Nancy Holzner: Rust City Featured Author

Welcome to your introduction to some of the fantastic authors who will be joining us at the conference, only one week away now! Today I'm showcasing
NANCY HOLZNER

Hi Nancy! Want to tell us a little bit about your work?

Sure! I'm the author of the Deadtown urban fantasy series, featuring shapeshifter Victory Vaughn. As Boston's only professional demon exterminator, Vicky kills other people's personal demons while trying to maintain a relationship with her workaholic werewolf lawyer boyfriend and manage a teenage zombie apprentice. There are currently five books in the series: Deadtown, Hellforged, Bloodstone, Darklands, and Hellhound. The sixth and final book, Firestorm, will be out next year.

That's awesome, Nancy! I read the first two and liked them very much; clearly I need to get caught up! For now though, on to RustCity!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at downhill skiing , but these days I'm pretty rusty." I did a little skiing years ago myself, although I would have to say "downhill skiing on beginner runs only." The one time I attempted a blue run, I gave up part way down and slid down on my butt holding my skis...

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.  No one has a voice like Aretha.  This truth we hold to be self-evident...

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused. And not from around here.
All will become clear at the conference...

4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? Hanging out with readers and other authors. Excellent, because that's the whole point!

5. What is an off-the-cuff association you have with Michigan, Detroit, or Troy? Wayne State, where my dad went to grad school (not quite) a million years ago. Your dad and my husband are fellow alumni, then!

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence?    
So this girl walked into the bar--not just any bar, MY bar. And not just any girl, either.

What's it about?  
No clue except she's the wealthy industrialist and he's the R&B singer.  I like the Casablanca nod!

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game? Yes please!

Yay!!  You chose to work on Alchemy Rusts, our paranormal, anything-goes story.  And I'm so excited because this will be the THRILLING CONCLUSION to a pretty amazing story. Your challenge words are:  sliver, onyx, morbid, lush, and taste

Part 1, by Laura Bickle
Part 2, by Calandra Usher
Part 3, by AJ Norris
Part 4, by Roselynn Cannes
Part 5: by Gina Conkle

It was the shivering that woke her.

Cold . . . how could she be so cold? Her joints ached with it. It felt like splinters of ice were jammed up under her nails, into her eyes and nose and ears. She was an iceberg floating in a vast, dark, frozen sea.

Mara struggled to open her eyes, but her lashes were frozen shut. She lifted her arm—there was a sound like glass breaking as she pulled free of ice—and rubbed her eyes. Her fingers, stiff with cold, were just warm enough to melt the crystals that sealed them shut.

Mara opened her eyes to the end of the world.

A blizzard raged around her. Tiny silver flakes, sharp as razors, sliced at her skin. She sat up, and silvery ice cracked and flaked away. All was silent until she dug the ice from her ears, unleashing sounds of howling wind and screeching cries. Above it all, Ayla chanted in a language Mara didn’t understand.

The mermaid queen held the astrolabe aloft. The orb shone like the north star as it spewed the metallic snowflakes that filled the room.

The liquid that had spilled from the mermaid tank and lifted Mara up was slowly freezing. It stuck to her like quicksand, drawing her in. She panicked, thrashing, only to get pulled in deeper. The thick liquid splashed into her mouth, coating her tongue with a metallic taste. The taste of death by freezing.

Stop thrashing! she told herself. She closed her mouth. Her body retained barely enough heat to melt the ice from her tongue. She spat it out, and the globule froze in mid-air.

A dark form flew over her head. It hovered over Izyk’s frozen body. The Others were clustered there. As Mara watched in horror, a ring of smoke left Izyk’s mouth, only to be inhaled by one of the waiting ghouls. The Others were stealing his breath. They were sucking out the life force that Spike had tried to restore.

“No!” Mara screamed. She struggled to break free of the ice that held her. But each movement trapped her more firmly. The ice thickened.

Ayla stopped chanting. Her eyes, hard and dark as onyx, fixed on Mara. “Where is the bladeless sword? Give it to me, and I’ll let Izyk live.”

To Mara’s right, an Other inhaled another ring of smoke. Izyk lay motionless, his body encased in ice, his skin tinged with blue.

“Give me the sword!” Ayla screeched. “The time for the ritual is now!” She threw aside the astrolabe and picked up something else. A block of ice. Frozen in its center was Spike. The little dragon glowed orange, but its heat was no match for the unnatural cold of the mermaid queen’s ice. As Mara watched, the orange faded. The tip of Spike’s tail turned hard and clear. Orange flared again, but dimmer. More of the tail glittered, hard and white and cold. Ayla was turning the dragon into a diamond.

“It is the only creature that can give me what I need,” Ayla said. “A sword forged not in fire but in ice. With it, I will expand my realm throughout the half world—and beyond! Where is that sword?”

“You’ll never get it!”

“Then your lover shall die!”

A cloud of Others hovered over Izyk. Could Mara sacrifice him to save the world? But what kind of world would it be if Ayla won? A hard, glittering world of ice and snow, without the lush green forests created by Izyk and his kind. Mara couldn’t let that happen. But neither could she imagine a world without Izyk, his deep laugh, his cool blue eyes, his strong, graceful body that took her breath away.

