the journal of r. cooper

I've noticed some people reading Beings books lately, along with some comments that lead me to think some people are confused. Or maybe just not the sort of people to dig around in my old posts to find information. Which is fair. I mean, I probably should build a website, but then I'm like, I'm not the sort of big name author who needs one. (Also, I'd rather be writing then doing building things or promoting things. It's true.) I do have my livejournal/goodreads reposts, and my tumblr, where things are (mostly) tagged. But yeah, I do need to set something up for that. SIGH. In the meantime...

THE BEINGS  'VERSE  EXPLANATION POST!!


Q: What is the Beings 'Verse?

A: Imagine a world just like ours, but where the magical creatures of legend (like fairies and elves and werewolves) are real, and they live openly (for the most part) with humans. But, they haven't always done so. The creatures, referred to by humans as beings, only came out of hiding when they were forced to. This happened in Europe during World War I, and panicked humans were not very accepting, so most beings live on the fringes of mainstream human society. They are idolized for their beauty and power, but also feared and mocked. Humans also do not distinguish much between the legends around these creatures and the reality of them. Over time, even the beings aren't sure about themselves.

All cultures have these creatures, and different histories with them. Some clearly worshiped their beings as gods or something godlike. Others revered them. Others told stories about encounters with them, where the beings could be benevolent or cruel or loving or petty--you know, just like humans. This is where fairy tales come from.

But then, as humans grew in strength and numbers, they stopped taking such care with these beings. They destroyed the forests where they lived, or drove the werewolves from their lands. Many of these humans, especially in Europe, when Christianity/the Church became a dominant political force, and then through colonization and imperialism, became a dominant force in most other countries, outright rejected the beings. Because the beings are different. They love indiscriminately. Some of them are naked. Their morality has its own rules. They view things like gender, and sexuality, in ways that these humans did not want to understand. So the humans called them evil, or banned the stories of them, and they did the same to humans who were similar to the beings.

But, when those cruel, powerful humans brought war to the entire globe, the beings had no place left to hide. Of course, some had never hidden in the first place, or had continued on as they were under the noses of European occupiers, but that is a story for another time.*cough*

Some of the beings remember their history, and others do not. Because they aren't represented accurately (or sometimes at all) in human media, many of them now believe the horrible things said about them. Others are fighting to prove what they really are. Alongside these beings, you have the humans who are like, or who love them.

Q: Are you some kind of nerd?

A: Yes. Obviously.


The Books:

Q: How many books are there?

A: 6 as of now. 7 is on its way. I am working on 8. (I started it this week! Aaaah!)

Q: Do the books need to be read in order?

A: No. They are written as standalones. HOWEVER, I do think people will understand certain references better if at least some of the books are read in the order they were published. AND, there are moments with recurring characters and themes that will make more sense if you've read everything. But no, it's not necessary to have read, say, Some of Kind of Magic before you read A Boy and His Dragon or Little Wolf. (In fact, I don't think most people do.)

Book 1:  Some Kind of Magic

A novella set in Los Cerros, a town with a significant being population, and which is considered a liberal town for that reason. A werewolf protects the things he loves, even from himself, if necessary. Features Ray Branigan, who is only the second being to ever make detective in Los Cerros. It also features lots of prejudice against beings, especially werewolves and fairies. Prejudices so strong even the beings have started to believe them. (Bad, Ray! Very bad! That is no way to treat your mate!)

Book 2:  A Boy and His Dragon

Set in Madera, about an hour away from Los Cerros. About a human boy with a noble heart, and the nerdy dragon history lecturer who adores him. Humans have lost the language to communcate with beings, so it takes our human boy, the lovely Arthur, some time to realize what a dragon might mean by calling him treasure.

Book 3:  A Beginner's Guide to Wooing Your Mate

Wolf's Paw, a town several hours from Los Cerros, is a town run by, and for, werewolves. If you're a human wizard, you might not feel very comfortable there. If you're a shy werewolf, you might feel like a bit of a failure for not getting your mate to love you. This story really starts to explain the idea of mating as werewolves view it. (Ray isn't really the explaining things type.) This is important because of

Book 4: Little Wolf

In which the toxic ideals about how werewolves ought to act have traumatized a young were to the point where he cannot recognize the mate in front of him. I cannot with this story. The real concept of mating (and treasure, and shine, and true love) finally starts to become more clear. It helps when you have a werewolf who acts more human than wolf.

