One thing leads to another
And another, and still others as I work to build my own brand in the world of publishing.
For example, the historical fantasy novel Long Ago and Far Away, featuring these two lovers:
Spawned these sister-witches:
An extended sneak peek of Long Ago and Far Away will be up on Amazon later this week.
That book somehow inspired this novella on a young black woman raised by a religious cult, and how she’s instrumental in taking the leader down. Here’s a promo I’ve worked on for the novel:
Look for the ebook CHERISH in May.
Finally, I’ve got another book featuring an Asian leading man and an African leading lady. Nyesha is from Nigeria, and Takeshi is Japanese.
To read a brief excerpt from the book, continue reading:
Excerpt:
He was a quiet man.
They all were. But his solemn face stood out from all others. It was the way he looked from the head instructor, Mei, to the visitor, then back again after Mei announced that the woman would be their new model. One man flipped his sketch pad closed and left. The others seemed stunned into silence by the news.
Mei wrung her hands together, her voice faltering. “I didn’t want to cancel the class again. Not when Nyesha was kind enough to step in at the last minute. I don’t know what happened to Ayumi. She’s never missed two classes in a row. I-I am so sorry about this.”
The studious gentleman sitting in front sat up even straighter, pulling his chair closer to the human subject as if all he wanted to do was get on with the class. Takeshi Nishikowa didn’t smoke, he didn’t drink, and he rarely went out. So this art class was his attempt at socializing. Like the other men around him, he wore a bowl haircut and a plaid shirt. Combined with beige khaki pants, his style of dress mirrored the man sitting at his right, and the one sitting on his left. For this circle of art students, each one could be mistaken for a clone of the same shyly hesitant, close to middle aged male.
There was no formal introduction, no ice breaker for their new model. Nyesha Adu was just a prop, just someone else for them to draw. She took a deep breath, relieved that there would be distance between the students and model. She didn’t need to know who they were. And they didn’t need to know who she was.
As Nyesha slipped off her robe, Takeshi’s expression didn’t change. Using his pencil, he began by tracing the U shaped swell of her left breast. He imagined its weight in his palm, guessing it felt much like an appled cheek on a smiling face. His own face was somberly focused as he studied the regal jut of Nyesha’s jaw and her full bottom lip. Instead of focusing solely on her body, he stared at her sleepy lidded eyes. She stared straight ahead, unblinking and stoic as if she were standing on the shore, fixated on a boat just off the horizon. Takeshi paused, wishing he knew what secrets lay behind those luminous, haunted dark eyes.
Kento leaned in close enough to whisper a joke to his friend. “She’s just how I like my coffee-”
Already knowing the punchline, Takeshi said the words along with him. “-Black and strong.” Returning to his drawing, he sketched a line that mimicked the left curve of Nyesha’s waist to her hip, pausing to concentrate on the length and lush spread of her thighs. Tilting his head, he took special care to add more shading to the juncture between her legs. Even though she was sitting on her side, his eyes kept going back to the curly tuff of black hair covering her mound, hair that hid the secret jewel of her womanhood. The tremors in his hand forced him to back off. He was thinking much too hard about something he’d only imagined.
~~~~~End of Excerpt~~~~~
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