Review: Barbarossa's Bitch by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks

Barbarossa's Bitch by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks
Storm Moon Press
Novel: 156pgs
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Dylan Taggert was one of the few people lucky enough to wake up the morning after the world ended. But as humanity picks up the pieces, he quickly learns that there is no place for a gay computer programmer in a subsistence farming community. Hounded out of one settlement and harried out of another, Dylan keeps his wagon packed and his walking boots ready.

All that changes when he is captured on the road by a wildpack. The ferociously masked leader, Lord Barbarossa, sees something in Dylan that he wants and he keeps the programmer as the pack makes its round of the settlements. The wildpack serves as defenders, trade caravan, circuit riding judge and priest, and mail carrier for the settlements. And Dylan, now called Kane, serves Lord Barbarossa.

But Kane wants to be more than just a warlord's toy and sets about making himself a useful part of the pack. Over the years, he earns himself a place, clothing and his membership marks. But the wheel keeps turning and once again things are changing for the wildpack. The settlements are stronger. The trade routes are secure again. And they are growing older with every winter. They have lived through the end of the old world. Now, they face living through the end of their new world as well.

Sort of Reviewish:
I haven't read an Anglia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks books that I haven't enjoyed the crap out of. Nobody does post-apocalyptic like these two. Barbarossa's Bitch is right up there at the top of original stories with amazing strong characters. I really enjoyed reading this one.

Dylan woke to a world where practically everyone just died. Without reason or an explanation, all he knows is that he is one of the survivors and he's got to make it in a world on hold. Like with almost many things, societies start to form, and Dylan being gay he doesn't quite fit. They want breeders to begin the world anew, people with a specific skill set, and for a computer programmer nothing quite fits for him. So he's drifting, in and out of settlements until he meets Lord Barbarossa. No skill required, unless being someone bitch toy is the new thing. Lord Barbarossa is the leader of a wild pack, and his trade is protection offering it to those settlements in need. Dylan then becomes Kane, a fixture at Lord Barbarossa's side and nothing more than a toy around a bunch of men, outcasts like himself but a strong and powerful family.

The book tells Kane's life, not in chronological order but in what seems significant to him. His life with his Master from wanting to get away to coming love him above all else, the story telling seems almost random at certain points, but it’s the significance that it has to Kane that makes it so entertaining. Difficult to read especially in the beginning when Kane first joins the wild-pack, his treatment from Barbarossa is very questionable, but understandable in a Dom/slave type kind of relationship. Not overly mean, but very humiliating sometimes to show Kane's value in the pack but also proving his worth (gotta not be sensitive to appreciate it).

The story follows the wild-pack power, and their involvement in the growing settlements, to the overall fade out of their importance. Kane’s role as Barbarossa’s bitch also transitions from glorified slave to that of him being important to the prosperity of the wild-pack. While not loved by all, he proves his underlying strength and smarts when it comes to making serious decisions (all kept on the down-low of course). Dylan and Barbarossa’s relationship changes, just like the world around them. It’s a series of ups and downs, but it’s clear that their love for each other will overcome all while riding bitch.

Should You Read It? Hell yes! Interesting, satisfying, with bouts of amazing sexiness. Barbarossa’s Bitch is right up there with awesome.

4 Pants Off

Guest Post & Giveaway: Prolific by Angelia Sparrow

There are three things typically said of me: I am unique. I am the Queen of Cross-genre. And I am prolific.

This year sees the release of my 12th and 13th novels, one of them being Barbarossa's Bitch. Not bad for eight years of work. There are over seventy short stories with my name on them as well.

So, I get people asking, "How do you do it?" I am approached by aspiring writers at conventions ALL the time. They all have great ideas. And they want to know how I went from having an idea to being a published author.

I tell them that I follow the advice of great writers.

"Write a story every day. Write it. Finish it." ~Ray Bradbury

Hmm. As much as I love Bradbury, I can't do it. That's more words than I can manage.

"Write 2000 words every day. Some days I am done and bout my errands by 10 AM. Some days, I am still at 1500 as Tabitha is calling me for supper." ~Stephen King

2000 is tough. That's more than NaNoWriMo, every month! But I've been giving it a try this year. I don't always manage it.

"Write. Put one word after another. Find the right word and put it down. Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it!" ~Neil Gaiman

That sounds doable.

"You can do anything for fifteen minutes." ~Flylady

You really can. I have written a fair few pieces 15 minutes at a time. I find the Dr. Wicked Write or Die site is brilliant for keeping me on task for those fifteen minutes. (It will erase your words if you pause for more than 10 seconds.) In fifteen minutes, I can write approximately 600 words. I am a slow typist. That's about a page and a half.

Victor Milan (author of about 50 novels), says "Commit to five words. Even if you can't face fifteen minutes or 2000 words, write five."

It works for some people. And on the days when I really can't face mortal combat with the keyboard, that is what I do. I usually end up with about forty, but I promise myself five.

But all this good advice boils down to one word: WRITE!

Don't dream it; be it. Don't just tell and retell your story in your head and with your mouth. Write it on paper.

Pardon me for one more quote, this one from Amadeus. When approached about the fact he hasn't written the promised piece, and rehersals start next week, he tells the theater owner that it's all in his head, the rest is just scribbling. "Write it down! It does no one any good in your head!" is the response. And that is my answer to the aspiring. :)

I write almost every day. There are times I am away from home, and can't write. Conventions, in particular, are not conducive to writing time. But when I am home, I eke out my writing time. And most of all, I listen to Neil: FINISH IT!

The secret to being prolific is not inspiration. It is not talent. It is dedication to the story you are telling.