Maybe there was a way she could save him and the world. But did she dare?

Mara shifted slightly, resting her free hand on her hip.

“There!” Ayla shrieked. She’d seen the movement. “The human has the sword. It’s on her hip, under that ridiculous cloak. Get it!”

The Others remained where they were. Mara prayed that Izyk still held on to some shred of his life force.

“Leave him!” Ayla commanded. “Remember our agreement!” She set Spike on a shelf and picked up the astrolabe, twisting its knobs. The Others jerked upright and stood at attention. “Bring me the sword!”

Mara shut her eyes as the Others descended upon her. Smokelike hands searched her body, pushing her down into the ice. Their touch was the feeling of creeping dread. Then, with a cry of triumph, one of them wrested away the sword. The Others withdrew as they carried the sword to Ayla.

“Good.” The mermaid’s voice was slick with satisfaction. “You may have her.”

Mara opened her eyes to see a dark cloud above her. Faces formed—leering, hungry—and dissolved back into the mist. She was frozen in place, only her face above the ice. All she could move was her eyes, allowing her to just barely see Ayla in the periphery. The mermaid had set down the astrolabe and was reaching for Spike. The poor dragon had almost completely transformed into a diamond. Spike had given up fighting. There was no more orange glow, only a pale yellow at the creature’s heart and the tip of its snout.

Mara had to do it now—or all was lost. She opened her mouth.

One of the Others swooped toward her, and Mara felt like her lungs were being ripped out of her chest. A ring of smoke puffed out of her mouth. The Other gobbled it up.

Mara’s mouth snapped shut. She need to speak. But how could she if the Others were eating her breath?

There was a word. A word of power. A word so dangerous that the book warned never, ever to say it aloud. Mara had stared at it when Spike was stuck to her hand but that warning had kept her lips sealed. Whatever the word did, she needed to say it now. If she even remembered it.

Ghostly fingers probed at her mouth, trying to pry it open. Mara tensed. She visualized the page. The word formed in her mind. She could feel its power. She let the power gather.

She opened her mouth and bellowed the word.

It blasted through the Others, scattering them.

It shattered the cube of ice that imprisoned Spike. Color rushed into the diamantine body—orange, then red. Spike burst into flames. Spike became fire. Ayla tried to drop the dragon. She tried to hurl it away. She tried to shake it off her hand. But Spike was clamped firmly to her palm. Fire spread up Ayla’s arm. Her hair was in flames. Her flesh melted. The water of her aquarium boiled as she disintegrated into it. Her last cry faded in the smoky air.

Ayla was gone. But the flames kept spreading.

Wisps of dark mist flared and fell to ash as the Others were burned up. The ice holding Mara melted. She ducked under the water as fire shot across the surface. But the water was growing hot. And she had to breathe.

What had she done? Mara had stopped Ayla, but she’d tilted the world too far in the other direction. A world of fire was no better than a world of ice.

Now she had just one choice left: Death by drowning or by being burned to cinders.

Mara’s lungs screamed for air. She couldn’t drown. Maybe the fire would be quicker.

As her head broke the water, a deep voice boomed out a word. Mara had no clue what it meant, but she could feel its power. It thrummed with an energy that shook her to her bones.

The flames extinguished. When the smoke cleared, the first thing she saw was Spike, its silvery scales shining as it sat on the rim of a cracked aquarium and preened. The dragon hiccupped, and a little belch of flame shot from its mouth. But it didn’t spread.

The second thing Mara saw was a pair of ice-blue eyes, sparkling with life and a touch of amusement. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to never, ever say that word?”

Izyk. He was alive.

And so, for that matter, was she.

“What else could I have done? I thought Ayla would let those Others kill you.” Not to mention freeze the entire world.

“Don’t be so morbid,” Izyk laughed. “I don’t kill that easily.” His expression darkened. “Ayla was evil. She froze the North Woods and was holding some of my people captive there. She forced me to tell you to bring the astrolabe. I had no choice, but I thought if I was rude to you when you called, you might stay away. I was trying to protect you.”

Oh, Izyk, Mara thought, as if anything could make me stay away from you. “I was ready to smack you,” she admitted.

Izyk laughed again and pulled her into his arms. She rested her cheek against his strong, muscled chest. She felt warm here, and safe.

“You do understand, though, how dangerous it was to speak that word.” His words held no hint of reprimand.

“I know. It upset the balance. And I didn’t know how to restore it.”

“I think you need some lessons in alchemy. Advanced alchemy. Your spellcraft is powerful, but you need to refine your control.”

Mara smiled up at him. “I agree. Know any good teachers?”

Spike hiccupped again. But the dragon’s burst of flame wasn’t half as hot as the kiss that consumed them.

Thanks for featuring me on Alpha Heroes. I look forward to seeing you at RustCity!  In the meantime, readers can find me around the web at these locations:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+

It was so great having you Nancy! and I love love love what you did with this story!  What a ride!  Thanks so much!

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Reader Registration is still open for #RustCity16!

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

Gina Conkle: Rust City Book Con Featured Author

Welcome to your early-bird peek at some of the fantastic authors who are already signed up for the conference. Today I'm showcasing GINA CONKLE !!

