s so cliché). Or a dinner at a nice restaurant. And I’m not saying that a good tumble in the bed (or hay, or wherever) isn’t an exceptional way to express yourself.

But if you really want to say how much you love me, SHOW ME. Okay, you say, what does that really mean?

Good question. What does it mean when your character says those three little words. Are they magic? Are they meant to be nostalgic? Are they memorable moments never to be forgotten? Then make them that way.

Telling isn’t showing. Sure, saying the words is important. But if you really want to convey the message in your stories, then show characters DOING things that demonstrate the love.
     Making (and even burning) breakfast. In bed. On the patio. Camping.
     Cutting out a valentine card and making a mess. A lovely mess.
     Doing something domestic as a surprise.
     Growing the flowers that become the bouquet and plucking them, too.
     Making a mini movie.
     Making a photo album or scrapbook.
     Sending a remote controlled train or car with a message.

You get the idea. I want to feel the love coming out of the stories when I read them. I don’t want to read the words but I want to FEEL the love from the ACTIONS. If the characters demonstrate from the beginning or come around toward the end, then I will BELIEVE that the love is real.

And that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

It isn’t enough to say that you love someone. Anyone can do that. It means nothing without some action to support the words. Whether in real life or in your stories, what you show me beats what you say to me every time. In fact, the more you show me, the less you need to say to me.

“I love you.”   “I know.”

And we got that because of what we had seen. ‘Nuff said (and in case you never saw Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back,then you missed the greatest demonstration of love ever.)

So get out there this Valentine’s Day, and every day, and SHOW your cherished loves how much you care. Then when your actions are finally punctuated with the words, they will smile and say, “I know.” Because finally, they will.

* * *

As far as the “demonstrating” part goes, let it be those things we do everyday that we wouldn’t do if our most cherished other wasn’t around. Do you do ordinary things that are special because they are there? And if they weren’t there would you stop doing those things? These are demonstrations of love. 

Every day my beloved shows me how much he cares by making a cup of tea, picking up something special at the grocery story, doing a chore around the house that I usually do, anticipating my wants and taking action, making a meal, even doing the dishes. Ordinary things can be the loudest words you may ever hear. Are you listening?

Don’t stop saying, “I love you.” But if you really do, find ways to remove doubt and let the words be punctuation instead of the statement. 

Just like one bite is not enough for my vampires, give me more to sink my teeth into and I’m a believer in your love (and lovers) forever. There can be no “maybe.”

Thanks for showing me you care by coming to visit. I love you too.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Why I Write About Vampires


(picture from the movie, Van Helsing)

Why I Write About Vampires

Those who know me know why I love to write about vampires — because there have been vampire myths in the history of every major country and continent in the world. I’ve had a fascination for these creatures since I was about seven. And that curious fascination is what caused me to begin what has become a lifetime of research. Since I was twenty and overseas, I have looked into the vampire mythos extensively. I’ve prowled libraries and read history books, visited mausoleums and churches, and walked many a dirt path of ancient abbeys. Every step was to discover the origin and possibility of the vampire, this creature that inhabited the culture and mythology of every continent.

For something that didn’t exist, it seems a strange thing to be found everywhere, don’t you think?

I thought so and that is why I fell in love with the vampire. It’s why I write about them. The possibilities of truth, the seduction of the legends, is compelling.

Of course, the word “vampire” didn’t exist in ancient times. The blood drinking, prowling night creatures were called ghouls, demons, spirits, Some were known as goddesses – like Lillith or Egypt’s Sekhemet, beings that craved the blood of babies and had a penchant for luring men to their beds.

Older even than Lillith is the Mesopotamian demon Anu or Gallu, also child-stealing and blood drinking, usually with animal forms.  But always a “she.” Even the Greek Gods (you know the ones we all hear about with Zeus?) had Lamia who supposedly slept with Zeus, was found out by Hera, punished as Hera killed all her children. As a result Lamia swore to kill every child and drink their blood. The Goddess Hecate had a daughter who was believed to be as a siren and seduced men before drinking their blood (sounds like our modern myths, yes?)

I’m sure you’ve heard tales of the Russian “upir” or the Romanian “strigas, or even the Jewish Estries continue the myth of the bloodsucker. Consider the word “leech” that comes from a Hebrew word “alukah.” In India, they had the vetalas, written in detail in their Sanskrit folktales. In Catalonia, there is the “Dip,” an evil vampire dog.

As if to capture our imaginations further, literature around the world can’t stop writing about the vampire creatures. From Homer’s Odyssey, thru the ancient Indian text Kathasaritsagara, and into Irish Le Fanu’s Carmilla to Stoker’s Dracula, every history, cultural myth and country would have you believe the vampire roamed their land if not their psyche.

Today, this trend continues and we celebrate our myth in more books and movies. Crypts are open and skeletons show us ghoulish possibilities. Historians continue to debate. And the search continues for proof of Dracula in the missing bones of Vlad the Impaler, who bore the Order of the Dracul.

 

Is it any wonder then why authors continue to offer vampiric delights (okay, except for sparkly vampires)? This is why the vampire is my study and my joy. This is my passion and why I write stories of vampires and the creatures they know. 

The trick is to tell the aged vampire myth in a way that has never been told. To seek out new myths in new civilizations. To boldly go where no vampire has gone before. (apologies to Gene Roddenberry).

There are other reasons for writing vampires beyond the idea of their immortality. There are the seductive aspects, even the sexual ones. But what fascinates me is the psychological ones: the manipulation, the physical possibilities, how the psyche must adapt, just to name a few. There are other books dealing with the influence of the vampire, and how it touched children and adults. Is it beautiful with ugly side effects? Or ugly with a beautiful heart? Does the vampire kill selectively or without prejudice, widely or like a lion with a hunting ground? Is it solitary and why or why not. Yes, the vampire has much to offer and this is why is continues to be fascinating. Many of these issues are in my books and my fiction addresses them.

This is why I write. Because with nearly every country in the world believing in such myths, how can all of them be a lie? I am seduced, enchanted, and teased by the possibility of truth. I consider it an honor to add my name to the immortal records of this legendary creature.

Vampires. Don’t look now but they’re watching you and the seduction continues.

Thanks for dropping by.
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

In other News:  

I am pleased to announce the release of a new anthology, Inspiration for Writers by Writers (Writing is Art Book 1). My perspective is in it as well as 13 other interesting authors. Give it a read (an ebook version is coming too). Click the picture to take the link.