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Allow me to flail a bit, here
So Ramón and I were on a eagerly awaited Caribbean cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel last week on the Disney Wonder, courtesy of Disney Cruise Lines. If you’ve ever wanted to take a cruise, I strongly suggest that you go with DCL. Trust me, they’re not just for families and kids — all the ships have adult-only places including a coffee shop, pool, restaurant, and bars — and their food and service is phenomenal. This was our second cruise, and it was just as fabulous as the first.
During our five days at sea I wound up swimming with stingrays and dancing with dolphins at Grand Cayman (have I mentioned how much I love being able to write all of this off on my taxes as research? Also, I may have come up with a stingray shifter story — woohoo!), did some lovely souvenir shopping at Cozumel and accidentally wound up drinking at Hooters, hung out on our stateroom verandah and marveled at the color of the ocean (it really is lapiz lazuli blue), had an amazing dinner at the Wonder’s adults-only restaurant Palo, and generally had a whale of a good time relaxing and hanging out with my honey. And, er, we may have already booked a cruise for next year. Well, you get a 10% discount if you book on board!
Also, the Outlook Cafe on the Wonder is a great place to write because there are outlets everywhere, plus someone checks on you regularly and brings refreshing adult beverages. You don’t even have to get up and make them yourself. And yes, I wrote on my cruise — writers don’t get vacations during NaNoWriMo. In addition to working on Deep Water, my edits for Breaker Zone arrived on Monday while we were at Grand Cayman (I decided to pop for a Connect@Sea internet package which would allow me to check my email).
Oh, and I got my cover.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this one, especially with the almost sculptural look of the guys in back. Once again, the Evernight graphic design team delivers in spades. Now I just have to finish round one of edits and get them back in…
Mid Week Tease: Deep Water #MidWeekTease #MWTease
Happy Hump Day! Let’s celebrate it with another wonderful Mid Week Tease, courtesy of the lovely and talented Sandra Bunino. Here’s another unedited scene from Deep Water, where Poseidon has taken Griffin to a local barrier island for an impromptu picnic, and is desperately trying to remember how to seduce a man.
Enjoy, and make sure to hit the list after the teaser to see other great Mid Week Teases!
Poseidon, God of the Sea, has spent millennia alone due to a single terrible act — a drunken assault on his agapetos, or fated mate, shared with his consort Amphitrite. His queen has sworn never to forgive him for his actions, and he must live with the knowledge that he drove an innocent girl to a dreadful retribution.
But when one of the Olympic Cove cottages gets a new occupant with an all-too-familiar soul, Poseidon discovers that the Fates have given him a second chance. Now he must try to right the wrongs of the past and win back both his beloved consort and the mate he betrayed.
Assuming, of course, that the Mad Nereid Thetis doesn’t interfere…
Poseidon accepted another beer and settled back into the shade of the loblollies. It had been so long since he’d seduced anyone, man or woman, that he suspected he’d forgotten how to do it. Simply appearing in his divine guise was more likely to send Griffin into convulsions than ardor. Should I send a nice array of weapons? Compliment him on his manliness and strength?
He glanced across at the pale form. No, he’d take that as an insult. Gaia, why does this have to be so difficult?
A vague recollection of something called a women’s magazine flickered through his memory. It had recommended that women talk to men and ask them about their interests in order to tempt them into relationships.
He cleared his throat. “So, er, what are your interests?”
The look Griffin gave him was memorable. “You mean, apart from getting through the next two weeks without collapsing, pissing on someone’s living room floor, or dying?” he said drily.
The words were meant to be humorous, but they scored the god’s heart. “Why do you keep joking about that?” Poseidon said harshly.
Griffin suddenly looked abashed. “Probably because there’s nothing I can do about it, and I’d rather laugh than cry. Actually, I’d rather not talk about it at all, but it’s the bloody elephant in the room, isn’t it?”
Poseidon flushed. He had no right to rebuke Griffin, especially on a subject that he would never personally face. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I just wanted to know more about you.”
“Why?” Griffin seemed genuinely puzzled. “I’m dying, Dunn. That doesn’t make me interesting.”
You have no idea how wrong you are, love. He cleared his throat. “I suspect we have some common interests. Oceanography, for one. And then there’s the Sea Shepherds. I did see your shirt the night of the cookout.”