I write Viking and Georgian romance (talk about polar opposites!). My next release 'To Find a Viking Treasure' is a fast-paced enemies-to-lovers romance where the hero and heroine try to steal back a Viking hoard. That one releases in September (pre-order available!). The follow-up, To Heal a Viking Heart, comes out in November. It's about a bad-boy Viking outlaw who finds unusual redemption with a healer.
Oooo, I've been a sucker for Viking romance ever since I read the Wolf and the Dove by Woodiwiss back in the day. *one-clicks*

Ok, Gina, let's talk about RustCity!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at time management , but these days I'm pretty rusty." What would you pay for Hermione's time-turner? Ooof, so many books, so little time.

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.
Aretha. My favorite musical era is late 1960s through 1979.
That's a hard stop! I love 80s music too, but in a totally different way. Like 70s music and 80s music are brother and sister and I love them both, but not the same.

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused.  Diet Coke?

4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? Meeting local readers.

5. What is an off-the-cuff association you have with Michigan, Detroit, or Troy?
Everything's so green. Bad roads. Funny what we notice, isn't it?

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence? Her mouth touched the microphone.
Provocative!

Optional: What's it about? Girl from the wrong side of the tracks conquers uptight industrialist.
Classic. I love it.

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game?

Yes!

Yay!!  You chose to work on Alchemy Rusts, our paranormal, anything-goes story.  Your challenge words are:

 

lunar, sacred, rite, finicky, and vain

Part 1, by Laura Bickle
Part 2, by Calandra Usher
Part 3, by AJ Norris
Part 4, by Roselynn Cannes

Part 5:

The testy dragon blew three smoke rings on Izyk's chest. Tiny ice crystals formed on pasty white skin, the sign of changeling suspension. Mara dropped to her knees beside his lifeless body. Her dry mouth worked, but no words came. She needed to touch him, tried to, but Spike hissed at her outstretched hand.

"Dragons prefer to do CPR alone." A cool voice spoke from the shadows.

"CPR? Spike's saving his life?" Mara's voice notched higher. She checked the dark room. Soiled cloths shrouded laboratory instruments. Aquariums sat empty, green bits of algae stuck to tainted glass. The algae glimmered as though small diamonds clung to the slime.

Water slapped the floor, the sound echoing off high ceilings. "Behind you, dear."

Mara scooted around. A woman hovered on the surface of a giant tank, her slender fingers gripping the glass rim with authority. Long blonde hair draped one shoulder, floating like white silk in cerulean blue water. Hard light shined in her eyes, eyes the same shade as the water, the same blue as Izyk's. Mara swallowed hard.

The woman's lips split in what could be called a smile. "No need to be afraid. I'm Ayla, a distant...relative of Izyk's."

A chill walked slowly up Mara's spine. Ayla didn't say relative, rather it slithered off her tongue.

"Funny," Mara said, pushing to her feet, hiding the astrolabe in the folds of her cloak. "He's never mentioned you."

Ayla stroked her hair, preening the way a vain woman would. "Impertinent little piece."

Metal warmed Mara's hand. The plate-sized orb buzzed to life, its cogs and gears ticking behind three small, glass windows. The machine was coming to life. But who started it?

"Give me that." Ayla's arm stuck over the rim.

Mara hefted the instrument. "This?"

"Yes. It belongs to me."

The water woman's fingernails scraped the bronze casing. Alarm bells rang in Mara's head, and she stepped back. "Let's wait for Spike to revive Izyk first."

"No!" A violent wave crashed over the tank's edge. It splattered on the floor, but the water didn't go down the drain. This water slid across concrete, slipping past Mara's shoes as if on a mission. To reach Izyk's body.

She swung around fast. Water surrounded Izyk, lifted him an inch off the floor. Spike carried on his dragon's remedy, blowing smoke over Izyk's body. Hazy concentric circles floated over well-muscled legs formed from long runs. Sluggish wisps of indigo and purple swirled over Izyk's nicely cut lips before funneling sylph-like into his mouth. Much of his color came back, but he lay perfectly still covered in ice crystals. Not dead. Nor alive.

Mara sank to floor beside Izyk, yet her legs, her shoes were dry. Spike flew to a stainless steel table. Onyx eyes glittering, he squawked twice at Ayla and folded his wings.

A long-suffering sigh came from the water woman. "Everyone's conspiring against me today."

"Why isn't he awake?" Mara brushed a soft brown curl off his forehead.

"Our little dragon friend won't share the final, healing breath until I..." Water sloshed. "Never mind. Spike and Izyk are up to something."

The dragon and Izyk?

"But--" Mara turned, gasping.

Ayla's pearlescent torso pressed the glass, a long, graceful fishtail twisting sideways, flicking water impatiently. A thousand diamonds sparkled on her tail. Mara blinked twice at diamond tipped nipples squished against the aquarium. The Mermaid Queen of the North Seas wore diamonds. She was the only person in the half-world who could make them.

The elegant tail snapped to and fro. "Don't gape. It's bad manners."

Mara's chin dropped to her chest. It was no business of hers how the Mermaid Queen dressed. Izyk was her business as were his cheeks warming under her hand. "What's happening?"

