Writing. BAM.

I think I mentioned last post that I'm working on the prequel (sort of) to my LiAW story. Transcribing the first few scenes now b/c my head is all "you want to do real work? Fffft have all of the headache" and so transcribing it is. :3 Have a story bit! (Note that Rue likes to shoot things. :3)

 

 

It was raining, a slow, steady drizzle that seeped through Rue's lightweight, ragged cloak. The clouds above seemed closer than ever, as though they were closing in on him, making Rue itch to move, to launch his attack and end the waiting. He hated feeling boxed in, but he forced himself to stay still.

The church was brightly lit, the torches under the overhang warding off the gloom of the bad weather. The overhang—and torches—spanned the front of the church, and the door was open, inviting anyone to enter. If it weren't for the sickly green glow that emanated from the stones of the church walls, it would be the picture of inviting.

Rue stood in the shadow of an abandoned shed, out of sight across the well-worn path that led through the small town. The villagers were making their way to the church, slowly trickling in for the weekly service. Rue watched them closely, wishing he could put his finger on the lingering anxiety and unease that crawled down his spine as he watched them enter the church.

Perhaps the demon here was stronger than the ones he'd faced in the past? Rue frowned, giving the glowing stones another look. The demon magic didn't seem any stronger. Rue had been watching the church for a few days, and while the demon wards were at their lowest to allow in the parishioners for the service, they hadn't been much stronger the last few days.

Still, Rue didn't doubt the priests that were colluding with demons were learning. He'd taken out nearly a dozen of them—it would be the epitome of stupid to pretend they wouldn't try different tactics to stop him.

A last few villagers disappeared into the church, leaving Rue completely alone outside. Rue tensed, but didn't move. A moment later, the priest appeared at the door. He glowed a brighter green than the building, standing out even in the light of the torches. Rue stayed motionless as the priest scanned the area. He didn't see Rue—or at least, gave no sign of seeing Rue.

The priest stepped back, into the church, and shut the door. Rue took a deep breath, ignoring the ache in his side that indicated the drugs were wearing off. He sought out his pistols beneath the cloak, trailing his fingers against the smooth handles.

Rue waited a few minutes more, until he was certain the opening ceremony was finished and the priest had stepped to the front of the dais to give his sermon. Removing his cloak, Rue draped it over the battered pack propped against the shed behind him. It wasn't doing him any good, and it would only be a hindrance inside.

Moving quickly, rue strode across the path, paying no mind to the mud and muck as it stuck to his boots or to the rain as it fell faster from the dark clouds above. Reaching the church, rue took the three steps to the door in one jump, all anxiety and unease disappearing beneath the terrible calm that washed over him each time he removed a demon from the world.

Rue pushed open the front door, letting it crash heavily against the wall behind him. The church had the standard layout—one large room, full of pews facing the dais on the far side. There was a small lofted area above the dais, where the priest's chambers would be, as well as storage for the church props that would be pulled out on special occasions.

The priest was exactly where Rue had anticipated, front and center on the dais. He cut off mid-word, and Rue drew one of his pistols, throwing his magic into the spell circle inscribed on the bullet as he fired. The priest glowed searingly bright, the sickly green color washing over the first few pews of villagers even as those closest to Rue began screaming.

Rue's bullet reached the priest—and immediately dropped to the floor at the priest's feet. He was stronger than usual, but not strong enough. Rue fired twice more, not bothering to waste any more of his magic as he fired. The villagers nearest him were scrambling to get away, some heading for the door. A few men tried to approach him, but were easily deflected with a surge of magic.

"Today is your last day on this earth, demon," Rue said, sliding his pistol back into its holster at his waist. With his left hand, he pulled out the second. It was dark, almost black, the metal corrupted by the strong magic Rue had forced through it. He leveled it at the priest, his palm burning where he touched it.

"By command of the High Priest, you are ordered to stand down and surrender yourself to my custody." A strong, steady voice cut through the chaos, and Rue paused, a few feed from the dais and the demon-infested priest.

Looking up towards the voice, rue met the gaze of a church Inquisitor. He wore the badge clearly on the front of his shirt, shining in the light from the dais below him. He'd been hidden in the loft, and Rue supposed he should have expected an Inquisitor at some point. He was leveling a pistol at Rue, and he glowed a pale, pale blue without even the slightest hint of demon-tainted green.

Ignoring the Inquisitor's command, Rue leveled his pistol at the smirking priest. Inquisitor or no, the demon had to be banished. A gunshot not his own made Rue jerk back, and the sting of fresh, untainted magic sparking along his side made him duck to the side, into the row of pews to his left. Most of the villagers had fled, minus a handful of burly men who were lurking ominously at the back of the room.

And a little girl, Rue realized, kicking himself for going left instead of right. She was hidden under the pew behind him, eyes wide and wet with tears. With the angle of the pews, the Inquisitor and the demon-tainted priest wouldn't be able to see her.

"That was a warning, sir," the Inquisitor called down to him, the pistol trained unerringly on Rue. "Stand down, or the next won't miss."

It would have stronger magic, no doubt. Rue could block it, but then he wouldn't have the power to kill the priest. If he dodged, the Inquisitor would hit the little girl.

Rue looked up at the Inquisitor, deliberately meeting the man's eyes, then raised his pistol and shot the priest. Rue's magic exploded out of him, traveling with the bullet. It tore through the priest's shield, and the bullet buried itself in the priest's chest.

