Blades of Lucifer Work In Progress Snippet

From the first draft sequel to Guns of Penance.

    Somewhere in the wealthier part of the South Pacific, a tall shirtless dark skinned man, his body scarred by bullets, blades, and teeth stood on the marbled rooftop deck of his penthouse. He was watching the North American newsfeed on the wall. The large screen showed images of police helicopters in front of a massive spider-like war machine, a tank the size of a high rise apartment complex, spouting lightning bolts and flame. It was like something out of that god damned War of the Worlds movie, the man thought.

    The moment he saw the mammoth mobile rail gun platform on the screen in the New Cal megalopolis, he knew that its target was the Wall that he had built his fortune on. The Wall had been his crowning achievement, a towering eighty foot high steel and concrete barricade that divided the irradiated poor from the pure, healthy rich of what remained of ruins of the United States of America. It had been his wall, his plan to keep the streets of what many named Corporate America safe as the rest of the country slid into madness.

The Crystalline Prisoner Work In Progress Snippet:

Below is the latest scene from the novel I'm currently writing, a continuation of the story previewed at the end of Guns Of Penance, which you can buy here. 

As it is first draft stuff, expect grammar wangleness and plot whathattery that may be changed or removed entirely from The Crystalline Prisoner.

"Teeth ripped me from the dream. I awoke in the memory screaming as the man’s jaws bit into my shoulder. I kicked at him, and as he fell backwards he jabbed at me with the butt of his vapor cannon, the synthwood stock of his gun splintering as it smacked my head.  Then there was a reactor pipe in my hands, as if it materialized from nothingness, and unblinking, I sprayed the man with it, watching the white light dissolve him before he could even scream.

"I was in a war zone. Other men and women like him were shooting at me, and the sky boiled with blood and fire, gouts of scarlet smoke splashing over the people shooting holes in each other. For a moment I just stood there, before a voice in my head urged me to advance, to keep firing the reactor pipe, to silence the rebels who threatened the safety of the planet’s terraforming project. 

I choked on the smell of burning flesh, coughing as the smoke stung my eyes, but then I was overcome with a nearly instinctual urge to stand, target a man using a crude projectile rifle, and turn half of his body to ash, even as his compatriots shot me in the chest. 

Bullets, bits of metal, gas propelled, sank into my skin, my flesh. They burned there a moment, and as I stood, my body flexed in some alien way, and repulsed them.  Child’s play, this war. It didn’t matter. The voice in my head buzzed on, directing me to shoot the men and women as they stood futilely against me, or turned to flee, or tried to sacrifice themselves to blow me up.

The voice in my head was like the pressure of some terrible migraine, and I moved almost involuntarily. . ."

MY READERS, a question for you!

Geez, what’s with these month plus gaps in between blog posts, Mari? 

Sorry!

I’ve been recovering from my hospital stay, dealing with food poisoning and stomach flu nearly back to back to back, and dealing with mental illness processing as well. As one does. The good news is reading books is an amazing antidote to some of the above listed problems and I’ve been snapping up books by Ann Aguirre, (Sirantha Jax) Rachel Bach (Paradox Series,) Jim C. Hines Magic Ex Libris series, SL Huang’s Russell’s Attic series, the rest of the Legacy of Paksenarrion series by the beloved Elizabeth Moon, as well as rereading the first three Earth’s Children Books by Jean M. Auel. 

Aside from that, I’ve been playing Final Fantasy XIV a fair bit, and well, writing my own stuff. My High Fantasy With Sci-Fi elements novel The Crystalline Prisoner sits at about twenty-two thousand words, and I have a semi secret pure smut/ erotica collection of short stories I’m working on at about nine thousand words.

