In search of a beta reader.

I’m currently in search of a beta reader or two to help give feedback on my WIP, maybe even hash out ideas.

Chapter Five of The Obsession.

In the present moment, she awaited the inevitable. She strayed from Oktavia even more so—to the point the human noticed her odd looks and disappointment; their hands had bumped into each other when trying to reach for the artificial sweetener jar—and Mischa flinched like a fish waiting to be gutted by their captor.

In retrospect, however–

Chapter Four of The Obsession.

“…I am not even flattering you, she probably just glanced at you and decided what she would feel, like clockwork,” he snapped his fingers. “You need to end this.”

“And how do you expect me to do that?” Mischa didn’t dare break away eye contact. Respect was the only thing she had left, if it wasn’t love.

“You do it carefully, Koch. Very carefully.”

Tom and Lauren vs Zara vs Zargaff (Soundtrack).

I created a soundtrack for the most brutal scene yet in the ongoing Identify novel collaboration.

Lost Soul (Dark Version).

I realized this sounds apt for the holidays, so now its purpose is tailored for… that

Novel Collaboration (Identify): Chapter 14.

His voice croaked. “If there is no escape, then there is no length of survival.”

“Then Artemis was right. We have to murder this whole regime.”

Chapter Three of The Obsession.

“But, you’re neglecting to tell me everything. I know that, Mischa. What have you been hiding from me?”

She looked almost sad as she put their dishes in the sink. ‘Your memories, Oktavia. That’s what I’m hiding.’

“Mischa? Where are you going? Don’t walk away from me.”

Doing a Service.

Darcy knew better than to play with time—it wasn’t cheap after all.

Dreamscape.

How fucked is that? She mused in her dreamscape.

“The Obsession” (Chapter 3 Via Kindle Vella).

Oktavia noticed the discomfort and cupped Mischa’s chin. “It is dead, darling. What is there to fear?”

She looked again at Oktavia. “So many things.”

Artificial (Draft).

pray to your artificial god,
my mania sulks

Success.

“You’re the first of your kind—”

Chapter Two of The Obsession.

She could barely remember the former king, but she knew enough modern history that the colonies dispersed before killing each other in a series of small wars. It was knowledge that felt natural to her. She was in enough battles, recalling in distant psychological experience, to warrant the existential solipsistic dread that when she held the sword, she was the only one that mattered in anyone’s eyes.

Including her father’s.

“The Obsession” (Chapter Two via Kindle Vella).

“Mischa, have I done something to upset you?”

Oktavia’s terrifying presence made her flit for the knife, before dropping it back down on the cutting board. “What?”

“There is some… type of vomit on the vegetable cutting board.”

“What are you—No, no, I just chopped up the carrots—over and over again.”

Chapter One of The Obsession.

At her feet, she found something joyful. The horizon cleared and she too sat on the ground. Her gaze locked with Mischa.

“I didn’t think we’d see each other again.”

“Given what you do? It was likely,” Mischa was hoarse, hesitating to move from the ground. The glow suppressed Oktavia’s features, in which the illusion was consolable that she was safe. Her head rolled to the side, almost touching the robot’s knee.

“The Obsession” (Chapter 1 via Kindle Vella).

“Did you think I’d forget you, my Mischa?” Somehow, her voice didn’t falter into emotion, yet her chest sunk as she looked into the human’s eyes. She swallowed. Focus. Oktavia, in her dark moment, squeezed tightly before dropping Mischa to the ground.

At her feet, she found something joyful. The horizon cleared and she too sat on the ground. Her gaze locked with Mischa.

“I didn’t think we’d see each other again.”

Novel Collaboration (Identify): Chapter 11 Rewritten.

Anastasia was stirred to the sound of heavy breathing. “You are surely to die.”

“Then perhaps you will too.”

It’s time to leave.

“Why do you feel connected to this devastation? It took many lives from the world, including ours. You feel, what, pity for a world that’s been long gone? Face it, it never existed.”

“The Time Traveller’s Journal (First Entry)” by Utkarsh Koul.

It is 1949, and I have now seen the world. I’ve seen Germany on its knees, its people both horrified and grief-stricken for the soldiers they lost and the crimes they committed before dying. It seems it really was true that most people had no idea of the atrocities that the Nationalist Socialists had carried in the name of ‘strengthening Germany’, even though many claimed to be devoted followers. I saw Dachau and Auschwitz in front of me on their worst days of cruelty, and there were many of them. Had to see it from a distance, because I neither look German nor speak any. If I’d been seen, they would’ve probably thought I was a gypsy and matters would get complicated.I was in Hiroshima on D-Day.

Coffee Drinking 79

Amazing drawings by AuAu, including the chaotic siblings, Tom and Lauren, from my collaborative novel, Identify.

I might end up writing a scene for the art.