Micahel Taggart - a Photo

Work in Progress (Angel Dancer) - Michael Taggart 2012

 

 

I have been admiring Michael's work on flickr for a while now, but this picture really tipped the scales. I needed to hang it, lovingly, on the wall of my humble lair. It has all that I love: elegance, mistery, life. Oh, and abs. Ahem.

Michael's photos are always something different. He usually cuts the original background out to replace it with something dreamy and unexpected out of his own fertile imagination, and the results are often wonderfully poetic. He is also an unusually communicative artist, which means he often shares the why and how a certain piece came about, and this is wonderfully fascinating, especially for those of us who are fond of manipulating pictures but never went further than dabbling in Photoscape.

 

You can see (and purchase) more of Michael's work on his blog or on Amazon!

 



The Garden of a Thousand Nightingales - the Trailer

 

Click to view book trailer!

Guest post and Giveaway - Talbot's Ploy by Kastil Eavenshade

Thank you very much, Katherine, for allowing me a wee bit of space on your blog to spread the word about Talbot's Ploy. This story is set in 18th century France and is about two boyhood friends who became lovers. One of my bad boys--Talbot--already knows his tastes. A strong man in his bed has always been what he desires. Maxime, on the other hand, has gone from one female's bed to another and never been satisfied. Gee, I wonder why ... hmmm?

I never intended this to tale to go as long as it did but when the muse talks, you better listen. I'm glad I did. The first draft was all from Maxime's PoV. Talbot's definitely spices it up. Without further jabberjawing, a give you a taste of my m/m wickedness.

 

-:-

Don't forget to leave a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of the book!

 

Talbot Sauvageot has kept his wicked lifestyle underground for several years, going from one lover to the next. Decedent rake to females by day, passionate lover for his latest male companion at night. When he is forced to flee Paris or face the guillotine, Talbot realizes none of the men he has bedded over the past years burns at his soul like his dear friend Maxime LaRue.

Forced into seclusion in the forest of Bois de Lunor, he receives an invitation from Maxime for their yearly gathering at his estate in Varanguebec. One that Talbot has avoided the past few years. Refusing to submit to a life without love, Talbot schemes to discover if his childhood friend shares the same taste in pleasure as he.

Will Maxime submit to Talbot’s ploy or cast his friend in the shadow of death?

-:-

The smell of burning sage permeated Talbot’s clothing. He staggered down the hall with a bottle of red wine in one hand and a scantily clad female on his arm. Her perk nipples peeked out of a lacey bodice. He stumbled, and she giggled as she reached for the wine.

“Non.” Talbot put the bottle to his lips and finished it off. “Find another to buy you some Bordeaux.”

The hall of the maison, draped with sheer silks and embroidered fabric, curved and warbled in his drunken eyesight. The squeals of pleasure leaked out of the sliver at the bottom of each door. Talbot stumbled to the side as a naked harlot ran giggling past him with a lusty male hot on her trail. He snickered at the fool. A lover should fall graciously into a man’s arms and scream at every ramming thrust from his fleshy stick.

His escort stopped and ran her fingers up the doorjamb to a room. He molded his body to hers as a few other revelers in the brothel passed by. He licked his lips, his gaze wandering the many paths of her lace-covered skin.

She laughed and the door behind her swung wide. Her hand fisted in his shirt. His little minx whorled him around and gave him a playful shove. Talbot lost his balance and tripped, the bed catching his fall. He burst into a fit of laughter, too drunk to care.

She laid her body on top of his. Her lips sought his cheek and tasted before she slid off of him. “Ah, Talbot, someday I shall bed you, but for now your company awaits.” Her gossamer outfit swayed as she left the room. The door closed behind her and locked.

Paris had brought Talbot everything he desired, the most beneficial asset being the underground network for persons with unique tastes. Discreet and alluring, his deepest fantasies came alive within the walls of the brothel. His coin bought him almost anything.

“Where is my whore?” He chuckled.

“You promised you would be sober. And shaved.” Lean and fair skinned, a man draped in nothing but a sheer cloth around his waist walked out from behind one of the many curtains lining the room. He cocked a hip and twirled a finger in his long blond hair. Beneath the revealing fabric, his manhood twitched.

Talbot snorted, rubbing his beard. “I promise nothing, Tyeis, but the pleasure of my prick.” He crooked a finger as he unlaced his breeches. Tyeis rolled his eyes and tossed the fabric covering his body on the floor. Talbot grinned before dragging Tyeis down on top of him. His kiss was eager, threatening to swallow his lithe consort whole. His lover smelt of rose petals and lavender, soaking oils from a long bath at his request. Talbot’s fingers laced in Tyeis’s long locks as he tugged on his lower lip. A high-pitched moan escaped the small man’s throat.

Stalking Links:
Blog: http://kastil.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/KastilEavenshade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/PamBitner
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5283903.Kastil_Eavenshade

Click to buy Talbot's Ploy @ Evernight
Or click here for Talbot's Ploy on Amazon

 

The Garden of a Thousand Nightingales - Release and Giveaway

"Once upon the time, in an age of the world quite unlike our own, a little wood-elf met a great wizard.

That they met is already a wonder, because their lives were very different, as was their magic. A wood-elf cannot thrive in the stone towers of the walled cities of men, and the wizard did not care much for the whispering wilderness of the forest.

And yet, there was inside the elf's green soul an empty place of the exact same shape as the wizard's wry smile.

There was a long-lost song in the spiral of her ear that sang only for him, like the bramble rose, that deep in the tangled thorns of a forgotten garden, blooms only for the gold-ringed eyes of the blackbird.

In truth, he was her love and her destiny, and she had always ached for him, although she did not know it until the day she met him.

And this is the story of how they came to love each other"

In the whispering wilderness of the Sandoval forest, Dusk, an elusive wood-elf, is intent in preserving the fragile life of her hidden trees from the ravages of men, but once her natural green magic finds its match in the powerful wizardry of Juan Francisco Deva de la Torre Espinosa, Royal Astrologer and right hand of the Queen, her whole life changes course.

When their brief, sensuous starlit romance in the forest turns into a frightful quest in the bleak heart of the city, only the power of her wizard can save Dusk from the cruelty of men, and make a place where their love may blossom.

by Katherine Wyvern, with illustrations by flondo

-:-

Nightlingales, as I call it affectionately, is a love story. I don't refer only to the love story between the two characters but also to the love I have for a certain way of writing. I have always been fascinated by the language, the style and the traditional elements of fairy-tales, and the fairy-tale voice, as I call it, is the one that comes more natural to me. It is the voice that comes straight from my heart, without much brain intervention. Whether that is good or bad for a book I cannot say (I am going to find out soon, I guess), but it was the only possible voice for this particular story, which is, of all the things I ever wrote, my favourite.

I am tremendously happy to have had flondo onboard with this project of mine, not only in the making of the cover but of three fantastic illustrations which truly bring my world and my charachters to life. If you don't know who flondo is, I refer you to some of my older blog posts:

http://katherinewyvern.blogspot.fr/2012/04/flondo-inspiration.html

http://katherinewyvern.blogspot.fr/2012/05/eye-music-teaser.html

http://katherinewyvern.blogspot.fr/2012/05/q-with-flondo-yes-he-talks.html

Very special thanks are due to Karyn White for her patient and sympathetic editing of all my books.

It is with true emotional flutters that I announce the release of this story, and I hope it is as magical for you as it is for me (even after all the editing and formatting and ... ).

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of Nightingales.

Click on the banner for dowloading a free sample or purchasing your very own copy ;)