Guest Post: Stallion-Shifters, Horror, and "Dark Menagerie" by Lor Rose

Up until now all of my anthology releases have related back to some series of mine... except this one. "The Four of Us", my short for Storm Moon Press' Dark Menagerie, was my first release unrelated to any series I currently have. Well, that's a lie... "The Four of Us" was the first installment of a four part mini-series-thing. The next installment doesn't come out until February (more on that one later).

"The Four of Us" is more mythical than paranormal. I took the legend of the Mares of Diomedes, the Eighth Labour of Hercules, legend and spun it a bit. Stallions of Diomedes sounded much better. Plus, I've seen a hard stallion, and it's like wow. Anyway...

Stallions are more my thing genderly (is that a word?) speaking. You know, 'cause of the penis aspect. It doesn't hurt that I know quite a bit about horses. So why not mix my knowledge of penises and horses? It sounded logically to me.

The story just came to me. At first, I wasn't completely in love it (the outline sucked) but as I wrote, the story got better and better. There was a twist in there I wasn't aware of, and that twist ended up really making the story for me.

"The Four of Us" has a tint of horror. A beta reader of mine said it was straight up horror, and I was completely surprised, since I've never attempted horror before in my life. It might be the 'flesh eating thing' or the 'murder thing', who knows. ;)

I sent off my little flesh eating horses into the Storm Moon Press submissions slush pile (I like to think the slush pile is a snowy happy place where manuscripts go to play and have fun; not a fiery inferno) and waited to hear the verdict. Obviously, I was successful!

This story, along with its counterpart (the one releasing in February), is one of my favorites. I love the concept of taking such beautiful creatures and turning them into equal parts beautiful and horrifying, flesh-eating monsters. Sometimes, juxtaposing the two opposing forces can really bring out the best in both, and I hope that comes across in my story!

My challenge with "The Four of Us" was to create characters the reader could love. Build them up and give them depth... and at the last moment, make them characters readers would hate (in a good way). It wasn't something I set out to do, but I found it happening almost as if my keyboard had been hijacked whenever I blinked. It was scary! But I think I managed the balance well enough. I hope I did. Why don't you guys be the judge? :D

Thank you to Darien and Pants Off Reviews for hosting me today! You guys can read more about the Dark Menagerie anthology below. Check it out!

A shifter leads two lives: one as a human, and one as an animal. Sometimes these lives are intertwined, and sometimes they are not, but always the shifter has to find a way to reconcile one with the other. Dark Menagerie follows characters as they explore the darker side of what it means to have one foot in the animal world and one foot in the human world. Some struggle to keep the animal starkly separate from their lives as a human being, but for others, their shifting leads them to a darker corner of the mind where human and animal are nearly indistinguishable.

First, in Dominant, Kade has left everything he valued in his life behind; his family, his fiancée, his entire future. He tries to make peace with what he has become by running away to a small town, but fails. Then, a monster in a suit walks into his life, a monster just like him. Then, the four in The Four of Us devised a game: pick two humans, lure them in, and hunt them down. The game, the shared thrill of the hunt, was what brought them together, but also what threatens to tear them apart.

Justin, of Horsefeathers, had one job—to get a new Mustang for his boss' ranch. But at the holding pens, he can't look away from a stunning stallion. He isn't at all what the boss wants, but Justin can't say no. He soon learns that he's brought back much more than simply a beautiful horse, and that there are some legends that he wished weren't based in truth. Finally, Breathe concerns a young dolphin shapeshifter who has to deal with his own hateful feelings about himself, a deadly dull partner, and the presence of a new shifter in town. And a hurricane bearing down on their home in Key West, of course.

Dark Menagerie - Now Available from Storm Moon Press for $4.99 (ebook) or $9.99 (print)!

Guest Post: Slavery and the Daeva by Lor Rose ( Serve Me Anthology)

~Once again I have the lovely Lor Rose stopping by with a fun post. Its always a pleasure to have her GP and I look forward to reading Serve Me.~

Imagine it, having your freedom taken. One infraction could land you in a life of servitude. You have no rights; your life's only value is what your Master paid for you. Come to find, your value was much less than you ever thought.

There will never be an end to your servitude. Your Master is your world. Every wish is your command and no wish can you refuse. Your Master controls when you eat, what you eat, when you sleep, where you sleep, your clothing (if any), when you go to bathroom, and whom you have sex with, whether you want it or not.

