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Month: February 2012

Making an Entrance

Of all my characters so far, I think Joss Ravid made the best entrance. That, as you’ll see when you get to know him, is very Joss. It started simply. At some point in 2005 or maybe early 2006, I made the decision to stop letting fear make my decisions. I’d love to say that everything changed, but that’s not how life works. I did start taking some risks. I joined a gym. I took a chance on a roommate, and moved out of my affordable but yucky apartment and into a decent house. I went to Yaoi-Con. My roommate and I put it together to take an airplane (gasp!) to San Francisco, where we’d never been, to a con we’d never attended, to meet people we’d only talked to online and revel for a weekend in the wild fun of bishie-stalking.

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Music for a Dark Muse

It’s no secret that I’m a music lover.  I was raised by parents who fed me different kinds of music for most of my life.  When I hit age sixteen, however, I discovered heavy metal…and didn’t look back.  Although I still love the music from my youth: The Monkees, The Doors, The Who…The Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart…..I could go on and on.  But there is just something about heavy metal that feeds my soul, makes me happy, and sometimes, even soothes me. About three years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the Finnish band Nightwish.  And I was completely wowed by them, so much that I went out and bought every album they’ve ever made.  For those not familiar with them, their music is symphonic metal, a kind of fusion between heavy metal and symphony style.  Typically, these types of bands have female singers, although that’s not always the case.  They use keyboards and have lyrics that explore more fantasy-like things.  They’re much more epic.  Some symphonic metal bands have dark and creepy music, which is something my muse really, really likes (this is not a surpise, knowing her). 

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Queen’s Man

A novel of the Dream’verse Joss Ravid works security for a major tribe on Kari’s Star, but he’ll tell anyone that he doesn’t actually care if the ruling families kill each other off. He’s not interested in politics; he just likes getting paid to hit jerks, and also the many opportunities for hitting on straight men. The Galactic-imposed Interdiction may keep Kari citizens stuck on their war-torn world, but Joss has connections. If the situation gets too messy, he can leave whenever he wants. He’ll also tell anyone he doesn’t care about girls, but that doesn’t stop him from rescuing 12-year-old Paige Carlyle, newly arrived on the planet and newly orphaned by tribe violence. If Joss were making a “don’t care” list, though, at the very top would be Zeke Cayden, Heir to powerful Tribe Cayden. Never mind that he and Joss were lovers; that’s long gone. Saving Zeke’s life when the shooting starts is just business. Some tribes don’t want peace, and killing a Galactic citizen like Paige—or controlling Cayden through the Heir—would serve them well. So Joss is on the run, risking his life, his pretty face, and his precious liberty to keep Paige and Zeke alive and the peace plan that can lift the Interdiction on track. Why? Because…how often does a guy get to piss off half a planet while displaying his talents for woodcraft, cross-dressing, and scaring straight men? When Paige is kidnapped, though, the lives of Paige and Zeke, the leadership of Cayden and…

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On Being Weird

We here at Turtleduck Press like oddities, in case you couldn’t tell from our name. We like finding things that are cool and unusual, or noticing things that might otherwise fall through the cracks. All of this isn’t such a surprise if you know us, because we’re strange people too – or at least some might think so. Take my Saturday this week, for example. I got up early (okay, early-ish) to go to a group where we sat around making clothes with pointy sticks and string. Then I did crossword puzzles with my significant other…and not just any kind, but cryptic crosswords, the kind where the very clues are puzzles to be solved. And we thought this was fun.

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