Hello
Posted by Kiran in Bedevil, News, Uncategorized on 2011/08/23
Hi! My name is Kiran Hunter and I write dark fiction. My debut short story, Bedevil, has just been released by Etopia Press. There will be more tales to come that are pure escapism as well as others that say a little more about us as human beings.
This site is still new – so drop in again to find interviews and writing news.
I hope you enjoy reading …
Thanks for stopping by.
K
Vienna Valentine – Antonia van Zandt
Posted by Kiran in Authors, Guest Blogs, Releases on 2013/02/10
Today I’m delighted to have the lovely Antonia van Zandt with me to talk about her latest release, Vienna Valentine, and a certain creature of the night…
Over to Antonia:
My latest paranormal erotic romance, Vienna Valentine, features a trio of werewolves. Well, with all the lush green pine forests that blanket so much of the Austrian countryside – not to mention the Vienna Woods themselves – you might expect to come across the odd shapeshifting canis lupus, mightn’t you?
In Austria, there are many old folk tales of werewolves, and I’m afraid that none I know of contain such passionate and beautiful creatures as Magda, Jakob and Karl in my story. So, today I’ll share with you the strange and deadly tale of
The Werewolf of Neffer
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin:
Way back in the sixteenth century, in an old Austrian village called Neffer, there lived a woodcutter. One day, as he was out in the forest chopping wood to sell to his neighbours, he heard a gigantic crash. He looked behind him, but all he could see was darkness. Then he realised why. He raised his head and looked up. Towering above him was a massive wolf, standing on tiptoes, paws outstretched ready to grab him. But most frightening of all was the demonic, slavering grin on its face.
The woodcutter set off and ran for his life. For hours he sped through the forest, while all the while, behind him, he heard the crashing of felled trees and huge, thumping paws that made the earth shake with every step.
When he finally reached the edge of the forest, he had left the village ten miles behind him. He fell to the ground, gasping for breath, his heart hammering in his chest. He dared to look behind him but could see nothing but the trees. He listened. No sound of trees falling or thudding paws.
But then he heard sounds that chilled his blood, turning it to ice in his veins.
The hideous, agonising screams of his fellow villagers.
Terrified to go back into the forest, the woodcutter made a long detour around it, to return to his village. The sight that met him there was horrific. The buildings were destroyed. Flattened as if trampled into the ground. And then there were his friends, neighbours, family. All lay dead, hideously murdered and torn apart by the fearsome beast, who, having accomplished his demonic work, moved on…
You’ll be relieved to know that the Neffer werewolf makes no appearance in Vienna Valentine. Here’s the blurb:
On a hot summer night in Vienna, wolves dream of passion…
Escaping from a disastrous marriage, Nina comes to stay with friends in Vienna for a much-needed holiday. Love is the last thing she’s looking for, but when she sees the hot couple in the apartment below making love on their balcony, she can’t take her eyes off them. When they invite her to join them for a night of pleasure, how can she refuse? Captivated by the handsome, seductive Karl, Nina agrees and has the hottest sex of her life. It’s just supposed to be a bit of fun. A one-night stand.
But one night of passion with this gorgeous, mysterious man is not enough. There’s something unusual about him. But what is his secret? And why won’t he let her look at him when they make love? When she finally learns the truth, Karl’s life hangs in the balance, and Nina must leave, never knowing if she’ll ever see him again…
WARNING: Vienna Valentine contains strong sexual themes, language and scenes. Strictly for broadminded, over 18s. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Vienna Valentine is available from:
I love to welcome people to my blog and connect with them on Twitter and Facebook. Here are the links:
http://antoniavanzandt.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/antonia.vanzandt
https://twitter.com/AntoniavanZandt
(If you’d like to look at a website dedicated to Werewolves, here’s one: http://www.werewolves.com/)
Eden – #SeductiveStuds Bloghop
Posted by Kiran in Eden, Halloween Heat on 2013/02/09
Hi – today I’ve an excerpt from my All Hallows Eve Short story Eden, which you can find in the Halloween Heat M/M anthology.
Eden
His hand was warm, and he held mine in his strong grip. His skin felt rough, calloused from working with carpenters’ tools. He released my hand and I slipped the carved acorn into my pocket.
“Treasure it,” he said.
“Of course.”