Some stories feel like pulling teeth. There were times--during edits, especially--when this book, Barbarossa's Bitch, got the better of me and I stared at it for a day and wrote nothing. Having glared it into submission, I could then continue.

Some books take longer than others. Naomi and I started this piece about three years ago. We'd poke at it, let it alone, poke it again. And last spring, I said "Let's finish this." She said, "Sure," and we did.

Those three words "and we did" encompass hours on AIM, more hours bashing a keyboard, too many hours typing in one window with "Sons of Anarchy" running in a second (we both have fantastic Chibs crushes) and AIM in a third. And far too many repetitions of the playlist.

But we wrote. We put one word after another. We finished it.

I think the only difference between an aspiring writer and a prolific writer is sitting at the keyboard and typing.

Barbarossa's Bitch is currently available from Storm Moon Press in ebook format for $5.99.

Angelia Sparrow's work can be found at http://www.brooksandsparrow.com. She can also be found on LiveJournal (valarltd), Facebook (Author Angelia Sparrow), Google+ (Angelia Sparrow), Fetlife (valarltd), Twitter (@asparrow16), and Blogger.








GIVEAWAY!

This post is part of the blog tour for Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks' new book Barbarossa's Bitch. To celebrate this new release, they're holding a huge giveaway! You can enter by commenting with your e-mail address on this post or any other on their blog tour throughout this week. Commenting on multiple blogs means multiple entries, so follow along and keep commenting! Entries are open until Midnight EST on Saturday, March 2nd, 2013. There will be three winners. The Grand Prize is Angelia Sparrow's entire backlist (that's 12 novels and over 70 short stories). First runner up will get an ebook copy of Barbarossa's Bitch along with a $10 gift certificate to Angelia's Etsy shop, and the second runner up will get the ebook alone. Amazing prizes are a great way to sweeten the dark themes of this post-apocalyptic gay novel! Thanks for joining us on the blog tour and remember to comment to enter the giveaway!

Guest Post & Giveaway: A Sit-down Apocalypse for Seven Billion by Angelia Sparrow

Hi. Thanks for having me today. For readers who don't know me, I'm Angelia Sparrow, an author with Storm Moon Press. And I have apparently been left in charge of the Apocalypse.

Fortunately for the majority of the world, I appear to be incompetent at causing them. But pretty good at preventing them.

I came on with Storm Moon early, with their furry anthology, Wild Passions. My Depression era dieselpunk carnival has spawned the beginnings of a World War II furry novel. I enjoyed my experience enough that I kept writing for the press.

My next offering was Power in the Blood. Here is the first apocalypse I tried with SMP: vampires. A friend asked me "Why vampires?" My response, "Because you can't have a vampire apocalypse without them," was not the right answer.

So, I had to choose a good starting point for the Born Again Vampires to begin converting the whole world. Memphis, aside from being where I live, is a major transportation hub. Trucks and planes go out from it in all directions. A major virus here, unlike the Yellow Fever Epidemic of the 1870s, would have infection vectors throughout the world. Memphis is small enough to be taken in less than a week by determined vampires, and from there, they could spread quickly--and mostly unnoticed by the media--to Atlanta, New Orleans and its ports, Dallas, St. Louis, the Chicago metroplex, Denver, Cincinnati, and on to New York and Los Angeles. This also made it easy to bring in my vampire hunters.

Thanks to terrific editors and an amazing cover artist, Power in The Blood, which was my first non-erotic focus novel, turned out to be my best solo work.

In late February, I'm unleashing another Apocalypse through Storm Moon. But this time, there are no immortals to save the world. This time, we start after the Apocalypse has happened. Since I am not Stephen King, I decided not to go with a world-wide perspective on how everyone died. The focus is on rebuilding. What is left of the world when ninety-five percent of the population simply didn't wake up one morning (or simply dropped where they stood)? And Toto, we are most definitely in Kansas anymore.

I chose to set my novel in Kansas because I had a passing familiarity with it. I've been to most of the towns discussed. It had what I required in the way of existing setting: a military base, an agricultural university, and more than a few religious fanatics of several stripes. The Manhattan, Salina, Topeka triangle made a good territory for my roving band of gay bikers.

Yes, gay bikers. The book is called Barbarossa's Bitch, and it follows our hero as he is brought into a wildpack as a sex toy and rides with them, eventually seeing more than just predators. The folks at Storm Moon have been willing to take a very big chance with this one. The title is in-your-face. The structure is non-linear. The characters are difficult at best, active criminals at worst.

But that's typical of the press, I'm finding. These are folks who are unafraid of the edge. They aren't satisfied to publish endless male/male light BDSM contemporaries, although those sell. They want some risk, something new. They want the whole QUILTBAG. Post-apocalyptic lesbians from my con-spouse. Gun kink from a multitude of talented writers. Religiously risky books, like The Keeper or Power in the Blood. Furries. And of course, they let me bring down the Apocalypse every now and then, as long as I keep it new and exciting.

Angelia Sparrow is a freelance writer and crafter who lives in the MidSouth with her husband, three resident children, and two cats. She can be found at http://www.brooksandsparrow.com, as Author Angelia Sparrow on facebook, Angelia Sparrow on Google+ or as valarltd on Livejournal, FetLife and Etsy.

 Giveaway Opportunity!
 This guest post is part of Storm Moon Press' 3rd Anniversary Blog Tour! Comment on this post or any other post on the blog tour with your e-mail address, and you'll be entered for a chance to win the Grand Prize of receiving 1 FREE e-book each month of 2013 from that month's new releases for a total of 12 free e-books! Runners up will receive a $25 gift certificate to their choice of Amazon or All Romance eBooks. For more details and to find out about our 3rd Anniversary, head over to Storm Moon Press' Official Blog. Thanks for joining us!