Arts

Rainbow Snippets: What no one says

Happy Saturday! Last night was my kids’ party. Their birthdays are only 5 days apart, so they often share. We took them and six friends to do an escape room. They didn’t quite make it out, but it was pretty close. Everyone had a blast.

Last week, I shared from my recent release, “Year of the Guilty Soul,” a novella-length YA story that’s included in the Seasons of Love anthology from Beaten Track. All the stories are great, so be sure to check them out. You can find all of them separately as well as in the anthology as a whole.

Here’s the blurb from mine:

The year is 1991, and Antonia “Toni” Moskowitz is caught in the middle, always having to pick a side. Whether it’s between her family’s two religions or in her relationships, she has choices to make. Does her heart belong to the outgoing boy with the lime-green nails or the girl in the black velvet skirt? Where does she fit in when both gender and gender roles feel confining?

But learning who she is and who she wants to be with has a price. Every decision has consequences, especially when some kinds of love and expression are still taboo. Sometimes it’s hard to choose between being good and being right. Four seasons. Four kisses. One year to figure out what her heart wants.

Beaten Track | Amazon | Amazon Paperback

And here is this week’s snippet:

Levi is Dom’s boyfriend, but no one says so. It’s one of those things everyone avoids talking about, like how Dad doesn’t tell his parents I’m going to church with my other grandparents or how no one says anything when Matteo wears Sofia’s outgrown dress-up clothes and gets into Mom’s Avon drawer and pinches her tiny sample lipstick tubes. Gran and Gramps call Dom and Levi “roommates.” I don’t think my parents are against Dom being gay, but it’s not open for discussion. I wonder sometimes if it’s because they worry about him, not because they agree with my church or with Gran and Gramps.

Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!

WIPpet Wednesday: A bit nosy

Books, Writing

Happy Wednesday! Music, arts, and drama camp wrapped up last Friday night, and it went well. My kids’ physicals went fine too, and my older kid is now off at cross country practice.

With our busy schedule, I haven’t had a lot of time to write. But I did get a little time last week, and hopefully things have calmed down enough this week for me to get some words down.

This doesn’t follow on directly from last week’s, but it’s in the same chapter of Minuet. Amelia is off to a women’s night at her friend Marlie’s house. Marlie was one of the main characters in the first novel of the series. And yes, I am 100% mean for leaving you with a bit of a cliffhanger here.

WIPmath: 8/22/2018 = 2 x 2 = 4 paragraphs

Marlie was hella cool for a straight woman, and she was a connecter. She planned out these nights once a month where they were free from the men. Sometimes they went out, but other times, when the guys had plans, they went to Marlie’s so she could be home with [one-year-old] Aidan. Amelia might’ve complained, but he was an angel and usually slept through the whole thing.

By the time Amelia arrived, everyone else was there. Tonight it was Marlie, Nia, Gemma, Cassie, and Cassie’s girlfriend Laura. There were a handful of others who occasionally joined them, depending on who was free. Marlie welcomed Amelia in and took her jacket then offered her a drink.

There was a stack of unopened mail on a table next to the couch, a package balanced neatly on top. Marlie picked up the whole pile and deposited it in the dining room before putting a coaster down and disappearing into the kitchen to fetch Amelia’s water. When she returned, Amelia couldn’t resist, even knowing it was a bit rude.

“What’s in the package?”

Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Wrayburn for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!

Rainbow Snippets: What if it does?

Books, Writing

Happy Saturday! Posting and running because I have to go do some cleaning. We’re having some trouble with fleas this summer. It’s never been this bad before.

I’m currently working on a companion novella to this about one of the other characters. The stories are set in 1991, so if it reads as “dated,” that’s intentional.

Here’s the blurb from mine:

Antonia Moskowitz is caught in the middle, always having to pick a side. Whether it’s between her family’s two religions or in her relationships, she has choices to make. But learning who she is has a price, and every decision has consequences. Sometimes it’s hard to choose between being good and being right. Four seasons. Four kisses. One year to figure out what her heart wants.

Beaten Track | Amazon | Amazon Paperback

And here is this week’s snippet, following on from last week’s:

We don’t say anything about [the kiss] afterward. I want to tell Hannah that it doesn’t mean anything, that I’m not like what some of the kids at school say about me. Except what if it does mean that? What if those feelings I had for my friend years ago meant more than liking her Pac-Man skills? I stare at the television, willing myself to focus on Dana Carvey. Except he’s playing the Church Lady, and all I can think is that she sounds uncomfortably like the church elders.