The man laughed. “Of course.” His echo of my words was tinged with scorn and his face clouded with doubt. He rose to his feet – a formidable sight – a large, strong man, taller than me, stripped to the waist, his legs clad in some rough, woven cloth tied at the waist with a cord, his feet bare. That he had the delicacy of touch needed to create such fine objects was a mystery, but when he reached out to caress my face his touch was so gentle I caught my breath and understood in a moment…
To visit the other participants in the Saturday Seductive Studs Bloghop click on the banner below. 
Enjoy!
Saturday Seductive Studs Bloghop – #seductivestuds
Posted by Kiran in Bedevil, Uncategorized on 2013/02/02
Hi!
I’m not sure that I have a seductive stud for you, but I do have a seductive demon I’d like to share. Below is an excerpt from my M/M short story Bedevil, introducing Luka, a house guest with a difference…
The warning cry from the rusting gate ripped his senses awake, but his mind was slow to follow. All Luka was aware of at first was the agony of sound and the warm trickle of blood from his ears. His muscles stretched as he moved, tendons almost tearing from the bone as he unraveled his body from its fetal position. He wailed with the new pain—a feeble echo of the metal against metal outside. His first intake of breath rasped down his throat and burned into his lungs. He clamped his mouth shut and breathed in deeply through his nose. The house was different—the odor of dust and mold and damp was still there, but something else too. The protesting gate had heralded the arrival of new flesh. He could smell it.
A river of cold air flowed across his pain-wracked body, caressing his arms, his chest, his legs—the outside world finding a way through a crack in his prison and reawakening his nerve endings to remind him of what he had been without for so long.
Touch. Skin against skin. Breath on skin…
You can read more from Bedevil HERE
To visit other participating authors, click on the banner below…and enjoy
Guest Blog – Elin Gregory – On a Lee Shore
Posted by Kiran in Authors, Guest Blogs, Releases, Uncategorized on 2012/12/18
Today I’m handing my blog over to fellow Etopia Press author, Elin Gregory!
Many thanks, Kiran for allowing me space on your blog and time to talk about pirates, a subject very close to my heart.
Democrats, with a small ‘d’.
Some years ago the museum in which I work was short of an exhibition to cover the summer months. During a discussion with the curator I suggested that we do something to bring the kids in. “And what do you suggest?” she asked.
“Something everyone likes – like pirates. Everyone likes pirates.”
So much fun! I borrowed artefacts from all over and had a dressing up box. It was a hoot to see fully grown men putting on eye-patches and bandannas and sword fighting all around the gallery. We even had a pirate day – free to anyone in costume – and made hats and cutlasses, dug for treasure and let the kids walk a very low plank. For the 4 months of the exhibition we heard more giggling than ever before or since.
Of course, we also had people who pointed out what awful people pirates had been in real life – scum of the earth, cowardly thieves and murderers with poor personal hygiene – and all that is true but there were interesting social aspects to piratical history that we didn’t have the space or the means to cover in the exhibition.
Pirates were drawn from all walks of life, not just from amongst seamen. For quite minor crimes a man could be transported to the Caribbean as an indentured servant. Poor labourers or apprentices could be shackled to well-educated professionals. Some of the prisoners were political – supporters of the Duke of Monmouth or, later, of the Jacobite cause. In the cane fields it was the ability to swing a machete that mattered, not ones social standing. When the time of servitude ran out, or they escaped, they signed on ships as deck hands to try to get home, or as sailors. Some of them ended up as pirates – free men with a uniquely egalitarian idea of how the world could be made a better place – and some pirate crews began to organise themselves.
This was a time when birth was everything and it was sincerely believed that God decreed a man’s status. Yet in the early years of the 18th century pirates established a system of accountability for their own behaviour and for that of their officers. The captain, quartermaster, bo’sun and mates were elected by vote from the most able men available. Major decisions about the route they took or prizes to be attacked were made in the sight of the whole crew. In addition, ‘articles’ were drawn up – a list of rules to live by. Some of the rules concerned the safe running of the ship – limits to drunkenness, care to be exercised with naked flames – and some governed the division of treasure, laying down the shares of plunder each man could expect and promising retribution to anyone who tried to defraud the company. Other rules placed limits upon the power of the officers – the captain’s cabin, for instance, though nominally his, could be entered at any time by anyone in the company and if he gave orders that could place the company in peril the quartermaster could countermand him. All men were entitled to equal treatment, equal shares of necessities and, if injured while about their business, they would be compensated from the common fund at a rate suitable to their injury – an eye was worth 100 pieces of eight. When a new recruit joined, or was forced to join, he would be made to sign the articles to show he understood the rules and agreed to abide by them.