Other books I have finished first drafts for are the Tokyo Area Novel (Title TBD), and the first two books in my space opera trilogy. I also have vague ideas about a sequel to my erotic-tinged book Guns of Penance, but I need to sit down and think about that a minute with you, dear reader:

Guns of Penance sold about ~45-50 copies, which means I spent more on creating and self-publishing it than I earned. It received 4-5 4 star average reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Marketing, as I’ve said before, is the hard part of writing, comparatively. Even big publisher house authors need to be fairly marketing smart to peddle them books.

So I have a question for you dear reader: 

I’m pondering publishing my next book for free (ebook only,) and just leaving a donation tip jar on the download page where hey, if you liked it, you can toss a buck, euro, or yen my way. Is this a good idea, or should I stick to peddling it via amazon for $4 (13$ USD for paperback, they make $10 on the book) or what?

Please please please let me know in the comment section. 

Thank you! 

SuperSad/Happy

Over the month of February I spent almost two weeks in the hospital/ER for cellulitis  of the lower right leg, and later for a superficial blood clot from on of my veins that just couldn't handle the constant IV antibiotics. But now I'm out, so huge thanks to the team at Swedish Medical Hospital in Denver Colorado and to Obamacare. ( Thanks Obama!) 

I got to exercise on my new stationary recumbent bike for a mere five minutes and I feel good. And I feel relieved, because I'm still fighting depression based writers block (I haven't written in months) but I've taken a few steps to get back out in the sunlight and start living again. 

I’m super upset that I can’t get past the writer’s block, though. Helping me over the hurdle is my love of books. I keep forgetting that the easiest way to chuck my depression to the bin is to read lots of new fiction. So I’ve been reading Jim C Hines Magic Ex Libris series, and SL Huang’s  books Zero Sum Game and Half Life, starring Cas Russell. The Russell’s Attic series is sooo much in the same spirit of the characters I wanted for Guns of Penance I almost sat down and said, “Well I’m done now, Huang has this under control.” I found her via Jim C Hines blog.  Read the blog, then definitely pick up both of her books at Amazon or your favorite indie shop. 

In the meantime I shall be here, staring at the screen of The Crystalline Prisoner and the sequel to Guns of Penance, (which by the way has recently dropped in price!) wondering when the muses will reopen shop. Hopefully I can get back on track this week. Till then, stay healthy, happy and thanks for reading. 

Still Alive!

Sometime during this month is my 38th birthday, so I thought I'd offer an update. Things are percolating, but right now as my health continues to decline (mild spinal stenosis, blood infection, and one that's just too iick to talk about) everything's on the back burner if it's not day to day survival. 

I’m getting back in gear and getting the Clankery’s rust cleared away, getting the writing cogs grinding away as the muses flirt with telling stories. Work on The Crystalline Prisoner has fairly ground to a halt, but the plot outlining for the sequel to Guns of Penance is starting to take real shape.  I’m not sure if it or any other of my future books will see print in the immediate future. And while a few people love my work, the sad fact is I need a way to get a few hundred thousand more eyeballs on my pages if I hope to keep doing this. Self publishing certainly has me appreciating traditional publishing even more, and the whole experience has me going over my manuscripts with a magnifying glass. 

Not to mention I have to teach myself HTML in order to create Kindle books. Also, eagle-eyed readers have probably already found my latest excerpt via Facebook and Twitter. I’m much more active over on those two platforms than here, if that helps. More info to come!  Thanks for reading!

Life, Post-Debut-Book-Launch

Real life has scaled back the writing somewhat. Progressing slowly with The Crystalline Prisoner, ( the book previewed at the end of Guns of Penance, but what with the new diagnosis of mild stenosis of the spine, I have to focus on immediate health concerns.

Writing TCP is a refreshing 180 degree switch from the Guns of Penance. It's high fantasy, for one thing (yet still set in the same universe as all the other books) it's shaping up to be a more romance oriented work than say erotica (less sex scenes.)

