Hide – An Infected Flash Fic

If someone donates to my Ko-Fi , I take flash fic suggestions. Roan was the suggestion, and I figured I had nothing. Which is how you end up with this story, south of two thousand words, about how retirement is going from him. Short answer – it’s not. No matter what, Roan is going to Roan. But at least he’s trying.      **   A Tim Horton’s seemed like the weirdest possible place for this confrontation. But Greg was pretending to be Canadian, right? He was sticking to his cover identity, and you had to respect that, at least from a remove. Because otherwise, he was a despicable person. Such a piece of shit it was hard to believe he wasn’t part of the Trump administration. Yet. Give it time.   As it turned out, the coffee shop...

Flash fic – A Portrait of an Artist in Repose

I had an odd idea for a flash fic set in the Infected world, in the form of an interview with Dylan. Minor spoiler alert if you haven’t read the series, but why are you here if you haven’t? ** Now that Dylan Harlow is leaving the art world, collectors can’t get enough of him. “The art world is ridiculous,” the handsome artist says, gripping a glass of iced tea. “No one can buy it anymore. The one percent have made sure that only they can afford art, and yet most artists are starving anyway. Late stage capitalism is fun, huh?” He says this with a great deal of irony, especially considering he is speaking from the dining room of a neat, well appointed house on the outskirts of Vancouver. Through a gauzy curtain, the backyard is visible, as is his...

Infected universe short – Little Knives

A two part story with Chai and Holden. This one takes place months after Infected: Throwaways, but doesn’t really contain any spoilers, so you can read it regardless. ** Little Knives It was not what Chai was expecting, but what, in retrospect, had he expected? It wasn’t something he had honestly thought about. And yet, he still had unconscious expectations. Weird how that worked. All he knew was it was an address that was in a part of Seattle where he had never been, which was strange, because he’d been sure he’d been everywhere in this city. But it was on the seedier side of town, although far from seediest – otherwise known as his old stomping grounds. It had that odd zoning that seemed like it was all commercial until, bam, an A-frame house...

Infected Universe story – Anhedonia

I might be doing more of these, as I had a mad urge to wrap up some things, possibly things that don’t need wrapping up. But you know how authors are. Minor spoilers for Infected: Throwaways, if you haven’t read that yet, and CW – talk of abuse, eating disorders and drug use. ** Anhedonia A gay nightclub wasn’t the most obvious choice for a wake. And yet, it did a surprising amount of side business in that area. There had been talk about doing it at another gay club, Skylight, except it would definitely object to such a thing inside its walls. Also, Chai was certain they were too old, too poor, and too ethnic for that crowd. So here they were at Panic instead, mourning the guy you figured would outlive the rest of them – Trix....

Troublemaker, Part 2

I should apologize for taking so long to finish this story. Life got in the way, but so did my migraines, which have been on a real tear lately, and made everything hard. I also want to extend a special thank you to Simone F. That really helped a lot. ** 2 – In A Former Life 8-Ball squinted at the phone, and Chai got the distinct impression it was something of an act. Why? What was the point of that? “Oh yeah. This dude bought half my Freddie a coupla days ago.” Chai thought he was being honest, but he glanced at Holden for conformation. His expression was stone, so Chai honestly couldn’t tell. But he guessed Holden would have looked angrier if he’d thought he was being lied to. “He tell you why he wanted it?” 8-Ball chuckled and shrugged....

New Infected universe story – Troublemaker

You can consider this a tease of the new Infected novel, coming out in February. But really, I felt like cheering myself up, so here we are. A story about Holden and Chai, perhaps the strangest private investigators in the business, searching for someone, with an unexpected third wheel … ** 1 – Boy Division Chai had never been in a straight club before, and he felt like a spy behind enemy lines. Well, that was a tad over-dramatic, but he honestly couldn’t shake the feeling he didn’t belong here. The club had a sign near the door saying that all sexualities were welcome, so technically it wasn’t a straight club at all, right? Except he was surrounded by hetero couples, man/woman pairings all over the dance floor, and part of him felt like fleeing...

Infected/Holden flash fic- Karma

Holden meets a guy in a motel room. Things do not go as one of them planned. ** Holden agreed to meet him at the Pinecrest Motel at ten thirty, room 3-C. It was funny how a phone app could somehow make buying sex even more anonymous and impersonal than ever. Of course, you could get it for free with the app, and Romeo thought that’s what he was getting. Which is exactly what Holden wanted him to think. Much to his chagrin, he realized dressing for the part was his favorite thing about all of this. God, how stereotypical. He disgusted himself at times. Still, he couldn’t let on about his prostitute day job, so he went with jeans and a Seahawks t-shirt he picked up cheap at a grocery store – for fuck’s sake, they sold them at grocery stores! Why?!...

