For Your Listening Pleasure

I work, sometimes in passing, with some insanely talented people.

I say "insanely" because they have this weird idea that I, too, am talented... anyway, as a result of working with some crazy writers and podcasters, I have two things of interest...

First off is Nobilis Reed's podcast, where my work has appeared before, for Ripped, now has one of my steampunk stories, Deep Breath, available...

Like steampunk? Submersibles? Robot Sharks? And sex up against the bulkhead? Then Deep Breath is for you. Read by Kristen Bays, who does my terrible dialect writing in glorious performance (seriously, I could NOT stop listening to this, it gives me chills...)

Deep Breath takes place in the same universe as London Steam (and the project-to-come, The Wormwood Trade), in a reimagined London, where Napoleon won the war and Britain is just returning to independence after the assassination of the Emperor's bride (yeah, yeah, back story that never really comes up, but I promise, after I write Wormwood Trade, it all fits together...)

Deep Breath appeared in Ladies of Steampunk magazine, the premier issue, inspired by the lovely photograph at the left there...

The original "idea" for the calendar was for people to write little short flash fiction to go with each month's Steampunk lady, but that fell through when not enough stories were submitted, and the calendar went forward without the stories. The calendar was popular enough that they decided to move to magazine publications, and thus the Ladies of Steampunk magazine was born.

My rights returned to me quite some time ago--but you can still get the premier edition of the magazine, if you want it. It's very lovely--and I hadn't really decided what I wanted to do with the story. Since it's still available in an eMag and print copies, I didn't think it necessary to publish it elsewhere. But Nobilis, who is a lovely person, a talented writer, and a good friend, has been doing podcasting for a while, and offered submissions to a writer's group we both belong to, and I sent in Deep Breath as something I had easily available.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

And then, for more listening enjoyment, Dead in the Water, my zombie story, will also be available in an audio format Real Soon Now...

Rose Caraway's Kiss Me Quick Podcast will be featuring Dead in the Water as its next episode, along with this crazy, sexy cover...

Dead in the Water originally appeared in Sommer Marsden's anthology, Coming Together: Hungry for Love, which featured a wide variety of sexy zombie stories... I love that collection, it's one of my pride and joys. I especially love it because I'd wanted to work with Sommer for a while--she is one of my idols in the erotica corner of the world... when I grow up, I want to be Sommer--and because I adore zombies.

The story was inspired by a sign in front of a boat shop that read "Zombies Can't Swim, Buy a Boat."

So I wrote a story about a group of refugees after the zombie apocalypse who'd taken shelter in a cluster of houseboats and yachts and lived out in the middle of a sheltered bay (okay, I'll be honest, it's set right in front of my parents' bayside cabin...)

In the course of writing the story, I realized that I absolutely didn't know what firing a handgun felt like, so I enlisted some help from a friend, went to a firing range, and actually did use a handgun for a while. I wouldn't say I'm good at it, and I'm still never sure if I enjoyed it or not, but I've been a few times since, and I'm no longer terrified of guns as objects. (I'm still terrified of idiots with guns, but I'm also terrified of idiots with cars, so you know, there's that.)

I really love this story, and I adore Rose. Can't wait to hear it... Take a listen, and let me know what you think...