(Book 4.5: A Mate of One's Own. A short story about Zoe, Little Wolf's friend, and her discovery of her mate.)

(Little Prince--a silly short version of Little Wolf I did, in which they are not werewolves. Very silly.)

Book 5: The Firebird and Other Stories

HOLY SHIT. Okay. This book... this book is readable without the other ones, but I personally would advise reading it after you have at least read one or two of the others. (I know some people didn't do that and still enjoyed it. But I'm just saying, it was written as I was writing the other stories and there are some tie ins.)

Basically, this book of short stories is about the beings shortly after they emerged from hiding, to the present day. Has lots of cameos, and except for two of the stories, is set in Los Cerros. LOTS of ideas about love and mating and hope in this story, which is good because there are a lot of horrible things humans have done to each other (and to the beings) throughout history. That hope is so, so necessary.

(Book 5.5: Frangipani and the Very Shiny Boy. A short story about a fairy desperately trying to get a boy's affection.)

Book 6:  A Dandelion for Tulip

Back in Madera, with a human who is finally attempting to discover the real history between humans and beings, and the fairy who loves him. Further explores the idea of shine. Features a lot of callbacks to the ideas from the previous stories. And some cameos. Were you curious about fairies? Well this is the book for you, then. :)

Book 7:  Treasure for Treasure

In which there is a small town that belongs to dragons--even though the dragons seems to have forgotten about it. One small, very determined dragon is going to have to prove to everyone that he will properly care for this treasure.

Book 8: (Well, wouldn't you like to know?)




And that is it for now. I do actually have a Beings 'Verse timeline in my notes, but it's incomplete, so in the future, I might repost all this and add it. I was also going to talk about Hottie Scotty and Mr Porter, but they are not beings, so I won't for now. Maybe this weekend.)

As always, people are free to ask me questions.<3

Where have I been?

Uh. Well. I have mood issues anyway that tend to get in the way, but I guess I had a really productive year, and the past two months my brain decided to take a vacation. Not entirely sure it's fully back online, but I finally (FINALLY) wrote a little something the other day, and I feel so much better about everything. I might even submit Tulip this month if I can find the time.

Although, you guys might have things to say about that one. If anybody is still reading the Beings by that point (months from now, if it gets accepted), you are most likely to going to demand stuff about the side characters. One or two in particular. Ahem.

In other news, both Dancing Lessons (out in January) and The Winter Prince (out in February, I think) have covers. AND Little Wolf (that little punkbutt) is getting an audiobook. Pity the narrator who has to read all that mate on mate werewolf action. Poor man.

Wanna see the covers?








I'm partial to the Dancing Lessons one, although I am most eager for The Winter Prince to come out, because I wantneedwantneed to talk about it with people. I don't know why. But Razin is a precious cinnamon bun. (Before you ask me, it's Rha-seen. Like the softest pronunciation ever. Because he is a cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure.)

Also Tulip. (Tentative title is A Dandelion for Tulip) Ah. Tulip. So patient. So shiny.

I should really stop writing stories about mutual pining but you can't make me, so there.

That's really it with me right now. Tryng to get through the holidays, wondering what will inspire me next. Will it be Zarrin the dragon and Joe, the hot barista who continues to pretend he doesn't know who Zarrin is even though he is a dragon and it's TERRIBLE? Will it Flor? Or Clem? Two very, very different fairies who need love? Albert? Will my brain want to skip the beings for a while and go on to Space Boyfriends? (Have I talked to you guys about Space Boyfriends? It was a Tumblr thing.) Hmm Flor is another cinnamon bun. I'm not sure who is good enough for him. Decisions!

The point is: I never know. But hopefully I will be back in the swing of things soon. And oh, I will try to edit that silly Will and Charlie Alternate Universe Christmas story I did last year so it's more readable.)