"He's still in suspension."

A faint hue colored his skin. "No. Tonight. My being here."

"Izyk used you."

"Used me?" Mara's feet shifted on the strange water that didn't wet her feet.

"Your silly book of spells, the flame of anthor--" The queen's nose wrinkled at Spike like a finicky cat sniffing at a bad morsel. "--even my friend the dragon. All meant to bring the astrolabe to me with the bladeless sword hilt," she paused. "Which you obviously forgot."

The bladeless sword grip. Mara flashed on the rusted hilt with its dirt-smeared stone on the pommel. She rubbed her hip covered by her cloak about to say something, but a hint of breath pushed from Izyk's lungs.

"He's breathing." Mara bent over him all the better to watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

"We needed a full-blooded human to get the relics," the Queen went on. "If The Others smelled a changeling..." she shivered visibly. "Well, even a queen in her element is no match for their magic."

The elements --the natural order of humans in their world and changelings in theirs. Every being served a purpose. The Mermaid Queen of the North Sea and her people made diamonds from ice. The Hind Deer people of the forest, Izyk's kind, wove forests and greenery. Landsmen of the South manufactured metal from stone. Each faction guarded their process jealously. Humans lived with this delicate balance, taking but never giving. It was why they were the lowest order.

"Wait." Mara squinted at the Queen. "Is someone trying to change the half-world?"

Wind whistled outside the laboratory. Spike cawed at the building's lone window, his talons clanking steel as he tried to sink them into the table.

The Mermaid Queen swished back and forth in the aquarium. "We need the bladeless sword. We've only this lunar cycle to perform the sacred rite."

Ayla's gaze flit to the window as sheets of water spilled over the glass rim. The strange liquid lifted Izyk and Mara higher. Mara had heard a distant tale, a prophecy of breaking the half-world's unseen chains. Is that why her wise-cracking mentor tricked her into this daring quest? But, why risk death and kiss her?

"They're coming." The Mermaid Queen hoisted herself up and balanced her body on the rim where skin met scales. "There's no time. Give me the astrolabe," she ordered. A thin line of blood oozed where glass edged her scales.

Leaves flew against the laboratory window. The pane rattled from gale force winds.

Mara handed over the astrolabe to the queen. "What about Izyk?"

"He'll live! Grab his hand."

Mara squeezed Izyk's lukewarm hand. If he survived this, she'd kill him for not telling her the truth.

Ayla's frenzied fingers twisted black and bronze knobs. The machine hummed until the bronze shell radiated brilliant light. Fierce winds rattled the lone window. Pitch black shapes loomed outside, their eyes bottomless holes. Glass cracked, the rending sound a sharp chill on Mara's skin. Against her hip inside her cloak another piece of metal pressed hard. The bladeless sword.

The laboratory shook. Empty aquariums snapped in two, raining glass on the floor.

"Hold on," Ayla yelled above the storm.

"The bladeless sword," Mara yelled back, hair blowing across her face. "What does it do?"

The laboratory's shattering window swallowed her words. Shards flew at them like daggers sent to destroy, the power of The Others on full display. A jagged glass knife flew at Mara's eye. She screamed. Her back hit the Queen's aquarium, and all went black.

Fantastic! I love that you brought the mermaid back, and wow, you made the Aquarium so creepy and atmospheric!

Thanks so much! I had way too much fun with this; could hardly stop writing!  I look forward to connecting with readers and writers at Rust City. Until then, please find me in these places:

Website | Twitter |  Facebook |  Pinterest  

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Reader Registration is still open for #RustCity16!

 

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

Roselynn Cannes: Rust City Featured Author

 

Welcome to your early-bird peek at some of the fantastic authors who are already signed up for the conference. Today I'm showcasing Five Words Repeat Offender... uh, I mean, returning champion:

ROSELYNN CANNES! 

Hi! I'm Roselynn Cannes. *waves* I'm newly addicted to Tumblr, I love gin and pantsless dancing, I have the time management skills of a carrot - oh! - and sometimes I write.

Currently I have one book out, FALLEN, it's a literary fiction, historical fiction-fantasy hybrid.  Personally, I don't think it falls into lit-fic. (I read it and loved it) I'm pretty sure it would be considered fantasy, even though there's no magic.

*side eye* I don't think you're supposed to contradict the author about these things, Nicola... The second book in the Fallen Series, DESTROYED, will be out October of this year. *pantsless happy dance* Set in an ancient Greco-Roman inspired world, the Fallen Series is about deciding what to sacrifice and what to fight for - and living with the fallout - when faced with a no-win scenario. < james kirk > I don't believe in no-win scenarios! </james kirk > Err, sorry, I just re-watched the movie.

Uh, yeah Nicola, that's... great. As for my writing, stay tuned for updates on a future project: Games of Thorns, a series of Novellas in which fairy tale princesses are their own villains in the story.  Oh hey, that wouldn't have anything to do with a certain interview on Alpha Heroes, would it?? Sorry, sorry, carry on!

ANYWAY... the first novella, THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST was supposed to be out this year, but I did mention my time management skills, didn't I?

Ok, Roselynn, let's talk about RustCity!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at not cursing like a sailor , but these days I'm pretty rusty."  I know what you f*cking mean, lady.