Author Interview: K.S. Trenten

Books, Featured

About the Book

Title: Fairest (included in Once Upon a Rainbow vol. 1)

Author: K.S. Trenten

Publisher: NineStar Press

Publication Date: November 20, 2017

Word Count: 27k words

Category: f/f, fairytale, ambient fantasy, Young Adult, anthology

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Purchase Links

NineStar Press | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

Synopsis

All of my life, I’ve been haunted by her dark eyes. At birth, she cursed me to prick my finger on the spindle and sleep for a century. She appears in my dreams, my reflections, shaping my desires. Who is she? My guardian has only revealed a few enigmatic words as to her identity, the fairest of them all. Follow me into the lonely Forest of Tears where the dwarves dwell, walking where she once walked. Gaze into the depths of the magic mirror which reveals her secrets. For I refuse to fear her, even if I should.

Interview

Today, K.S. Trenten has graciously stopped by to answer a few questions about life, writing, and her current projects. Welcome!

Start us off by telling us how and why you chose your genre.

To be honest, I didn’t. I’ve always loved tales of magic, fantasy, and science fiction. I took a look at the genre requirements and expectations, realized they had little to do with me. I created a sub genre, ambient fantasy or ambient science fiction, which still dealt with magic, fantasy and the otherwordly, yet it was more emotionally driven than action driven, using flowers, softer colors and themes, and a more androgynous, slender look than the hard, muscular imagery often used to promote science fiction and fantasy. I’m hoping it will appeal to a lot of people who like to read shoujo manga and anime, whose visuals often conjure up the sort of fantasy settings I’m trying to create.

I love the term “ambient fantasy,” and I think it’s apt for your work. It does draw readers into a deep emotional connection with the characters. Speaking of which, is there a character you feel especially connected to? Why?

Rose is the most like me…I put a lot of myself into the main character of Fairest. At the same time, I can’t get Quartz out of my head (my deceased dwarf) because he will not shut up. He’s even taken over one of my blogs once a month to interview my various other characters, which is called Secondary Characters Speak Out. (laughs)

Ha! Those pesky characters, just taking over.

Choose a favorite line or short passage from any of your work. What do you like about it?

“Who is the fairest of them all? Me, you, or her?” In fact, I’m very proud of that entire little poem. It’s the first poem I’ve ever been paid for. Well, it did come with a story, but I’m still very pleased to see it in print.

That’s really cool. Do you have any upcoming projects?

Wind Me Up, One More Time, this is the project I keep getting blocked on. I’m having a hard time getting myself into a Christmas state of mind to turn it into a Christmas story, although I’ve finally got an idea where I’m going with it. Stealing Myself From Shadows is the first in a series of books I considered my life’s work, which I’m trying to polish up and self publish. I’ve also got Aissa and Polyxena, a mythical retelling of Achille’s (Achilles) passion for Troile (Troilus), including the two characters cross-dressing as Aissa (Achille when he was on Scyros before Odysseus unmasked him) and Polyxena (Troile/Troilus’s twin sister whom Achille fancied, but never appeared in the Iliad…this made me decide to make Troile and Polyxena the same person).

Wow, that’s a lot! I wish you the best with those. In the meantime, how about some Word Sprints?

Cats or dogs?

Cats, although I had a dog once I was very attached to. These days I’m a feline slave. 🙂

What’s your favorite food?

Hard to choose, but I’m going to say a really ripe heirloom tomato. It’s particularly good with buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil.

What superpower do you wish you had?

I’ve often yearned for Darth Vader’s ability to throttle people, hurling their weapons, or them away. It’s best I don’t have it. I’d definitely abuse it. 🙂

If you could have any career (other than writer), what would it be?

Something which allowed me to travel in a luxurious fashion.

Thanks for stopping by, and come back to tell us how it’s going with all those amazing projects you have in the works.

Excerpt

MY FIRST MEMORY was of her dark eyes. They captured all the colors of my infant universe, even as they threatened to swallow me.

Her eyes should have been terrifying, but they weren’t.

