These are the heroines of my novellas and one short story. I just thought it would be a kick to see their names this way. And, it’s sort of my tribute to them.
This is a pic of my current heroine, Z'Pasha of Dendera, a granddaughter of Bast.
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In these times of dash, no time to take out the trash, many readers are turning to short stories or novellas to enjoy during work breaks, while standing in line, or waiting for an appointment Or, any small amount of time, where they can pull out their e-reader and/or their paperback book, and enter another world, lose themselves in a fantasy realm, and indulge in a romance.
This is also a time when attention spans have been shortened, in general. One example: my generation grew up on hour-long dramas, and half-hour sitcoms. I’ll let the other generations speak for themselves. However, another example is the ubiquitous and standard ‘sound bite’ in our American culture. I’m not certain how this translates around the world, though.
What has become apparent to me over the past year, is that there is a hearty appetite for short stories and novellas. Many authors are smartly feeding that reading hunger, and reaping the economic rewards.
Yep, I’d like to join the banquet more often. However, I haven’t been able to write fast enough. Although, having recently finished a novel that was supposed to be a novella, I’m now trying my penning hand at another novella, a shapeshifter romance based on the ongoing story a group of us authors have been posting at SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS.
More than the current demand for shorter stories, as an author, I prefer to vary the length of my books. It’s a change of pace. I enjoy the challenge, and it keeps the brain cells peppier.
~~~
As I complete each chapter of my WIP, I’ve been sharing the first six sentences, *unedited* of course.
White Fang, Ace Reporter
Chapter One ~ White Fang Kent
Talbot’s Peak, Montana
White Fang Kent seated himself before the used desktop computer he’d picked up in town, not four hours ago. As an instant upgrade, he slid a formless silicon device into the USB port. Brought from his home planet, some four light years away, the adaptive technology did his bidding.
With urgency eating at his gut, he positioned his chair, then removed the specialized pair of eyeglasses he often wore while in public. They helped disguise the odd intensity of his eyes and changed the blue coloring to a shade Earth humans didn’t question him about.
In no time, White Fang scanned the online version of the town’s newspaper that had recently been taken over by a werewolf pack.
~~~
Chapter Two ~ Z’Pasha of Dendera
Z’Pasha stepped back into the concealment of the shadow she had created. Prepared to swiftly transport herself with magick, she observed the Super Wolf leap over the deck rail.
After quickly looking around, he focused like a hunting dog on a trail. Because he would remain unaware of her existence, Z’Pasha watched him flash inside the ethers. With her feline-superior gaze, she followed the streaming lines of his frequency.
Once the lines dimmed, she dissolved her shadow.
~~~
Chapter Three ~ Truth, Justice and the Shapeshifter Way
White Fang Kent sniffed the odor-laden air inside Talbot Peak’s courtroom. An unfamiliar, yet enchanting and sultry fragrance kissed his nostrils. If he didn’t know better, he would have said there was a goddess present. However, the magickal ancient ones rarely left their mist-shrouded enclaves for any length of time.
Even though, White Fang wanted to hunt farther down that luscious trail, the current situation demanded his complete focus. Besides, he would have recognized the pungent feline scent, now assaulting his nose, beneath a pile of New York City’s garbage.
~~~
Chapter Four ~ Drinks With a Renegade Werewolf
“Pasha.” Smiling with an allure she knew most men responded to, Z’Pasha introduced herself to Dante.
She offered her hand in the current-day, American manner to the werewolf biker. Earlier, Z’Pasha had singled him out as the alpha in charge of the rough-tough bar hidden away in the depths of the forest surrounding Talbot’s Peak.
He rose with careless gallantry from the barstool he’d occupied since she’d entered, about an hour ago. Dante clasped her hand, his gaze enigmatic and disconcertingly direct.
~~~
Chapter Five ~ A Story With Bite
White Fang stealthily moved behind a row of tall prickly bushes. Werewolf musk hung in the night air as heavy as his own [bleep]. That is, ever since he’d first caught a whiff of the potent mating odor.
Hidden by deep shadow, White Fang halted next to the roughhewn lodge. He’d discovered the place inside an isolated forest clearing. By simple observation, he’d found out it was a local alpha hangout for bikers, and any shifter who was wolf enough to bloody his fangs, and ride with the top dogs.
~~~
Chapter Six ~ Shere Khan’s Dishonorable Ninjas
A whirling wind heralded dawn, and blew through Z’Pasha. Once Earth’s breath intermingled with her essence, she knew she had achieved her desired diaphanous state.
Z’Pasha retained the full use of her magickal skills as she would while fully materialized, yet she could also travel as the wind. Aware Shere Khan possessed a similar sorcery due to his disciplined practice of the esoteric knowing, Z’Pasha sent breeze-like tendrils to act as her alarm.
While the Yakuza leader’s ninjas were advanced in the art of fighting astrally, they did not match his abilities, as Z’Pasha had discovered. She considered Shere Khan a dangerous enemy.
~~~
Chapter Seven ~ Interview with the Biker Alpha
White Fang followed Dante through the bar’s rudimentary kitchen. The Biker Alpha halted, opening a storage room door.
Instead, they stepped onto a carpeted platform, and White Fang held his tongue as they moved down a wide, newly installed stairway at a brisk pace. Once they walked along a spacious corridor, atmospherically lit with gaslights, he estimated they were a good twenty-five feet below ground.
Dante stopped before a door at odds with the nineteenth century setting. It could have come from a medieval castle, and White Fang’s brows raised as he read the ornate sign: There Be Shapeshifters of Every Kind. Beware of Fangs, Claws and Tails.
