Monday, July 8, 2013

Weaving Worlds

By E.J. Sutter (Guest Blogger)


Hi, I’m E.J. Sutter, and Lisabet is kindly allowing me to take over her blog for a brief while so that you can get to know me a little. I’m from the UK, and live in the cold and wet north west of the country (as I’m writing this, we seem to be headed for a heat wave though.). I have two cats, which graciously put up with the two dogs and me. By the way – don’t ever let anyone tell you that Labradoodles don’t shed. Seriously, my house could be in an Arizona ghost town, I have that many tumbleweeds across my floor if I don’t vacuum every day. And I hate housework. I also have a full time job, which seriously interferes with my writing time. Maybe one day…

Although I’m a newbie at the being published thing, I’ve been writing for a while. I started writing my novel way back in 2010, in a holiday cottage in the Scottish Highlands. Now, the Highlands are breath taking, the scenery is majestic, but it is very remote, especially during a snowy January. We were down a country road, which ran alongside a loch, with no street lights. There was also limited, or no, cell reception, no wi-fi to speak of, and very poor TV reception. All of the above made me sit down and finally write the story nagging at my subconscious.

Like many, I came to sharing my writing through fan fiction and LiveJournal, never really thinking that anyone would read anything I’d written. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that people were actually reading it, and some people even liked it! A few friends said I should try to get this story published, but I wasn’t convinced. It took a few life changing events before I got the nerve to try. I think I basically thought ‘what else can go wrong? At least I’ll know.’ Fortunately, my lovely editor at Total-e-Bound liked the story and had the patience to work through the 108k I’d written.

It was an interesting experience, being edited. It can be a little painful at times, because this is your baby, and you don’t want to lose or change any of it, even though you really need to. My editor was brilliant though, and made the whole experience far less painful than it might have otherwise been. Thanks Sue!

Writing is something I love doing, but the mechanics of it can tie me up sometimes. I have a logical progression when I write, and sometimes, I just want to jump ahead and write the bit that’s just imprinted itself on my brain. Scrivener’s very useful for that though, and I’m just about getting the hang of the programme. I’m currently working on book two of the Fall of the Weavers. I have to say, the hardest part is getting back into the characters’ headspace after three years away. I’m trying hard not to let them run away with me, but Jamie’s being stubborn and a little bit whiney, and, while I love angst, he’s taking things a bit too far! Wish me luck!

P.S. If you leave your email address in the comments, I’ll enter you into a draw to win a free copy of A Brewing Storm.

Blurb for A Brewing Storm

The Shadow Worlds are dying. Can two sworn enemies manage to get past their differences and ignore their burning attraction to each other long enough to save them?

Brandon is a Weaver, a member of an old, powerful race. His discovery that Master Weavers are disappearing, presumed murdered, is a shock. Even more so when he realises that the person responsible is not actually a person at all, but a Revenant, and worse, the creature also known as the Abomination.

Things are not quite how they seem, however.

Jaime is a Revenant, a creature born from death and designed to do his Master's bidding. He's been living in the shadows for years. Now, the Shadow Worlds are dying, Weavers are disappearing, and Jamie is no longer the only Revenant to survive their Master.

Can these two men ignore the hatred, and the passion, that burns between them, and work together to find out just what is happening to the Universe around them?

They must uncover age old secrets of the Weavers, and defeat enemies who are closer to them than they'd realized

Excerpt

Jamie took a final mouthful of beer from his fresh bottle, ignoring the half-full bottle still sitting on the table from earlier. It had gone flat, and Jamie hated flat beer. He placed the second bottle on the table and shoved his chair back, ready to leave. He needed to head home and make some arrangements to transport his dialysis machine, amongst other things. He had a safe house ready just outside of York, Maine, along a lonely stretch of coastline, and an identity and history already in place there that he’d been busy creating over the past few years, a visit here, a weekend there, so his finally moving there full-time wouldn’t be so strange and not as gossip-worthy to the locals.