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.

Eminem. His music is so angry and angsty; much better fodder for my writing playlists. I still love you, Aretha. *loudly whispers, "Forgive me!"*

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused. And not from around here. I have no idea what this means, but I really enjoy the word Faygo  Guess you'll find out in Michigan!

4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? Gin and pantsless dancing
Eureka! Gin and Faygo, we just invented a new drink. We can call it The RustCity Roz.

5.What is an off-the-cuff association you have with Troy, Detroit, or Michigan?
Rust City Book Con Well that certainly makes sense!

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence? "Maybe if you would lay off the hookers and blow, we could actually get some fucking work done around here." *chinhands* Tell me more.

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game? *rips pants off in response*  OK, well, that was  hardly necessary, but we love your enthusiasm!

You'll be building on our paranormal story featuring a conjured magical dragon, titled Alchemy Rusts (I love that title, thanks Laura!)  The worldbuilding rules for this story are: there are no rules! Paranormal, magical, time travel... anything goes here. And finally, your challenge words are:

fealty, expectorate, bedraggled, alcohol, lovely   

Part 1, by Laura Bickle
Part 2, by Calandra Usher
Part 3, by AJ Norris
Part 4:

Mara was scrambling to get to the aquarium. It was well past dark and there was an excellent chance that Izyk had gotten tired— or bored, or irritated— and left. If she were truly being honest with herself, it was equally likely he’d found himself distracted and hadn’t hung around to begin with. Fickle, fickle man.

God, she needed a drink. Alcohol would make seeing him easier. Wouldn’t it?

A sharp pain lanced through her palm and Mara looked down to see Spike had clamped his teeth around the meaty part of her hand. Mara immediately unlocked the fist she’d unintentionally clamped over the poor thing, but it was already too late. It felt like he’d injected a shot of flames directly into her blood stream. Even as she watched burning heat, bloomed and spread from the points where his needle-like teeth had penetrated flesh.

“Spike!” The word left her lips on a gasp. Rushing to escape as tears stung her eyes and she tried her best not to scream into the night.

“What did you do?” Izyk’s chastising drawl sent her blood boiling for wholly different reasons. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to punch or kiss him.

“Izyk, please.” Mara barely managed to squeeze the words out of her throat.

“The dragon bit you.” The observation did nothing to rectify the matter, nor stop the spread of the poison up her arm. She could lick him—kick him! She could kick him. After he helped her, she reminded herself. “Izyk, please,” she repeated, pushing the words between her firmly clenched teeth. “Can you help?”

“Certainly,” he agreed. “But it’ll cost you.”

“Really, Izyk? Really?! Soliciting favors? Now? You’re despicable.”

“Not favors. Fealty.”

“What?”

“Fealty.” Izyk walked two fingers up her shoulder. “Not much time. The poison is nearing your heart.”

Mara didn’t need the reminder. She could feel it searing its way through her chest.

“Fine! I swear.”

“Say, ‘I, Mara, swear my unwavering fealty to you, Izyk.’ Basic, but we’re in a bit of a rush so it’ll have to do.”

The scathing remark she might have thrown his way disintegrated on her tongue as her chest seized and her breath hitched. “I Mara swear my unwavering fealty to you, Izyk.” She hoped this worked. Ruefully, she acknowledged that it might not. The sounds she’d managed to expectorate hardly sounded like words.

Izyk grabbed her face in both his hands as her feet turned to Jell-O beneath her.

“If I die, I’m going to haunt the shit out of you.”

The next thing she knew, his lips were on hers. Figured. She should have known better than to trust him. He’d always been a phenomenal kisser and all he was doing presently was blowing air hard into her mouth. Mara felt a fleeting moment of disappointment. There wasn’t time to dwell on it. In an instant it was as though every atom in her body collapsed in on itself and then exploded outward. Only the feel of Izyk’s hands on her face and his mouth on her own confirmed that she hadn’t been blasted to the four corners of the globe.

When he pulled away from her, she stumbled, catching her footing and standing dazed. His usually stunning blue eyes were matte and pale.

“You look lovely,” he said softly, his pallor going whiter than when he was in his deer form.

Clearly he was delirious if he believed her bedraggled appearance was even remotely attractive. What had gotten into him?

“Izyk—”

“Did you bring the astrolabe?”

Confused, Mara nodded.

“Time to make good on your vow.” With no warning, he collapsed into a heap on the ground.

“Izyk!” She rushed to his side and couldn’t find any trace of breathing or a pulse.

What the hell was she supposed to do?!

Mara pulled the antiquated tool out of the inside pocket of her jacket. Spike—who was mercifully free of her shredded palm, though she had no idea how— settled himself directly over Izyk’s heart. “I hope you’ve got a clue, because otherwise we’re screwed,” she told the pocket sized dragon blowing smoke rings on the chest of the only man she’d ever loved.

Man, I love this game. 

Any last words for our readers, lovely Roselynn?

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you have to wear pants.

Words to live by!  For more words from Roselynn, find her at her online home, My Twisted Fairy Tales. You can find her latest in social media on her Stalk Me page (hah, that's classic Roselynn!).

