Welcome to November!
And the return of Wild Short Reads 😱
Hello Kittens!
November is finally here, and with it the colder temps. I’ve woken up the last few mornings with frost covering my car, and Jack nipping at my toes. I even broke down and turned out the heater in the house, and for those that know me, that’s a big deal.
Apart from the turn in the weather—and the aggravation of all of my allergies—I have some exciting news on the authoring front. My beautiful friend—and book wife—has proposed to our little group of besties that we start up our flash fiction circle again! And as such, I will include one of my past ones at the bottom of this newsletter to give you a bit of a taste of what’s to come. Also, if you haven’t already, jump over to
and subscribe to her Substack. She’s the brains behind what we are tentatively calling Wild Short Reads, which will be a flash fiction story from all of us—participating authors to be named as things progress—and we will be sure to leave links to the Substacks that are part of our Wild Short Reads circle.Aside from that exciting news, I am still plugging away at Whisper, she is progressing nicely, though not as quickly as I would have liked. I attribute that mostly to COVID, which has completely knocked me on my ass. I’m still in the midst of recovering, mostly extreme fatigue, and the fact that my immune system is reeling a bit. I have been getting absolutely every thing that my kiddos have been bringing home, the latest being pink eye. I will spare you the gory details. It’s gross, I’ll leave it at that.
Halloween was a blast, as always. The boys both dressed up and were super excited to go trick or treating. Our neighborhood isn’t the best for it, its a warren of little side streets and culs-de-sac which makes for a windy time. There are also not many houses with littles, so only a handful give out candy. But nonetheless, my kids had fun going from house to house in their costumes.
As we will be starting up Wild Short Reads again, I thought I would give you all the chance to pick what I’ll be writing about! These stories will all be 1000 words or less, but have been known to spark the creative mind, and turn themselves into longer tales, so who knows what might happen.
I can’t wait to start sharing my little flash fiction stories with all of you. I’m super excited that Miri suggested getting back into them. We started them at the height of the Pandemic as a way to get our creativity flowing, which was so hard during those early days. Sadly, we moved away from it, but now its back! Please vote on what you would like for me to write first. I will have a similar poll up on my first of the month Newsletters every month, so if the vote doesn’t go your way this month, it might next!
What’s in this Edition:
Whisper - She is shaping up to be an epic read. I can’t wait to share!
Librarian Mate - Will be coming soon! Miri and I have already started writing, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Harvest Moon - A new addition to the Blood Moon Riders series is coming. Doc and Nora are amazingly fun characters to dig into.
Bookfairs and Besties! - Make sure to click all links! It helps so much.
Wild Short Reads - a throwback to my first flash fiction piece!
Whisper is in for a heap of trouble with a new mate that she’s not sure she wants and the world spotlight on her after shifters are revealed.
You can't shove shifters back into their little box once a woman turns into a raging grizzly in the middle of downtown. The human world was about to be turned upside-down.
Whisper never thought her life would be so good. Living with LOKI, safe and sound from the horrors of her childhood and working as a tattoo artist with her best friend and savior Les was a dream come true. But that dream quickly turns into a nightmare when Paradigm stampedes into Ironwood on the back of dragons and monsters. Kidnapped and thrown into a cage in the depths of an underground facility, Whisper has lost hope. With each passing moment she slips further into her mind, letting her animal–Frigga–take charge to keep the fragile human from falling apart.
Theron (Scar) Aetos has been hiding in plain sight his entire life. There wasn’t ever much choice, when you’re the last of your kind. His animal–Scar–was his only companion. He thought all was lost when he was captured by Paradigm, but that all changed as he was tossed into a cell with his fated mate. Except something is very wrong with the mercurial eyed Whisper, and Theron just can’t work it out. Putting his trust in her may just be his complete undoing as they are both shoved into the limelight when her grizzly comes tearing out of her skin.
