Monday, October 9, 2023

Magic on the #MMromance blog for October's first #supernatural visitor as we meet enigmatic and frankly gorgeous #warlock Indigo Vaughn from #gayromance #fantasy The Dreamboat @evernightpub @parr_books #teaser

 


Welcome to Indigo Vaughn the famous warlock head of security in Queen Lissabella’s Court

 

(The warlock walks toward me and after a little bow, he sits on the chair opposite mine.)

 

May I call you Indigo? I know the custom in your world is to use a more formal address.

 

(Indigo smiles.)

Yes, of course. I know here people often greet each other with only one name.

 

Thank you for agreeing to visit. I must say you’re a hard man to get hold of. It took weeks. You must be very busy.

 

Ahh, yes, I am busy. It is a busy time of year. The Queen’s birthday is next week and I have much to prepare. Of course, I also live far away from here.

 

It’s summer where you live.

 

We are in high summer, but it never becomes very cold even in our other season. Wet, but not cold as it does here in your part of this world.

 

I’ve recently read the book, The Dreamboat. It’s a sizzling story. How do you feel about your … personal life being available for anyone to read about?

 

(He grins.)

That’s the nature of being featured in a book. I agreed to have the story of Darian’s and my meeting and falling in love told, so I can’t complain. I understand by sizzling you mean our lovemaking is told in detail. On my world sex, and lovemaking, isn’t seen as needing to be a hidden and unspoken of activity. We don’t go around shouting about it but everyone accepts, in fact expects it to be an important part of everyone’s life.

 

It’s intriguing to meet someone who has magic. Were you born so?

 

Oh yes. I’m descended from Elven peoples. In ancient times, my former world was filled with magical people.

 

I’ll make the rest of this interview fun if that’s okay with you?

 

I don’t mind. I do have a playful side even though I might come across as fierce and authoritarian in my role as head of royal security.

 

Before I move on to some fun questions could I ask you if many people are afraid of you?

 

(He laughs.)

I probably instill fear in a few people, usually those who have done wrong, but I’m not cruel even to the most unpleasant criminals. I think some fear me because of my magic, because I take my work extremely seriously, and, though I say it myself, I am highly competent and few if any perpetrators of felony escape me.

 

You are an imposing figure, so tall, muscular and well, frankly, beautiful.

(He smiles at me, and yes he’s gorgeous. There’s no point in pretending otherwise.)

Do you think the way you look has any bearing on how people regard you.

 

Regard me? If you mean my being tall and muscled might add to peoples’ fear of me, if indeed they do fear me? Maybe. I don’t know. As for being beautiful, thank you for the compliment.

 

(My turn to smile.)

Okay I’ll try to make the rest of the questions fun.

 

If you were a dessert, what would you be?

 

(Laughs) A dessert … something sweet … we have a fruit pie in my world. It’s delicious. I’d be that. Of course, the choice is easier because Darian loves that pie.

 

What do you do to relax?

 

I walk, usually with Darian, along the lake paths. We swim, too. Darian sings and plays his guitar to me.

 

What do you look for in a man?

I don’t look. I’m absolutely in love with Darian. He’s my perfect man. He’s described in the book if anyone wants details.

 

What is in your refrigerator right now?

 

Right now … I don’t know. (Shakes his head.) That’s a question for Milan, my wonderful assistant.

 

What’s on your bedroom floor?

 

A blue and gold patterned rug. I bought it in the East of my world. It’s beautiful and in an ancient traditional pattern handed down through generations of the Eastern people.

 

What do you wear in bed?

 

Nothing.

 

What’s your biggest fear?

 

Oh, well, I have to think about that for a second. Not that I take him for granted, I doubt it would happen, but losing Darian’s love. It would break my heart.

 

What is your most treasured possession?

 

Darian is not my possession but I treasure him. I treasure my assistant, Milan. He’s not a possession, either. What material thing do I treasure? (He frowns.)

You know, I don’t take my wealth for granted, nor my magic, but material things, possessions, I can replace, buy, even conjure, so I don’t think in terms of possessions. I treasure other ‘things.’ My Queen, my world, nature around me… (He looks at me.)

 

I understand.

 

Indigo, what clothes do you like to wear?

 

I prefer dark clothes and of course, I do have to wear some items of uniform as I belong to the Queen’s security service.

 

What do you like to see Darian dressed in?

 

Anything he likes, (his piercing blue eyes mist a little) although I do like him in a particular shirt he wore when I first set eyes on him. It shows off his muscular chest, but also, it reminds me how lucky I am to have met him. It always makes me smile to see him in that shirt.

 

Do you have a favorite piece of music?