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~~~ Here are my current FF&P Erotic Romance Novellas and a Short Story ~~~
JUST ANOTHER PARANORMAL HALLOWEEN ~ an Anthology from Mojo Castle ~ mojocastle.com ~ featuring my short story: THE TIGER’S MASQUERADE. Available in ebook and print.
Blurb ~
Stacy wasn’t looking for a tiger-man to erotically and exotically fill her tank, then steal her heart. That is, until the Halloween ‘Call of the Wild Masquerade’ ball. But, what kind of tiger does she have by the tail?
Zyrru wasn’t looking for a human woman to un-tame his fiercest passions, and alter his royal life forever. After all, he’s only vacationing on Earth, and is almost engaged to The Princess. But, her rosefire scent is irresistible.
Available at ~ mojocastle.com/ParaHalloween.html ~ EBOOK & IN PRINT
~~~
BLACK CAT BEAUTY
Blurb ~
A private Halloween party in a gothic mansion hidden in the Hollywood Hills. Add one party crasher, Sable Kiki, a naughty black cat with a sexy wild human side.
Her covert assignment from her devious, always-cunning father: use her seductive wiles to find out the truth from Devon Zant, a movie star on the rise to super stardom.
Posing as the superhero actor, Devon Zant, D’Torr has arrived on Earth seeking revenge for the capture of his younger brother, and to assist in stopping a powerful enemy.
The leviathan warfleet of the Altirrux wants rule of all intergalactic trade routes to Earth, endangering the survival of D’Torr’s race, and all the inhabitants of the rare blue jewel, Earth.
Available from Liquid Silver Books ~ liquidsilverbooks.com/books/blackcatbeauty.htm ~
~~~
TANGERINE CARNAL DREAMS
Synopsis:
Corporal Kattalonia is a galactic enforcer-agent for her home world. Her father has just been accused of treason. She chases after the villain in an old rickety craft. Recovering her father’s stolen data cube will exonerate him, and halt the sale of top level secrets. The trouble, the villain’s trail leads to Yemisque, a world of tangerine carnal dreams. Great place to hide out. Great place for the erotic adventures of your choice.
Prince Ziocese, Bad Boy Extraordinaire has discovered his one woman. She shoots fire from her palm and is not an equine shifter, a mate his royal parents won’t accept.. Renegade from his world, he still honors his sacred tradition, chasing her half-way across the galaxy. He will do anything to help her, to protect her. Whether she lets him or not. Trouble is he can’t catch her to prove himself. Or, to possess her with extreme pleasure.
Available from Aspen Mountain Press ~ tinyurl.com/6vu6hm ~
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ALL SHADES OF BLUE PARADISE
Blurb ~
Destiny and love can be denied for only so long...
Except for her daring equestrienne competitions, Lady Sheridan lives a quiet life caring for her family's estate, staving off financial ruin and keeping her brother's misdeeds from ruining his marriage and the life of her beloved nieces. Despite all his desperate efforts, Baron Zaggry has never discovered why his Sherfantasy broke their engagement. Now, his ruse successful, Sheridan is finally his, his slave lover. He has ten years worth of denied pleasures to make up for, to savor however he erotic chooses.
[Erotic Fantasy Romance, OtherWorld, Aristocratic Intrigue]
Available from BookStrand ~ bookstrand.com/savanna-kougar ~
~~~
RED LIONESS TAMED
Intro ~
If yer partial to a futuristic adventurous romp of lust and love on the high celestial seas of space...if you have a yen for those cat shifter types, lament no longer...
And watch out if yer a bad kitty shifter roaming the galactic ports, there’s a kick-ass Lioness on your fleeing furry tail.
Year 3051, the Earth calendar used on Terra-Mars, a terra-formed moon orbiting Mars, the home world of ‘Sun Rocket’ Kahoqua of the Windgrass Clan.
Blurb ~
What does a lioness shifter do when she's suddenly trapped in an unknown space cruiser's cargo hold? Then, despite her ability to savagely defend herself, she's trapped beneath the handsome human Captain. And next, cat-scratching ridiculously, she finds herself carnal-trapped, and meow yowl! bound by leather straps in his bed?
Answer: She fights tooth and claw. Problem: The loner Captain is nova-hot at seducing her.
Available at Liquid Silver Books ~ liquidsilverbooks.com/books/redlionesstamed.htm ~
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Happy Romance Reading...
Savanna
Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~
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Welcome to Lindsay's Romantics, where we post on all kinds of romance topics.
6 comments:
Savanna - love the names of your heroines and love the titles of your novellas! I agree that writing different lengths does invigorate a writer and I think readers are very happy now to try shorter lengths.
Super intriguing excerpts!
Hi Lindsay, like you said, a short is one good way to know if you like a writer's style. THANK YOU!
Savanna, I think readers may be returning to earlier habits of devouring shorter writing at one sitting, like traditional storytellng, fitting it into busy lives. Maybe, too, they may be keeping two or three full-length books on the go and skipping from one to another - easy with an ereader.
I enjoyed your samples a lot. You have a heck of an imagination and the skill to make it real. Thank you.
Peter, good thoughts. I hadn't thought of that angle. Storytelling is such a wonderful thing, and I admire those are like the bards of olde.
Yep, it's the ole vivid imagination I've had it ever since I can remember. ~smiles~
Hi Savanna, I think the trend is moving both ways at once. For instance, look how long movies are becoming. And there are people looking for lengthier books, as well. Variety is good. ;-) I do the same because that's the way they come out. The story should dictate length, not the market. You should be able to find readers for any length.
Hey, LK, I know there are readers who definitely prefer novel length. And, I agree, the story should dictate the length. I have so many stories buzzing around in my head, I sometimes look for what will work now. And, the longer lengths definitely take more out of me just with the complexity of the plot.
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