An Announcement

I have an announcement. 

Ooh, boy, the flu kicked my ass for two weeks. I had a few days in there when I started to feel a little better, and then would backslide. But now it seems I'm finally back on track. For obvious reasons, I didn't get much writing done in those two weeks, which puts me behind my personal goals, which is annoying. But I did do a lot of reading - a lot of fanfic reading - and a lot of thinking. About a lot of things.

I've always loved fic. I love the creativity, and the bite-sized chunks of character deep-dives; the ways writers expand on characters I already love and fill in all the gaps of story canon. From a writing standpoint, that's always been the way I work best: telling a story one chapter at a time. Blocking off a few months to write an entire manuscript in solitude, hoping people will actually read it once it's done is grueling. I've honestly never understood the way some readers reject installment-form stories: I would rather a story never finish, but have given me what enjoyment it could than never have read any of it at all. Better to have loved and lost, right? 

When I started back to work, I spent half a day reading through the docs in my WIP folder, and, on reckless impulse, opened up my Reese and Tenny doc. I said months ago that I was washing my hands of that series because I'm sick to death of the hassle and bullshit people have given me about it. Like hell was I going to set aside my fun fantasy projects, block off four months, and write a book that I'm still not convinced will actually be read. But I read through that doc - I've got 23k words done on it - and...it didn't suck. In fact, I really liked it. Because even if I'm sick to death of being considered a one-trick pony, even if there are moments when I don't even want to speak the word "Dartmoor," Reese and Tenny were the thing I was looking forward to. I wrote Lone Star and Homecoming for the sole purpose of setting up their book. 

I have a love/hate relationship with Dartmoor. I never wanted to write an MC series, but when the jackals swooped in and started lifting whole-ass scenes from my fanfics to put into their self-pubbed biker books - when a few had the audacity to ask if they could "have" my ideas if I was "done with them." Then? That was the gauntlet throw-down. I was going to take my ideas back, and I was not going to write an MC romance series - I was going to write a series about a messed-up found family that happened to be bikers. 

I've been incredibly proud of certain scenes and moments. But over the years, realizing that the series was never going to be what people wanted, being bullied, and harried, the shine wore off. The bad outweighed the good. I didn't want to write a series *just* for the biker aspect - I wanted to write for people who genuinely loved the characters and were willing to follow them down some genre-atypical roads. 

I was honestly surprised by the number of people who reached out, after my March blog post, both in public and private, urging me to change my mind. Some of those people asked for more Dartmoor. 

And some of those people wanted to read the rest of Reese and Tenny's story.

So. I'm doing this for the Reese and Tenny lovers. Because I love them, too. And because, despite all the bad, I know there are quiet, kind fans out there who I'll be letting down if I don't see this thing through. 

But we're doing it on my terms. I will not be badgered into anything. I'm not setting out to write an MC book - no checking boxes on anything. These boys were raised as assassins and spies, and those themes are going to be front-and-center. I won't be delaying my other projects, so The Wild Charge will be published chapter-by-chapter on Wattpad, just like Snow In Texas and Tastes Like Candy. I'll start by posting the chapters I already have completed, and, if there's interest and enthusiasm, then I'll keep writing and adding chapters until the story is complete. 

Here's the thing, though: I'm not going to tolerate any nonsense. If anyone feels the need to leave a snide or disparaging comment on my FB page or blog, I'm deleting it. There are public spaces where you can say whatever you want, but, to quote Ghost, my personal pages are "the United States of [Gilley] and your First Amendment rights do not apply here." If you don't like M/M books, don't like "spy shit," and are mainly concerned with the Motorcycle Club aesthetic of the series, then I'll say upfront that this is not the book for you. If you can't read until the whole thing's available, fine, but you don't need to come tell me that. 

Like I said before: this is for Reese and Tenny. It's for the sweet readers who really are interested in them. I have no idea if that group of readers is large or small, but I guess we'll find out. I'm also doing this for me, because, if I stop worrying about delivering a bog-standard "MC read" for the general audience, then this is going to be a kickass, smutty action/adventure story with a wild plot and plenty of Devin Green's brood. 

The prologue and first two chapters just went up on Wattpad. Be forewarned that this is an M/M romance with explicit sex, lots of violence, intrigue, spec ops and spy action, and a healthy dose of childhood trauma. Usual trigger warnings apply: graphic sex, torture, gunplay, you know, all that. Mercy is a trigger warning all on his own. 

When you're an artist, the weigh to expectation can feel crushing. It's important to remind myself every so often that I don't have to do anything that I don't want to; the weight can only crush you if you let it.

Fans, thank you.

Haters, to the left. 