((And before I go, I just need to say, to one person on GR and Tumblr you know who you are... *hugs. because FEELINGS oh god so many feelings and now I run away*))

First of all, congratulations to the giveaway winner, Ben! Hopefully USPS does not let us down.

Meanwhile, I asked for prompts for snippets over on my Tumblr. These are all Alternate Universe for existing stories. I did not include the Wicklow's Odyssey high school AU because it's more notes and squealing than a story, and the GODRIC AND BERTIE STAR-CROSSED LOVERS AU MADE ME SAD AND DOES NOT EXIST EXCEPT IN MY HEART.

Anyway. Thanks to everyone who keeps reading my stuff and who cares enough to give me fun prompts for the characters they like.

(Okay and LJ made me cut off one story because LJ sucks-so expect another snippet of Cory and Vincent later.... or remind me to post it.  I may forget. And the Checking Out Love one as well)


(the AU in which Tommy and Tavio from Medium, Sweet, Extra Shot of Geek, meet at a party)

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Little Wolf.

That's right. Let's talk Little Wolf.

Or, really, let's talk about talking about Little Wolf. As you may or may not know, the story of a little wolf in a certain familiar small town run by werewolves comes out on Friday the 8th. It's Being(s) in Love number four, which honestly I find so fascinating because I never intended it as a series, or thought I'd end up writing one. I blame Bertie.

Anyway. Friday the 8th. Little Wolf. Which is actually what I wrote first, and then thought maybe it would be nice for people to see Wolf's Paw (and Tim and Nathaniel) from an outside point of view, so I wrote A Beginner's Guide. Because for real the idea of a mate at first sight/sniff is cool and epic and everything and it makes my little heart flutter, but even in that there have to be complications. People in general do not know what they are doing when they are in love, or even in like, and I just wanted to explore that. And I maybe got a little carried away. With all that... and *cough* the sex scenes. Which... well I won't go into that.

Okay so in honor of this, I am going to do another Q&A session on Goodreads, on the page for Little Wolf. (Down where it says 'Ask the Goodreads Community a question about Little Wolf') (Or, as always, you can ask me stuff on my Tumblr. My ask box is open, and I believe I left it open to Anons as well.) Sunday the 10th (which is Mother's Day but I couldn't get the time off to drive up to see my mother so grrrr) is the day of the session. From let's say noon to whenever the questions trickle off or about 3pm, whichever comes first.

Sunday, May 10th, Q&A on Goodreads or Tumblr. 12-3 Pacific Time. Ask me about Beings or Little Wolf or whatever. I can't promise to reveal any spoilers, but you are welcome to ask because I am super excited about The Firebird and Other Stories and thinking of them makes me happy.

ALSO, for the first time, I will have a giveaway.(yeah. I am gonna try this whole giveaway thing. Oh god. Me doing technical things. Watch out, world.) I am about to list it on Goodreads, so check for it there. I will be giving away a signed paperback copy of Little Wolf. What will I sign it? No idea. I am terrible. I tried to sign the other books from the point of view of one of the characters, but I don't know that it worked out well. I think I just confused people.

And uh, yeah. I hope people come hang out and ask me weirdness about my weirdness. There is a discussion on my Tumblr right now about how fairies see shininess compared to werewolves sniffing a mate. I love it. It's so nerdy. And someone will get a book. One of these books,




*although hopefully your copy will not include any Beanie fur. She's claimed those books. She doesn't want to give them up.

Hope to see you there!

A Beginner's Guide to Wooing Your Mate (Beings in Love #3) comes out Friday! Yay! Saturday evening/night I will be answering questions on Goodreads. I have been informed that you can use the Reader Q and A as a forum, so we are going to try that. Now, I am always available for questions on Goodreads, so if you miss this event (if it works out) you can still ask me stuff. You can even ask on Sunday since I will be around. (But, since I am getting ready to move, I am not going to be sitting in front of the computer.)

YAY! Talking to people about precious dorks in love! Yay! Release day!


