Xana writes (and bitches probably.) Comments Welcome!

Beta readers all through book 1 and most of Book 2: I love Matthias, favorite character!
*Verrier finally gets his introduction*
Betas: I love Verrier, best Character!
:unsure:
 
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xanaphia said:
Beta readers all through book 1 and most of Book 2: I love Matthias, favorite character!
*Verrier finally gets his introduction*
Betas: I love Verrier, best Character!
:unsure:
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Verrier: Of course they love me. I am awesome.
Clara: Arrogant much?
Verrier: Truth is hardly arrogance.
 
TheCorsair said:
Assuming this link works, I think you’ll get a kick out of it. The artist is named Rob Carlos.
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anime-heart-eyes-gif-14.gif

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Alright, I am nearly done with To Beseech the Godslayer, just have one more chapter to go, and that is just a wrap up chapter. I might finish it this weekend! I still need to go through and do minor edits and proofreads, but it feels so good to be damn near done!
 
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View: https://i.imgur.com/t5WtwZU.png


If this had been the preview sample for this book, I would have been pissed. It's not great, but there is actually some cute chemistry between these characters right here. This is the first time I've seen chemistry between these two, and this is the last page of the story! And they already had sex in this story, so yeah. Ugh this was painful. At least it was free.
 
I like that, Xana. Are you going to tell me the name of the author, or does she need to remain anonymous? Is that book even real!
 
Mr Quixotic said:
I like that, Xana. Are you going to tell me the name of the author, or does she need to remain anonymous? Is that book even real!
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I am trying to avoid shitting on other indie writers, because the community can be small, and most of them are really nice and helpful, ability to write a story aside. Plus it's a free book, so it's not like I need to warn anyone to save them from spending their money. Finally , it's sci-fi romance, so I don't think there is a risk you will pick it up on accident. ;)

I just needed to snark about it, semi-privately, because I forced myself to finish it as research and it annoyed the hell out of me. Neither character showed much personality, and had no chemistry or connection throughout the novel. If they at least had this sort of banter through out, it could have been fun.
 
Been working on some marketing the His Redemption series to slight success. I did an author take over about two weeks ago, and it ended up being a lot of fun, and I even got a few sales out of it, as well as a handful of reviews. Also been trying to use Instagram, and I think I am starting to get the hang of it. Now I just need to take more pictures and make more graphics to post on there. Planning to release the interlude novelette To Embrace the Dragon on the 18th, to coincide with a couple promotions I have planned.

For the takeover, I made a character quiz:


To Beseech the Godslayer[/I]]

View: https://youtu.be/L-prYx6vcLM
 
The cast of His Tedemption presents a MST3K take on the trailer:

Verrier: I desired you to leave me alone.
Clara: You kissed me. Remember?
Verrier: You have a sexy uppercut.
Verrier: Hang In. Wait. I don’t have four legs and wings!
Clara: You’re a shapeshifter.
Verrier: ...
Verrier: ...I fail to see your point.
Sigurd: Clara beseeched my aid more than once on that trip, if you know what I mean.
Clara: Awfully full of yourself, aren’t you?
Thora: So were you.
Clara: ...
Clara: ...I fail to see your point.
Matthias: That rescue certainly was daring.
Aurianna: Thank you.
Matthias: Poorly thought-out and nearly ending in disaster, but daring.
Aurianna: I could have left you there, you know.
Matthias: I certainly made good use of my tongue.
Aurianna: Shut up, you.
Matthias: And my massive force.
Clara: Is he always like this?
Aurianna: Sadly, yes.
Verrier: ‘Terrible dread dragon’?
Verrier: My brother was a crippled pawn.
Verrier: Had he seen what he would become, back before the Gods attacked us, he would have slain himself.
Verrier: He was a pathetic shadow of his former might.
Matthias: ...that’s easy for you to say.
Verrier: Greatness is a burden I must bear.
Aurianna : Is he always like this?
Clara: Sadly, yes.
Jeoram: Don’t I rate a mention?
Aurianna: No.
Matthias: No.
Clara: No.
Sigurd: Who’s this bushonen motherfucker?
Clara: You won’t meet him until the next book.


