Elliot Cooper's Blog

Queer Sci Fi’s annual flash fiction anthology is finally here – and this year the theme is Ink. There’s a giveaway too!

INK (NOUN)

Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell:

1) A colored fluid used for writing

2) The action of signing a deal

3) A black liquid ejected by squid

4) Publicity in the written media

5) A slang word for tattoos

Ink features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

Publisher | Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | Amazon Hardcover | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Scribd | Thalia | Vivlio | Goodreads

Giveaway

QSF is giving away an Amazon gift card with this tour:

Direct Link: https://kingsumo.com/g/gp47qq/win-a-25-amazon-gift-card

Excerpts

“Vervain had watched, one by one, as her childhood friends blossomed with red, the words of their soulmates inked into their skins. The stories of their lives together, from the day they met to the day they would die, unfolding each day. Her sister Iris, an aspiring bard, had woken one morning after meeting a girl in the village, the words poet meets potion-makershining bright and scarlet. Vervain’s friend Raven had dashed across the marketplace the day two separate lines had sprung forth on their skin—two loves, three souls entwined in the ink of their hearts.” —Lauren Triola, The Unmarked

“I love our sentient AI high school, EduTron 6000 (kids call her “Edie”). She plays soothing classical music in study hall and always listens when you have a bad day. But she’s a stickler for rules, and hates graffiti, which put a major damper on my epic prom-posal plan.” —Brenna Harvey, EduTron 6000 + Principal Vertner 4Ever

“I get out of the shower and it’s there. Dripping down the mirror—splip—and forming a rivulet of color across the tile floor. Thinner than paint, more vibrant than water. Sometimes it’s iridescent, but today it’s just…bright. A stream of colorful consciousness leading me across the bathroom, down the hall, out of…wait. I go to my bedroom and hastily put on whatever I can reach. Yesterday’s bra, the jeans from the floor, finger comb my short hair, a random t-shirt—purple. The same color the ink is today. Does that mean something?” —Geneva Vand, The Colors of Fate

“Marianne paced the length of the small hall that connected the living room, and the door to the outside, to the bedroom, and the door to the inside. Temporary steps, tracing a path towards a temporary solution to a permanent problem. Beyond the crack of the door, she saw her wife sleeping soundly in the cool of the late night. Temporary wife, temporary bedroom.” —Brooke K. Bell, Temporary/Permanent

“The round stone room that they lock the poet in contains nothing but a writing desk. The desk, of course, is fully stocked. Piles of creamy paper, elegantly carved sable-fur brushes, a pyramid of neatly-stacked inksticks, and an inkstone, its well full of perfectly still water. Sunlight streams down from a single window, high overhead and barred. Too high to reach even when she stands on the desk, its thin legs wobbling beneath her.” —Jamie Lackey, Inksticks and Paper Swans

“Rna’la arrived at Intergalactic Date-A-Thon and signed in using zir own gelatinous fluid (no scratchy ballpoint for zem, thanks!) The human woman collecting signatures blushed pinkly. Rna’la’s hearts throbbed in zir throat. Probably not attending. Ze passed several individuals in the hallway. Some bowed, some ignored zem. Not everyone recognized the current ruler of Th’ul.” —M.X Kelly, To Have and to Hold and to Hold and to Hold