Infected Flashback Fic – Love Like Blood

For my birthday, I thought I’d treat myself to a little Roan fiction. Namely, teen Roan sneaking out to a punk concert, where something monumental happens. This is a little longer than I intended, because it’s been fun being back in Roan’s mindset. Yes, he can be wrong, but you can never underestimate how ballsy he is, even as a kid. Some people are just born warriors, and Roan’s one of them. Enjoy. And sorry for the length. ** Love Like Blood Roan wondered how long he had before he was caught. The thing was, when you were in a temporary crisis home, like he was, curfews were strict. You could work for some privileges, but there were none that were going to allow him to sneak out to a punk show in Seattle that he was too young to attend....

Infected Universe Short – The Crawl

This is a small story involving Grey and Scott, two of the Seattle Falcons hockey team from the Infected series. If you’ve never read those stories, you can follow this, which is just a little character piece during a night out on the town. I just thought we could all use a little something nice, since reality’s been really shitty lately. ** The Crawl Scott started this thing a couple of years ago, so it was weird to call it a tradition. But it kind of was anyway. Before the grueling training for hockey season began – and that window grew ever shorter, especially if you were in the pros – they all got together for what was essentially a marathon of drinking and eating foods they couldn’t touch while on a training regimen. Not that Grey worried...

Infected: Holden has a release date!

It’s September 20th. Click for more details.

Infected: Holden cover reveal!

I could have – and probably should have – done something special, or at least wait until the buy link was active, but screw it. I’m bypassing the middlemen and passing the savings on to you. Just promise me you’ll buy it when it’s out, and we’re all good. And, with no further ado, the cover –

A Story of the Infected Universe – Pride, Part 2

Considering all the awfulness that has happened since I wrote the first part of this story, I just wanted to write something nice. So that’s all this is. Something nice. ** Weirdly enough, Roan thought he could get into this, especially if a mosh pit formed. He was hoping maybe he could create one if nothing else. He ended up talking to some guys with Mohawks and band t-shirts, and they discussed music for a bit, especially the local scene. They were all despairing the upswing in twee bands, and were probably too down to start a mosh pit. Also, the music playing right now was dance music, as Holden had said, and it was impossible to mosh to that. Roan enjoyed this, until he realized he was at least ten years older than these guys, and he got depressed....

In time for Pride month – A Story From The Infected Universe: Pride

Consider this a “lost” chapter of the Infected Holiday Special – this isn’t technically a holiday. But it’s enough of an occasion that it’s worth mentioning. Roan’s first trip to a Pride Parade. Whether he likes it or not. ** Roan couldn’t believe what he had been reduced to. “I am not doing this,” he insisted, for what felt like the hundredth time. Dylan sighed, and opened his car door. “You are. Now get out.” With a dramatic groan, Roan got out of the car. They were in a parking garage, ground level, so it wasn’t a huge walk from there to the street. There were steady streams of people moving down the sidewalk, and Roan started popping peppermints to combat the overwhelming scent of so many people. He could...

Rainbow Snippet – From Infected: Holden #2 (WIP)

I don’t actually know what the title of this one is going to be, as I haven’t officially titled it yet. (Titles are the hardest thing for me.) But here’s a preview. ** Holden scoffed, mainly at his holier than thou tone. “You are aware that the only two people in the world who give a shit that he’s dead are in this room? We’re it. Burn may have been street, but he was a bottom feeder, and you’re not gonna find a lot of people mourning him. There’s probably already a line forming to take his place. “ Kevin’s dark glare continued, but he looked away after a moment, and ran a hand over his face, the only acknowledgement from Kevin that Holden was correct. *** Read more Rainbow snippets here: Rainbow Snippets on Facebook ...

Infected Holiday Special cover reveal! And pre-order link!

I’m just going to admit it: I love writing anything set in my Infected universe. The universe is very close to our own, with subtle and not so subtle differences, (That whole cat virus thing? And cults dedicated to it? Not subtle. Although an argument can be made for the cults ….) But more to the point, I love the characters. There are way, way more than I anticipated when I started writing it. I thought there’d be this small core group, but the world expanded, and suddenly I had a boatload of lovable and not quite lovable weirdoes. If there’s any overall theme to Infected as a whole, it’s that we’re all weirdoes, and it’s okay. Although some people are just weirder others. (And that’s okay too.) Somehow that all leads us to the upcoming Infected...