It was recognised that if these sets of articles with their signatures had fallen into the hands of the authorities it would have spelled disaster so pirates crews often came to an agreement that they would blow the ship and themselves up. Men who regularly toasted each other with “curse the King and all Higher Powers, and damn the Governor” preferred death at their own hands to trial and hanging.
Below is an excerpt from On A Lee Shore where democratic principles are weighed against good old common sense.
Find more of my thoughts about the Golden Age of Piracy on blogs belonging to Sue Roebuck, Trisram Laroche and Catherine Cavendish. Comment here or on their blogs for a chance to win a copy of “On A Lee Shore”. Each comment = one chance so the more the merrier.
Blurb: “Give me a reason to let you live…”
Beached after losing his ship and crew, and with England finally at peace, Lt Christopher Penrose will take whatever work he can get. A valet? Why not? Escorting an elderly diplomat to the Leeward Islands seems like an easy job, but when their ship is boarded by pirates, Kit’s world is turned upside down. Forced aboard the pirate ship, Kit finds himself juggling his honor with his desire to stay alive among the crew, not to mention the alarming—yet enticing—captain, known as Le Griffe.
Kit has always obeyed the rules, but as the pirates plunder their way across the Caribbean, he finds much to admire in their freedom. He deplores their lawlessness but is drawn to their way of life, and begins to think he might just have found a purpose. Dare he dream of finding love too? Or would loving a pirate take him too far down the road to ruin?
Obtainable here or here if you’re in the States.
Excerpt:
“How can a Captain rule a ship if every man of the crew knows as much as he knows and is privy to the workings of state?” Kit asked. “There needs to be a proper order.”
“Don’t see why,” Davy said. “We’re all men. You, me, O’Neill even though he’s Irish, Valliere even though he’s black, Lewis and Prothero even though they are mollies. We all deserve our say.”
“Indeed,” Saunders was there again. “Young Davy has grasped the great Athenian principles of democracy, which is a fine and wonderful thing on paper but falls down sadly when applied to flawed and sinful men. Take Denny for instance,” they looked across to where Denny was clinging to the rigging waving to the Garnet’s long boat. “Denny is a man, therefore he is entitled to his say. But would either of you agree to put Denny in charge of any great enterprise? Could he Captain a ship? Would you expect him to inspire men to exert themselves under terrible and dangerous circumstances? No of course you wouldn’t. He can just about be trusted to run an errand as long as it’s not a complicated one. So, although all hands are able to hear what is said, and speak their piece, we rely on our betters—for they are our betters—to decide what is best for the greatest number and to see us safely to port.”
“An’ if they don’t, we get to vote them out,” Davy muttered and Saunders nodded again.
“True—they remain in charge just as long as the hoi polloi are kept satisfied. As long as panem et circenses are forthcoming our Captain will remain the cockalorum. Now—if you gentlemen will excuse me—I have a crisis to attend to.” He hefted an empty bottle and went on his way.
~~
Many thanks, Kiran, for your hospitality.
It’s a pleasure to have you
Elin may be found on her website, blog and on Twitter and Facebook.
Halloween Heat M/M Goodreads Giveaway
Posted by Kiran in Authors, Eden, Halloween Heat, News on 2012/11/14
Would you like to win a copy of Halloween Heat M/M Paperback Edition?
Halloween Heat M/M contains all the stories from HH I and HH IV
An Anthology of Erotic Paranormal M/M Romance and Contemporary M/M Romance
Five erotic stories of gay love and passion with a paranormal twist-ghosts and spirits and otherworldly delights. “Love Lies Deep” by Tristram La Roche “Idle Hands” by Reneé George “Costumes” by Dianne Hartsock “Eden” by Kiran Hunter “Set in Stone” by Elin Gregory
Plus
Two hot tales of contemporary gay romance.”Trex or Treat” by Tara Lain “Desert Candy” by AC Fox
For a chance to win one of two copies click on the Goodreads widget below
Good luck!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Halloween Heat M/M
by Tara Lain
Giveaway ends November 30, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Heaven on a Desert Island
Posted by Kiran in Authors, Eden, Halloween Heat, Interviews, Uncategorized on 2012/11/12
It’s my pleasure to be a guest on Antonia van Zandt’s blog today, where I explore the dark world of Eden and contemplate life on a sunny desert island… oh, and I bring someone back from the dead
http://antoniavanzandt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/eden-with-kiran-hunter.html
Daniel deLoite Gives It To Me Straight (as if!)