In honor of A Beginner's Guide to Wooing Your Mate coming out this Friday, here, have a recipe.

For backstory, which won't make sense to anyone until the story is out, I imagine the Sheriff sitting with Zeki because he has no one else to talk to, and he ends up with some magical snickerdoodles. Trust me on this. Magical snickerdoodles. (Read the book, it will make sense.) With chocolate milk. Anyway. So Zeki asks Theo to write the recipe down.



Comforting the Sheriff About His Littlewolf Snickerdoodles

First steps: clear your counter space and set out your ingredients. Take a breath. Try not to think about anything. Then reach for what you need. (Zeki says this is when I center myself. I don't know about that. But when I found the Sheriff talking with Zeki, discussing his Littlewolf, it seemed only right to make him something to ease his pain. A lost mate is no small thing. And I did not wish to sense Zeki's guilt when I thought this, so I went to my kitchen. Snickerdoodles seemed the right thing to make, they are simple and quick and comforting when served warm. Mate is wonderful thing, for me now, for us. I want the Sheriff to feel comfort, even if he cannot have his mate. And now Zeki will read this and smile. He calls my recipes spells. He has notions I don't understand. But he insists I continue.)

You will need:

1 cup butter, unsalted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 TBS sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl, until it's creamy and fluffy. You will know when it's right, just as you knew then.

But it's not yet ready. Turn to your dry ingredients. Littlewolf is a strange one. An outsider but smart. He blushes hot when he speaks of the Sheriff, something I understand when I think of Zeki. He stays with you, like flour on your finger tips. He seems strong, but he requires delicacy, I think, so sift the flour, cream of tart, baking soda, and salt together. Your touch must be light until it's time to blend the flour mixture into the butter and sugar.

This part makes me warm, which delights Zeki. But I know the Sheriff would think the same. He longs to be with his mate, of course he does. There is nothing simpler, and simple things are the hardest to get right. When he takes a bite of these cookies, he should feel that, but without the sadness of knowing it might not happen.

Chill the dough while you check the oven temperature and lay out parchment paper on the cookie sheets. Mix the cinnamon sugar together in a small bowl. Cinnamon for spice and heat (again, I am blushing, and again, Zeki is smiling at me.) Sugar for the sweetness in how Littlewolf speaks of the Sheriff. The Sheriff might not know, but the town does. I think... I think there is hope to be found.

Take out the dough and use a spoon to scoop out small amounts. Regular cookies would be about an inch, but these are smaller, just a bit, for a little wolf. Shape them into balls and then gently roll them in the cinnamon and sugar before placing them on your cookie sheet.

Bake ten minutes, or until the edges are light brown and firm but the middles are soft. Imagine a little wolf snapping and uncertain and worried and afraid. Imagine him defensive. Then remember his eyes when he spoke of Sheriff Neri, and the care he tries to hide.

Wait a few minutes, then serve warm to a reserved, troubled wolf only Zeki is brave enough to speak to, with a glass of cold chocolate milk if you have one. Chocolate for passion, for taste, for a thirst that cannot be quenched--yet.

(Set aside a handful for your mate to enjoy later. Try to ignore him when he calls you sweet and kind with his mouth full of crumbs. Kiss cinnamon and your own magic from the edge of his lips and wonder how something as basic as a cookie brought that wondering look to your clever, clever mate's dark eyes.)

Editing editing editing. This is my life now. (Also prepping to move and staring woefully at apartment listings in my price range, but ah well. Hopefully all that will be settled soon. I like things settled. I am not a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of girl.)

I *think* there might be a galley run through of A Beginner's Guide left, or we might be done, because I saw no errors last time. The cover art is on its way. So... March. Definitely March. Will let you know when I know more. Like the date. :):):) Gentle baker werewolves and insistent, somewhat pushy wizards will be all yours.

Still editing Little Wolf. Round two starts... tonight probably. Or tomorrow after work. Little Wolf is long, so that will take a while.

In other news, to distract myself between edits, I did a short, fluffy bit of silly librarian love story. Well. The working title was "fluffy librarian smut thing" so that should tell you what you need to know.