Amazon US Buy Links for Fallen: Kindle | Paperback

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Registration is now open for #RustCity16!

 You'll be able to register right up until the doors open, but swag bags are guaranteed only if you register by July 10, so don't wait any longer...

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

AJ Norris: Rust City Book Con Featured Author

 

HI THERE!
Conference Thursday is back, kicking off the third round in the Five Words Fiction game, and featuring another fabulous Rust City Book Con author.  Today, please welcome:
 

AJ NORRIS 

Hi AJ! Wanna tell us a little about your writing?

Hi Nicola! My romantic suspense, Healing Hearts, was released in January 2016. This is my debut novel and it's about two lovers with dark pasts trying to heal old wounds while her dangerous ex-boyfriend is on the loose. You can check out my website www.ajnorrisauthor.com for a detailed blurb and excerpt link.

I'm currently working on the second book of my paranormal romance series. The first book, Her Black Wings, Book One of the Dark Amulet Series, is due to be released on July 12, 2016.


A new series! That's such great news! And it will be out just in time for RustCity!  Are you ready for the RustCity questionnaire?

I was born ready!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at enjoying my day job , but these days I'm pretty rusty." I definitely know those feels, my friend.

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.

Aretha! The queen of soul all the way, baby.

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused. And not from around here.


4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? I'm looking forward to meeting other authors, but most importantly, readers.

5. Which is NOT an actual community in Michigan? (no googling!)
Bad Axe
Mullet Lake
Alpha
Hero
Colon
Kalamazoo
(The correct answer is "Hero." I got very tickled at some of the names, especially when I saw that "Alpha" was one!)

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence? "Really?" Simone rolled her eyes, "and why would I believe you?"
OK, I'm intrigued.

What's it about? Struggling unsigned R & B singer, Simone, isn't looking for love, only a music contract. Mr. Calvin, a wealthy industrialist, wants to help her anyway he can after watching her perform. He claims he has connections in the music industry, but will he able to make her dreams come true or does he just want to steal her heart?
Hmmm. I think Mr. Calvin sounds like someone you get warned about. Risky!

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game?

Absolutely!  Bring on the paranormal, Alpha Heroes!

Excellent!  You'll be writing Part 3 of the ALCHEMY RUSTS story, and your challenge words are:  kaleidoscope, casserole, astrolabe, riot, susurration, and, per the delightful Ms. Usher, bonus points for using Belle Isle Aquarium-- which just so happens to have been a summer job for my own alpha hero, a/k/a, my husband.

ALCHEMY RUSTS

Part 1, by Laura Bickle

Part 2: by Calandra Usher

Mara slammed the Book of Spells shut. “Dammit. How in the hell am I supposed to get you off?” She stared at the dragon. It shook its whole body starting with the head and ending in a tail waggle. The sharp point on the end grazed the inside of her wrist. “Ow.” The little creature sat down, its bottom scorching her hand. She walked away from the stand where the Book lay.

Spike’s tiny silver talons held onto to the flesh of her palm like burnt leftovers stuck to the sides of a casserole dish. Maybe if she ran her hand under the faucet… The basin tap shuddered and dirty water sputtered out. Air bubbles caused the nasty mess to splatter the front of her clothing. Luckily, she wore her cloak today; a mainly black, full cape with a kaleidoscope of different color threads woven throughout the fabric. When the water ran clear, she stuck her hand into the stream.

The dragon beat its wings frantically but remained attached. Blood oozed from around the claw wounds and dripped into the sink. “Now what? Think, Mara.”

She pushed her cape behind her hip and shoved her empty hand into her jeans pocket for her cell phone. Unfortunately, the iPhone was on the opposite side and she had to reach across her body to get it out. “Really?” Why did that always seem to happen? Her phone was always in the wrong pocket. Mara set the phone down on the Book of Spells. She dialed the only person she could think of who could possibly help her. Izyk. He wasn’t really her friend, as alchemists and mythical creatures generally didn’t run in the same social circles. When she’d first met him while gathering special herbs, he’d been sleeping in his non-human looking form in the woods on Bell Isle. He worked at the Aquarium. Mara thought he was just one of those white deer found on the island. Okay…he had wings, but still… She thought about his mesmerizing ice-blue eyes for a moment as the phone rang.

“Hello,” his deep voice resonated in her ear. Her soul.

“Izyk, it’s me—”

He sighed and spoke under his breath. The susurration said her phone call wasn’t well received.

“Don’t hang up, I need your help.”

“What is it this time? I’m at work.”

“A dragon,” she squeaked.

Izyk sighed again. “…Don’t tell me, it’s silver and stuck to the palm of your hand.”

She squeezed her eyes closed and scrunched up her face. “What do you know about it?” His chuckle surprised her. Was he mocking her? “This isn’t funny.”

“Yeah, it is, you’re a riot.” He laughed into the phone.

“Stop laughing, this sooo isn’t funny. What do I do?”

A few minutes passed before he could say anything comprehensible. “Come to the Aquarium after dark and bring an astrolabe.”

“An astro-what?”

“Figure it out.” He ended the call before she had a chance to ask more questions.