He was just about to lever himself out of the chair when a shadow fell over him. Jamie scooted the chair back even farther, ready to come up fighting if one of the Weavers’ squads had found him, but then he looked up...and up again when his gaze fixed on a broad chest instead of someone’s face. It was Tall, Dark and Dangerous, who’d obviously left his seat at the bar and had crept up on Jamie while he was deep in thought. Jamie was kind of impressed. It had been a long time since someone had caught him so unawares. Which wasn’t a particularly good thing right now, he reminded himself.

Jamie looked at the guy properly for the first time. He just stood there, smiling down at Jamie with a strange expression on his face. It was half a shy hello, and half of something else, something almost dazzled. The guy had longish hair, pushed back over a high forehead, cheekbones you could slice apples with, and almond-shaped eyes that looked almost blue against the navy T-shirt he was wearing.
He was also built. Jamie took in the broad shoulders, tapering through to abs he’d just bet were firm and ridged, and down to a narrow waist. He let Jamie look his fill under the hazy, sunlight-speckled phosphor light. When he’d finished, Jamie looked back to Tall, Dark and Dangerous’ face, still smiling with that quiet half grin on his face—dimples, he had freakin’ dimples!—and raised one eyebrow above his sunglasses in laconic enquiry.

Can I help you?” Jamie asked, his tone a polite dismissal. No matter how cute this kid was, he was a distraction Jamie didn’t need. Or want, he told himself forcefully.

Hi, erm...hi,” he said, and immediately frowned. Jamie could almost hear him mentally kicking himself. He had sounded kind of lame. He pulled himself taller. And boy, that was tall. “I was wonderin’ if I could buy you a drink?” he asked. Not an original pick- up, but oldies were goodies for a reason.

Jamie smiled almost regretfully, “Sorry, dude, I’m just leaving. I have somewhere to
be.”

He felt really bad when TDD’s expression turned crestfallen and he ran a large hand through his mahogany hair. Jamie felt a shiver of attraction spread through him at the gesture and his eyes widened. He hadn’t felt that for so long. Fucking typical that he’d come across someone who sparked his libido for the first time in over forty years, just when he was planning to skip town.

Oh.” He tossed his head once, hair whipping across his face and catching against his lips. Jamie blinked, his tongue running across his lower lip almost unconsciously. Tall guy saw the gesture and something sparked in his eyes. The smile was back, but this time it held an edge of heat. A heat that hit Jamie like a ton of bricks. “Do you have to leave right now? It’s just... I’ve been watching you since you walked in. Watching you drink that long neck,” he nodded at the bottle, the neck of which was loosely held in Jamie’s fist, his hand absently running up and down the length of it, caressing it.

Wanted to get to know you a little better.” The smile this time was just that little too knowing, bordering on a smirk, and Jamie looked down at his hand, suddenly realising just what he’d been doing and registering the innuendo in TDD’s voice. He felt the flush crawling up his neck. He hadn’t blushed since eighteen seventy-something. Oh, he could if he wanted to, wanted to play the ingénue, but a real, live, honest to God blush? Jamie had obviously been wrong in his first impressions of him. He wasn’t shy and innocent at all. This was someone who knew exactly what he wanted.

He’d obviously got tired of waiting for Jamie’s answer. He lowered himself into one of the chairs around the table and rocked it onto its back legs, lifting his hand to attract the attention of one of the servers. He pointed at Jamie’s beer and held up two fingers. The server smiled and headed off towards the bar. As Jamie looked at him, a strong pulse of attraction spread through his body. He looked very comfortable in his skin, legs spread wide to keep his balance in the tilted chair. Jamie hadn’t felt like this in a long time, and it wasn’t something he was particularly comfortable experiencing again. He didn’t lose control of any situation, hadn’t in a long while.

I’m Brandon, by the way,” he told him, the heat now gone from his gaze and only open friendliness left in his expression. Jamie just looked at him, trying to gather the shreds of his composure together.
And you are...?” he asked when Jamie failed to respond immediately .