New Infected: Holden chapter!

So The Infected Holiday Special isn’t out until May 17th, and Infected: Holden isn’t out until fall. But I did start writing the next Holden book, and this is the first chapter of it. It’s not edited, but there are no spoilers for Infected: Holden. It’s just Holden acting as a P.I. on a case that just irritates him. Grumpy Holden is fun Holden. ** 1- A Guide To Men Holden had always been very proud of the fact that he didn’t give a shit about fashion. He was happy whenever he could subvert a shitty stereotype. Which was why it was annoying him that he was so bothered by his wardrobe. He prided himself on dressing to fit the role, whatever the role was, from cheap ass street hooker to classy, expensive dom. But dressing down to blend...

Infected Holiday Flash Fic – Throwaways

How does Holden spend the holiday, now that Roan has moved? Now you know. ** Throwaways Holden had been hoping global warming would eventually give Seattle a warm November, but no luck this year. He sunk deeper into his bomber jacket and felt like an idiot. He needed a more stylish warm weather jacket, but what was that? They probably existed, but he had no idea where to look for them. Once a peasant, always a peasant, he supposed. He wished gay boys were just born with a fashion guide in their hand, like some assholes seemed to think, but he supposed he and Roan – especially Roan – were living proof that this was not true. The boulevard was as close to deserted as it ever got, because most people were home, dealing with the bullshit holiday that was...

Holden, Part 3

3 – Krill Holden was in the shower, pondering whether he should use the fruity smelling conditioner or the one that smelled a bit like bad aftershave – for some stupid reason, all “men’s conditioner” was a variation of bad aftershave – when his phone hummed and jittered on the sink. Because of its proximity to the porcelain, it made much more noise than he anticipated, and was kind of startling. Still, he conditioned his hair, mixing both kinds together, because what was he, an animal? He wasn’t risking split ends due to a text. When he got out of the shower, he checked his phone, and saw that he was indeed texted an address from an unknown number. Towel around his waist and still dripping, he went to the living room so he could check the...

Holden continues, Part 2

As a New Year’s treat, here’s part 2 of the Holden story. Mostly set up, but I hope it pays off … 2 – Part Man/Part Negative Space Holden headed home to take a shower and wash the blood and fear stink off of him. Other people’s fear stink was always the worst, as it seemed to cling to you like cigarette smoke. Still, he had this good peppermint goat’s milk soap that seemed to obliterate any scent, no matter how tenacious. Even hockey stink, which he knew was difficult to get rid of at the best of times. Afterward, he slipped into his velvet “lounging pants” (pyjama pants, but that seemed too immature), and poured himself a big tumbler full of gin, which he threw a lemon wedge in for vitamins. (He could just about hear...

A little holiday treat – Merry Christmas, Roan

If you know anything about Roan, you probably know he’s not big on holidays. Which is probably why I’m putting together a collection of Infected shorts based around holidays. He may hate them, but he keeps running up against them again and again. This one concerns him and Dylan at Christmas, a holiday that neither particularly look forward to. But it’s good to have friends. ** Merry Christmas, Roan Roan was taking a long, hot bath, when he thought he heard voices downstairs. Now Dylan was up, he knew that simply because he could smell his heavenly huevos rancheros cooking, and also he wasn’t in bed when he woke up. But Roan assumed Dylan was alone. It was technically Christmas Eve, though. Had his sister Sheba come over? Dylan normally told...

Chapter 1 of the untitled Holden spin-off

Maybe you know by now that I’m working on an Infected Holden spin-off. I have no idea what the title will be (Infected: Holden makes sense in one respect, but not in another), but I do have a first chapter I thought I’d share with you. Holden is a very different beast than Holden, as you surely know, and any story told from his point of view is going to be different. Perhaps this chapter is a good representation of that. As you can see, he’s going soft. *cough (*Using sarcasm online. Always a tricky proposition.) 1 – Blood, Muscles, Bone His cell phone hummed in his pocket, and Holden answered it without looking. It could only be Otter. “It’s him,” he said, and hung up. Holden pocketed his phone, and pulled the black leather gimp mask...

The First Chapter of Infected: Epitaph

Out November 18th! While it wasn’t the first time Roan had been at Gracie’s diner at one in the morning, it was the first time he’d been here with Dee. Roan had been at Panic, trying to make up with Dylan for a fight they’d had earlier (over Roan sleeping in the cage, of course, a common thing to fight about nowadays), when Dee called him and asked to meet at the all-night diner. He sounded so oddly subdued and distracted that Roan agreed. He wondered if Dee and Luke had finally broken up for good. When he arrived, he found Dee at a back corner table, alone with a cup of diesel-grade coffee and a picked-at slice of apple pie. On closer inspection, Roan realized Dee hadn’t eaten any of it, simply autopsied it with his fork, leaving a jumble of innards...