Also, I’m curious about the interlude novelette.
 
Okay, first, I loved this! I may snag it for a future newsletter if I need extra content.

Secondly, apologies to Verrier, but the fact that I found even one well-drawn illustration of a dragon on a free stock image site was a near miracle. I hope to be better off in a couple years, enough to relaunch the series with nice, illustrated covers but for now that is going to have to do.

Thirdly, the next story is Clara's excursion with Sue to retrieve the rest of her harem, and also turn into a dragon a little bit. I believe you referred to it as "Another Damn Side Quest" in our OOC pms. It didn't really fit neatly in this narrative or the next, so I figure it can be a little short story to bridge the wait time until Book 3, which I probably won't even start on until after my move at the end of the month. I made up a cover, but I might tweak it still before the release.

Finally:

Baath-Me'el: Only someone who hasn't seen me would call him a bishonen motherfucker.
Aurianna: Is he always like this?
Matthias: Sadly, yes.
 
Verrier: I got you a gift. For Valentine’s Day.

War: You know about Valentine’s Day?

Verrier: I know many things.

Verrier: Also, your pets told me.

War: They aren’t my pets. But this is a lovely box. You shouldn’t have.

Verrier: I filled it with the hearts of a hundred elite priests of Moressa, and told them the slaughter was in your honor.

Verrier: Their dread of your wrath will live in hymns and holy writ for centuries, and they will tremble at the mention of your name.

War: ...

War: ...you shouldn’t have.

Verrier: I could have kept the notoriety for myself. But it is my gift to you, my mate. A token of my esteem.

Love: It could be worse.

War: ...how?

Love: Eight hundred years ago, he made a mountain for me.

War: That’s not so bad.

Love: Heaped up out of the skulls of the adherents of Vammoth, God of Conflict.

War: I take it back.

Verrier: Aren’t you going to eat them?

War: What?

Verrier: The hearts.

War: ...I’m not hungry.

Verrier: A pity.

Verrier: They’re still fresh.
 
Alright, I was a few days late, but I managed to finish and publish To Embrace the Dragon. I ended up cutting the final sex scene, since it felt quite complete without it, but I think I might go back and edit it back in as a reward for my newsletter subscribers. Trying out a new strategy where I offer this one fore free to readers of the first two books, so I can attract readers who actually read the series, instead of pouring my energy into people who might read the prequel, and might (but probably won't) go on to read the rest of the series.

I was supposed to be moving starting today, but there was an issue with the rental truck, and I wasn't able to pick it up yesterday. Hopefully everything gets settled today, so I can leave tomorrow. Still, I won't be around much today, and even less over the next few days, but I am hoping to be settled in by this weekend, and back to my regular posting schedule then.
 
For anyone else, it was just another high school party, on any given Saturday night, but for Claudia Ross, it had been special. Her first time, with her boyfriend Quinn. Virginity was such an outdated concept, she hadn’t expected it to mean much once she lost it, but with Quinn, it meant something. They’d been dating a month, but they were in love. He’d said so himself, just an hour ago.

Now she basked into the pleasant exhaustion of the afterglow, leaning back against Quinn on the bed while his friends took the other chairs in the room. There was something so deliciously dirty about sitting here, having a casual conversation with his cum still warm inside her. Finishing yet another beer that evening, Claudia relaxed into her boyfriend’s warmth, and closer her eyes.

Quinn slid his hand in into her clothes, and onto her breast. She’d been wearing a lowcut cotton sun dress, and, with no bra, she was displaying an eyeful of cleavage.

“Quinn,” she yelped, squirming away from his touch but not putting up a real fight. She couldn’t believe he just felt her up like this, right in front of his friends. And they were staring, smirking, apparently enjoying the show.

