Haevyn - A first Glimpse, and something about names

I was going to share a bit about the E.L.L.C. - the elite logical life core, this week, but this morning I received the final cover for Haevyn.

Here it is, the cover for my upcoming novel, Haevyn, the second book in the Humanotica series, coming from Samhain Publishing. I've just been given permission to share it. Due to be released in March 2012.

My thanks to Kanaxa, who has done an absolutely fabulous job in capturing the essence of Haevyn with her imagery for this cover.

What's this story about?

Duty and honor demand the ultimate sacrifice.

Everyone has their poison. For Haevyn Breina, it’s her inability to resist a dare. This time it’s a challenge from her friend and lover, Grisha, to sneak into the popular, illegal cage fights that always end in all-male orgies. Eagerly she snaps up the gauntlet, unaware that she will end the night forever changed.

When expatriate humanotic warrior Entreus locks eyes with Haevyn at the sex-fueled event, he is instantly captivated. Despite a duty that binds him to an exiled malevolent sorcerer, he seeks her out in a shattering, illuminating encounter.

Grisha’s plan is in motion—to bring both his warrior lovers together and heal their scarred souls with a combined passion that he alone cannot provide. But Haevyn’s tormented past refuses to die. And Entreus will not rest until the Core that ruined his life is destroyed.

Amid ever-tangling emotions and a brutal plot to take over the city, the three lovers walk a tightrope that could be cut at any moment. Fighting for justice, bound by duty…and a love that could alter the foundations of their world.

Warning: Watch out for oiled-up, naked trinespined warriors battling for top position, feisty tracer females that fit oh-so-snugly in between, and sexy nights that segue into complex relationships. Beware of tebitcheckers wielding those nasty little contulators at illegal, testosterone-drenched cage confrontations.


Something to think about. In naming my characters I often look to name meanings or what I want the name to say about a person. With Entreus, I wanted sort of a gladiatorial sort of name and came up with his name. For Haevyn, it's sort of a play on what she's unconsciously seeking. And with Grisha - well, Grisha is a Russian from of Gregory. And if one looks up the meaning of Gregory, it means "vigilant watchman." I think in many ways this name is appropriate for him.

And those illegal cage confrontations are officially, or unofficially called...Cockrage Events. Man games.

Creating the City of Quentopolis

The mind really does have a way of working in mysterious ways and I have to admit mine works pretty strangely at times. In creating Quentopolis, the city-state at the heart of my Humanotica series, and which sits at rather a rift of time and space, likened perhaps to a worm hole, known as the "Dimensional Borders," I started playing around with some photos I had taken of machinery parts.

Some people do their world building rather more logically perhaps, but I don't think I'm often accused of being logical. And I can't draw for beans. But I do love photography.

The first image I played around with was a close-up of railroad ties. I came up with this first image you see here. What drew my eye first was that little dot in the middle and I tagged it as being the Central Business District of Quentopolis, with the rest of the city spreading out from that nucleus. This is also where the financial district--the Tebit Square Exchangeable would be located. And it is the political seat of the Concilium-Politico Offices.

There is a darkness to this city. This first image looks rather like it came from a science fiction piece doesn't it? Maybe sort of like a timepiece that one wears on the wrist if you look at it just right. The image was founded from what I think of as a steam or steampunk-based image. That's sort of what this series tends to be--scifantasy--erotic scifantasy.

I played some more, with another image this time. I think this one came from a wheel of an old steam engine, but I can't remember. In this image I started to see the main quadrants of Quentopolis. There is the central quadrant at the center of the intersecting four other districts of the city. Then we have the Waterfront District, or Moondown Water District to the right or east, which includes the factory and workhouses, the wharves, where the working class reside. To the opposite side of the central business district, on the left or west, is the Elite District, a total opposite to the Moondown District, as noted by its name, and above the Central district to the north is the Midlands District, a relatively uninhabited, mountainous region. To the northeast of the Midlands District is where the Dimensional Borders and the transit stations are located. Extasia, an isolated district, is where the official home of the Dominatae nobility is located. That would be on the other side of a range of mountains at the northern borders of the Midlands District.

Creating this world isn't a simple process, and does have a way of continuing to morph and change as I discover more about the city and its inhabitants, and it's architecture. But this is how it started as I tried to visualize the layout of the city and who might live there.

I moved from this to actually creating a rough map with a software program, and if you're curious, you can find it at the Humanotica website.

Silver, the first book in the Humanotica series, is available at Samhain Publishing, or any other retailer of fine books. Haevyn, the second book in the series is schedule for release in early 2012.

And currently I now need to return to working on the third book in the series, tentatively titled, "Kestra." The outline is underway and I'm excited to find out what new surprises and adventures the characters have in store.

Guest Blogging Today - The Erotic Mind of a Twisted Fantasy Writer

Today I'm guest blogging at Gabriella Hewitt's blog, talking about my novel, Silver. Take a moment to stop by. Musings from my twisted imagination, one might say. Something to start your week out with. The Erotic Imagination of a Twisted Fantasy Writer.