Infected short: Saint Patrick’s Lament

Just a couple of things, as a bit of background. I’m putting together a collection of holiday related Infected universe set shorts. Why? Because it struck me as a kind of funny idea, as holidays don’t really mean a lot to Roan or his friends. But in the course of writing these, I have discovered there are things I actually want to say. Be it ruminations on them themselves, as characters, background info, or small moments that never made it to the novels but feel like missing scenes. Which brings me to Connor Monaghan, Roan’s tragic, bad boyfriend. For a man who’s never technically showed up in any of the Infected novels (a dream sequence doesn’t count), he plays a huge part. Roan did love the guy, and yet Roan also left him shortly...

Infected: A Day In The Life

I was kind of curious to check in with Dropkick, one of Roan’s few cop buddies, and see how she saw Roan. So here’s a story that does just that. ** Not for the first time, Darinda Murphy was sure that she was married to a crazy person. If the alarm clock was on her side of the bed, she’d have probably have had it tuned to the Mexican pop station, because it was the type of music that annoyed her enough to wake her up, but didn’t annoy her enough to make her homicidal. (That would be the country station.) But it was on Kim’s side of the bed, since Darinda had broken the last two clocks (the second time was an accident, but Kim didn’t believe her), and she kept it tuned to NPR. Their low voices and dry subjects threatened to put Darinda back to...

Infected: Devil’s Night, Part 2

  The story concludes here. But it could always go on, I know … * Another thing that sucked about hunting big cats in the city? The noise level. Roan could hear everything around him, from the music leaking from Panic to the music thudding from car stereos jacked up to weaponized levels, to conversations on the street to revving motors at red lights, to the audio cues from electronic street signs. It was easy to get distracted by this discordant symphony of noise, but it didn’t have the built in, inherent danger of scents. That’s where the real danger was.   His sense of smell was better than his hearing (although his hearing was a bit better than the average human –lucky him) by far. He was a legal bloodhound, after all. But what absolutely...

Infected: Devil’s Night, Part 1

Yes! So, I got a mad posh to offer another free Infected story, this time taking place on Halloween. Only it became a longer one than I expected. So here’s part one of Devil’s Night.   ** Infected: Devil’s Night       Sometimes, Roan was genuinely horrified at how geeky he was. At least he wasn’t alone.   Panic was having a big Halloween party, and it fell on one of Dylan’s work nights, so of course he was going to do it up big. He wanted Roan there, and he knew he’d have to be in costume too.   He grumped about it, but the truth was, Halloween was probably the only holiday Roan genuinely liked. When he was a kid, he loved dressing up, and most of all he loved free candy. What kid didn’t?t He didn’t...

A Roan & Dylan short – Art, Interrupted

Just a brief, fluffy story, but I felt it’s the least I owe everyone. ** Roan put his finger against the plastic fishbowl, wondering if the big goldfish inside would see it. He wasn’t going to tap it, because that seemed cruel, and non-humans had to stick together, right? Unless one was dinner, but that was another story. Besides, if Dyl had his way, he’d be the first vegetarian lion in existence. (Possibly also the last.) Dylan pulled out one of the red leather stools and sat beside him. “We’re not so bored we’re taunting the fish, are we?” For whatever reason, the goldfish and its habitat were planted on the bar of this art gallery/bar. It wasn’t a part of the exhibition; it was just the pet of the gallery. Or more...

Pub Crawl – A Roan & Paris Short

Since Infected: Epitaph has been pushed back a couple months to accommodate the new publisher, I’ve decided to put out some shorts as an apology to fans. There should be a free downloadable short coming soon, but until then, I’ll be posting short ones on the website. Consider them “cut scenes”, lost moments between mysteries. The first is all about Roan and Paris … and Randi? ** “How did you blackmail me into this again?” Roan asked. Paris gave him his most charming grin, which was powerful enough to persuade a dead man to come back to life. “Blackmail is such an ugly word,” Paris replied, putting his arms around him and resting his chin on Roan’s shoulder, so he could look at Roan in the mirror. “I encouraged you to go...