“Dammit.” Mara had little choice but to do what he told her. She cursed the day she met him and rued the night she made love to him. Love…ha! A sliver of longing stabbed her heart…or actually more like an iron stake drilled her chest.

She raised her hand so she was eye level with Spike. His beady cobalt eyes locked onto hers. “You’re hurting my hand and still not half as annoying as Izyk.” Oh, God… Mara sighed; she missed her deer-man. There was no sense in denying she still had feelings for him.

Hmmm, a deer-man? Sounds like we've got a bit of a Cernunnos/horned-god thing going on, I like it!

You can find me on Twitter or visit my website.  I look forward to meeting everyone at Rust City Book Con in 2016.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us here, A.J.!  See you in August!

=====================================

 Registration is now open for #RustCity16!

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

Calandra Usher: Rust City Book Con Featured Author

Welcome to your early-bird peek at some of the fantastic authors who are already signed up for the conference. Today I'm showcasing

Calandra Usher! 

Hi Calandra! Can you tell us a little about your writing?

I'm an artist who fell into the writing scene completely by accident. A four book series later which somehow fits into the Urban Paranormal Fantasy (light) Romance category emerged to my great surprise and presently I'm working on an anthology of follow up stories, as well as a completely new endeavor which is also Paranormal Fantasy. I don't live in reality so I can't possibly be expected to write about it.

That seems fair to me. Reality is overrated, as we fiction fans well know. Ok then, let's talk about RustCity!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at Twirling a bat'leth , but these days I'm pretty rusty."  Yikes. That seems like a thing you should either do well, or not at all!

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.

I lived for five years in Madison Heights practically on 10 mile. I can totally appreciate the artistic genius of rhythm and rhyme that make of Eminem's work, but as a singer... I need a melody to either belt out or harmonize to, so I have to go with Aretha. It also helps that her words are slow enough I can keep up with them. I'd love to hear them collaborate though.  I love when radically different artists collaborate.  That would be something to hear alright!

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused. And not from around here.
Yes, either, both... As long as you call it pop

4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? It will be nice to see old friends from The Cranbeook Science Institute, have some good food, see my in laws, and obviously... Meet other amazing authors who I might not ordinarily get the opportunity to encounter since I now live in North Carolina. And books! Lots of books! Muhahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa......Oh yes.  Books for sure!


5. Which is NOT an actual community in Michigan? (no googling!)
Bad Axe
Mullet Lake
Alpha
Hero
Colon
Kalamazoo
(The correct answer is "Hero." But if you're going to have an Alpha, you ought to have a Hero too, amirite?)

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence? "Let me get this straight... you want a LIVE giraffe in the opening number?"

Optional: What's it about? How crazy singers are and the lengths we go to to make them happy so they keep making music that makes us happy. I say give them the giraffe... Hell, give me a giraffe. I promise I will write more books to make people happy if you give me a giraffe. I would love to read this story!

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game?  Yes please!  How about some paranormal?

Yay! You'll be adding on to the Alchemy Rusts story, and your challenge words are: sword, mermaid, stone, dragon, and coffee.

Part 1, by Laura Bickle

Part 2:

Alchemy Rusts

The hiss was so quiet she might have missed it; had she not been specifically listening for the sound. Ever so gently she turned the jar on its side and poured the precious contents onto the firebrick.

A substance like mercury slipped from the glass undulating of its own accord as it wobbled and stretched, finally shaping itself into the form of a tiny silver dragon with glossy black wings. Mara couldn't help but smile. It was lovely, exquisite even, and one of the hardest spells she'd ever attempted. It sat on its haunches much like a cat and folded its wings along its back. It preened, biting at its claws until satisfied then turned its eyes on its maker.

Mara chuckled as the dragon tipped its head to the side exactly as the salamander had. "Sorry, friend. I'm fresh out of popcorn. But how about..." She pointed and the dragon glanced around to where the quarter still glinted on the flagstones. It grinned as only a dragon can, hopped the short distance, then swallowed it whole. An inelegant burp and a spiral of smoke wafted from its nostrils then became a flare as the creature opened its mouth and spit out two identical shining coins.

"That will do nicely." She reached out and lightly stroked its back grinning as it spread its wings and then made a nip at her fingers. "But I've got something much bigger in mind for you, little friend."

Mara held out her hand and it jumped to her palm digging its razor sharp talons into her flesh. She inhaled sharply but did not dislodge him. The pain was worth what was coming. She carried him through the dark room to the backdoor to the decrepit van she called both transport and home.

Mara opened the back door and flipped the worn carpet back to reveal a blade-less sword grip. Beside it in fragments lay the broken blade. She held out a palm sized piece and the dragon, who she was beginning to think of as Spike, and marveled as it devoured something almost twice its size. Ahh but magic is fun, and useful. This time it took a few seconds before Spike belched out the two identical pieces. She felt like kissing the critter but knew better. The pain of its claws was nothing to the burn she was sustaining. Already her palm was seared and the blisters weren't far off. "One more, friend. You're doing great. And then I can get some damn ice."