Her blood red lips moved, shaping words I could not recall.

My parents remembered them only too well, as did everyone else who’d gathered at the castle for my christening.

“I, too, have a gift for this child. She shall grow up, with all the beauty and promise of the dawn, but her sun will never rise.”

My mother told me she nearly swooned with terror at the look of sheer malevolence the witch gave to the sunbeams playing about my cradle. She wanted to stop the witch from speaking, as did my father.

No one could move, no matter how much they wished to. Everyone stood still, spellbound by the witch’s gaze.

“Before the sun sets on the eve of her sixteenth year, the princess shall prick her finger on a spindle. With the first drop of her blood, a sleeping curse will fall upon her, claiming her for a hundred years.”

My mother tried to call in another witch to remove the curse. My father burned every spindle he could find.

For all their efforts, nothing could remove the curse.

The witch had disappeared into a cloud of green smoke. No one could find her after my christening, despite many attempts. The only thing she left behind, besides her curse, were dreams of dark eyes.

I wondered if she’d been real. Her appearance was the sort of thing I’d heard about in old legends. The way she haunted my dreams was too much like giggled tales of falling in love.

About the Author

K.S. Trenten lives in the South Bay of California with her husband, two cats, and a host of imaginary characters in her head, all screaming for attention.

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WIPpet Wednesday: Steel-Toed Boots

Books, Writing

Happy Wednesday! Sneaking in a little late because I’m spending this week volunteering with a music, arts, and drama camp. The kids are cute, but it’s intense putting together even a short play in just one week of half-days.

Anyway, I haven’t had much chance to write this week. A little, but it’s slow going with all the other things happening. All three of my WIPs are continuations of series, which is unusual for me. Minuet is the last main part of Notes from Boston (which I may continue in a different format later); the as-yet-unnamed YA novella is connected to Year of the Guilty Soul; and Tree of Life is a companion novel to An Act of Devotion. Despite not writing much this week, I feel surprisingly good about all of them.

I’m posting a bit more of Minuet. I love writing in Amelia’s POV. This bit is from the first chapter in her perspective.

WIPmath: 15 sentences for the 15th.

Amelia’s boots weren’t made for walking; they were steel-toed and made for kicking someone’s ass through his teeth. She’d once trained rigorously until she was finally strong enough to take on the man who’d spent the better part of her childhood using her as boxing practice. She wasn’t sorry that she’d broken his nose when he grabbed her hair and tried to haul her around like he was used to doing. He’d threatened to call the police, but she had no fear of that happening. He wouldn’t like it if the cops discovered all the shit he’d stolen, and she had ample proof.

Her sperm donor left her alone for good after that. She didn’t know and didn’t care where he was now. She’d heard through the grapevine a few months back that he was out of jail after the accident he caused out on the Cape. Misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide, they said. Took out a pregnant woman. Amelia wasn’t worried he’d come find her, not with his license suspended for fifteen years.

Which was why, when Mack called her at the end of the summer, she’d agreed to go see Sage. She had power over him, and he damn well knew it. Even Jamie didn’t know Amelia was sitting on the truth. No one was ever again going to control her or someone she cared about.

Rainbow Snippets: Secret Kisses

Books, Writing

Happy Saturday! Gonna be a gorgeous weekend. My family is spending it out at a local amusement park.

I had a new release this week: “Year of the Guilty Soul,” a novella-length YA story that’s included in the Seasons of Love anthology from Beaten Track. You can read about the other stories in my blog post about it.

Here’s the blurb from mine:

Beaten Track | Amazon | Amazon Paperback

And here is this week’s snippet:

I finish licking the orange cheese powder off my fingers. Hannah is giggling madly at a penis joke on the show like it’s the first time she’s ever heard one. Maybe it is, given what she said earlier. She rolls toward me and starts to ask what I think, but I’m too close, and she bashes her nose into my cheek. It only makes her laugh harder.

I’m laughing too, and then, out of the blue, she kisses me. Or I kiss her. It’s hard to tell because I think we both went for it at the same time. It’s sticky from the Cheetos, and neither of us knows what we’re doing. We don’t go any farther, which makes it awkward—we stop in the middle of it, and we both back away.

Rainbow Snippets: What no one says

WIPpet Wednesday: A bit nosy

Rainbow Snippets: What if it does?