“Come on, you like it,” he goaded, pinching the nipple between thumb and forefinger. A jolt of pleasure accompanied the slight pain, and she moaned out loud, which drew more snickers from his friends.

“You have nice tits, Claudia,” Malachi offered with a leer. She supposed it was meant to be a compliment, but it made her feel dirty. Dirty, and maybe a little wet too. Her response was a shrug, and a wordless acknowledgement.

“Doesn’t she?” Quinn agreed, still groping at her. As awkward as it was to be felt up in front of her boyfriend’s friends, fuck it felt good. Until he pulled her breast free from her top, exposing her to them and their mocking cheers and wolf whistles. This time, she pulled away, covering herself with her arms.

“What the fuck, Quinn?”

He didn’t apologize, just laughed. “Don’t be so uptight. They think you’re hot, and I like showing you off.”

And there it was, validation for most teenaged girls: Teenaged boys think you’re hot! Claudia bit her lip and relaxed, just a touch. “Yeah?”

“Fuck yeah,” Westley agreed in a laugh. He and Malachi joined her on the bed, on each side of her with Quinn still against her back. Surrounding her.

“You love me, don’t you?” Quinn whispered in her ear. Both of his hands slid over her chest, over her clothes this time, and cupped her breasts. Despite herself, despite the nervous pit growing in her stomach, she sighed.

“Yeah.”

“We just want to have a little fun. I bet it would be hot to watch you with them.” Again, he pulled down her dress, and she flinched but didn’t stop him. Questions flooded her mind, like what he meant or what they wanted, but she didn’t ask. It was easier just to go along with it, to not know. Easier to pretend this wasn’t spiraling out of her control.

Another hand joined his on her breast, Westley’s, squeezing and kneading the yielding flesh. Malachi’s hand landed on her bare thigh, and wasted no time crawling up her skirt. Flush tingled over her skin, embarrassed and aroused and confused and a little scared. Would they stop, if she told them to? Would they keep going? Why did she like it?

Malachi’s fingers brushed up against her slit. She fidgeted, and tried to close her legs, but he pushed on, and pushed in, one finger knuckle-deep inside her. “Damn Quinn, you came inside her?”

“Fuck yeah,” Quinn said with a triumphant laugh.

“Bet you liked that, huh Claudia?” Malachi teased, taunted, working his finger deeper inside her.

“Yeah,” she exhaled. It had been the best part of losing her virginity, of making love to Quinn. His warmth filled her, and he held her close as he came. He whispered I love you in ragged breaths and caressed her face. Now it just felt like proof she was a slut.

Westley pulled her into a kiss, tasting of the cheap beer they’d drank, and she didn’t resist. “You’re so fucking sexy, Claudia,” he whispered, kissing her neck, and then her shoulder, working himself lower down her body. Soon, his lips joined his fingers on her breast, licking and sucking the nipple until it was erect and throbbing. More sultry heat pulsed within her.

“Shit, dude, she likes that. She’s wet as fuck.” Malachi drove another finger into her, fucking her in deep, slow strokes. She whimpered, hating how her body responded to them and begged for more. What a fucking whore she was. “I can’t wait to hit this.”

A frisson of horrified thrill passed through her, and she clenched hard against his fingers. Could she stop this? Could she say no? Was she really going to let them both fuck her? Was she that big a slut? “Wait–“

Malachi silenced her by shoving tongue down her throat, stroking his fingers harder and faster inside her. She whined into the kiss, and strained against them but the alcohol took most of the fight out of her. Where was Quinn? Why was he letting them do this to her?

Finally, she shoved Malachi off her, and squirmed away from Westley. “I’m not just some slut who’d fuck anybody.” Malachi stood up, over her, and leered, making her fear for a moment that he didn’t care.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to fuck us, Claudia, just get us off,” Westley whispered, dragging her hand to his crotch. He was rock hard in her hand, twitching against her grip. Okay, that wasn’t so bad. Just jerk them off and get it over with. He worked his cock free of his pants, and she stroked him, up and down.