One thing I have learned with Guns of Penance though, is that book marketing is sooo much harder than writing. Promoting the book on a 0 dollar budget means asking for word of mouth, and getting reviews and things proves difficult. Then again, I'm trying to limit spamming everyone on Twitter and FB to maybe once every few days. According to the word on the Net,  I need a street team, which is apparently a core legion of fans willing to help spread the word about my book in exchange for rare loot and stuff like that. So basically the Ultrafans, I have no idea what I could offer for "loot" though!

The Sequel to Guns of Penance

Have you read my book? Do you want a sequel? Tell your friends who might like books with kick ass heroines, muscle cars, guns, sex, a scene with a dingo, and oh yes giant robots! Word of mouth from readers who review my book at Amazon or Goodreads, and people who tell their friends are the best way to reach new readers who can help me fund a sequel. If you liked the book and want to see more, please tell your friends! 

Amazon here
http://buff.ly/1qyp6PW

Goodreads here
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22876050-guns-of-penance

Guns of Penance Available on Kindle

Guns of Penance is

Directly from Amazon, available for your Kindle. Still $3.99. And if you have bought it and read it, Thank you very much for reading and buying. I am directly indebted to you, and again, if you have read it and would like to leave a review (good or bad, so long as it's heartfelt, you can review it at Amazon here, or Goodreads here. And if you do leave a review, you have my deepest thanks. Off to writing the next book!

Guns Of Penance

My first self-published novel, the erotic action-adventure sci fi GUNS OF PENANCE is out and available as an ebook that works on your Amazon Kindle, iBooks, iPhones, net or other popular e-readers. $3.99 USD

NOW IN PRINT!

But! If you want a paperback copy you can order it here! $13.99 (yes, that's the printing difference.)

Readers who've bought it so far have said they liked it, and one woman chided me for leaving the sample story at the end unfinished. I'd like to call that a dramatic hook.

Guns Of Penance launched yesterday!

GUNS OF PENANCE is my first novel, entirely self published. Imagine Kill Bill set in the Mad Max universe, and throw in some Delta of Venus. It’s an erotic-tinged techno-fantasy pulp story. Four people are racing through a land known as Imperial America to get to a woman who has a secret that will change their world, a secret worth fifty billion. Along the way, they will confront their sins, their lusts, and their fears, and there will be a giant robot scene. 

 

 GUNS OF PENANCE is now available in several ebook formats from Kindle to Nook, to Apple iBooks. You can order now here, for just $3.99

 

The hardcopy version is now available from CreateSpace for $13.99 ( it costs CS $11.65 just to print it) + shipping and handling. 

 

Click here to order the paperback version!

Author signed physical copies may be requested via email at 

ｋｕｒｉｓａｔｏ　．ｗｒｉｔｉｎｇ＠ｇｍａｉｌ．ｃｏｍ

The price will be $13.99 + shipping to my house to sign it + shipping to your location. I’m sorry I can’t make it cheaper, but I’ll add a little some extra to each copy that will be one of a kind. On the off chance that I get swamped with Author Signed Copy requests I will take as many as I can, but I might delay or refuse your request. Don’t worry, if I refuse your request I will of course not take payment.

The novel is about 75k words, but it also includes a first draft preview of an upcoming novel called THE CRYSTALLINE PRISONER, which without giving away too much of the plot, is my attempt at Tolkien, as if reinterpreted by JAMES SA COREY (whom I adore and worship as a demigod of books—seriously, go read all the Expanse novels ever written.) So high fantasy, with romance, and spaceships and dragons and maybe zombies that lecture people instead of eating them. But I digress! GUNS OF PENANCE includes a preview of THE CRYSTALLINE PRISONER. 

Oh! Before I go, I just wanted to say thank you for reading, both my book, and this blog. You’re all very wonderful, handsome witty people and I love you all very very much. Thank you for being there for my first ever book.