Jamie,” he finally said quietly. “My name’s Jamie.” Tall guy, Brandon, reached a hand across the table, and, almost fearfully, Jamie reached across to grasp it in a friendly handshake. Brandon’s palm was warm and dry, and his hand engulfed Jamie’s slimmer one. Jamie could feel the sparks shooting up his arm as Brandon pumped his hand twice, then let it go.

This was totally fucked up. Jamie just didn’t ever feel like this. Sure, he could be attracted to someone, it was a part of his Binding, but this was off the charts. He began to get a really uneasy feeling about the situation, and was just about to cut and run when the waitress turned up with their beers. Jamie hadn’t finished his second, and had no intention of drinking a third. Like the rest of his organs, his liver only functioned at partial capacity, and he didn’t intend putting it under any unnecessary strain. Brandon raised his bottle and tilted it towards Jamie in a toast of sorts.

To new friends,” he said. “May the friendship grow.” And just for a second, that heat was back.

Oh, but Jamie knew he was so very screwed.

To Buy:






About the Author

E.J Sutter hails from the North West of the UK, specifically Liverpool. She currently lives in the wilds of Lancashire with two cats and two extremely stupid dogs. She has been scribbling ever since she was a child when, at the tender age of 7, she had a poem published in a local anthology. This led to a life long hatred of poetry, as she was then expected to be able to write it! In fact, she wrote the poem in about five minutes, as she'd wasted the whole of the lesson talking, and wasn't allowed out at playtime until she'd finished it.

Stories, however, have been tumbling out of her brain for as long as she can remember, but she's only just got around to putting them down on her laptop.

ejsutterwrites.weebly.com





19 comments:

Lisabet Sarai said...

Hello, E.J.,

Welcome to Beyond Romance and congratulations on the release of A Brewing Storm. Sounds like an interesting world you have dreamed up!

bn100 said...

Nice cover and excerpt

bn100candg at hotmail dot com

Penumbra said...

Nice excerpt and especially this: "Oh, but Jamie knew he was so very screwed."

Lol. I really like that line :)

penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Scotland always sounds like it would be very inspirational...this one looks really intriguing!

Trix, vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

Pommawolf Emeraldwolfeyes said...

You're a new author to me, and I love the blurb and excerpt. I would love to read the rest of this. I definitely now have ot on my gotta have list. *S*
Thank you for sharing about yourself, and your writing.
Thank you for the giveaway as well. :)

Darcy
pomma @akwolf.com

Anonymous said...

sounds good

sally


halliday.sally@yahoo.co.uk

Debby said...

The world sounds so very intriguing and just a bit different. Hope to read this one.

debby236 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

You have a winner on your hands sweet!!

Cinders
Crozzy67@nctv.com

Susan said...

I love intricate world building and yours sounds very interesting!

skadlec1@yahoo.com

Urb said...

Love the scene where the MCs first meet! Thanks for the excerpt, very intriguing.

Urb
brendurbanist at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I just started reading this the other night, but barely got through the first chapter because I really needed to get some sleep (hate having to wake up for work at 4am). But I'm going to go to bed an hour earlier tonight just so I can have some more reading time...heck, maybe I'll make it 2 hours early cuz I'm just loving it so far!!!

Congrats on the new release!

~Jen

felinewyvern said...

Adding this to my wishlist immediately - loved the excerpt and blurb.

ilona
felinewyvern at googlemail dot com

Emily said...

This sounds like a really interesting book, adding to my TBR.

tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com

EJ Sutter said...

Thank you so much for having me, Lisabet. It's been fun!

EJ Sutter said...

:-D

EJ Sutter said...

Thank you

EJ Sutter said...

I hope it lives up to expectations, Jen!

EJ Sutter said...

Many thanks to Lisabet for allowing me to briefly take over her website, and thanks to all who commented. I used Random.org to generate a winner for the free copy, and that person is Darcy.

Pommawolf Emeraldwolfeyes said...

Thank you Ms. EJ !! :)
I can't wait to read it..the book cover has been stuck in my head for the past week.
Thank you so very much for drawing my name...*S*
Darcy

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