The Inquisitor's bullet slammed into Rue's shoulder, knocking him back into the pews. Magic not his own washed through him, paralyzing him to the point he could barely draw a breath. His shoulder screamed in agony—no, that was the priest. His aim hadn't been thrown off by the Inquisitor, then. Rue smiled, then stopped fighting the pain and exhaustion, letting darkness wash over him.

Hop winner, What Matters Most, LiAW and/or all of the things

Warning, this post contains a fuckton of babbling. And some language unsuitable for small children.

The winner of the Hop drawing was the lovely Katey Hawthorne. I didn't realize until I drew her name and followed her link that she's the author of a book I loved to pieces, Nobody's Hero. It's a contemp superhero book, about a man who doesn't want to be the superhero and doesn't want to follow the chosen path. He and his love interest are very different people, and the way she pulls them together and fleshes out their families and makes it *work* is just wonderful and well done. ^__^ Ya'll should definitely check it out. I'm going to stop fangirling now, I swear. :3

I was holding off on posting this b/c I didn't want to take away from the Hop (and I managed to space on it right before because I'm wonderfully organized like that), but a short story of mine, What Matters Most came out at LT3 last week. ^__^ It was originally meant to be a holiday story, and then the plot got away from me and it was all "holiday? what holiday? fffft." So it was less holiday and more generic fantasy, so we skipped rushing it out in December and slated it for May instead. ^__^ I really like the way it turned out. There's a melancholy feel to it that I can't often pull off. Standing up for what is right, Kyros has found, is a lonely endeavor. It's also a dangerous one, as the people he's fighting have already killed his friend, threatened others, and are now going after Kryos' mother to finally force him to stand down. Knowing full well his mother won't listen to the men he's sent to take her to safety, Kyros reluctantly returns home to the village he has not seen in years. But returning home means encountering the man he never forgot, and Kyros find himself forced to choose between doing what is right and what matters most…

The Love is Always Write stories have begun posting on the M/M Goodreads group! Megan's has already posted (and is awesome! Linguist, kings, misunderstandings and kidnappings and rescues, oh my!), and she's made absolutely gorgeous covers for both hers and my story. ^__^ I'll be creating downloadable versions (epub, mobi, and pdf), so if you're not a member of the group, you'll still be able to get your hands on a copy. (Mine won't be available until the story is posted, obvs, but I will drop a note when it is.) Playing with Shadows is another story where I'm really, really pleased with the vibe I managed to pull off. It's all OH GOD RUN AWAY or whatnot, I don't know. Sort of horror, but not. Definitely "scared for your life" sort of vibe. ^__^ I'm also, uh, working on a prequel. And a sequel is going to be in the works. IDEFK how that happened. Prequel is awesome so far. Lots of violence. :3 I'm blowing shit the fuck up, it's awesome. Uh. Babbling. Anyway! Check this shit out. Or don't, if that is your preference. ^__^

And now I'm going to shut up and go away for another five million years. /o\

Hop Against Homophobia

I grew up in a very small town in the middle of nowhere. When I was younger, it always seemed like there were only a couple hundred people who lived there (it was really 7k or so). We were a 45 minute drive from the nearest interstate and mall. There was no movie theater, and half the time we didn't have a clothing store (they went in and out of business like going bankrupt was in style).

In other words, I grew up under a rock. :3 Half the rock was my own making; I was an introvert and much more interested in reading than in the same 200 boring people that inhabited my town. (None of them had magic! How could they compete?) Homophobia didn't seem real to me; it was an abstract concept that I'd never experienced or recognized in anything around me. (This is not to say it wasn't there, but to say that I was an oblivious, self-absorbed young person, a.k.a., a typical teenager.)

High school really cemented this. I can remember three gay classmates off the top of my head. Two had been out for as long as I could remember (the girl actually asked me out once; I declined on the grounds she was too short (seriously, I was a strange, strange teenager)). The third was a little older, a year or two before me in high school; he was the stereotypical jock, on the football and basketball teams. I remember he came out when I was in high school, and I couldn't figure out why it was gossip. I don't know if anyone gave him a hard time about it, but nothing seemed to change. He was still friends with the same people and did the same things.

It wasn't until I got to college and had my own computer and a connection to the world (the great and wonderful internet!) that I realized that things like homophobia, racism, etc., weren't just theoretical concepts. I had never experienced or witnessed any overt homophobic actions, but the internet brought me to people who had. I was connected to wonderful, creative, lovely people who had experienced homophobic discrimination, who had suffered and looked down upon because other people thought less of them because of who they loved.

So, while it may seem like common sense that gay people are first and foremost people, and deserve all the respect that entails, it's always worth repeating. It's never, ever right to ridicule or discriminate against someone because of who they are and who they love.

 

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In support of the Hop, I'm offering a giveaway prize of one copy of any paperback in my backlist.* To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post on my website or LJ (tumblr will not be counted because I don't actually understand tumblr). Please include your email address in the comment so I can get in touch with you. ^__^

Givewaway technically ends on May 20 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, but I probably won't draw until the morning of the 21st because I like my sleep. Winner will be selected using random.org and will have 48 hours to get back to me after being notified, after which point a new winner will be selected.

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See more Hop posts!

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*Backlist includes That Famous Happy End, Fairytales Slashed: Volume 2, Stolen Hearts, Living Words, Seeing is Believing, or the upcoming Saving Liam**

** If Saving Liam is chosen, it will ship as soon as it is in my grubby little hands (very, very soon).***

*** I promise no grubbiness will be transferred to the book. ^__~