 

Darian wrote a song for me when he thought he’d lost my love. He hadn’t, but he’d done something he regretted and thought I wouldn’t want to see him anymore. The song is wonderful. He sang it at court and everyone was captivated by it.

 

Tell the readers something you’ve never told anyone before.

 

(Frowns)

You mean a secret. I have many because of my work as a warlock and as head of security. I can’t tell any in case it puts someone in danger. (Takes a deep breath) I have nothing for you, not a thing.

 

I know you feature in another story about Queen Lissabella’s court and your world. Can you tell us a little about that story?

I make a few appearances in my capacity as head of security. I could inadvertently gave away too much of the plot so I can’t say much more than it’s another love story, but also a mystery, a suspense. I can safely tell you the title, which is String of Pearls.

 

Thank you for being here. Will you choose an excerpt from The Dreamboat for our readers before you go?

I will. I’d like it to feature Darian. He’s been through a lot in his life and those experiences are what led him to believe I wouldn’t want him. I’ll leave you with a passage that shows his turmoil when he’s discovered how wealthy I am.

 

Goodbye then, Indigo, safe journey home.

 

Thank you, good day.

(He stands, gives a little bow and strides out of the room.)

 


Read the blurb for The Dreamboat

 

Gorgeous, powerful warlock, Indigo Vaughn, sells his magic spells to people looking to make a dream come true. One night, as he gazes down on the city below from his sky barge, The Dreamboat, he wonders why, in centuries, his own wish for a man to love hasn’t materialized.

Beautiful, sexy, Darian O’Harr has suffered his fair share of misery. He’s a musician and learned long ago to sing for his supper. New to the city, he comes to Indigo seeking a spell that will bring him the love of a handsome man.

As soon as he sets eyes on Indigo, his heart races and his body betrays his pent up needs.

Here is the man of his dreams. What can Darian do as the warlock gathers his magic to cast a spell that will bring him another man?

 

Read the excerpt Indigo choose

 

Darian waited until Milan couldn’t see him from the skeeter, and then he circled the grounds and took the back gate to the path that would lead him away from the royal quarter of the city. He sped home, walking at a pace, his cloak wrapped around him, and all the time his thoughts spun. When Indigo had asked to see him again soon, he’d somehow invited his lover, his love, to visit his home. Darian didn’t know if he’d extended the invitation so that if Indigo was going to leave him because he was poor, it would happen fast and save him severe heartbreak, or if he hoped Indigo would accept his poverty, and his anxiety would diminish leaving him free to love Indigo. I’ve fallen in love with him. I never saw it coming. I wonder if he did? If he loves me, that is…

Darian passed one of the better apartment buildings. Less ancient and better kept than the one he currently lived in, the turrets gleamed lilac in the sun and willow trees draped over low white walls surrounding the building. Huge pots of jasmine stood at the bottom of the stoop. The sign he’d noticed a few days previously still hung from the wide pillared porch. ‘Apartment vacant, apply within.’

He paused. It can’t hurt to look. He walked up the path. The rich scent of jasmine wafted over him. He rang the bell.

The concierge showed him the apartment. It had a long balcony overlooking a bend in the stream that wound past the castle and fed the half-moat. Wild roses blossomed on the bank. The morning breeze played with pale pink petals, lifting them and scattering them gently into the sparkling water.

Darian fell in love with the apartment. It was clean and bright with light from long windows. The pale floors of polished wood added to the charm. It sat close to the border delineating the royal quarter so would only take him minutes to walk to work.

“Yes, I’ll take it.” Surprise widened his eyes as he heard the words falling from his mouth.

“Two moons’ rent up front is required before you move anything in—one for the rent, one for security. You’ll need to sign a contract. Any nonsense, noise, bawdy behavior, litter, damage, and you’re out. I don’t give warnings. I don’t give back the security money.”

Darian cringed under the suspicious gaze of the concierge. He’d expected a less alarming transaction. He only paid weekly for the place he currently lived in. The landlord there was kinder in manner. He thought about the invitation he’d given to Indigo. How wonderful it would be to meet Indigo at the castle and bring him here instead of to his dusty little rooms in the poor area of the city. “I need to bring the money later today after I’ve collected payment for my work.”

The concierge smirked. “Work at Temptations do ya, pretty boy?”

Darian recoiled and shook his head. “I do not. Not that anyone who does is … is inferior. I’m a musician.”

“Right then, if you’re not back with payment by fifteen hundred hours the place goes to the next applicant.”

