Quick Sips 10/14/2022

I’m a bit late in writing this up this week, mostly because it’s a weird time of year and this week has just been A Bit Much. First, one of our cars broke down and has been in the shop for the last week, which means we’re back to sharing a car. It…mostly works, in that Matt works 3rd shift (nights) and I work either 1st or 2nd shift (mornings or evenings). Because of my evening shift, and because that’s what I work more often, there’s really no conflict there (unless Matt gets called in by the hospital). But when I work mornings there’s really no time in between our shifts so I have been having to get in a little late and stay a little late. Not a huge deal, but I was also running an event for National Coming Out Day and have in general been trying to do other things and just…yeah, it’s a bit much. But I’m trying.

In publishing news, the first two of my smutty stories will be released by JMS books next month. They are “Defying Gravity” and “Riding Red.” I chose them in part because I feel they go well with the autumn/coming off of Halloween. “Defying Gravity” is also the first of my Spandex and Superpowers stories, and one of the few that isn’t specifically winter holiday themed. It’s actually quite a bit different than the other Spandex and Superpowers stories, in that it’s shorter and doesn’t have any sex in it. It’s the seed that grew into a larger setting, though, and I still enjoy it and the ridiculous plot and characters (with a cosmic shark that eats realities!). Balancing it is the longer and much more explicit Riding Red, which is actually an M/M/M story about a pair of conmen (Red and Big) meeting a third conman (Jack) while on a job trying to scam an old lady out of her wealth. Things don’t quite go to plan, though, when said old lady is running a con of her own, and one that typically ends in blood.

“Riding Red” was one of my favorite smutty stories to write, and you can probably tell that I was enjoying myself as I wrote it, because it embraces camp and weirdness and sex and violence. It’s weird to think that in my “regular” SFF I tend to write a bit angsty and grim, often straddling the line of horror, but with my smut I lean much more into the camp side of things. These are stories where bad shit does indeed happen, or almost happens, but there’s an energy and a brightness that can’t be extinguished. The characters in some ways know what genre they’re in, and that there’s a happy ending waiting for them. So they are a bit more free to push forward, to meet challenges head on, and to not get too bothered when everything seems to go to hell.

So yeah, these two are the start of my triumphant return to smutty SFF. I can’t wait to share even more about them (covers, etc) as we get closer to launch. I’ve also turned in my December stories (and cover and blurb forms) so I’ll share what those will be soon. Exciting!

In other news, I’m a mess. I’ve gotten back a little to Final Fantasy VI, playing more of the World of Chaos bits, but I’ve not made all that much progress. I’m just bouncing around, really, trying to get to a million things. But some things are still going forward. I did get my contributor copies of We’re Here 2021, and also bought myself an art print of the cover art which is amazing. I have to get that framed but it’s weird having that. I’m really hoping people enjoy the second volume as much as they did the first. And I really need to get some more official work done on the third volume. Internal screaming!

Anyway, that’s about it for me for now. I hope everything is going well with you all! Cheers!

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