From Zero Hour

“First handshake?”

Ernest felt his face grow warm. “Was it that obvious?”

Will shrugged. “No, I guess not. Most virgins just stand there with their mouths hanging open
and stare at my hand.”

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Happy 2008! Have you made any New Year's resolutions? I have, but I started putting them into practice mid-December so that I could see how they were going before I talked about them on Packing Heat.

My main resolution was to get more writing done. That has happened since I got more strict about daily goals. After just a few weeks, the writing's coming along with much less hand-wringing and fanfare. Down the line, that should translate into more stuff for you to read!

I'm kicking off the new year with two new short eBooks available at LuLu.com. In Starlight, vampire Joseph finds a blood-soaked predator devouring a human mortal, and the thought of it, of whatever that creature might be, becomes his shiny new obsession.

Many Happy Returns features Crash from the PsyCop series. I figured it would screw up my plot to let him get busy on Victor Bayne, so I subverted his overactive libido into a short story of its own. This story appeared in Torquere Press' 2006 Advent Calendar, so you may have caught it there.

If you were really, really good and Santa brought you a Kindle, you can also get these stories formatted for your new toy. (You could also probably write your own story about what exactly you did for Santa that netted you such a high-demand item.)

It's just a couple of weeks into January and already I've met a number of my writing goals! I just began disengaging from a nightmare graphic design client last night–go me! I hope you, too, can cull out what you don't want to make room for more of what you do want. Whatever your aspirations for this year may be, I hope 2008 turns out to be your best year yet!

xxoo,
Jordan

I’m hard at work on the fourth installment of the PsyCop series, though I’ve changed the title so many times that I’m hesitant to settle on anything. I’ve been keen to light a fire under my word count (as I mentioned above), so as a way to focus on the story and keep it going, I’ve begun to journal about it each night before I go to bed.

Here are a couple of excerpts from that journal:

12/21 ...I need to focus on what this book is about.
(What is it about?)
Jacob is seen as “Mr. Perfect” but he’s not. He’s so deeply passionate, cares so much for the underdog, that he might “snap” in defending someone weaker.

He doesn't see Vic as week (sic) (he never has, and this goes back to book 1). But someone genuinely weak evokes his protector response. [Title idea: The Perfect Crime]

Yes, how queer, I do actually use brackets when I write longhand. The entry was written all in caps, and I spared you that for legibility’s sake. Sometimes I write in all caps and sometimes caps & small. Odd.

12/27 I’m in the middle of the scene. They have to be quiet because there are two officers outside the door. *I need to make mike of that, the strain to be quiet*

Obviously, I mean “make more” and not “make mike.” Maybe I’m brain damaged. The asterisks are sloppy five-pointed stars.

The next paragraph has an arrow pointing toward it in the margin and the underline is a squiggly underline. Which is more important than a plain old underline.

Here’s how I see it – Jacob goes all extra-super sexy on Vic – redescribe him (important) They kiss – Carolyn says, “When I want to see that I’ll rent Brokeback Mountain again.”

Here’s how I see it? Well, duh, someone else isn’t going to come along and write in the journal. I crack myself up.

I don’t want to give too much away! But I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek into the behind-the-scenes making of PsyCop.

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Review: Body and Soul at Obsidian Bookshelf

Here's what Obsidian Bookshelf had to say about Body & Soul: a PsyCop Novel-

"Body and Soul contains some wonderful comic scenes, some hot sex, and some first-rate action such as an extended chase sequence when Vic, leading a couple of uniforms, works with a whiny, disembodied voice to help track a fleeing suspect.

...The Psycop series is one of my homoerotic favorites because of the pitch-perfect masculinity of the characters. They're just realistic guys who like plenty of hot sex and have nothing Ladylike about their relationship at all." Click for the rest!

Don't miss Val Kovalin's article at Obsidian Bookshelf on Ladylike Homoerotic Fiction--it's an eye-opener! I'm relieved that my stories landed on the "non-ladylike" end of the continuum. I have to agree with Val. I like my guys to be guys. Or at least most of them, anyway. I could see possibly having some girly!men as supporting characters, best friends, confidantes or comic relief. But not as the main character, no way.

I think that if I need someone girly, I prefer to just cast a girl in the part. Some of the best interactions in my stories are between the gay men and their female friends.

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Zero Hour - Chapter 1

Ernest inhaled. The fresh air was bracing. (That’s what they said in old-time data feeds, wasn’t it? That the air was bracing? Ernest was fairly sure that was teh expression, though there was nobody there who could verify his impression that the air was, indeed, bracing.) “Louise,” he said. “Is the air bracing?”

“Now, I wouldn’t know about that, Ernest.”

That’s what L0U15E said every time Ernest asked her a question outside her parameters. She used to actually say, “That question is not within my parameters.” But Ernest had saved up his discretional income for nearly three months to pay for a personalized re-program of L0U15E’s reply.

Three months was a long time to work for one simple sentence. But every time he heard it, Ernest smiled. Even now. Ernest enjoyed rhetorical questions, so he got his money’s worth.

Ernest was in a part of town he’d never had any reason to visit before. The buildings were old and full of character, crafted from wood and stone and brick. They cracked here and bulged there, and some even had ivy growing up the side. Spectacular.

click here for the rest of chapter 1 (worksafe)

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PsyCop Novels:
PsyCop: Partners (Paperback, contains Among the Living and Criss Cross)
Among the Living (eBook)
Criss Cross (eBook)
Criss Cross­ (Kindle Edition)
Body & Soul (eBook)
Many Happy Returns (PsyCop Short- Kindle Edition)
Many Happy Returns (PsyCop Short - Standard eBook, only 49¢)

Other Stories:
Starlight ­ (Kindle Edition)
Starlight (Standard eBook, only 49¢)
Verdant (eBook)

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Email me at jordan (at) psycop (dot) com

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JCP News • Jordan Castillo Price • PO Box 153 • Barneveld, WI 53507