Darian nodded and backed away. He left the building. By the time he arrived at his current dwelling he wondered how he could amass two moons’ rent in so little time. The sum amounted to an entire wage period. He made coffee and gazed from his pitted window at the people passing on the boardwalk that raised them from the unmade dirt track. People in this area still used ground transport and a vehicle sped by kicking up a cloud of dust and small gravel.

Darian had showered in the sky barge. Indigo had left him alone so that they didn’t fall on each other and have sex, which they’d enjoyed all night, but would have been unable to resist again, naked and close to each other in the cascade of water. He pictured his lover laughing and his heart contracted with emotion. I must rent that apartment. I can’t bring Indigo here. I wonder if the treasurer would pay me wages in advance. I’ll ask. The queen expected him at the castle by noon to sing and play as she entertained guests for lunch.

Darian possessed only three sets of clothes and he put on the last clean shirt from his armoire. He gathered the items that needed cleaning—two shirts and a pair of pants along with two pairs of undergarments and a cotton jacket. He stuffed them in the blue canvas bag to drop them to the laundry at the end of the street. The woman there was good at her job and inexpensive. A deci-coin would buy her services. He took one from the tiny pouch of money secreted in the inside pocket of his cloak and slid it into his pants pocket so that he could pay without showing he had other coin. It was a trick he’d learned as a young man living on the streets of the neighboring world’s capital.

Darian rushed to the castle early. He sought out the treasurer and pled his case for advance wages. The keeper of monies laughed at him. Darian slunk away. He went to the cavernous room where the musicians practiced, rehearsed, and wrote new material. The dance troupe filled the room with choreography, spinning, diving, and jumping, in readiness to entertain the queen that evening.

The viola player came to him as he stood at the door.

“Queen Lissabella is using the southern long-room for lunch today. Since you’re new here I’ll take you.”

Darian needed a lute that day. He still smarted from the treasurer’s laughter and denial of an advance on his wages. He shook his head at the viola player. “I know where it is. I need to collect instruments from the storage chamber,” he lied, wanting time alone.

The other musician shrugged and left him.

Darian edged around the dancers. He checked his guitar in its ornate leather case. I wonder if this would fetch much at the pawnbrokers. Then he put it back on the shelf where it was safer than in his apartment. He took a castle lute from the stand and wandered out to the corridors.

Copyright E. D. Parr, Evernight Publishing


Read the blurb for String of Pearls.

Handsome, elite space pilot, Tobias Mars is completing a special mission, when on a water planet, recently ravaged by space pirates, he discovers Dreft Hann hiding and injured in the sand dunes.

There’s instant attraction between the two men, but honorable Tobias believes the fact Dreft is in his care precludes him from showing his growing love for the young man. What’s worse is his shocking discovery of Dreft’s real identity. Even so, Tobias can’t deny his feelings for Dreft.

When head of royal security, powerful warlock, Indigo Vaughn discovers Dreft’s secret, he anticipates trouble.

As beautiful Dreft falls in love with Tobias and dreams of joining the elite pilot squad, trouble is brewing from someone in Dreft’s past.

Will love finally win with so many obstacles in Tobias and Dreft’s path?

BUY links for both books

https://www.evernightpublishing.com/the-dreamboat-by-e-d-parr/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077TB36FS

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077TB36FS

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B077TB36FS

https://www.bookstrand.com/the-dreamboat-mm

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dreamboat-e-d-parr/1127562856

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-dreamboat

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/762797

 

https://www.evernightpublishing.com/string-of-pearls-by-e-d-parr/

https://www.bookstrand.com/string-of-pearls-mm

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/string-of-pearls-e-d-parr/1129854008

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/906343

All Amazon sites http://mybook.to/StringofPearls

Available on KOBO

As an added bonus, read a deleted scene from String of Pearls

Tobias Mars glanced across at his co-pilot, Dante Pepper with a grin. “Hey, look at it this way, it might be a nuisance, but on the way something great might happen.”

“Such as?” Dante frowned as he set the craft on course for Garrus.C

“Well as we touch down on each planet we’re greeted with gorgeous guys offering refreshments.” Tobias laughed aloud as the craft soared into the sky.

A derisive grunt escaped Dante. “Viridian Kaa is the only gorgeous guy I want greeting me.”

“You’re lucky to have found love, Dante. I’m glad for you.” The craft shot into the stars and Tobias engaged the autopilot. “At least we only have to planet hop on the way back with the package. Why so much subterfuge is my question?”

Dante’s voice dropped to a whisper. “The royal prince is afraid of assassins.”

An early morning mist shrouded Garrus as they landed and took their passenger on board their craft. The prince, fondly known by the pilots as, the package, in keeping with the subterfuge surrounding the journey home, settled into his quarters. 

Copyright E. D. Parr.




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