Scapple

I’m still doing the Scapple beta, but not as seriously as those first few days. I’ve turned in a few bugs and hiccups to the team and it’s likely that I’ll be buying the program when it’s out of beta. Until then I don’t want to save too much to it.

Still, I’ll try to get a screencap of my mind map. It basically spans all of my stories and I had a lot of fun making it. There may have been some squeeage.

Scapple for Windows is supposed to be $15. Which is reasonable. Scapple is by literatureandlatte.com, the same guys that do Scrivener.

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The winner of the Heroes & Villains blog tour giveaway: Sin Chan. I’ll be contacting you shortly. Congratulations.

Thanks to everyone that participated. I hope you all had a great weekend.

-I wrote a list of everyone’s name with a number beside it, then went to random.org and had the numbers drawn. Easy peasy.

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Here, have an excerpt of the upcoming Allies & Enemies, sequel to Heroes & Villains. It continues the story of Darkstar, though several years later.

Honestly, it’s really hard for me to find good excerpt material that doesn’t spoil the story. A lot happens in Allies & Enemies, but it’s all tied into the main plot. It’s kind of a struggle because I’ve never been very good at keeping any kind of secret. I want to just babble it all away, but I can’t.

Anyways, here’s a scene where Melissa of the Fabulous Kims is doing some stuff. Yeah, stuff.

Like helping to stop a mad bomber in Megacity.

Title: Allies & Enemies
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Heroes & Villains
Genre: mm superhero novel
Word count: 136,000
Excerpt rating: teen+

Summary: Melissa gets herself into some trouble.

EXCERPT:

It was strange how color saturated everything had begun to look to her exhausted eyes. A bone deep weariness had settled over her and it was a battle to lock her knees to keep from stumbling.

More than anything she wanted to slip into her own bed. She wanted to nuzzle her cheek against her pillow and close her eyes, just for a little while. A few desperate hours of rest.

Instead Melissa was once again helping to defuse a bomb. It was one of dozen she had to deal with before she would be allowed to sleep.

It made her want to sleep.

She blinked her stinging eyes quickly and didn’t let her eyelids stay closed for too long. That way lay madness and a crashing down on the building below while the bomb exploded, killing her and anyone nearby.

At least this time she was partnered with Leithfold, a quiet superhero that didn’t seem to hate her the way Sonic Pulse did. He did his job anyway, with an easy competence she couldn’t help admiring.

Melissa gripped the side of the building with her gloved hands and felt the tugs of the straps around her waist. Once again she was to use her ability to fly to help an earthbound colleague dangle from the side of a building. It felt very spy movieish and she might have been amused if she wasn’t so tired.

“Hey, what’s going on up there?”

The irritated snap to Leithfold’s voice jerked Melissa back into focus. She hadn’t even felt her eyes close and had begun to sag against the side of the building, releasing some of the tension in Leithfold’s line.

“Sorry,” she called down, then forced her eyes to stay open. Her neck felt made of rubber and her head kept sagging forward or back and she would have to snap upright. Everything was getting a bit hazy around the edges and she didn’t know how much more she could take.

“After this, I’m going to need a break,” she said into her comm.

“I hear you. We can stop off for some coffee before heading to the next target,” Leithfold said.

Melissa held back a groan. Her stomach churned from all the coffee and energy drinks she’d downed already. It was only luck and a damn good super metabolism that kept her hands from shaking. She didn’t know how much more she could take before she started screwing up.

Maybe I can get in a power nap somehow?

She snorted. Where had all that boundless energy she’d once possessed gone? Now she just felt tired; jaded and tired, her dreams ground small by reality.

“All right, got it,” Leithfold said. “Pull me on up.”

Melissa grabbed the climbing ropes and hauled the much larger man up onto the roof. “Do you really think we’re going to manage all the bombs?”

Leithfold tugged his uniform straight. “Probably not. Considering the law of averages, there’s a good chance a few bombs will be missed.”

“Wow, that’s pretty negative thinking,” Melissa said.

“Truth hurts. And there’s hundreds, if not thousands of bombs set up all over the city, and he’s still making more. We’ve only got a finite number of superheroes to handle things. It’s gonna make things messy before it gets over.”

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Well, you’re just full of puppy kisses and bunny fluff.”

He gave a surprised sounding laugh. “Haven’t you heard? Negativity is the new positivity.”

“Whatever. Let’s get out of here.”

Moving around and having someone to talk to had perked up her energy, but she knew it wasn’t going to last. What she desperately needed was a good night’s sleep, something she would only be able to dream about for awhile yet.

“Well isn’t this cozy,” a raspy voice drawled.

Melissa whirled around, dropping the rope she had been coiling. “Whoa, who are you?”

The guy looked like he’d escaped from some hell or other. His head had been shaved and was only now speckled with stubble. His cheekbones in his emaciated face were sharp protrusions, the bone trying to tear through the fragile skin. His eyes were sunk deep in his face, shadowed and insane.

Just looking at him gave Melissa a foreboding chill. This wasn’t just some homeless person as she’d first assumed. This man was dangerous.

“You’re going to come with me,” he said, staring at Melissa.

Leithfold stepped half in front of her. “Now look, I don’t know what you think is happening here, but it’s not. Don’t make us arrest you.”

The man grinned, a frightening spread of teeth and gum. “She’s coming with me or–” He pointed toward the distant spire of the Steiger building and there was the bright flare of an explosion. “–I’ll blow up this whole half of the city.”

“You’ll blow up too,” Melissa said.

The man — Atom Splitter — just grinned. “I am a walking chemical reaction. I am immune to my own powers. I could blow up the whole world and dance between the twirling waves of flame. I am unstoppable. But you can die in screaming, burning agony. It’s your choice.”

If there was one thing Melissa hated dealing with, it was a superpowered madman. There was no reasoning with whatever lurked behind Atom Splitter’s eyes; he was blackhole empty, swallowing all the light.

“Why do you want me? What are you going to do?” she asked. There was no way she wanted to go anywhere with this guy, but she didn’t see much choice. He’d rigged enough bombs that there was no doubt about who was in charge of the situation–he was.

“You’re a brave little toaster, chugging along.” He laughed, making her shiver at the unpleasant sound. “Just like him.”

“What are you talking about?” Leithfold asked.

Atom Splitter snarled at him. “You shut your mouth. You’re ruining our beautiful moment.” He held his hand out toward Melissa, the tips of his fingers stained black from whatever chemicals he’d been using. “Come here now or I blow up your precious city.”

Leithfold tried to stop her, but she brushed his hand off her elbow. Her boots crunched against the rooftop and her heartbeat thudded loud but sure in her ears.

Atom Splitter’s hand was warm even through her gloves. His laugh was choppy and unpleasant. “I’m disappointed, but maybe you’ll be enough.”

As she was led away by the mass murderer, she realized that she wasn’t sleepy anymore.

Melissa was wide-awake.

/EXCERPT