“Get me off too,” Malachi said, not so much a request as a demand. But she ignored the pressure in his tone, wanting to believe this could all be over once they came.

They crowded in, their cocks eyes level and pulsing in her hands. Fuck, but her arms were getting tired. Maybe she should just suck them, just a little. Quinn usually got off pretty quickly when she sucked him off. She leaned in, darting out her tongue to trace a ring of saliva over Westley’s cock.

Fuck yeah,” Malachi growled, gripping her hair and pulling her towards him, “Suck me off.” No struggle as she opened wide, talking half his length in the first swallow.

“Oh fuck Claudia, this is so hot.” Behind her, from the steady rhythm of his hand over his cock, she knew Quinn was jerking off too. Damn, was she going to have to get him off again too? But Malachi grabbed her head, and forced her deeper down his length, and all other worries left him mind. Now she struggled against him, trying not to choke as his head pushed into her throat.

“Man, Quinn, I thought you said she could deep throat,” Malachi snickered, gripping his spit slick shaft.

“You must be bigger than him,” Westley joked, guiding her head towards his cock now.

“Fuck you!” Quinn retorted, holding up an obscene gesture, but still stroking himself.

Westley fucked her mouth this time, but not as rough as Malachi had. Saliva drooled down his length, guiding him deeper and deeper into her mouth and throat. It was easier not to struggle now, easier to let him, let them, until he pushed into her throat and gasped out. String after string of his cum shot down her throat, faster than she could swallow. She pushed him away with desperate strength, but his climax continued, splattering pearly seed over her chin and breasts.

“Dammit, I wanna fuck you now,” Malachi growled, pushing her forward so landed on her palms. Her pulled her hips closer, pulling her ass up into the air, and drove into her with a single stroke. She gasped out and he grunted, their bodies meeting with a slap. “So fucking tight and wet.”

“Damn baby, you look good,” Quinn purred, gathering her hair in a fist. His other hand still moved on his cock, stroking and smearing her lips with precum. Malachi pulled out, nearly all the way, before slamming into her again, forcing her walls apart with his steel hard cock. She gasped again, mouth opened wide, and Quinn took that for an invitation. Her lips wrapped around the head, and Malachi’s next thrust drove her down Quinn’s cock.

They used her, together, their cocks pumping her from both ends. Despite this knowledge, she moved with them, rocking her hips back to meet Malachi’s thrusts. Bobbing her head up and down Quinn’s meat. They used her like a slut and she played the part.

“You like getting fucked, don’t you?” Malachi asked, the words as sharp as his probing strokes. She couldn’t answer, not with her mouth full of dick, but her body spoke loud enough. She dripped down his cock and her thighs, slick wet heat confirming his suspicions.

“I’m gonna cum in you, Claudia,” he declared, pumping faster and faster into her. “We’re all going to cum in you, inside this sweet, tight pussy.” His grip turned to iron on her hips, holding her firm as he drove one last stroke into her. His orgasm erupted in jets of heat and coated her walls. Quinn continued fucking her mouth, driving her back against Malachi as his pleasure peaked.

Malachi pulled out, and cum seeped from her cunt. Quinn pulled out too, but didn’t release her hair. Instead he pulled her along to Westley, who was lying down naked on the mattress and hard again. “Ride him,” Quinn commanded, no give in his voice. She felt dirty, but that didn’t stop her from crawling over his body and lining herself with his cock. Why bother arguing now? They’d all have her, and she’d let them. Because she was a fucking slut.

Westley pulled her down his cock, groaning as her heat enveloped him. “So fucking wet. You like this this, don’t you?” He twitched inside her and she sighed. No point denying it.

“Yes.”