Your very blood is the sustenance your Master needs to survive. Master takes whatever Master needs with or without your cooperation. To disobey would mean retribution any way your Master sees fit because you are only a slave. And slaves had no rights.

Imagine if someone else held your life in their hands. This day could be your last, and yet you wouldn't even know it.

This was the world Aidan and Aaron lived with every day. They never knew what would happen. Their Master, Jax, was a cruel Daeva more commonly known as a "vampire". Though, to call one a vampire almost ensured certain pain but never death. The Daeva caught on that it was ploy from slaves to end their suffering. They're smart like that, you see. Which was most unfortunate for the majority of the slave population. Notice, if you please, only a majority, not all.

Most Daevas abused their rights as Masters and should, in fact, have been the slave themselves. There were a few Daeva who treated their slaves fairly, showed their slaves some respect, and a few took their slaves a life mates.

These Daeva Masters were of legend in the slave community. It was a fantasy to most, something unattainable. A legend Aidan hardly listened to because he knew the truth:

All Daeva were monsters.

---

The above note was what I wrote when I read the anthology call on Storm Moon Press' website for their Serve Me anthology. Literally. I read the call and out came the pen. The basic premise of my note made it into my short story, "Life is Unforgiving", and some of the details were kept for the series world that "Life is Unforgiving" takes place in.

I have a habit of writing anthology calls in a series world I already have in place. Giving my readers a taste of what's to come is something I love to do. My habit has also been called "rude", "annoying", and "unfair" by one or two of my partners, since the books aren't available yet, but I don't listen to them.

Writing these anthologies allows me room to explore my world without the pressure, if you will, of having to produce a full length story of 35,000 to 40,000 words. Every time I've done so, something I didn't know about my series pops up.

For instance, before I wrote "Life is Unforgiving", I had no idea Daeva in this world hated the term vampire. It was news to me. I made sure to go back in my world-building notes and jot down this little fact. I also didn't intend for Aidan's old master, Jax, to ever pop up again, but I lost that battle. ;)

When I was writing "Life is Unforgiving", I didn't want the story to end. I wanted more. I prayed Ryce and Aidan would keep talking to me and turn this anthology piece into a book. I would've settled on breaking up the book into multiple anthology runs (which I've sort of done already, but I'm not talking about that today). However, that wasn't the case. Ryce and Aidan kept quiet near the end.

I set the manuscript aside for about a week in the hope they would continue their story. It's been awhile since I wrote "Life is Unforgiving", and I won't say if they've spoken up since, but I will say you guys will see them again in some capacity. I'll just leave you to stew over what "capacity" means.

Serve Me marked my fourth anthology release this year with Storm Moon Press and I'm not even done yet. There's a book somewhere down the line, too. I am a busy, busy author but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lor Rose is a snarky, over the top, genderfluid, polyamorous demipansexual with dark hair and pink highlights (although sometimes the color varies). Lor started reading very questionable M/M fanfiction at a very young age in the closet. Literally. Though, that didn't stop her from getting caught once or twice. This early love of things M/M sparked her writing career. She has written for several anthologies at Storm Moon Press, and her most recent short can be found in their Serve Me anthology, now on sale in both ebook and print formats!

Guest Post & Giveaway: Lor Rose and the Battle of the Muses

Any author, writer, poet, songwriter, ect. has their domain. A place where their creativity happens. Mine has a desk: beautiful dark wood with all the things that make a desk organized and lovely. A sofa lines the adjacent wall with a low coffee table full of magazines and loose papers. A music player plays creating the perfect atmosphere for writing, plotting, or blogging. My cat sleeps in the corner atop her cat climb, her tail hanging over the edge with a slight sway.

Then, it happens.

"LOR! Lookie what I have for you! Come here." There he is. Animus the Muse storms in, and my door banging against the wall startles my cat. Some days, Animus and I get along, and some days I wish to flog him, tie him up, and toss his fine ass in the closet for a few hours. Animus is loud, obnoxious, overbearing, egotistical, snarky, abusive, flamboyant, rude, annoying, hostile, and a penis wrinkle. He's also very fond of heels and crossdressing. Did I mention he's bleach blond, silver eyed, and a twink? No? Oh, well. I just did. "I need to give you something!"

I inwardly cringe... Animus is never gentle when "giving" anything. It's always a painful slap across the face. Not that I mind such treatment, but every day? My face is sore.

"An, don't bother her! She's working." Dear little Epicene runs in after Animus, tugging the renegade muse away. It doesn't work. It never does.

