Category: Rainbow Snippets

Rainbow Snippet August 19-20

8/19/2017

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

I'm continuing snippets from The Dragon's Devotion today, leading up to release day on September 4th. Last week, I shared the snippet of Bastien first seeing Corentin. Today, I thought I would give you Corentin's perspective on the moment. He noticed Bastien and has been watching him for a couple minutes.

Suddenly, the other man’s gaze collided with Corentin’s, and everything seemed to freeze for a moment as the connection held. Corentin couldn’t make out the color of his eyes from the distance—something dark, he thought. But he could see them go wide, a bit startled, and Corentin smiled, slow and sure. He had no idea why this man had captured his interest in one look, but he dearly wanted to find out if longer exposure would bear it out, perhaps deepen it.

He gave himself a stern mental shake. What was he doing, thinking of starting an affair with anyone? He had to leave, not become more deeply enmeshed in Tournai and its people.

If you'd like to know more about The Dragon's Devotion or to preorder, you can find it here. There's also still time to enter my Birthday Giveaway for a chance to win a backlist book of mine (go enter!). Thanks for stopping by!

5 Comments

Rainbow Snippet August 12-13

8/12/2017

10 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

The Dragon's Devotion will be out on September 4th (yay!), so I thought I'd start doing some more snippets from it to lead up to the release date. In this snippet, we have the first time Bastien sees Corentin. They're both guests at a wedding, and Bastien is people-watching (because he annoyed his sister and she's ignoring him for the moment!).

As Ligeia continued her conversation with Mathis, Bastien let his gaze wander over those he didn’t recognize. He assumed some were Tristan’s friends and family—a few he picked out as potential siblings because of the strong resemblance—but Tristan came from a merchant family, so Bastien wouldn’t have met any of them previously. Some of the other faces Bastien didn’t recognize were probably Etan’s friends from the university. Etan was a scholar at heart and still remained devoted to his studies and work there, lecturing at the university when he could.

He let his gaze pass over the crowd, not really focusing on anyone in particular. Until he was arrested by a pair of intense violet eyes. Bastien’s breath caught in his throat, and for a moment he couldn’t look away.

Find more about The Dragon's Devotion and a preorder link here. Also, all of my books at Dreamspinner are 30% off this weekend, if you need some weekend reading. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

10 Comments

Rainbow Snippet August 5-6

8/5/2017

10 Comments

He knocked on the suite’s door and entered at Amory’s call. There was an undercurrent of laughter in his voice that Cathal could discern even though the words were muffled. When he walked inside, he found Philip and Amory on the couch, Amory curled into Philip’s side, one of Philip’s arms holding him there as he tried to rise. Amory was smiling, his gaze filled with affection as he looked at Philip, and Cathal was suddenly hit with a bolt of something like jealousy. Not that Philip had Amory, though Amory was certainly beautiful, but that Philip and Amory had that bond. Theirs was a marriage of love and support. And for the first time maybe, Cathal admitted how much he wanted that for himself.

Find out more about The Artist's Masquerade here. And today is the last day to use coupon code ELIZABETH for 40% off your order at Dreamspinner. Don't miss out!

10 Comments

Rainbow Snippet July 29-30

7/29/2017

5 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

I'm taking a break from The Dragon's Devotion until a little closer to release date, and I'm sharing a bit of The Sorcerer's Guardian with you today. Savarin is about to perform an important but potentially dangerous spell, and Loriot is worried and not great about expressing it.

Savarin’s gray eyes, the color so beloved by now, were narrowed as he stared at Loriot, and Loriot realized he’d been quiet for far too long. For an instant he didn’t know what to say, then words just came. “If you die doing this, I will kill you.”

Savarin blinked at him once, twice. Opened his mouth and then closed it. “You make no sense.”

If you'd like to know more about The Sorcerer's Guardian, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

5 Comments

Rainbow Snippet July 22-23

7/22/2017

8 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

The Dragon's Devotion is through proofreading and turned in and on track for publication in September, so I thought I'd give you just a little more of it this week. Last week, I shared the first six sentences of the first chapter, which introduced you to Corentin. Here is a bit more of chapter one, when we see Bastien for the first time.

Bastien propped himself up on his arms in the open window of his study and took a long, deep breath. Fresh air filled his lungs, fragrant with grass and horse and a hint of woodsmoke—the familiar scents of home. He liked this time of year, this shift of season when the trees changed color and the estate was awash with gold and red, before the weather turned colder and the gray of winter set in.

He didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to miss all that color, but he likely would this year. It was absurd to feel so wrong about leaving, especially for so short a time. Just a trip to Jumelle for a month, maybe two. It wasn’t as if he would never return.

Still, the trip would be the longest he’d be away from home since his father died and he inherited the title and the lands that went with it.

If you'd like to know more about The Dragon's Devotion, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by and reading today!

8 Comments

Rainbow Snippet July 15-16

7/15/2017

11 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

I thought I would share a bit from The Dragon's Devotion today since I was working on copy edits for it last week. I'm so excited for this story to be out in the world—just a couple more months! These are the first six sentences of Chapter 1.

In the privacy of his small office, Corentin circled his neck and rolled his bare shoulders and back, trying to loosen the stiffness there—impossible because his muscles weren’t really stiff. But he did it anyway. It was just that he hadn’t changed and stretched his wings in far too long. Whether real or imagined, it had always been this way if he didn’t use his Talent regularly. Only how was he to accomplish that in this place?

There wasn’t anywhere in the capital city where he could change unseen, and few places close to Jumelle where a large dragon would go unnoticed.

No cover yet, but if you want to know more about The Dragon's Devotion, you can find the (probably final) blurb over here. Thanks for stopping by today!

11 Comments

Rainbow Snippet July 8-9

7/8/2017

7 Comments

“I’ll light some candles,” Etan said.