Here is the actual description:

Jeremy is a grad student with a quick mind and insatiable thirst for knowledge. What he’s currently most curious about is the infamously strict librarian at the small private library attached to his university. He has a weakness for devastatingly clever jerks, so despite his looming thesis, Jeremy decides to pay the famous special collection—and its curator—a visit. But instead of an intimidating beast of a librarian, he finds the librarian’s soft-spoken assistant, Benj.

Quiet, shy, guys with pretty eyes and handmade cardigans are not Jeremy’s type. Jeremy is too smart, and weird, for anyone so sweet. He’d walk all over them, or find them boring after five minutes. Which doesn’t explain why he keeps coming back to the library, despite never once encountering the notoriously protective special collections librarian. Perhaps if he weren’t so distracted by Benj’s surprisingly impressive shoulders and the absolutely charming library he runs, he’d notice there’s more to Benj than knitted sweaters.


Or, as Coffeebuddha says, awkward turtles in like. Yeah there are in some serious like territory. Bordering on smitten. Okay, smitten.

Lots of nerdy, nerdy conversation (mostly one-sided) and longing stares and bending of the rules for the one you just don't want to leave.

Checking Out Love


Now, back to work for me.

Ah! Back! Where have I been? Exhausted. I work retail as a day job. This means this is my busy time of year.

However, I did manage to do a little something. A wee little Thanksgiving story, for those interested. It's up on Amazon.

Vincent's Thanksgiving Date

Socially anxious Vincent has resigned himself to spending Thanksgiving alone this year, just him, the parade, and some pie. The last thing he expects is Cory, the handsome neighbor he's been daydreaming about, to knock on his door with a holiday crisis of his own. Vincent would love to help him, but he's afraid that the more time Cory spends with him, the sooner Vincent's anxiety will drive him away.

What he doesn't realize is that Cory finds Vincent's gentle ways adorable and has been waiting for a chance to talk with him. Cory also firmly believes that a day like Thanksgiving should be spent with the people you want to be around--and he wants to be around Vincent. If that means pretending to need help in order to coax Vincent from his apartment, then Cory is willing to do it. The only potential hitch in the plan is Vincent himself. Can Vincent gather the courage to go after what he wants? Or will he spend his Thanksgiving exactly as he planned, with only a pumpkin pie for company?

(Ugh. The cheese in that description! Shameless cheese!)

For those who don't follow me on Tumblr, you might not know that Dreamspinner has accepted both A Beginner's Guide to Wooing Your Mate *and* Little Wolf. Those are both Beings stories and they will be out next year. A Beginner's Guide first, for reasons that will be obvious when you read it.

This is yaaaay! news, I hope. Although it means I will basically be spending December editing two books. WOE. I have also been trying to finish a collection of Beings short stories... why I don't know but I wrote a few and then kept going. One more (I think) should finish the set. Then... idk. Something.

I still fully intend to do something for charity, but between the lifting at work and the typing, I am also trying to avoid carpal tunnel. (No word yet on the renewed date for the auction, but Carly Rose is still having health issues, so I'm hardly going to pressure her.)

Aaaaand, now I am going to reward myself for posting that story with some wine and pie.

That story is so self-indulgent and I don't even care. lalalalala

(But who wouldn't marathon Shelley Long movies?)

Hey! I said I would pass on the release date when I found it out, aaaaand then I forgot. I am such fail. I can't even tell you. Tsk.

JULY 7. IT'S JULY 7. THE RELEASE DATE IS JULY 7. (Oh right the poison. The poison for Kuzco. The poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco. Kuzco's poison.)

Sorry about that. However, I've been informed that pre-ordering is possible. Which is good, because Dreamspinner sent me about twenty sheets to sign to put in the paperback copies. Now I just have to actually sign them. IDK. If I were Rhoades, and I were signing a book, I would sign with something smart and classical and Greek. If I were Wicklow, I'd probably just slash an "X" and be done with it. (Yes, I make things too complicated. I should just sign my name. But where is the fun in that?) I signed A Boy and His Dragon as if I were Bertie autographing books. Why can't Rhoades sign some books?