OH! Also If you’re not SURE you want to buy GUNS OF PENANCE you can download a %20 excerpt and give it a try before you buy go! So that way you can decide straight away if it’s right for you—which hey, it may not be, it’s got explicit sex and violence (See Kill Bill and Delta of Venus references above) but it might be your thing because it’s also got a giant kick ass female hero, and a giant robot! Plus explosions and a scene with a Dingo just for Heather, and you if you like that sort of thing!

Again, thank you!

GUNS OF PENANCE Preorder available!

GUNS OF PENANCE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER

My first novel, GUNS OF PENANCE arrives Late August/Early September and is now available to PREORDER as an ebook on Smashwords, for $3.99. It’s formatted for Kindle, Apple iBooks, and other ebook readers, DRM free. Please click here to preorder it.

If you want a print copy of GUNS OF PENANCE you can order an autographed copy by emailing me. The trade paperback cost is $13.99, and for autographed copies the shipping to you needs to be added in. The trade paperback will be available starting Late August/Early September at major online retailers. 

Both editions include a first peek preview of an upcoming novel of mine titled THE CRYSTALLINE PRISONER, a fantasy tale with moon sized dragons and networked tree spirits. 

Please leave  a comment if you have any questions, and let me know if you’ve purchased a preorder. Thank you so much, everyone, please look forward to it!

The book is launching in five, four, three, two. . .

Well here we are! 

The novel is written, and in the hands of beta readers. I’m awaiting feedback, but the book should (fingers crossed) be available Sometime in August/early September. The ebook will sell via SmashWords, (DRM free) and Amazon, (Not sure if it’ll be in KDP) for $3.99USD. If the ebook is bought via Amazon, my cut is about $2.39USD per book. If it’s bought on SW, it’s $3.93USD for 85%

The print edition will cost about $13.99USD via CreateSpace. Of that my cut will be $3.73USD. So, for anyone who is looking at the price of the printed book and going “fuwah?” it’s not like I’m gouging here, and you can still buy the ebook and read it online even without an e-reader, though, what with Kindle and iBook apps for Windows/Mac it seems a bit clunky. 

I don’t expect many will want a printed copy, but hey it’s there. Author autographed copies will have to be ordered via my website, so that I can take your money, order a printed book to my house, sign it, and ship it to you. So that price will be whatever the CreateSpace is + shipping to where-ever you are.

I’m discovering that it’s really true, writing the book is the easy part, compared to marketing. Doubly so for writers with mental illnesses that keep them mostly housebound, so no book tours or even video chats like Google hang-outs for me! So, I’m reading up on that, but we will see.

New Words!

MY AWESOME THINGS OF TODAY:
I went from 59 Facebook friends to thirty eight. I like Facebook. I like talking to people there. I hate "pages and liking." If you want to be one of my new friends, please say hi. CLICK HERE.

New words in the next novel (FANTASY PROJECT) today: 1207 for 5717 total. Write in the morning, edit in the afternoon. I also have to finish the cover for Sex and Violence novel, but i hope to get 10,000 words of the Fantasy project written by the time the SexNViolence book is ready for publication, to include as a chapter preview of the next book i'm working on. Gods it feels good to be writing again.

The writing I love. Even the editing. The figuring out how to publish, and market? Not so much. Publishing, ok, I think I can do that. But marketing without sounding like a jerk spammer? Ugh. UGH. if I could sell things i'd have stayed with apple retail.

Oh, and I had some very bad news on a personal front, so more UGH. but lets focus on awesomeness shall we? If you can read this, then please I beg you, leave a comment telling me what awesome thing happened to you today. 

Please? And Thanks!
Ciao!

First Draft is done.

In record time (54 days) I've written 74,545 words and finished a novel that grew from an idea to sell a few erotic short stories in a bundle. Now off to celebrate it, and then rewrite it. I'll be painting the cover for the book since I'm self publishing this one, just to see what that feels like. I would still like to get an agent (if possible) for the space trilogy books and their prequel, but I don't know if self publishing creates an infectious stigma.

Probably not!