Authors

Amarilys Acosta – Heart InkEmilia Agrafojo – MixologyAddison Albright – Cave DrawingTam Ames – The AutographRE Andeen – The Skinchanger’s ArtLaura Antoniou – A Most Rewarding QuestBlaine D. Arden – MendingH. Argent – Impending AffairAten – PowerRyley Banks – Right Place, Right TimeJorane G. Barton – Alternate EndingsJoe Baumann – BabblerBrooke K. Bell – Temporary/PermanentDavid Berger – IndelibleEytan Bernstein – I Never KnewGordon Bonnet – NexusDie Booth – Faith and the ThorncuttersCharlie Boynton – He Bleeds InkRyan Breadinc – The Ink ReaderM. Burns – The Final LineMeghan Byers – UnmooredAron Caer – Writer’s BloodElsa M. Carruthers – I Am Happy to Be Here TodayFoster Bridget Cassidy – Unfamiliar WatersMinerva Cerridwen – Not AloneAmanda Cherry – SignedGwen Coholan – BallpointRory Ni Coileain – All Myths Are True (but some are truer than others)Comer – Her Very Comfy CouchGeorgia Cook – ButterflyElliot Cooper – The CollectionBryan Crystal-Thursdton – FluidMonique Cuillerier – The PresentClaire Davon – Squid on the BeachNicole Dennis – Hidden SpellToshi Drake – Indelible InkJames Dunham – Lydia’s BackAllen Dyen-Shapiro – To Share the SkyEason – On the Conjoined Practice of Demonology and Scribal LonghandP. Egry – Confessions of an InkaholicB. Eyre – A Prisoner and a CaptainKim Fielding – Devil and AdvocatesSheila Finch – Love is BlindSteve Fuson – Blank as the PageJasie Gale – Pandora’s RowMagaly Garcia – rough draft #9/grocery listIsobel Granby – The Date BookJacqui Greaves – A Dish Served HotSacchi Green – S/He Who RemembersD. Grimm – CompanionsKaje Harper – The Pen is MightierBrenna Harvey – EduTron 6000 + Principal Vertner 4EverKelly Haworth – Off SpectrumSheryl R. Hayes – PanagramChisto Healy – The Fine PrintA. Hunt – UntitledS R Jones – So Let it Be Written, So Let It Be DoneDale Jordan – The SummoningKim Katil – Heart Bound in InkApril Kelley – How to Create a MonsterAva Kelly – SoullinkLaura J. Kelly – Rougarous Inc.X. Kelly – To Have and to Hold and to Hold and to HoldAdrik Kemp – Meet CuteJessica M. Kormos – The TattooistBarbara Krasnoff – The Inker, The Cat and The ParrotJamie Lackey – Inksticks and Paper SwansBenoit Lafortune – Dragon BloodTris Lawrence – Soul AfireAnja Hendrikse Liu – Stranger StoriesAinslie Lloyd – Off the WallNathan Alling Long – It’s What’s Inside That CountsLily Luchesi – The Angel With Demon BloodK. Mads – The Dragon’s PriceL. McCartney – Risotto NeroPaula McGrath – Free HugsHelen M. Merrick – The Rose TattooLynn Michaels – BattlegroundR. Moler – Ink is MemoryFiona Moore – The Muse’s GiftW. Murks – Just a NudgeS. Murphy – Love’s PortraitRJ Mustafa – ShadowbirdMary Newman – Graven ImagesThea Nishimori – GlossadermaL. Noone – OpeningsRaine Norman – The Morning AfterOrion O’Connell – The Midnight LibrarianBradley Robert Parks – Guilty Pleasure ReadingDale Parnell – BelongingTerry Poole – Sign on the Dotted LineBrooke Prado – CursebreakerTaylor Ramage – InkshaderRobin Reed – Printed LoveS. Reinholt – Colours of UnionJen Rivers – The AeriumJeff Ronan – InkedHerminia Root – AedanTaylor Roth – For Death Doesn’t PartJamie Sands – Toby’s TattooRodello Santos – ToldF. Schraeder – Spider LegsZiggy Schutz – RenamingRJ Scott – BloodAlex Silver – SummonedAlex Sobel – TenseAda Maria Soto – The Marks of a KnightAnna Stacy – LivenameSusan Stradiotto – Moon ChildLou Sylvre – The Flight of the TeloritesNathaniel Taff – For Posterity’s SakeNaomi Tajedler – OdditiesSara Testarossa – SubversionLauren Triola – The UnmarkedGeneva Vand – The Colors of FateM. Walker – The Hurt PatchDean Wells – A Flacon of InkT. Wyant – Future PerfectRina Youngblood – Proof in the TellingAubrey Zahn – JumperRainie Zenith – Blind Date

Junk Mage is available again with its new cover and it’s now available on Kindle Unlimited

Now that I have the rights back to The Clockwork Menagerie, I’ve rereleased it with a brand new cover! If you haven’t yet read this sweet steampunk romance, you can now get it on Kindle Unlimited

If you’re into weird fiction with a romantic eldritch twist, Ace of Squids is the queered Lovecraftian short for you

Thirsty Boy releases today on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!

I know this story won't be for everyone as the main kinks are heavy dominance/submission with watersports. The latter is a kink that I find fascinating but couldn't really understand why it appealed to people. I tried to find erotica books with the kink included but they were all very emotionally spare--they only featured the act, but not why the characters found the act enjoyable and arousing. So I hit reddit and found some great personal accounts from people who enjoy the watersports kink that helped me see why it can hit so many hot buttons for some folks.

In Thirsty Boy, I wanted to explore this taboo kink that's seen as almost the lowest of the low (there are some places I won't go myself, dear reader!) and highlight why, for these characters, this kink is a hard yes. 

I hope you'll give Jay and Stag's story a chance, even though their kinks might not be your kinks :) Here's the blurb to whet your appetite: 

Jay’s had enough of temporary arrangements with temporary Doms. He thinks he’s found the community he’s been looking for with the Thunder Pigs MC—a gay BDSM motorcycle club with their own private dungeon. Only he’s not a brother, not one of their boys, and the club’s president is tired of Jay playing tourist. When given an ultimatum—get with a brother or get banned indefinitely—Jay must prove he’s the perfect sub for the Dom he’s admired from afar. 

Stag isn’t ready to take on a sub after the lingering hurt of too many false starts. He’s been going solo for too long to let a thirsty twink be more than eye candy to him. But Jay’s a good guy who seems to really need the club in his life. And Stag isn’t about to let him walk out of the clubhouse, and out of his life, without trying to help. But the taboo nature of his kinks, his needs, might do more harm than good.

WARNING: This story contains Risk Aware Consensual Kink including dominance/submission play and watersports.

With Pronoun's closure, I had to remove Rogue Wolf from distribution for about a week. I've now rereleased the ebook version of it on Amazon exclusively, which means it's also now available on Kindle Unlimited for the first time! 

Ophelia from The Clockwork Menagerie is a runner up in Book Angel's Stephen Memorial Book Award for Distinctive Cats :D  Check out what makes her, and all the other cats, so special!

If you love steamy, quick reads with a lot of lust and a little love, fated mates, a werewolf mating season, and a dash of angst, check out Stray Pup !

 

If you love steamy, quick reads with a lot of lust and a little love, fated mates, a werewolf mating season, and a dash of angst, check out Stray Pup !

Over on the Rainbow Gold Reviews blog , I talk about this concept in a guest post and share an excerpt from Hearts Alight (which features a prominent trans secondary character)!