Still with me? Sorry. Scattered thinking today. But um, yes, July 7 for the release date. July 12 for my Meet the Author thing on Goodreads (not nervous about that at all oh wait I am actually incredibly nervous and trying not to think about it.)

In other news, Dreamspinner has a new Author Arcade feature going up, in which you can access information about the author more easily, including links to social media and all that. I haven't filled out my profile yet (shocker) but I will. :)

I also submitted a novella-ish Being(s) in Love story a few weeks ago. So hopefully they will want that and soon you will get to read about the baking werewolf in love. Then I am finishing up getting Little Wolf ready for submission (which, okay I just want it done). This exciting!! Even if, somehow, it ended up at about 360 pages. (!!!) This is too many pages. I know this. It's a nightmare and yet they are so cute and precious to me. We will see.

To recap: July 7. July 12. Arcade thing. A Beginner's Guide to Wooing Your Mate. Little Wolf.


And um, sorry about my crazy. Here:

Tim watched Nathaniel take another steadying breath, then quickly glanced away when Nathaniel opened his eyes again. Tim wondered if he knew how Tim had been studying him, because his voice was as warm as his scent. “May I touch you?”

Tim had to be hearing things wrong. He tugged at his ears. “What? You’re asking to touch me?” He recognized that Nathaniel was trying to respect his feelings but that wasn’t a request Tim could be expected to answer calmly. He licked his mouth. “Yeah okay, sure, why not?” He could do breezy, really. Breathless-breezy, tense with anticipation-breezy. “Knock yourself out, you beautiful weirdo.”

Nathaniel crossed the rest of the space and stopped in front of him. Then he reached out and let his palm rest on Tim’s neck. “Beautiful weirdo?” he echoed, almost tenderly, and Tim pulled in a quiet breath. Nathaniel brushed his hand up over Tim’s throat, his fingertips trailing over Tim’s skin before he took his hand away.

You know when you have all the ideas and you just want to write everything and you can't because that just isn't possible but also because of Other Things and Real Life?

SIGH.

Hi! No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've been focused on finally (FUCKING FINALLY) finishing a draft of Little Wolf. (Or whatever I decide to call it.) Talk about a story that got away from me. Oy! The thing is almost 400 pages so yes, I need to edit that a lot. Unfortunately I can't edit it right now because I'm busy editing Wicklow's Odyssey for your consideration and that is a lot of work too. So much work. At least Wicklow and Rhoades are lovely. (And the others, who really need porn of their own. I mean... romances of their own... and then porn. Then after I think about all that fun stuff I get to worrying that Wicklow and Rhoades and their story might be too weird for people. I think it's lovely but I'm such a nerd. And dork. Dorky nerd. My Tumblr is testament to this.)

The point being, never fear I have been working. And of course, the CUTEST fairy story popped into my head during all of this because I can't write it right now and that is always the way. (BUT HIS NAME IS TULIP AND I LOVE HIM. TULIP THE SOMEWHAT SHY FAIRY.HE NEEDS ALL THE PETS AND CUDDLES IN THE WORLD. FLOWER CROWNS MIGHT BE INVOLVED. I NEED TO STOP THE CAPSLOCK NOW, I KNOW. ahem.)

My brain might be a little fried from nonstop writing/editing. This is very possible. I apologize. Also, hey, everyone. I think Wicklow comes out in June or July. I want to be writing and I can't right now. That's all. Update over. :)

So... I was writing Christmas snippets for people on Tumblr while also editing Little Wolf and someone asked for a fairy tale and what was meant to be a short thing turned into a slightly longer story.

Ah. Me and my weird brain.

Anyway, so, Little Wolf is an unfinished novel about a very confused little werewolf finding his mate and for whatever reason, he reminds me and Selenographics of a cracky fairy tale about a princess locked in a tower. Which is probably how this happened.

Little Prince
(The Little Wolf Fairy Tale AU)

Summary: Prince Timothy is betrothed to Prince Nathaniel, who is handsome and kind and perfect. It's awful.




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