Pride, Writing, Reading.

I had an amazing time at Denver’s Pridefest Parade yesterday, even though I was hampered with a broken ankle and couldn’t walk or march in the parade like I’ve done in the previous years. It was great getting out and listening to the fabulous lesbian bar Blush&Blu’s DJ rock the tunes. It also helped that I had a great rainbow colored donut from Voodoo Doughnuts right next door.  The kiddo had fun seeing all the new people, and getting candies and trinkets from the various organizations that had a float in the parade. 

Summer is turning out to be an amazing time with great Colorado weather, which has really helped me improve my word count. I’ve got 65,000 words written in the newest novel and bar none this is the fastest novel I’ve ever written, with an average of 1100 words a day, up from that much per month last year. So I’m grateful that my production schedule is clanking forward. Plus this book even though it has tonnes of violence and explicit erotica is very fun to write. Writing should be fun, and I find myself rereading chapters and wondering what’s going to happen next.  There’s a joy in having fun reading what I’m writing, and writing it because it’s the stuff I want to be reading. If all goes well, I should finish my book in a few days, and start the editing process to have it out for sale on Smashwords by August. Please look forward to it.

On the reading front I’ve just finished James S.A. Corey’s fourth Expanse series novel, Cibola Burn, and all I can say is wow, it was a great read I finished in a day and a half. Up there with good books like CB, Mike R Underwood’s Celebromancy and Attack The Geek were two books in the Ree Reyes series I finished before starting Cibola Burn, and I thoroughly enjoyed both books, even though I shook my head in dismay at Ree’s poor fate in the Romance department. And, both writers are awesomely responsive on Twitter, so that’s cool.

Next up on the reading list is Natania Barron’s Pilgrim Of The Sky, and after that the Late but Great Jay Lake’s Green series. The last two books in that series I’ve not yet had a chance to read. So in a nutshell that’s what I’m doing. What are you reading? Are you writing? You should be writing. Let me know in the comments!

I am an imperfect Feminist. #EachEveryWoman

I am a feminist. Not a Radical Feminist, but an AWESOME one. I don’t HATE men, I actually LOVE them, even though I am  married to a lady. I’m a pro sex-positive feminist, (hello I write erotica?) I think intersectionality is crucial & that it’s way past time for cisgender feminists to speak up and support their trans* sisters and brothers I also think cisgender is no more a slur than feminist is. Honestly, it just means someone who is perfectly happy with their gender and their physical sex (no, not the bone-dance kind of sex, the other one.)

I’m also really flawed as a person. I fuck up, alot. My mouth is my foot-shaped. Though not intentionally so, I am racist, ableist, transphobic, and sexist, ignorant and bigoted in other ways I don't understand, even though I try really hard not to be. I have many blind spots. I make mistakes, it’s part of how I learn. When I hurt someone I try to apologize the right way right-away, by saying “I’m sorry I hurt you. How can I make it right?” Not the wishy-washy “I’m sorry if you feel offended” nonsense.

I often doubt myself. I Doubt what I believe. I challenge it. Have the facts changed? Am I wrong? Because what if I never doubted myself and it turned out that my self-confidence was baseless arrogance that hurt others? The idea that “I naturally could not doubt myself  because I’m not wrong” is toxic hubris. Still sometimes it’s harder for me to be confident even when I don’t doubt myself.

None of that makes me any less of a feminist, nor does it disqualify me from being pro-equality for men/women/other, the crazy idea that women and genderqueer people deserve the same respect, safety, and treatment that men expect, and that a feminist is simply someone who strives to make that a reality. 

I am an imperfect Feminist.

#EachEveryWoman Superquote poster

Everything I've said of importance in the last week about #YesAllWomen and #EachEveryWoman collected into one giant (seriously, you can print them as posters) image available for you here. Please feel free to download, share, print and hang up on your wall. I ask only that you not modify the text or remove the credit for it—that way I can see where it pops up in the world.  