Another brief bit of Infected: Paris …

This time, as requested, with Paris in it. But it’s short … ** “I’m about done with that Bruen book you brought me,” Paris said, around a mouthful of breakfast croissant. Paris still ate like a feral cat, like he was afraid someone was going to rip it away at any second, and Roan didn’t begrudge him that at all. There had been times in his life when he was that hungry. “When I started reading it, I wondered how anyone could write a book with so few words, y’know. I mean, he hardly describes much of anything, does he? But then at some point I got sucked in. He can say a lot with a little.” Roan smiled. That’s what he always thought about Bruen. “A good way to put it. He has a lot of the terse machismo of Hemingway without a lot of the...

A snippet of Infected: Paris ….

Just to prove I am indeed working on it. Keep in mind, this is unedited, so there may be errors. You’ll have to forgive me for them. ** Roan was aware of a minor headache just starting to bloom when there was a knock at his door. He wasn’t expecting anyone, but he never expected anyone. He wasn’t much for entertaining. Roan opened the door, hoping for the UPS guy (he wasn’t Paris hot, but he was pretty easy on the eyes as long as you didn’t look down at his knobby knees), but it was Dee, dressed down in civilian clothes for once, in jeans and a red plaid shirt. “I thought grunge was dead,” Roan said. Dee frowned at him. “You’d know more about that than me. C’mon, get your coat, we’re going out.” “You remember we broke up,...

9 – Strange Beast Holden wondered if he had inherited Roan’s self-destructive streak as well as his detective job. Was that a per-requisite he’d been unaware of? When Scott texted him his hotel name and room number, along with a request to come by, Holden figured he’d go there and let him know that maybe they should stop this, whatever the hell this was. But as soon as he was in the door, Scott basically tackled him with one of his overwhelming kisses, the kind that made him feel like Scott was trying to consume him in some way. But Scott was also shirtless, and pressed him up against the door, and how could Holden not respond to that? Once again, Holden found himself surprised by his own libido, while Scott wasn’t surprised at all. They couldn’t get...

Want to see the cover to Infected: lesser Evils ..?

  Here it is! The book will be available for purchase October 5th.  

Chapter 1 of Infected: Shift

Lost at Birth Roan was so bored he’d decided that Tanning Salon Pervert would be the perfect name for his biography. As he’d flipped through the TV channels last night, the information bar had been visible at the bottom of the screen, and as he surfed past one news magazine program, he saw their episode was titled “Tanning Salon Pervert.” He didn’t watch it—on general principle he refused to watch anything that called itself a news magazine—but the words intrigued him. They sounded wrong in a wonderfully obtuse way, like “peanut butter hut” or “purple elephant pedophile.” Now, he’d never been in a tanning salon, and whether he was a pervert or not was subjective and almost totally hinged on your personal interpretation of the Bible (if...

Roan’s guide to Valentine’s day

I really wouldn’t follow it. Roan’s Guide to Valentine’s Day on SJD Peterson Blog

The Infected books, in order

I should have done this a while ago, but I didn’t, because I can be an idiot like that. So these are the published books, in order:   Book 1: Infected: Prey Book 2: Infected: Bloodlines Book 3: Infected: Life After Death Book 4: Infected: Freefall Book 5: Infected: Shift Book 6: Infected: Lesser Evils Book 7: Infected: Undertow Book 7.5: Infected: The Lost Weekend Book 8: Infected: Epitaph   And all releases are, of course, available here:

Preview of the next Infected story, Infected: Revolution

I’ll get to this one soon, but I still have some other work on the table. Still, just to prove I haven’t forgotten, a teaser. **** 1- Haunt You It was going to be a clusterfuck, of that there was no doubt. The only question was how big a clusterfuck. Roan wasn’t going to bother the Kims with any of this,and although Randi requested to be kept in the loop, he spared her from this as well. Mainly he kept this between him, Holden, and Fiona, although even that wasn’t strictly true. He told Dylan, and even though Scott had been called up to the Vancouver Canucks, Holden had obviously clued him in, as Richie had called Roan to offer his help (along with Jeff’s, whom he was going to drag into things whether he wanted to be in it or...

New soundtrack!

Because I love making these things. Roan’s Mix #4 from notmanos on...

Infected: Freefall released today! New soundtrack!

You just knew there was going to be...

Author’s note ….

Due to some contractual obligations – and the writing of the Infected: Paris prequel (oh yes, that’s happening), there will probably be a longer than average gap between Roan stories. But fear not! This is not the end. Just a brief hiatus until I can get ahead of my deadlines. Thank you for your patience, and for reading. (Infected: Freefall is out November 25th, in ebook and paperback form, in case you need a fix before I return.)

