Anne O'Connell,  craft,  e-books,  erotica,  experiments,  the writing life,  thoughts

Odds & Ends

Writing is an interesting thing. Sometimes something so bizarre or interesting will pop into my head that I have no choice but to write it down. Found this little gem as I was wandering through my “WRITING KEEP” folder.

We were twenty yards away from General Blaston when he died. There was no warning. He just stood up with an odd look on his face, clutched his chest, and fell over. That’s how I ended up a field general commanding the last ten legions of the Marst army.

I’m going to be blunt with you. I never expected to make the military a career, let alone become a general. But the war changed a lot of things. My home town was turned into a burnt out cinder of nothing. My entire family was gone. All because my people were magi. Okay, not all of us. I’m no more a magus than the guy standing next to me. But my grandfather was, and on my mom’s side, a grandmother. Just because we held the ancient wisdom and could use the magic didn’t mean all of us did. Not to mention those who did use it often did so for the benefit of others. It was a rare occassion that you’d find a black magician among the Marst. You couldn’t tell the Kreen that, though. All magic was evil in their eyes.

So as you can imagine, when the King and his dignitaries declared magic illegal and anyone who practiced it an abomination, it started a war.  There I was, minding my own business running a dress shop, and next thing I know the town is on fire and some guy comes at me with a sword. I’m not stupid or helpless by any means. I did what any woman in my situation would have done. I picked up a sword and defended myself, kicking him you-know-where for good measure.  After fighting my way out of the city and leaving a trail of dead Kreen soldiers in my wake, I found refuge with the tribes that lived in the mountains. From there, we started our own army and tried to take back our territory. Outnumbered, we decided to hide out here, in a series of mountain caves the Kreen, to our knowledge, didn’t know about.

Commander Micah tapped me on the shoulder. “So what’s the plan, General Tyr?”

I shook my head. “We need a different approach.”

“Such as?” Micah leaned against the wall of the cave with a defeated look on his face.

The reality is I hadn’t had a lot of time to come up with a plan. Not a good one anyway. “We need to get in to see the King and his council.”

“Hold them hostage and kill one at a time until our demands are met,” came Commander Garrett’s voice from behind me.

“Not exactly what I had in mind. I was thinking diplomacy,” I said.

He snorted. “The time for diplomacy is over. You and Micah take the king and his councilmen, I’ll round up the remaining magi and we’ll kill thier armies with magic.”

I put up a hand to stop him.

Now I don’t know who any of these characters are. But one day I was minding my own business and they merely popped in for a visit.  This was the result. Whether or not it will eventually turn into something is anyone’s guess at this point.

That is why I am now going to announce something that I wasn’t initially going to. I started what I called the “Ella” project to write some highly experimental fiction that is coming out later this year. I honestly wasn’t sure I wanted to claim it. Not because I think it’s lousy, but because I was pretty sure my readers have come to expect a certain type of story from me.

To this my friend Hillary responded, “You mean odd and unique?”

Let’s face it – she has a point. I do write some pretty strange stuff and quite frankly – I think my readers have come to expect it. So here’s the deal — I’ve been secretly writing some Erotic Horror fiction (short stories) taking typical horror stories that include the likes of werewolves, vampires, and satanic cults and turning them into erotic tales of the macabre. If you know me you knew it was only a matter of time before I went there.  I’ve thought about this long and hard and have decided to add them to my Anne O’Connell repertoire rather than whip up another pen name (pun intended).  Along that vein I have some Erotic Fantasy Shorts I’m toying with, too. Some really bizarre stuff. What the hell, right?

So you might keep your eyes open for these guys in the coming year. The Rite will probably be released sometime this summer along with My Neighbor Enslaved.  Wolf will be the release after that. Remember, these are short stories and will be priced at .99 cents.

Steph is an award winning and bestselling author of thrilling steamy and paranormal romances, dark urban fantasy, occult horror-thrillers, cozy mysteries, contemporary romance, sword and sorcery fantasy, and books about the esoteric and Daemonolatry. A Daemonolatress and forever a resident of Smelt Isle, she is happily married and cat-mom to three pampered house cats. Her muse is a demanding sadistic Dom who often keeps her up into the wee hours of the morning. You can contact her at swordarkeereon@gmail.com

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