Right click and select save to save this image to your hard drive.

Jay Lake June 1964—June2014

Jay Lake, prolific and fabulous author and netfriend of mine, passed away 5 days short of his fiftieth birthday yesterday, after a long battle with cancer that he fought up until the end. I am saddened by his passing, but more I am happy, grateful that I got to know him, not only as a fan of his tremendous work, but as a portrait artist he chose to make the portrait still seen on his now silent social media presences. I was humbled and honored by his kindness, compassion, grace and wit, as well as his unflinching honesty in facing what he feared as bravely as he could. He did not want to die. He died too young, and the world is less brighter today for it. 

But we are all made of star-stuff, as Carl Sagan said, and I believe the energy and magic that was once Jay Lake’s soul, his individuality, will burn on in my memory for the rest of my life. And for that beauty he gave me, i am grateful. I am also grateful for his many friends, family, and fans that rallied with him, consoled him, and now mourn him. What greater thing in life is there than to have the unabashed love of a great big family and friends? 

So. I won’t stray into my spiritual beliefs overmuch here, except to say that I believe as long as we remember him, his spirit and passion will never truly die, and I hope that when his energy makes its way back into the circle of life we will meet again, even only as photons sailing the universe in an instant.

Goodbye Star stuff. Burn brightly forever.

#YesAllWomen is an important hashtag. But why stop there?

#YesAllWomen’s stories are important. Sharing them, listening and learning and talking are big steps for us. Let’s not let things end there. We can use our anger, sorrow and frustration to take further steps. I’m not an expert but I have a few ideas about how we can move beyond the hashtag and make this a movement. If you agree, please share this post. Reprint it, flyer-ize it, whatever. And please share ideas for how we can take it further with me on Twitter @Mari_Kurisato. 

1. Everyone: Read women’s stories. Share them. Listen. The hashtags #YesAllWhiteWomen and #CisGaze have so much to add to the movement. Women of Color and Trans* women have so much to say, and they need all our support. We’re all in this together.

2. Gentlemen: Ok, first, understand, #YesAllWomen are frustrated to hell and back with the misogyny they experience at the hands of men. Please understand that the women in your life probably don’t mean YOU when they voice their frustrations using this tag. You’re not a misogynist. But some men are. And we need you gentlemen to start doing your part beyond saying “Not me, I would never!" First, gather up your courage and read this short simple post on how to approach women without looking creepy:

http://bit.ly/GentlemenPlsRead

2A. Gentlemen, please do us ladies the favor and stand up to sexism WHEREVER you see it. In real life, in League of Legends, in WoW, Eve Online. If you see a dudebro making a sexist joke, just say “That’s not cool, man. That’s not funny.” You can take it further than that, if you want, but even that much, from their peers, can get guys to rethink acceptable behaviour. Erica Friedman inspired this idea and has more to say on it here: 

http://bit.ly/DudeNotCool

3 Everyone: Of course if you see sexual harassment, abuse, assault, or worse in Real Life, report it to police. Intervene if you feel safe doing so. Some local women’s shelters in your area may have training tips on how to best intervene, but the gist is this:

If you see someone in danger of being assaulted

*Step in and offer assistance. Ask if the person needs help. NOTE: Before stepping in, make sure to evaluate the risk. If it means putting yourself in danger, call 911 instead.

*Don’t leave. If you remain at the scene and are a witness, the perpetrator is less likely to do anything.

*If you know the perpetrator, tell him or her that you do not approve of what s/he is doing. Ask him or her to leave the potential victim alone.

Taken from RAINN: more tips here: http://bit.ly/StepInAndSpeakUp

3. Everyone: Donate time and or money to local nonprofits that help fight misogyny in your area. You can donate to RAINN here:

http://donate.rainn.org/

Also: http://bit.ly/HelpStopViolence has more resources

This list is obviously incomplete, but I will be adding to it.