Voting in the Rainbow Awards Cover Contest continues!

And if you want to continue to show me and Anne Cain a little love for Infected: Bloodlines or Infected: Life After Death, I’d be grateful. http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1427480.html  

Trick or Treat – The Roan & Paris Halloween short

Available as a download from Dreamspinner Press as part of their “Halloween Howl” promotion, it’s now here, in case you never found it or got a chance to read it. N.B.” For completists, this takes place just before Infected: Prey. ****   ROAN looked at the articulated skeleton on his office door with a frown. “No.” Paris grinned, like he was making a joke. “You are such a stick in the mud. It’s cute!” “We’re a detective agency. We don’t put skeletons on our doors or have bowls of candy on our desks,” Roan exclaimed, aware he was sounding just like an uptight asshole. Gods, shoot him now. “What kind of demented child would go trick or treating at an office park anyway?” Paris plopped down behind...

Infected: Freefall, out November 25th!

Yaay! A cover and a release date, all at once! What a Happy Halloween for me.

The cover for Infected: Freefall

No solid release day yet, but a cover exists! And here it is. (Also, note the wrist tattoo.)

Free Roan & Paris story!

Free lost Roan & Paris story! Dreamspinner Press has an October promotion, “Halloween Howl”, where free stories by many authors are hidden around their site. I contributed a small Roan & Paris story! Where? Well, get the details at Dreamspinner’s page: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php

A new Infected playlist …

… up at Grooveshark. Because Spotify is a bit of poo.  http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Andrea+Speed+s+Infected+Soundtrack+Playlist+number+1/60738645

Saturday Snark

This is an excerpt from Infected: Prey . Roan’s searching for a teenager who may have ran away from home, and seems to have been obsessed with infecteds, making him concerned he might have run off to the Church of the Divine Transformation. That’s where we are when this snark off begins: ***** As soon as he was done, Paris took his seat, cracked open his soda, and decided to play devil’s advocate. “This is all supposition, you know. Maybe he was a bit obsessed with infecteds, but ran off to join the Hare Krishnas.” “Or the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Roan replied, playing along. “The Evangelicals.” “The Mormons.” “The Shakers,” Paris insisted, raising his eyebrows in a comic manner. Oh no, he wasn’t laughing now. “The...

You may notice Freefall and Bloodletting are gone from the archives …

… because I just signed a contract with Dreamspinner to publish them! More details as they arrive.

Six Sentence Sunday

More teasing of Infected: Paris. And still, it’s just a tease. Once outside, and looking around for security cameras that might have caught incidental footage of the incident, Roan caught a glimpse of the bumper of the car parked in the alley. It was an old car, a 60’s model at least (maybe ‘70’s – truth be told, he didn’t know his cars that well), and the windshield was blocked with cardboard inserts on the inside. Interesting. Usually such things indicated someone was living in a car, or just too cheap to buy a sunshade, but the age of the car and the rust on the bumper seemed to suggest it wasn’t being driven much. Was someone living in the car? If so, if they were here last night, they were in prime position to see someone screwing around...

Latest Infected soundtrack …

Yes, I know I need to stop making these. But it’s so fun!

Six Sentence Sunday

Participating again, and this time, it’s the first sentences in the Infected: Prey prequel, Infected: Paris. Roan is working a case, and it’s not exactly a glamorous one.   ****   It was times like these that Roan knew he’d made a big mistake becoming a private detective. Of course it was his fault. He lost his temper at that redneck shitbag, he was  lucky he wasn’t sued and that the Seattle PD didn’t decide to make an example of him. Which was probably why he was back in the PD’s evidence room, looking at a road kill squirrel in a plastic bag.  Even though the bag was sealed,  Roan could still smell the blood, guts, and rot through the supposedly airtight seal. As he rubbed his nose, doing his best not to gag, Kevin Robinson...

Six Sentence Sunday ….

This is a nifty promotional thingy, so I thought I’d play. Find all the participants here: http://www.sixsunday.com/ My six sentences are from Infected: Life After Death, the latest book. ******* As Roan grasped his upper arm firmly, trying to staunch the flow of blood, he wondered how he‟d gotten himself into this mess. Maybe the problem was this was another male lion, one not inclined to fold, but also, he could smell illness coming off of it—it wasn‟t right in body or mind, and therefore it was not assessing threats correctly. The panicky people didn‟t help either; their fear was sharp in the air, and it was making Roan salivate just as much as the lion growling in the alley. “Roan—” Dylan asked pleadingly, visible in his peripheral...

Win an e-book copy of Infected: Life After Death!