A storm is brewing, and the Lean Dogs find themselves in the center of it. What at first seemed like a routine clash with a cartel proves to be part of a much more sinister - and more powerful - operation than any of them expected. The Dogs have a choice: back out now, play dumb...or go full-on vigilante. 

Tennyson Fox has a new name, a new home, a new family...and, if he can admit it to himself, the chance to love and be loved. He and Reese - trained assassins both - will be at the spearhead of the Dogs' move on Abacus, and the two young lovers have to balance their burgeoning relationship with the thing they do best: killing. 

Book nine of the Dartmoor Series picks up right where Homecoming left off. A non-standalone M/M romance set in the world of an outlaw motorcycle club and the dark underworld they rule. 

Read it Here

How to talk about my writing without really talking about it

 

How to talk about my writing without really talking about it (and to talk about my current fangirl hyperfixation):

About a year ago, I broke down and bought a Funimation subscription. It’s been so worthwhile, but today I want to talk about one anime in particular.

Except, really, this isn’t a post about that anime at all. Not really. You’ll see.

I watched the first episode of BNHA (My Hero Academia) and thought: hmm. On the one hand: superheroes!, which, I’ve loved comics since I was a very little kid. On the other hand: I don’t know these characters, it’s all new, the world isn’t familiar yet, and…Izuku cries…a lot. I was conflicted. But, after my initial hesitance with the first ep of Fullmetal Alchemist, I decided to keep going. Why? Because every story I’ve ever loved wholeheartedly was one that left me hesitant at first.

Anyway: I kept watching…and then kept watching. And then was binging. And found a show – and a manga, because I started reading when I ran out of episodes – that contained all of my very favorite things. A big ensemble cast full to bursting with characters that I loved. Characters who were flawed, but trying, and who were all different. Characters who started out as sides, but, once they had room to show their stuff, proved just as lovable as everyone else.

Here was the kind of hero content the Marvel Cinematic Universe utterly failed to deliver to me, and I was hooked.

Season five is airing now, with new eps every Saturday, and it’s got me so hyped I’m rereading chapters of the manga and rewatching favorite episodes – especially this past week, when I’ve been laid up with the flu and feeling bad. Last night, I rewatched “Suneater of the Big Three,” because I love Tamaki, and “Red Riot,” because I love Kiri. Gosh, season four was good. My favorite characters are Bakugou, Shouto, Kirishima, Endeavor, and Hawks. And Izuku. Deku. Who, at first, was a kid I didn’t know crying too much, but who is actually the most earnest, driven, hardworking, big-hearted sweetheart who defies all the hang-ups of the “chosen one” trope and is just the best main character ever.

The thing about this story – which originates in the manga and has been carried forward in the anime – is that it unfolds slowly. Five seasons, 318 chapters, and the kids are still in their first year at UA. It isn’t a blistering, get-to-the-point sort of story. Thank God. I tend not to prefer those. No, this is a thorough, varied story that has poignant, deeply emotional moments interspersed with silliness and fluff. It’s a story about aspiring heroes who’ve dealt with so much, but who are still very much teenagers, and of their mentors: heroes who, while revered, are very real and flawed people. The juxtaposition of Endeavor acknowledging his faults and beginning to atone with the knowledge that Hawks always idolized and felt saved by him is just – chef’s kiss, truly. Deku and Bakugou’s childhood friends, to enemies, to now respected rivals and allies dynamic is perfection.

Not to mention: the villains are very well-thought-out, too. Dynamic, and with very tangible backstories. I don’t root for them at all, but you can’t help but empathize when you see their backstories. It’s such well-rounded, compelling storytelling throughout. I have been surprised again and again by the moments, and characters who’ve moved me. Nighteye. Fat Gum. Aizawa. Heck, All Might. I never expected to care so much about All Might, but I really do. I don’t really watch scripted dramas anymore, because I can’t stand the post-modern, grimdark approach of most. Not since binging FMA have I felt such love for a show/story.

But this isn’t a post about BNHA. This is a post about stories. About the fact that, sometimes, though the bigger picture isn’t clear at the outset, it’s so worth it to start down a path and accept the fact that you’ll have to learn about things along the way. The version of me that wondered about episode 1 didn’t know how eager I’d be to wake up early last Saturday to watch episode 101. That first episode – the first five, ten episodes – couldn’t account for all the action and emotion that was to come. Because that’s the thing about long-winded stories: they build on all that came before it. What might have seemed subtle or confusing at first can blossom into something truly amazing. Some stories don’t give it all away in the first five minutes. Sometimes, you have to keep going, and the cumulative effect is something impactful and lasting that you never expected.

That’s the kind of story I want to write. That’s the kind of story, right now, that I am writing. And that is why I love stories that are just a little bit fantastical and unreal. That’s why I’m so looking forward to Blood of Wolves and Lionheart. Because the stories I love best take their sweet, sweet time.