Posted by Kiran in Authors, Interviews on 2012/10/31
Halloween – what better time of year to do something scary, I thought…I like being scared… don’t I?
Not too long ago I read and reviewed Dead Gorgeous by Daniel deLoite – I like my fiction dark and edgy – Daniel definitely makes me edgy… Dead Gorgeous wanders far enough into the shadows to make me want to follow… and I like what I found there. Now that Daniel himself has stopped lurking in the shadows and is showing the world a little more of what he’s about (plus some sexy extras) I asked him if he’d take some time out to meet up – and I eventually got him to talk.
Kiran: Hi Dan, thanks for coming up for air for five minutes.
Dan: *wipes mouth on back of hand* No problem, Kiran.
Kiran: Shhh! Ahem… Now I’ve met you in the flesh, not just virtually, you seem more a man of action than of words… so, what prompted you to start writing? More to the point, what made you start writing ‘filth’ – a term you yourself use?
Dan: Because just about everyone likes filth, even if in public they say they don’t. The world is full of hypocrites, pretending to be oh-so-prim-and-proper while quietly gagging for a good shag with the milkman…
Kiran: You’ve seen my milkman?
Dan: I know religious Christians who go to church and blog about God and family, and at the same time (under a nom de plume of course) write about ménages, anal sex and BDSM. I wonder if they donate their books for the church Tombola? Look, I came across Tristram La Roche (no, not really, but I wouldn’t say no if he offered) and found his writing refreshing. Although I’m gay I didn’t read much gay stuff until I got a Kindle – not because I was too shy to buy it in the bookshop, which seems to be the excuse bandied about, but just because I wasn’t attracted to it. I read some of Alan Hollinghurst’s books but found his characters a bit middle-class wanky for my tastes. Really, I wanted to smack most of them. It wasn’t until I browsed the Kindle store that I realised how many writers were publishing stories about gay men. I use the term ‘writers’ quite loosely, by the way, having waded through some utter crap at the beginning…
Kiran: Good grief, once you start there’s no stopping you…
Dan: Ssh! I’ll forget where I’m coming from! I reached the point where I thought I would return to my old ways and not read gay books. So many of them were schmaltzy romances filled with pretty or androgynous boys mincing around and behaving like schoolgirls. *pukes*
Kiran: *hunts for tissues…*
Dan: I have never shared body fluids with people like that and don’t intend starting now. Then La Roche brought out another book which kept well away from the pink and fluffy, and then I found your Bedevilled which actually took my breath away – and not much has that reach these days, I can tell you.
Kiran: Bedevil, Dan…
Dan: Sorry, Bedevil. So, I thought I might give it a go. I had always been pretty good at stringing sentences together, although judging by some of the things I’d tried to read that wasn’t an essential requirement. It might be arrogant, but I felt I could do it better than a lot of those who were already putting their books out in the public domain, and at least as well as some. And another thing I have to admit, and I know this is a sensitive area, is that I was shocked when I first found out that the majority of M/M writers are women. I mean, WTF does a straight woman want to write about men sucking each other off for? I think Freud would have had something to say about it.
Kiran: Perhaps because sex is, well… sexy, whatever the gender of sexual partners?
Dan: Look, if that’s what gets them off who am I to say it’s wrong? I am all for freedom. I do wonder, though, if while they’re writing or reading about fictional gay men, their husbands don’t have to nip out to the gay sauna or cruising ground for quick relief. That would be really cool! Anyway, what I’m saying is, I’m a dick man and have as much interest in writing about women as screwing them. Now, stop interrupting!I was going to say that I got over that, up to a point. I do still feel a bit queasy – offended even – when 300 pounds of female flesh in a velour track suit starts cooing about how cute and lovely gay boys are. *takes a deep breath and dons hard hat* (*me too!*). Anyway, you and La Roche did – do – a good job (and so do others, by the way, like James Lear, Erastes, J L Merrow to name just three) but I felt I wanted to go that bit further into the realms of real sweaty men and ignore the happy ever after.