Check here for details. http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/1255144-e-book-giveaway

Infected: Life After Death is out today!

And so the second half of the soundtrack is out!

New soundtrack!

Because Infected: Life After Death finally has a release date, I decided to release the first part of the soundtrack. (You know how I love making these.) The second part will go up about May 16th, day of release of the book. This mix varies between mournful and angry, with a curveball or two thrown in. You know, a couple of stages of...

Release date!

Infected: Life After Death will be released May 16th!  Blurb follows: In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds. But when your heart is gone, it’s easy to fall into a black hole and never crawl out. Roan has been lost and alone for more than a year, and his best friends think a new case might be just the motivation he needs. Roan forces himself back into the game and discovers a dead man who might not be all that dead, a street hustler that wants to hustle him, and a dominatrix who is well prepared to take Roan’s orders. As Roan claws his way out of the darkness by diving back into his work, he finds himself in a race against...

Non spoiler tease for Infected: Life After Death

No release date yet, beyond May, but here’s a snippet from the upcoming book. No spoilers, so even if you haven’t read Infected: Prey and Infected: Bloodlines, you can read this, no harm, no foul. Well, there’s some bad language, but you should be used to that from me by now. **** Roan was shaking and feeling both edgy and slightly ill when there was a knock at the door. He was sure he couldn’t do this, but the drugs cast a comforting pall on his panic. He had nothing to worry about. She‟d take one look at the crazy, homeless guy look he currently had going on and run away screaming. Problem solved. Roan opened the door on a short woman wearing a blue, floral-patterned dress and thick, black-rimmed glasses that were endearing in their...

Welcome newcomers!

If you are new to my page, hello!  Feel free to look around. Most of it is writing. Speaking of which (what a segue), I have two out in print which you might want to check out if you haven’t already. Infected: Prey, out through Dreamspinner Press (available there and at Amazon, as well as other book retailers), is the beginning of the story for Roan McKichan, a private detective who is a rare “virus child”, someone born infected with the lion strain of a cat virus. He exists in a world much like our own, only with these werecat infecteds, who are hated, feared, and occasionally worshiped, depending on people and circumstances. With his partner, Paris Lehane, and even more rare tiger strain, he tries to get the bottom of a case where it seems...

New music mix!

New soundtrack. And here’s the sad thing about this “love theme” (with few love songs) mix – I can break them down to specific characters. And if you’d like to know which songs are for which characters, read on. By character: Roan’s songs: Blackest Eyes, Weak and Powerless, 18 Wheels, I Lived My life To Stand In The Shadow of Your Heart, Thugs, Honeythief Paris’s songs: You Were The Last High, Plans, Between The Bars Dylan’s songs: Airport Surroundings, Special, You and Me, Holden’s songs: D Is For Dangerous (although, to be fair, this could apply to Paris as well), Criminal Matt’s song: Prisoner (poor Matt) The starting and ending songs – Julius and Infected, respectively – are general songs...

A new reader story primer

If you’ve read Infected: Prey and/or Infected: Bloodlines and found my blog, thank you for visiting. Infected started as serial fiction here, and I still continue to write it here. The world is just too much fun to play in, and besides, I’ve expanded it with all these weird characters who are effortless to write. But for those wondering where the fiction here relates to the book, I thought it was about damn time I put up a “primer”. I number the stories as “books”, so Infected and Prey were book #1 & 2, and Infected: Bloodlines is #3. The upcoming Infected: Life After Death will contain books 4 & 5 (Life After Death and Hysteria, respectively). The stories available in the Infected fiction archive start with #6, Freefall. You probably could...

You may notice Infected: Hysteria missing …

… from the back catalog. That’s because it’s paired up with Infected: Life After Death in the soon to be published book! Well, soon is relative, because I just signed the contract. But I have a trilogy! So thank you, readers, take a bow. I’m indebted to you.

Want an autographed copy of Infected: Bloodlines?

On December 17th, the day of release, I will be at Dreamspinner’s blog – http://dreamspinnerpress.com/blog/ – hanging around, posting nonsense, probably running a contest for a free e-book or two. But if you buy a paperback copy of Infected: Bloodlines from their store that day, the first 25 people will get an autographed copy. So please stop by, and I will do my best to be entertaining.

A new music mix …

… ’cause, why not?