Will they be able to escape the sudden celebrity and make space for their mating? Can Whisper come out of her shell and accept the man who claims to love her above all others? And what happens once the lights fade? Can humanity handle the knowledge that their myths and legends have really been lurking in the shadows the entire time?
Magic and mayhem… and some fated mate drama, cause everyone loves angst!
Samantha had always known she’d go her own way. Growing up in the rigid Still Waters Coven in Valhalla’s Pass felt too restrictive in ways she couldn’t quite put into words. Which was ironic given she was a scribe, a rare form of very precise but powerful word magic based on the ancient art of hieroglyphics.
But when the Stellar Misfits Motorcycle Club come crash landing into her sanctuary, Valhalla’s Pass Library, determined to run off the deadly Drakon Hunters MC, she realizes her world is about to change.
As the Stellar Misfits numbers are bolstered by a fresh shipment of space-faring Vikings, Samantha suddenly finds herself confronted by a new truth. Not only is she destined to help the Drakons protect their human mates, she has been fated by the stars to her own alien hotties in leather.
Only problem is, her ancient magic refuses to let her get close to them. The longer she fails to secure their bond, the more dangerous their situation becomes. Because the dreaded mating sickness has taken hold of her mates… And Samantha feels powerless to protect them.
Can Samantha find a way to tame her magical aversion to her fated mates? Or will their courage to travel the stars in search of her lead to their ultimate demise?
Nora doesn’t know what hit her when the mating bond to Doc flares to life.
On the hunt for dark witches fleeing with a dangerous book of magic, Blood Moon can't afford distractions. And that includes a moment of respite with a shiny new mate. Good thing Doc is positive that possibility has passed. Nothing could prepare him for what the goddess has in store.
Doc has given his life to Blood Moon and the Nomad chapter of the MC. It had been years since he'd even considered the likelihood of a fated mate crossing his path, much less agreeing to a life on the road with the rough and ready bikers. And yet, the Goddess sees fit to throw her directly into his path just as the Nomads are on the hunt for Trillium Moon and Hekate's stolen book. Complicating matters even further, Nora is young–too young. There's no chance in hell that Doc will subject her to the difficulties of being mated to the club's doctor and a life without roots.
Nora came to Taos for one thing: to escape the hold of her rigid parents by joining her older brother, Tank, the Sgt-at-Arms of the Blood Moon Riders' Taos Chapter. Nora thinks she's finally found her peace–and maybe her place–in New Mexico, until she runs smack into her fated mate in the visiting Nomad Chapter's handsome doctor. She is immediately drawn to his calm, solid presence. But Doc wants nothing to do with Nora, barely a college graduate and several years his junior. Nevermind that the chemistry between them hits like a bomb going off. Nevermind that in one another's arms, the dark clouds of war feel far less ominous.
Finding the mate you never expected in the midst of war is a test of conviction and fortitude–something Doc and Nora have in spades. They must learn to believe in the wisdom of the goddess–and that they deserve the fierce promise of love that has been offered to them–in spite of all the obstacles. Or Doc will leave Taos bereft of half his soul, and Nora rootless and alone with darkness closing in.
Bookfairs and Bestie
Check out the amazing books stacked up in my lovely friend
BookFunnel promo every month. This month both Malachai and Crow Moon are featured! As always Crow Moon is free, so if you haven’t grabbed it yet, here’s a really quick and easy way to snatch it up! Plus, check out the other books listed, including one or two from and many more. I bet you find a new favorite or a new to you author to set your kindle on fire!DON’T FORGET TO CLICK THE LINK!
#WildShortReads
Welcome to Wild Short Reads. Each month I will have a new flash fiction that I’ll share with all of you right here at to bottom of my Newsletter. There will be a poll every month to help me decide what will be written for the next month. Don’t forget to vote, and leave this post a like also.
Shipwrecked
Waves savaged the deck as the storm raged around me. I couldn’t hear anything but the rush of the wind and the pounding rain. The boat careened back and forth so hard that I was crawling across the deck just to reach the cabin. I had to reach the cabin.