“Oh, yeah?” The mortal brightened. “Yeah, I think the Shepherds are fantastic. I’ve actually gotten to work with them on a couple of projects. I know some people think they’re confrontational, but you can’t be afraid to kick arse now and then when it’s necessary, you know?”
To Poseidon’s relief that led into a spirited discussion about favorite conservation projects. Griffin admitted that he was especially fond of octopuses and squid, and had Poseidon laughing with a story about an octopus Griffin had nicknamed Phil. The cephalopod had learned how to break out of his locked tank, wandering across a hallway to another tank full of shrimp and helping himself to the occupants. “All I had to do was fit him with some sort of reverse scuba gear, and we could’ve knocked over any jewelry store in the country,” Griffin said.
“I could’ve told you that,” Poseidon said, chuckling. “They’re wonderful creatures, but never turn your back on an octopus or they’ll pick you clean.”
“Too right, mate.” Griffin lifted a bottle in salute, and Poseidon joined him. “To octopuses — the best sneak thieves I’d ever seen.”
A breeze rattled overhead through the limbs of the loblollies, and Poseidon realized with a start how long they’d been on the island. He reached out to the tide and noted its position. “Tide’s going out,” he said. “We’d better get back to the ship if we don’t want to be stranded here overnight.”
“Yeah, not really up for camping.” Groaning, Griffin got into a crouch, then stopped, wobbling slightly. “Bugger. Dunn, a bit of help?” he said through gritted teeth.
Poseidon stepped over. “What’s wrong?”
“Legs went to sleep. Too much time on my arse. Give me a hand up.”
Cautiously, he took the outstretched hands and hauled the mortal to his feet. He expected the sudden barrage of memory now, but it still stunned him with its intensity. Lips and thighs and long hair that smelled like green growing things and huge brown eyes—
With a start, he realized his agapetos’s eyes were still the same. Lit with sunlight, they were the color of whiskey and utterly entrancing. Spellbound, he leaned forward, watching them widen at his approach. Just a kiss. Please, my love, it’s been so long.
“Tide.”
“What?” The spell was broken.
“Tide,” Griffin repeated, eyes still wide. “We have to go, remember?”
“Oh.” Cursing his lack of control, Poseidon stepped back. “Yes, sorry. Let me just get my knapsack.”
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Happy NaNoWriMo!
Of course I’m doing NaNoWriMo. And for all you Olympic Cove fans, there is reason to rejoice — not only is Breaker Zone coming out late this month or early in December, but this year’s NaNoWriMo book is Book Three in the series (the working title is Deep Water). I’m currently closing in on 7K and hope to have the entire 100K first draft done by November 30. So you might actually get Poseidon’s story early in 2015. I’m a giver that way, you know.
And because I’m in such a good mood, here’s a completely unedited teaser from Chapter One:
Three gods sat in a tidy cottage kitchen, sharing a bottle of rather fine wine.
This wasn’t an unusual occurrence for the cottage, or even the kitchen. With mid-afternoon sunlight playing on its rack of copper pots and aged wooden cabinets, the room radiated a certain welcoming homeliness that could make even a divine entity feel comfortable. No, the only odd thing was the *identity* of one of the gods currently sitting around the retro kitchen table.
If pressed, Poseidon (Ruler of the Sea, Earth-Shaker, Lord of Horses, et al.) was willing to admit that he felt surprisingly comfortable in his sons’ oh-so-human dwelling. And he definitely appreciated the vintage he was about to receive. He admired the play of sunlight on crystal and liquid as the level of wine rose in his glass, nodding when it had reached an acceptable amount.
The storm god across from him stopped pouring, putting the wine bottle back on the table. Poseidon found the simple act somewhat amusing. After millennia of being served by daimons, the invisible spirits of the air that tended the gods of Olympus, he wasn’t used to corporeal hands doing something as mundane as pouring him a glass of wine.
Especially when those hands belonged to Ian West, first of the new Atlantian Gods. *And, by an incredible concatenation of events that even I find hard to believe, my son-in-law.*
He covered his distraction by taking a sip of wine. The rich, earthy taste of an excellent Bordeaux rolled over his tongue, and he swallowed with genuine pleasure. “From your wine cellar, I take it?”