“Wait. I can do it.” He could just see a branch of candles on the bedside table and another on the fireplace mantle. With a thought he lit them both. The flames flared high, but settled quickly. They shouldn’t have flared in the first place, but he was somewhat distracted by Etan’s hand in his, Etan’s presence at his side, by the thought of what they would do soon. Any of that was enough to make his control over his Talent slip just a little.

Etan wrapped his arms around Tristan’s waist from behind, pressing his chest to Tristan’s back. His breath was hot on Tristan’s neck. “I almost forgot you could do that.”

Tristan shivered again and leaned back into Etan, pushing himself into the planes of Etan’s body. “It comes in handy.”

If you'd like to know more about The Scholar's Heart, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by and reading today!

7 Comments

Rainbow Snippet July 1-2

7/1/2017

7 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

A few people wanted to know what happened next in Flavian's encounter with baby Julien (which started in last week's snippet), so I thought I would give you a little more of it. Flavian is one of my favorite characters to write. He's snarky and fiercely independent but loyal and caring too. And he has no idea what to do around babies. I love this scene so the snippet is a bit longer than six sentences again—sorry!

Flavian sputtered a few protests, obviously trying to be polite to Amory and avoid having to hold the baby at the same time, but he still took the infant prince when Amory released him into Flavian’s hands. Cathal couldn’t hold back his grin as Flavian held the child out from him and stared at him. Julien stared back just as seriously.

Amory laughed. “He won’t bite or break, but you don’t have to hold him.”

Relief washed over Flavian’s face, and Cathal joined in Amory’s laughter, unable to hold it inside any longer. It was kind of adorable really, how flustered Flavian was. Cathal was content to be the child’s doting, honorary uncle and nothing more, but Flavian just looked lost.

As Amory was reaching for the baby, Julien lunged at Flavian. Flavian let out a strange squeaking noise, almost a yelp, but the baby just grabbed for the long strand of beads Flavian wore around his neck. Cathal doubled over laughing and only laughed harder when Flavian glared at him. He was no help at all as Amory took the baby back and tried to pry the necklace from his little fist.

If you'd like to know more about The Artist's Masquerade, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by and reading! And happy 4th of July a little early to everyone in the US!

7 Comments

Rainbow Snippet June 24-25

6/24/2017

11 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

When I was trying to choose a snippet of something for Father's Day weekend last week, I kept finding scenes I loved with fathers and children, and I wasn't sure what to share. I also came across this scene in The Artist's Masquerade in which Flavian meets Amory and Philip's baby son for the first time and has absolutely no idea what to do when presented with a baby. (It's a bit over six sentences again—sorry! I'll do better next time!)

Julien was a beautiful baby, Cathal could admit without much bias. Julien even had a pleasant disposition, but Cathal wasn’t the one trying to get the child to sleep at night. And he was quite all right with that.

“He’s fascinated by you.”

Amory’s remark, directed at Flavian, brought Cathal out of his musing. Flavian was looking at the baby as if he wasn’t entirely sure what manner of creature Julien was. A frown drew Flavian’s brows together as he contemplated the baby, who was smiling and staring at him, dark eyes wide. Fascinated, just as Amory said.

“I don’t know why he would be, Your Highness,” Flavian said, hardly glancing up from his focus on Julien.

“Would you like to hold him?” Amory asked.

Cathal would have laughed at the mingled shock and horror on Flavian’s face if he didn’t think it would insult both Flavian and Amory unforgivably. Though Amory seemed to be suppressing amusement of his own. Cathal wondered if Amory was trying to torture Flavian for some reason when Amory lifted Julien and handed him to Flavian.

If you'd like to know more about The Artist's Masquerade, you can find it here. The Artist's Masquerade and the rest of the Tournai books are also 30% off at Dreamspinner now, but the sale ends today. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

11 Comments

Rainbow Snippet June 17-18

6/17/2017

5 Comments

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

It's Father's Day here this weekend, so I thought I would share a snippet relating to a father and son from one of my books. I had a little trouble choosing, so I might share another next weekend, but for now, here's a snippet from The Sorcerer's Guardian in which Loriot comes home after a few days away and sees his son, Alain. (I went over six sentences this week—sorry, but I thought the extra sentences were necessary this time.)

Trudging up the stairs took the last of his energy, but he forced himself to bypass his own bedchamber. He couldn’t go to bed without seeing Alain. Not after so long away, not even if it hadn’t been that long. The door to the room at the back of the house was partially open. He peeked in as he pushed it open the rest of the way. The room was tidy, except for a veritable city built of blocks in the middle of the rug. The nursemaid noticed him first, but Alain wasn’t far behind. He looked up, his bright green eyes—twins of Loriot’s own—lighting up, and Loriot felt something inside him melt, just as it always did under those eyes.

“Papa!”

With ease of long practice, he caught the five-year-old bundle of energy that came flying at him and swung his son up into his arms, cuddling him close for as long as Alain would allow. As tired as he was, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “There’s my boy. I missed you. Show me what you’ve been doing.”

If you'd like to know more about The Sorcerer's Guardian, you can find it here. Also, the paperback of The Sorcerer's Guardian (and the other Tournai books) is 30% off at Dreamspinner today. Thanks for reading! And Happy Father's Day to anyone celebrating this weekend!

5 Comments

<<Previous

Rainbow Snippet August 19-20

Rainbow Snippet August 12-13

Rainbow Snippet August 5-6

Rainbow Snippet July 29-30

Rainbow Snippet July 22-23

Rainbow Snippet July 15-16

Rainbow Snippet July 8-9

Rainbow Snippet July 1-2

Rainbow Snippet June 24-25

Rainbow Snippet June 17-18

Author

Archives

Categories