Light swayed drunkenly in front of me from where it hung just inside. A beacon of safety that I just had to reach. A wave crashed into the stern, knocking me sideways. And then it was silent.
I woke to sand in my mouth, and my belly full of salt water.
The beach stretched on for miles, but the only thing I could see was my boat, the Fraid Knot. My baby. The last thing I had in the world. My escape. She was on the beach. Laying tipped to her starboard side with a bolder caving in her hull.
I vomited salt water and bile into the waves at my feet.
Wiping my mouth with my arm, I noticed something else on the beach that belonged even less than the Fraid Knot.
A fully grown lion. His main frilled around his head like a halo in the early morning light, begging me to touch it, to grip those tawny strands between my fingers and get lost.
What the hell?
He stood regally at the top of a sand-dune and watched me. The heavyweight of his gaze locked me in place as our eyes met.
I was fucked. So fucked.
I scrambled to my feet, fighting for traction in the wet sand. I looked back at my boat, debating if I could make it to the cabin before the lion mauled me to death. Not a chance in hell. I swayed and stumbled as I got my feet underneath me, feeling like a newborn foal as my legs refused to hold me up. And I crashed back to the sand, waves licking at my body as I watched the lion.
He took graceful steps down the sand, while granules rolled down the dune like tiny waterfalls. I held one hand out in front of me as my entire body shook with fear.
I had just wanted to get out of the city. To get away from my thankless job, my shitty apartment. I wanted to sail away in the boat I had tirelessly restored. I wanted to be free.
And it was all going to end because of a freak storm and an even freakier lion.
The animal cocked his head as he watched me. His eyes roam over every inch of my body like a warm hand caressing me. And just like that, my fear dissolved. The hand in front of me went from a poor excuse of a shield, to an offer of acceptance. My fingers lay lax as I submitted to his magnificence. My shoulders relaxed, and I drew in my first full breath since noticing the creature.
And I waited for my fate.
The lion considered me and shook out his body like he had gotten chills. And then stood. And stood. His body melted from king of the jungle to a man. A very nude man who seemed extremely happy to see me.
It was dehydration. That was the only explanation.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat, along with a very healthy dose of sand that had lay thick on my tongue, and smiled. “I’m Alyssa.” The man took a step towards me and lifted his face into the air like he was trying to catch a scent on the breeze.
“Mate.” The word was ground between his lips. His voice was a low rumble that I could feel in my gut. Maybe a little lower. But I was willing to blame the blaze between my thighs on the sand that was absolutely in every crevice of my body. “Alyssa.” His mouth caressed my name, and that fire went from possible sand in my cooch to excuse-me-while-I-climb-him-like-a-tree burn of arousal.
“I’m Alyssa,” I tried again, struggling to get to my feet, but before I could even pull myself to a couch, he was on me like a lion on a gazelle. He pressed me into the sand and crushed his lips to mine so hard that I tasted blood, his hips fit between my spread thighs like a puzzle piece.
“Mine.” His lips pulled and bit at mine as he tore at what was left of my clothing. And I was all too willing to let him. The heat from his gaze had turned into an inferno the moment he touched me.
“Yours.” I wrapped my legs around his hips as soon as he pulled the last scrap of fabric from my body, and the long, thick curve of his erection pushed between my legs and thrust into me. I was complete. The crush of his weight, the thickness of him inside me. It was everything in that moment. “All yours.”
He stood with our bodies connected and walked into the waves, the cool water soothing our burning skin and washing away the sand from my body. “Leo,” he whispered against my neck as we rocked together in the waves. “And I am yours.”
I'm excited for what we can create in this new venture.
Loved the story!
Yassssss! I’d almost forgotten about this gorgeous short... so glad you got to share it again as we gather everyone for our next season of #wildshortreads #wildatheart #flashfiction