The other occupant of the table, a lean redhead with grey eyes, nodded. “I thought it would help, considering what we’re here to discuss,” the sea demigod Bythos said.
“Mm. So you have new information about the cause of Thetis’s madness?”
“We do. Nick was able to analyze some of her venom while she had him at her lair. He said it contained some kind of nanotechnology. That’s—”
“I know what nanotechnology is,” Poseidon said crisply. “That … is a surprise.” Thick red brows furrowed as he thought. “But it does explain how she has been able to turn various creatures into monsters.” He glanced briefly at his son, whose face had gone taut at the memory of being poisoned by the Mad Nereid’s venom. It had almost turned Bythos into a deadly monster, but Ian, guided by Gaia, had been able to purge him and save his life. “Do you know how she obtained this nanotechnology?”
Bythos shook his head. “If we still had a sample Nick might be able to study it in more depth, see if it had some sort of logo or marking symbol on it.”
“But Nick never physically had any of the venom,” Ian pointed out. His friend Dr. Nick Gardiner had arrived at the cove a week ago after fleeing a deadly lover, and had become the Bearer of the Rod of Asclepius in the process. “He did his analysis through Pythia and the Rod. As for Thetis’s lair,” Ian raised his hands and twitched both index and middle fingers at the last word, “it’s currently sitting under Barnard Whitfield’s yacht. I doubt there’s anything usable left.” The grim look left his face, replaced by sorrow. “I just wish I’d known—”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Bythos said, covering his mate’s hand with his own. “Thetis played us all cleverly, beloved. And there’s no guarantee you could have saved Claire. From what Nick said, the venom was much farther advanced in her than it was in me.”
Ian sighed. “I still wish I could have tried, dammit.”
Poseidon leaned back in his chair, long fingers toying with the almost full wine glass. Thetis’s latest move in their ongoing battle had been to go beyond the mutated mermaids known as ilkothella and turn more powerful creatures into twisted versions of themselves. Ideally these creatures would still maintain their original intelligence, but follow Thetis faithfully. With that in mind the Nereid had poisoned a sea goddess named Claire with the intention of turning the resulting monster into a leader of her army.
But the brave goddess had defied Thetis, choosing to end her life and return to Gaia rather than become one of the Nereid’s minions. A new coral reef had blossomed instantly on the site of Claire’s sacrifice, forever memorializing her courage. While this was a setback in Thetis’s plans, Poseidon had no delusions that it would dissuade the Nereid from her course of revenge.
Guess what I did this morning?
Everyone who liked my Breaker Zone MWT snippets is about to be very happy because — ta-da — I signed the publishing contract with Evernight this morning! Breaker Zone should be coming out either in late November or early December, and I cannot wait to see the cover art and make the trailer for this one.
Of course, that also means that I need to get cracking on Olympic Cove 3 because waiting eighteen months between books is not fun (I mean, who do I think I am, George R.R. Martin?). Right now the working title is Deep Water, and this one will be a little different in that it’s going to be a MMF story.
MM lovers, come back! There’s going to be plenty of hot man-on-man action for you, I promise. The initial pairing will be Poseidon (I TOLD you he was going to get his own book) and a gruff British oceanographer named Griffin Parkes who wants to spend a peaceful week at Olympic Cove before going into hospice care for his terminal cancer. But the God of the Ocean isn’t giving up that easily, especially when he recognizes Griffin as the long-lost agapetos of himself and his consort Amphitrite. Now, Poseidon must seduce a quite straight Griffin in order to save his life, then figure out how to bring Amphitrite back into their triad.
Can a still-grieving Amphitrite forgive Poseidon for the ancient betrayal that destroyed their marriage? Will the blunt, pragmatic Griffin be able to accept not only a male lover, but the fact that he’s a mythological figure reborn? Will Poseidon be able to bring the two loves of his life back together, or is he destined to lose Griffin and Amphitrite yet again? And what plans does Thetis have for this triad? And gads, how are Bythos and Aphros going to react to the idea of their parents, you know, doing it?
Only time will tell, mwahahahahaha. (And I can see Ceit staring at the screen and screaming, “WHAT? You, I, buh, WHAT?” Don’t worry, sweetie, I already have you down as one of the betas.)
Nicola Cameron Writes 