Poor little Epicene is quiet, cute, sweet, compassionate, and subtle. I'm also very unsure of Epicene's gender. Epicene is probably the most androgynous being I've ever met. I'm much too polite to ask about the plumbing below (for now). Epicene's hair changes as much as my Twitter stream; some days it's blonde, purple, green, light/dark blue, or any combination of any color Epicene decides. Today, it's red with hints of a blond so blond it shines gold. I kinda like it.

"Uh, excuse me. I've something to share, and it will be shared, dammit!" Animus yanks his arm away with a sour face only a mother could kiss. Okay, that was a lie. "Mind your own business for once."

"But-"

"No!"

I sit and blink at the two arguing in my office. My cat does little to nothing except blink and roll over to avoid them in a way only a cat can. I wish I could avoid them so easily. Dare I say I envy my cat?

The two continue to argue over the process of delivering information to me. Animus feels smacking me is very appropriate, not to mention it leads to "other means". He's referring to our "therapy" session courtesy of a friend, but all it did was prove Animus is a good kisser, among other things.

"She's an author! She likes the pain. Duh. Hence the whole authorly thing." There he is folks. Animus, my muse.

Epicene growls, and it's sort or cute coming from her--or, uh, him. "She's our voice, not some thing to beat into high hell." There it is again, Epicene's fall back argument. I appreciate the sentiment.

The two argue and argue over a topic so beaten into submission I'm surprised it even has an once of life left. I ignore them for the most part and opt to write this post instead. I'm so used to the two fighting it's more second nature-ish now to write in the insanity that is my two muses... or crawl under my desk. The latter is more likely to happen.

Almost all of my writerly friends have admitted to having a muse (or several) or hearing "voice(s)" who tell them what to do. I think I'll email a few friends asking about their muses and see what they say. My friend Patricia Lynne replies first, "Nope, I don't despite saying I do. Usually when I say I do, it's just to put a metaphorical person to my writing woes." Since she's my friend I'll let her get away with denying that she's crazy.

S. L. Armstrong, one of the owners of Storm Moon Press said. "I don't consider myself to have a muse." She's already denying she's crazy. "I find inspiration everywhere -- a song, a line of dialogue in a movie, overheard conversations, whatever -- without attributing it to a muse whispering ideas into my head." Why is everyone denying they're crazy? "I will say that when I'm writing, I can see the characters in my mind and hear their voices in my head, but I consider that to be different than a muse who is separate from the story." As you can tell S.L. is denying the crazy factor. Maybe K. Piet, another owner, will admit it?

"When it comes to muses, I wouldn't really say I have one." K. Piet has let me down... "I don't have a named muse in my head when I write. I sometimes describe my thoughts as tied up with the character that I'm currently writing, but I never feel like there's a phantom-like entity that pokes me into writing anything." Are muses phantom-like entities? Animus says no... "I might not have a muse, but I tend to have inspiring music. A song can make me really eager to write a certain story or character. The two musicians who currently get the creative juices flowing are Ben Jelen and Adam Lambert."

In a way I think both S.L. and K. Piet have admitted to having a muse but just different variations. They don't have someones like Animus and Epicene but they do have something.

"EPICENE!"

As you can see, I've two warring muses on my hands. Right now, I'm playing it cool because I know you're all watching me, but let me assure you, I want to fall into a hysterical mess and pound my head against my desk.

It's exhausting, having two muses who fight all the time. They pull me back and forth, leaving little room to breathe. Animus switches things on me, and Epicene jumps his case for doing so. Some days, I want to kill them both. Which is swiftly followed by me blowing up... Poor Epicene flees to a place only muses can access, and Animus puts his hands on his hips and glares at me, making me feel like a big pile of poop.

The world of a muse is something Epicene told me about, giving me a very subtle idea for a WIP. My other muse may or may not have been furious about this, and this "incident" may or may not have erupted into another fight.

The two are so opposite that I feel torn. Maybe they need to get a room somewhere and let "things" unfold between them, because for me, it all seems like sexual tension at this point. But what do I know? I'm just an author of male-on-male smut. I know nothing.

Since I know nothing, I'm going to sit here, my head resting on my hand and stare at them arguing.

Muses... We writerly folk can't live with them, but I fear we can't live without them, either.

Lor Rose is an upcoming author at Storm Moon Press. Her short stories will be featured in various anthologies, including GLBT Coffee Break Quickies, Dracones, and Serve Me. She can be found on her website, on Twitter @Lor_Rose9009, or her Tumblr account, where she often shares commentary on erotic photos with her room-mates.

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!