Fascinating fiction starts with characters who make readers care. This Live Wire Writer Guide presents a simple, effective technique to sharpen your hook, charge your scenes, and amplify your voice whether you're a beginner or an expert.Most writing manuals skirt craft questions with gimmicks and quick fixes rather than plugging directly into your story's power source. Energize your fiction and boost your career witha new characterization method that jumpstarts drafting, crafting, revision, and pitching.skill-builders to intensify language, stakes, and emotion for your readers.battle-tested solutions for common traps, crutches, and habits.a dynamic story-planning strategy effective for plotters and pantsers.ample examples and exercises to help you upgrade fiction in any genre.Blast past overused tics and types with storycraft that busts your ruts and awes your audience. Whether you like to wing it or bring it, Verbalize offers a... Views: 78
In this fairytale inspired by a classic children's story, weaver's daughter Adrien is tired of turning down marriage proposals. So she disguises herself as a boy and sets out on a journey of discovery, accompanied only by her faithful piglet Ferkel. Rescuing a young monk named Felix from brigands, Adrien agrees to act as bodyguard on his journey to the King's castle to present the princess with a telescope.The lovely Princess Selene has also had more than her fair share of suitors, but she refuses to marry until someone gives her the moon. Felix's telescope could grant her heart's desire, but it's Adrien who finds herself in love with the lively, beautiful princess.Astonished to find Selene loves her in return, Adrien's joy is short-lived. Surely Selene's love will die when Adrien reveals her true gender? And in any case, two women cannot be married — can they? Views: 77
Every future has dirty roots.Marooned in the galactic backwaters of the HardCell company, colonist Runt struggles to eke out an existence on a newly-terraformed tropical planetoid. Since his clone-wife died on entry, he’s been doing the work of two on his failing protein farm. Overworked and undersized, Runt’s dwindling hope of earning corporate citizenship has turned to fear of violent “retirement.”When an overdue crate of provisions crashes on his beach, Runt searches frantically for a replacement wife among the tools and food. Instead he gets Ox, a mute hulk who seems more like a corporate assassin than a simple offworld farmer.Shackwacky and near-starving, Runt has no choice but to work with his silent partner despite his mounting paranoia and the unsettling appeal of Ox’s genetically altered pheromones. Ox plays the part of the gentle giant well, but Runt’s still not convinced he hasn’t arrived with murder in mind.Between brutal desire and the seeds of a relationship, Runt’s fears and Ox’s inhuman past collide on a fertile world where hope and love just might have room to grow. Views: 75
In Alex's notebooks, the story of Vee unfolds, from their first kiss, their first date, and the moments in between. It’s a May-December romance between a former punk girl gone conservative, and a gamine young woman in combat boots and fishnets. They find each other on the streets of New York City and it's love at first sight. This is a short collection of stories. Views: 75
When the costs are added up, will love land in the black?The Shamwell Tales, Book 3Mark Nugent has spent his life in the closet—at least, the small part of it he hasn't spent in the office. Divorced when he could no longer deny his sexuality, he's sworn off his workaholic ways and moved to Shamwell with his headstrong teen daughter to give her a stable home environment.His resolve to put his love life on hold is severely tested when he joins a local organization and meets a lively yet intense young man who tempts him closer to the closet threshold.Patrick Owen is an out-and-proud charity worker with strong principles—and a newly discovered weakness for an older man. One snag: Mark is adamant he's not coming out to his daughter, and Patrick will be damned if he's going to start a relationship with a lie. Between Mark's old-fashioned attitudes and a camp, flirtatious ex-colleague who wants Mark for himself,... Views: 73
Traditional horror has often portrayed female characters in direct relation to their sexual role according to men, such as the lascivious victim or innocent heroine; even vampy, powerful female villains, such as the classic noir “spider women,” use their sexual prowess to seduce and overwhelm married men. Fist of the Spider Woman is a revelatory anthology of horror stories by queer and transgressive women and others that disrupts reality as queer women know it, instilling both fear and arousal while turning traditional horror iconography on its head.In this collection, horror (including gothic, noir, and speculative writing) is defined as that which both titillates and terrorizes, forcing readers to confront who they are. Kristya Dunnion's "Homeland" reveals the horrors that lurk on your average night in a lesbian bar; Elizabeth Bachinsky’s “Postulation on the Violent Works of the Marquis de Sade” is a response to Sade from a feminist... Views: 73
Is it possible to have it all? Alice Brown has just landed her dream job as property manager at Davenport Manor, a British stately home. It's only a nine-month contract to cover maternity leave, but it's the boost up the career ladder she needs. On her first day, Alice finds her boss, Jeremy Davenport, in a compromising position. Jeremy and his best friend Ethan Hayes, Head of Security at Davenport Manor, turn the situation around and give her an ultimatum. Faced with the possibility of losing her job, Alice agrees to their indecent proposal. When the dust settles and Alice has time to think, she realises perhaps it isn't such a bad thing after all. But what happens when Alice thinks she's falling for both men? Views: 73
Wes, a low-ranking producer, is ordered to sabotage Reggie, who owns the garage where Wrench Wars is filmed. But Wes's bosses don't count on him falling for the mechanic they're trying to fire. Views: 73