Kiran: Don’t we all want to enter the realms of sweaty men…
Dan: Oh, I know all the places to find sweat, Kiran.
Kiran: I’m sure you do… Sorry – I’ll shush!
Dan: You see, gay men are not all hairdressers or art dealers or dancers. In the real world that hairy-arsed gorilla operating the JCB at the top of the street could quite easily be a leather fetishist into nipple clamps and piss and addicted to dick. Lots of men do have multiple partners, do have sex in public places, do like a bit of rough. So I thought I’d give it a go. And do I need to say that I quite like to shock?
Kiran: Erm, I think we’ve got that, Dan. Now, Dead Gorgeous – I loved it. What inspired you to write it?
Dan: I was overdue to write another short story when I realised Halloween was fast drawing near. I suddenly thought of all the schmaltzy trick-or-treat stories that would no doubt be showing up on the Kindle Store – you know with men dressing up, toffee apples and candy and that kind of thing.
Kiran: Ah… yes… have I mentioned Eden…my Halloween short…? *looks worried*
Dan: Don’t get me wrong, that’s fine if you like that sort of thing but for me Halloween is about ghosts and demons. Now, don’t kill me, but having read Bedevilled I figured I could do it, too. Eden? Don’t worry – I loved it.
Kiran: Bedevil, Daniel… BEDEVIL! *ahem – carries on* Your writing is very down-to-earth, very male – something that I like, personally. A lot of women read gay fiction. Do you keep that in mind when you write or do you aim fairly and squarely at men?
Dan: I write what I know, not for an audience. I suppose it was an experiment when I set out. I wanted to see if raw gay stories would sell. So many people said the big market was middle-aged women who want a romance with a happy ending. I fucking hate stories like that and just have no interest in writing them. Just as we humans can’t be alone in all of space, so I knew I couldn’t be alone in the Kindle Store.
Kiran: Most writers appear with a blog/website/twitter etc as soon as they start to publish. You were an 
elusive character for a while, with no online presence at all – not that I could find… and I tried… Was that a conscious decision or had it simply not crossed your mind? What finally made you join the social network?
Dan: I purposely didn’t do any promotion. I couldn’t believe that Twitter and Facebook were the driving factors in book sales (I mean, get real!) so I didn’t bother to join them. I just published. Dick has been an incredible success, far beyond what I could have imagined for a niche market short story. And what surprises me is how it sells in the USA. Maybe they like the title. Maybe they like it so much they’ll elect a Dick to the White House. Now that would boost sales! I have recently started a blog but only because I found that I enjoy sticking things on it, not because I expect it to help sales. I recommend taking a look. I’m pleased with the cottaging image I have to say. And I joined FB and Twitter really just because I do from time to time like to fan the flames if there’s something controversial smouldering.
Kiran: Really? I hadn’t noticed… *raises eyebrow*
Dan: I know my sales figures and I know those of some other authors who have all this internet palaver. Mine hold up well. So you can make your own mind up about the real impact of social networking.
Kiran: I assume from a few short stories you can’t yet be making a living from writing so what is your day job?
Dan: I’m a rent boy 
Kiran: What are you planning next?
Dan: I’m going to stick to shorts (that reminds me of the old Plunger Perkins story!).
Kiran: *intrigued*
Dan: Short stories I mean. I might expand to a novella if I get excited enough but I enjoy variety too much to be able to spend a year writing a novel (and I think a novel needs that time, sod this business of a novel in a weekend – it has to be shite). Smutty, sexy, dirty short stories about spunky men getting it on. One-handed reads I believe they are called. Maybe for my first promo I’ll give away Kleenex with each book?
Kiran: So that’s where the tissues went… So, can I persuade you to get up to some more wicked games in the dark? (Literarily speaking of course)
Dan: Oh, I can assure you I need no persuading. I was once on Hampstead Heath…*gets back on knees*
Kiran: Oooer! Thanks, Dan – it’s been a pleasure having you
Dan: Ooh, matron! In your dreams, lady!
*checks still in one piece… and breathes again*
You can find out more about Daniel deLoite on his Blog
You can follow him on Twitter
You can find all of Daniel’s stories HERE
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