“That’s right. Ride me!” His hips bridged to meet hers, to thrust deeper into her. Aching muscles clenched around him, resisting his thrusts but not deterring him in the slightest. “Ride that cock. Fucking ride me!” She moved, rolling her hips over him in a slow, smooth motion, and her breasts bounced with the movements.

Two hands cupped her breasts from behind, and Quinn pressed his chest against her back. “I wanna see you ride him,” he whispered in her ear, breath hot and teeth sharp on her earlobe. Westley’s grip on her hips was bruising, demanding she sway harder, deeper on his length. Quinn pushed her down, forcing her to brace her hands on Westley’s shoulders. His cock rubbed her, along the curve of her ass and against her already stuffed cunt.

She stiffened, hesitating for fear Quinn would try to force himself inside her, but he shifted, and pushed into her ass. The bulb of his head breached the tight ring of muscle, lubed by her spit and the cum that dripped from her slit. His hands joined Westley, making her move on both of them, making her take inch by inch of his cock inside her. Half his length inside her, he flexed, and she cried out. “That’s right, take me. Take all of me.”

Westley groaned, and drove up into her. “Damn she’s tight now. Are you sure she can take us both?”

“She’ll take us,” Quinn assured him, pulling out just to thrust back in, deeper this time. “Won’t you, Claudia?”

Thinking was impossible now, mind so full of accusing thoughts and confused pleasure. It hurt, but even pain felt good now. She wanted to stop, to slow down, but the words wouldn’t come.

Quinn didn’t wait for an answer, driving more into her with each stroke. He fucked her, and made her fuck Westley in turn, with every motion. Their cocks stretched her taut, rubbing together through her thin membrane. Now, right now, she just wanted it over it, just wanted to be done.

Quinn’s weight flattened her against Westley, and he fit his full length in her ass. Westley keep pumping from beneath, his cock buried balls deep inside her as well, their combined girth splitting her open. With her eyes screwed shut, she was anywhere else, anywhere but the bedroom of a house party where her boyfriend and his friends used her like a whore. But they didn’t stop, fucking her in an asynchronized rhythm, stretching her body against her limits.

Westley cried out first, pulling her tight against his hips as his cum sprayed into her. Quinn fucked her through it, driving his entire cock into her tight anal walls. Her resolve began to break, sharp cries bursting from her lips with each thrust, and they screamed out together when he rooted himself in her colon and shot his load.

She pushed him off before he finished, and the last jets of his orgasm lashed her ass and back. Rolling away from Westley, she let herself fall onto the mattress, covered in cum and shame.

“Damn Claudia, you’re a freak. We gotta do this again.”

Not really sure what I want to do with this piece. I had an idea to switch it up a bit, and have the FMC blackout during the sex, and wake up the next morning not remembering what happene,d but having her suspicions. She'd have to piece it together, until eventually figuring it out because of a video or some pictures of her surface. But I am struggling with how that might work. I feel like this needs a lot of work, but idk if ithat's just me being overly critical of myself or what.
 
Since my harddrive died a few weeks back, and I lost all my stock images, process files for GIMP, works in progress, I have begun slowly building those back up. Decided to go a different direction with the cover for my next series, a cover that more emphasizes the action over the romance. Just not sure if this is the right direction to go in. I am fairly proud of what I created, though it probably still needs a bit of tweaking to get it right. But, if the romance and sex scenes don't fit well with the expectations for sci-fi action, then I would be better off using the "manchest in space" cover.

What I need, however, is a service where I can pay someone to read my book, and tell me definitively if it's sci-fi romance, or sci-fi action with a major romance subplot. I really thought it was sci-fi romance, at least the first couple books in the series, but when I read the other sci-fi romance books on Amazon, they are mostly "alien warrior takes a human woman to be his lover," so my book doesn't hit the same tropes or expectations that well.


 
You could sell it with both covers. Try to appeal to the crowd that likes romance in their sci-fi action and to the crowd that likes some sci-fi action in their smutty romance. Double the income!
 
