At the end game, will these differences keep Meredith and Chowd apart for good?  Will his own unwanted heritage tear them asunder forever?  And will the crew of the Elector finally prevail over Crick Sur Banden?

The Warriors of the Elector’s cataclysmic conclusion has arrived.

Excerpt:

He ached. Every inch of his body burned with fever, and he hated the way they stood around his bed, looking at him. Hot anger roared through his veins. He sweated and stank but couldn't care. He needed the relief of his Xeradax, and all would once more work. Crick Sur Banden’s vision swam slightly, and he shut his eyes against the vertigo. He reeled back, letting his head roll slightly as he caught an unsteady breath, trying to focus on those around him once more.

"Give me my drugs." Even to himself, the words sounded slurred and loud. His head felt heavy, as if his neck couldn't support the weight.

"My lord. We don't have any Xeradax here. We are trying--" The small medi-tech hovered close. Too close.

The voice stopped as Crick’s hand extended swiftly to grasp the doctor’s throat. The soft flesh beneath his fingers gave slightly beneath the pressure, the face purpling as he tried to squirm out of the deathly hold. Crick Sur Banden felt a small punch of pleasure at the feeling and kept the pressure on. A gargling sound filled the air, and he looked at this fool who tried to take away his simple pleasure. They will learn. They will all learn.

                                                 PLEASE NOTE: This title is currently out of print. 

Excerpt:

“She reached for the tissue box and mopped up the mess. Hunting for the rubbish bin, soggy tissues in hand, she jumped when the phone rang. Gia waited, wondering what more depressing news she could possibly receive.

Hi, this is Gia. I’m not available to take your call, so leave a message.

“Gia? This is Valerie. I heard about your job—and Garret. Call me.”

Gia groaned. Oh, why is life so unkind? Her mum, Valerie, wasn’t the nurturing, baking biscuits kind of mother. No, instead she was more like a friend. A close and tight friend.

“Right now a traditional parenting arrangement would be infinitely welcome.” She glanced around, thankful that no one would hear her say that.

With several wobbly steps, she thrust the used paper into the bin and moved to the sink, gripping it firmly.

Nothing had been the same since the Ba’Tua had made contact with Earth. Now hospitals had shut down. The advanced healing techniques had been made available to all with tremendous success, putting traditional medical attendants out of work. Of course, the same was the case for many industrial outlets too. Including her place of work.

“So much has changed in the last three years.” Her voice echoed in the empty kitchen as she gazed blindly out the window.
Earth now had several trading partners off-planet “and long-term issues, such as global warming, had been eliminated with the help of the Ba’Tua.
But there was a catch. The Ba’Tua needed to learn to break free of the restraints they’d learned as younglings—so they could procreate and learn to live as one society. So groups were sent to settle on Earth. To learn to be free.

The Ba’Tua had been technologically advanced but hideously repressed, with a look-but-don’t-touch attitude to life. The generation of ‘Ti’—the ones who’d made first contact—could barely handle being close to one another. They might be technologically advanced but their social skills, for the most part, were sadly lacking. Especially those who’d just arrived.

She snickered. “Must make sex a difficult prospect.” Not that the Ba’Tua discussed that either.

Of course, Earth wasn’t the only planet they’d been working with, but to date, it seemed to have been the most successful species they’d encountered in terms of helping them overcome their issues. Just this morning, she’d seen several younglings, as the children were known, on the train, laughing and flirting with a group of girls.

For a moment a smile curved her lips.  Shame the men are so damned sexy. The women weren’t hard on the eyes either, Gia conceded.

Turning away from her position, Gia caught sight of movement from the corner of her eye. This time she looked out the window and in her garden was a Ba’Tua male.

“Holy hell, what’s he doing here?”

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Excerpt:

“Yes, Jessa. He has been dealt with and I hope we won’t see any more of him.” Galan shook his head. “Now, I believe, maybe I should leave you alone.” His words sent a spurt of pain through her system.

She didn’t know if she was ready for the intimacy, but even more so, she didn’t want him to leave. He stood and she reached out a hand. “No. Please...don’t go...”

“Jessa, I can’t...”

“I know. I need to be sure.” Jessa sucked in a deep lungful of air, then she whispered, “And I am.”

Once she had made her decision she knew it was right. She hooked one hand behind her back and he sat on the bed watching. Oh man. I’ve never done this before. Her fingers shook on the clasp and she fumbled a little before feeling the give in her bra. Finally it gaped away from her body and she quaked a little, wondering what he would say.

A soft sound emanated from Galan and he smiled, just a small uptick at the corner of his mouth, but enough to let her know he liked what he was seeing.

“Your turn.” She had whispered the words, emboldened.

He stood, pulling at his shirt before he stripped it away. He stood waiting while her heart thumped madly.

“Uh uh. More. I saw that last time. Show me something new.”

His smile broadened and he settled his hands on his pants. Her breath caught as he inched them down, a flash of white caught her eye and he smirked. They dropped to the floor with a thud and he stepped out of them. He watched her, wearing what looked like over long boxers, tied with a cord. She moaned, noting how they sat on his hips, dipping ever so slightly towards his groin. A brief arrow line of hairs travelled from his navel to what was hidden below the cloth. 

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Hey Fiendish Followers!

Welcome to Terrific Tautness (better than saying Tuesday, right?) So today I thought I'd talk about describing the body. Particularly, when the character is looking at themselves.

It's not unusual for a character to consider themselves (we usually do that somewhere about the beginning of the story, right??)

How many times have you seen them talk about themselves, the shape of their mouths, the colour of their eyes and hair. 

I like to describe the character reasonably early on. For example, in Starline, I use the bathroom scene to describe my heroine:

She made a quick stop in the small bathroom, rather a glorified toilet with space for changing and a shower to freshen up, and in the mirror, she saw a moderately passable female. Trim figure, hazel eyes--no winners there, she told herself—and mousy brown hair against white skin. A wide mouth; she wanted lips like Jem’s, but alas for her pains, she had to learn thankfulness for what she had. Some would call her nondescript, but she accepted that her brains and work ethic would get her forward in life, so she had worked religiously since her sixteenth year. Time outside existed for others. Running and athletics weren’t her strong points either, so she could never call herself toned. She wouldn’t call herself unhealthy, far from it, but she had other fish to fry and a future to build. A quick reality check made her grimace. She looked at her white linen
camisole top and black pants, not exactly high fashion and, after a full day, not as fresh as she could hope, but she didn’t care. She had a date. She pushed the bag of Jem’s discarded clothes to one side. Must have a hot date planned, which would explain why she had left these work clothes behind.

You get the idea that she's not the most gorgeous woman, in her own eyes. Now, there is no one way to describe a character, but if you're going to have them describe themselves, then you need to make it clear that they don't see themselves as perfect.

Here's another way of describing a character.

In this wikihow tutorial, they define the physical characteristics as part of an action:

• As I was walking in the hallway, I noticed a tall, curvy figure talking to some friends. As a boy would walk by, she would flick her long, curly hair, and would bat her ink black eyelashes, showing off her chocolate-brown eyes.

Next week, I intend focusing on the male character. As I said, there's no right or wrong, no one way to capture the essence of your character.

Until then!
Imogene

Wet the material then swipe the head over a bar of sunlight soap. (It works, I promise!!!) Wet the windows with the hose, then rub the sunlight soaped nappy broom head over the wet zone. Then rinse again. Easy!!

If you need to give it a quick hit afterwards, simply remove the nappy, brush with the bristles then repeat the process.

Works for me (I usually do this in the lead up to Christmas.

Okay, that's my mundanity for the week. Catch you all tomorrow!

Imogene