She picked up the bigger piece and fed it into the eagerly waiting maw. It took a whole minute and her hand was in sorry shape by the end but the fragment it replicated was perfect. Looking at the assembly of pieces she sighed in relief (after swearing some more about her toasted hand.) "That should be more than enough for them to reforge the sword. And if the mermaid doesn't like it she can summon you herself. What the hell a mermaid needs with a magic sword is beyond me, but at least the pay is good." She replaced the shards under the mat, no use having them found and stollen before she could get them to the fish lady. "Maybe I'll charge her a little extra for medical expenses," she grumbled as she slammed the doors and went in search of some ice and much deserved coffee.

There was only one problem. The book never mentioned how to get the dragon off your hand once summoned.

Thanks for coming up with such a fun brilliant idea!

Well, it's only as brilliant as my contributors, and I have to say, it's going awfully well right now! This is turning into a really cool story.  Thank you so much for playing!

Find more from Cali around the web: 

Website  |  FaceBook  |  Amazon  |  CreateSpace under Calandra Usher. 

 And of course, come to RustCity Book Conference for in-person fun!

=====================================  

Registration is now open for #RustCity16!

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

Laura Bickle: Rust City Book Con Featured Author

Welcome to your early-bird peek at some of the fantastic authors who are already signed up for the conference. Today I'm showcasing Laura Bickle, author of YA and adult contemporary fantasy.

Hi Laura! Tell us a little about your stuff!

Hi Nicola!  My latest release is MERCURY RETROGRADE (Harper Voyager Impuse), the second in the DARK ALCHEMY series. When I'm not writing, I'm busily serving my gang of semi-reformed feral cats.

"Semi reformed"... that sounds kind of ominous....! So let's talk about RustCity, shall we?

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at reading Tarot cards , but these days I'm pretty rusty."  (Tarot cards -- so intriguing!)

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.

Aretha. Because of her incredible, luminous awesomeness.

Nice answer.  I approve.

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused. And not from around here.


4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference?
  I'm looking forward to getting the chance to meet folks in person that I've only met online!

5. Which is NOT an actual community in Michigan? (no googling!)
Bad Axe
Mullet Lake
Alpha
Hero
Colon
Kalamazoo
(The correct answer is "Hero." I got very tickled at some of the names, especially when I saw that "Alpha" was one!)

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R & B singer. What's the first sentence?
  There were two dead bodies found in the trunk of Jill's rental car.

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game?

Yes! Can I do magical paranormal stuff, maybe some anthropomorphic lizards?

Absolutely! How about you kick us off?  Your words are:  alchemy, alpha, rust, spreadsheet, and groove.  The category guidelines are: anything goes, including paranormal, fantasy, and time-travel! (For more details about how the game works, refer to this post.)

Yay!!! Total freedom!

ALCHEMY RUSTS

If you don’t tend it properly, even the best-cast alchemy will rust.

Mara peered into the fire of the athanor, stirring the flames with a piece of pipe. In the belly of the cinder-block furnace she’d built, a glass mason jar perched. Surrounded by a nest of litter she’d found in the abandoned house – yellowed spreadsheets, broken tree branches, and a handful of wine corks – it seemed like a pathetic attempt at big magic. Flames licked the glass, changing color from blue to red as they boiled the silvery liquid inside.

A fire salamander, irritated by her prodding, slipped out of the firebox and waddled across the makeshift hearth. He was clearly the alpha salamander of those inside the furnace, the king. He was the largest and most brightly-colored of the group, nearly twelve inches long and covered in a gold glittery hide. He stared up at Mara with slitted eyes, tail lashing.

“Yes. I know that I’m doing it all wrong,” she sighed. She hadn’t worked alchemy for years, and it showed. The solution in the bottle was bubbling unevenly, and a crack had formed at the lip of the jar.

“Mrrp,” the salamander agreed. She’d clearly disturbed his sleep when she’d summoned him and his fellows. Salamanders were not known to be patient.

“How about a trade for your help?” Mara reached into her pocket for a handful of unpopped popcorn. She placed it on the hearth between them. The corn was interspersed with bits of lint and a quarter. She had nothing else to offer him, but perhaps he would at least be amused.

The salamander cocked his head, then scuttled forward. He gathered the pieces of popcorn, stuffing them in his mouth like a squirrel, and scurried back to the fire.

Mara sighed. He’d accepted it. Peering into the flame, she could see him dancing with the other salamanders and flinging the corn about – he’d clearly gotten back in his groove, and happy elementals were always good magic.

The silvery liquid in the jar had begun to blacken. Sweating, Mara donned a welder’s glove and reached inside for the precious potion. She set the jar down on the hearth and stared at it, waiting for the solution to settle.

Beyond, in the fire, the popcorn began to pop, with the sound of tiny gunshots. The salamanders chortled in glee as the fire died out, springing after the bits of yummy joy before they faded back into the belly of the furnace.

Mara stared at the jar. Working up her nerve, she unscrewed the lid.

OK, that is an amazing start.  Thank you so much for playing, Laura!  

If you'd like to check out more from this storyteller, please have a look at the links below:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  MERCURY RETROGRADE on Amazon

Come back next Thursday for more Five Words Fiction from another fabulous RustCity16 author, and don't forget to comment on last week's post for a chance at a signed book from Shelly Bell!

=====================================

 Registration is now open for #RustCity16!

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.