TheCorsair said:
You could sell it with both covers. Try to appeal to the crowd that likes romance in their sci-fi action and to the crowd that likes some sci-fi action in their smutty romance. Double the income!
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I asked around to some other authors and they all said that, since the book contains explicit sex, I should use the manchest cover. It already over performed the first clothed cover I made.

I was going to try and write a clean version, but so much character development and legit plot points happen during sex, I am having some trouble. Maybe I will give it another go, and use the action-y cover.
 
xanaphia said:
I asked around to some other authors and they all said that, since the book contains explicit sex, I should use the manchest cover.
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Does the inverse work here as well? If the cover contains bare manchest, then there will be explicit sex? Because that will change a lot of Conan novels. And not for the best, given the post-REH dreck that’s gotten published.

But it’s probably possible to develop a smut-free version. As long as you want to rewrite. A lot. (No. More than that.)
 
I am pretty sure you are being facetious, but I am going to answer you in earnest. As far as indie authors go, there is a strong correlation between heat levels and state of undress on the cover. The xover has to convey a lot of information in the 2 seconds it might catch a reader's eye, and it has to do it in a thumbnail. For indie authors, the cover is the most prominent piece of marketing, so it is important to capture the genre, subgenre, age range and heat level accurately. Or get a lot of nasty reviews from misled readers.

Trad publishers play by different rules.
 
I was definitely being facetious. But that's a fascinating look at how this sort of thing works.

Of course, given the amount of sex in Eclipse, is that cover showing enough naked man chest?
 
Just got kicked out of a fantasy promo because the organizer said "if romance is a major theme in your book, it’s more romance than fantasy."

So, if I write a book about a paladin who fights demons, it's fantasy, but if I write a book about a paladin who fights demons and she falls in love, it's no longer fantasy but romance? :rolleyes:

Fight scenes in book 1: 8
Sex scenes: 4
Yeah, clearly a romance novel.

Organizer: "Your also-boughts were mixed with romance titles."
Here is a picture of my also-boughts . Women with swords, women casting magic, women facing down dragons... Clearly romance tropes.

Oh, and half my also-boughts were on the front page of his also-boughts too. And nearly every single one was within the 11 pages of his as well. :mad:
 
I should be writing, or at least editing, but instead I have been playing around on GIMP. Yesterday I was working on a head swap for a possible Aurelia model, and I think I can make it work. I was testing out some stock photos before I buy them, so don't mind the watermarks. The biggest struggle was finding a model with a similar pose, bare shoulders and the right expression. The first model I found that might have worked was way too bubbly, and Aurelia isn't bubbly. I needed a model with resting bitch face sharp enough to cut a man. Really happy with the model I landed on, but my favorite pictures of her didn't work for my purposes. Anyways, these are still pretty rough because I was testing to see if it could be done, and I think they will tun out pretty good. The first was a further step to try to make it look illustrated, which still needs some work.



 
To celebrate my upcoming upcoming birthday, I am doing a freebie promo of Scarlet Reflections, a first in series sci-fi romance novella. And I made a book trailer for it.

 
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor onboard?
Mom: *nudging Marta* that should've been you
Marta: Not now Mom
Mom: Not asking for a history professor to help, are they?
Marta: Mom, there's a medical emergency happening right now
Mom: Go and see if “analyzing the aftermath of colonialism on native society" helps
 
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor onboard?
Mom: *nudging Pete* that should've been you
Pete: Not now Mom
Mom: Not asking for an cosmologist to help, are they?
Pete: Mom, there's a medical emergency happening right now
Mom: Go and see if “negative curvature of spacetime" helps.
Pete: Hang on. *gets up*
Mom: Wait. What are you doing?
Pete: Helping.
Mom: Thst’s not how this meme goes!
Pete: I’m just going to cut his throat, then reduce him to his essential salts and revivify him.
Mom: What?
 
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