A “lost” chapter from Infected: Prey …

N.B.: This short story is a “lost” chapter of Infected: Prey, which takes place within that story’s time frame, after the episode with Matt Skouris and his stalker (called by him “Rambo”), within the story Prey. So there’s some warning – if you haven’t read it or read that far, there’s a very mild spoiler. ***** Gold For Bread It was after Hipster Doofus’s latest visit to the coffee shop that Matt realized he didn’t want to be a barista anymore. It wasn’t the Hipster’s fault. It was probably a revelation he’d had before and simply forgotten. He wanted to blame the history of drug abuse for his hummingbird attention, but the truth was he’d always had...

The cover to Infected: Bloodlines …

It releases in December. I’ll let you know the exact date when I know it.

Win an e-book copy of Infected: Prey!

Go here for details: http://www.ebookaddictreviews.com/2010/09/26/potluck-sunday-win-a-book/ Good luck!

Great review! And the Rainbow Cover Awards continues …

I got a very nice review from Lambda Literary, which you can check out here: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/09/18/infected-prey-by-andrea-speed/comment-page-1/#comment-11012 And the Rainbow Cover Awards contest continues, and yes, Infected: Prey is still in it. Go and vote for it if you’re so inclined. http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1123729.html

Rainbow Awards Cover Contest Continues …

Yaay! Infected: Prey made it to Round two. Go show me and Anne Cain some love and go vote: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1116735.html (You’ll find the book in slot four.) Thanks!

If I were casting Infected as a movie …

.. or TV show. (Really, I think this was made for the serial format, but what do I know?) I was talking with a friend, and we decided to “cast” this imaginary project. So I thought just for fun I’d share my idea of what it would look like, if I were the god and could make this happen. For whatever reason, I had the hardest time casting the leads. The secondary characters were damn easy, but Roan and Paris? In fact, I haven’t cast Paris at all – my friend suggested a name, so I’ve included him. She didn’t like my idea for Roan, feeling he isn’t big enough, but had no suggestion of her own. So that’s all noted. Here’s my idea (and one of hers): Roan: Holy shit, was this a hard one. I’m still not one...

Welcome new readers!

Hello! If you’ve reade Infected: Prey and found my blog, thank you for visiting. Infected started as serial fiction here, and I still continue to write it here. The world is just too much fun to play in, and besides, I’ve expanded it with all these weird characters who are effortless to write. But for those wondering where the fiction here relates to the book, I thought it was about damn time I put up a “primer”. I number the stories as “books”, so Infected and Prey were book #1 & 2. The ones coming up in Infected: Bloodlines are #3 & 4 (Life After Death). The stories available in the Infected fiction archive start with #5, Hysteria. You probably could read it with little confusion, although there is a spoiler of sorts...

Book news!

Dreamspinner Press will be publishing the sequel to Infected: Prey, presumably titled Infected: Bloodlines, by the end of the year. Which is why you will find the stories Bloodlines and Life After Death gone from the archives. (Sorry.) But hopefully you’ll be willing to check out the book. 😀 I’ll be posting more details as they become available. How cool is this? (I’ll go ahead and answer – very cool.)

Book day!!!!!

The book is out today! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!! If the frightening cat didn’t scare you off, it’s available here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_274 The book, not the cat.

The book cover! And other stuff.

So Infected: Prey has a June 25th release date, and here is the cover: Yes, that’s Roan, as imagined by the cover artist. He’s kind of hot. Love the tight shirt (okay, that’s more Paris than him, but I won’t quibble.) Also, I have a short story in Dreamspinner’s upcoming “Making Contact” science fiction anthology. I think that’s got an August release, but don’t quote me. And, in recognition of all of this, I have another mix collection. Because why...

New mix, for your listening pleasure …

This is the Panic mix. You’ll have to supply your own shirtless bartenders, though.

New mix ….

This is Dylan’s mix, and it’s a bit more mellow than most of the previous mixes, reflecting his personality:

Announcement!

You may notice that Infected and Prey are no longer available in the archives. This is because it’s going to be published! WOOHOO! I’ll give you more details on the published version of Infected: Prey when they become available. But I’d like to thank all my fabulous readers, as you made this possible. Thank you all so very much.

More noise ….

Roan made a mix CD for the Falcons to listen to, so here it is: It’s noisy, yes, but also surprisingly funny. This probably represents Roan’s sense of humor better than any other mix....

Another soundtrack!

This is the Holden mix, which is a bit different from the others. Not just because Holden likes himself a bit of emo, but because many of these songs seem to capture specific attitudes and philosophies  of the character. Trying to figure out what applies and what doesn’t may make your head hurt, but that’s Holden in a...

New mix, for your listening pleasure …

By request, here’s the Paris version of the Infected soundtrack. For everyone who likes to dance, and some who like a little Brit rock....