the journal of r. cooper

Yes, yes, it's been difficult for me to focus on writing lately (for my usual reasons and also US political reasons) but I have been *trying*. So for now, there is just this short, but I am working on stuff, I promise. (The story after Treasure for Treasure is still under review/submission at Dreamspinner. And I am making notes for a new weird thing.)


Meanwhile, I did this. The purest fluffest fluff to ever fluff. No, really. I know I say "fluff" and still my work will be super angsty, but this is not angsty. This is sugar and roses and lounging in the sun on a comfy couch while your S.O. pets your hair, fluff.



Sami is twenty-seven and happy to live at home with his family, even if he is a little lonely and dissatisfied with his job at a nursing home. Caring for people is what Sami does. Unfortunately, putting his loved ones first is also part of the reason Sami is single. As accepting as his parents are, he isn’t sure how they’d react if he brought home a boyfriend. So he spends more time than he should dreaming of what might be, and fighting with his younger sister over the perfect sunny spot on the couch. Which is probably why the perfect potential boyfriend chooses that moment to move in across the street.

There’s just one problem—his new neighbor isn’t really new. He’s the son of the woman Sami’s mother has had a feud with for years. Toby and Sami grew up together but were never allowed to say more than a few words to each other despite Sami’s repeated efforts. Quiet, serious Toby was Sami’s first and biggest crush, and everyone knew it—a big part of their reason their mothers didn’t get along. Toby’s mother went as far as planting dozens of thorny rose bushes around her house to ensure Sami couldn’t even see Toby anymore.

But Toby’s mother is long gone, and Toby has no interest in reviving the feud. If anything, he seems determined to end it. Finding out why, and if it has anything to do with the way he looks at Sami, means Sami will have to raise the issue with his family—and dare to step beyond the wall of roses that kept him out all those years ago.


You can buy it on Amazon.

Or on Smashwords. And as a bonus, all the proceeds from the sales on Smashwords this week are going to CAIR. Woo! Good deeds and fluffy fluff! What a good, as the kids say. What a good.


<3<3<3Happy Valentine's Day!! <3<3<3

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.

I promised better links once I had covers. To what? Some might ask. Well to a pair of steampunk stories I wrote a while ago that didn't know what to do with, so I put them up on Smashwords.

And I Am Happy

My steampunk Alternate Universe story for Will and Charlie from Play It Again, Charlie

Description: Will is a terrible valet. Until he came to the house of war hero and respected MP Charles Howard, he was more of a rich man's convenience than a valet. No one predicts he will keep the position for long but Charles Howard is not at all what Will expects. A reserved, insecure man who hides his pain from the public, Charlie--as Will secretly thinks of him--believes that no one, especially his pretty valet, would want him. Will longs to convince him otherwise but even if Charlie were the type to dally with a servant, Will is a valet, a man, with a scandalous past, and Charlie is a famous figure.

In a late Victorian England where cars exist, if only for the rich, and telephones are a symbol of wealth, a progressive spirit has led to the appearance of acceptance. But though certain laws have been repealed it doesn't mean people's attitudes have changed or that class differences don't still exist. Will is content to serve his gentleman with no expectations of anything more. He only wants his master to be happy. Will makes Charlie smile but master and servant is all they can ever be, or is it?

Price: FREE. Everyone's favorite word! But if you like it and are curious about this Peter and Sebastian that Will mentions, then skip on over to


With Everything I Have


Description: Sebastian has a problem. He's in love with his best friend Peter and has been since their schooldays when they were outcasts together. His pining is so obvious that all of London knows, even his frustrated mother who just wants him to be happy. The only person who doesn't know is Peter. An abusive childhood with a controlling father left Peter emotionally detached and socially anxious and now he mostly hides himself away in his house where he designs the unique, fast cars that are status symbols among the town's elite. People would kill to own a single one of Peter's cars. Sebastian owns four. The meaning in that is obvious to everyone but Peter.

In a late Victorian England where cars exist, even though they aren't exactly comfortable, and computers allow the shy to avoid human contact , a progressive spirit has led to a begrudging acceptance of the sexuality of certain members of society. The sodomy laws have been repealed so that two men might spend the rest of their lives together, but that is no guarantee of happiness. Peter risks his neck driving at dangerous speeds for fun but sees passion as something to be frightened of. Sebastian has been struggling to get Peter to realize his own feelings for years but he is starting to worry that it may never happen. Peter seems to want no part of the future that Sebastian is offering him, on the surface at least. But a future without Sebastian might be something that not even a mind like Peter's can imagine.

Price: $1.99 But um, there's feelings! And smut! And suspenders... which... okay thanks to Selenographics and Wicklow, I have kind of a kink for now. hmmm Peter and Sebastian need some more smut. Maybe I will commentfic that with Selenographics when I get bored.

A while ago I wrote a very silly short story in an attempt to get it published in one of Dreamspinner’s anthologies. The anthology was sports themed romance stories, and why I thought I could write anything sports themed I have no idea. It’s really no surprise they didn’t want it for that. (I mean, holy balls, the title is There Is No Pon Farr In Baseball. It just screams athleticism doesn’t it?)

However, they do want it just on its own. A little, vaguely sports-related but not really, story on the side. Since I feel good about that and I haven’t felt good in a while, I am going to share the love. (Also I have been messing around with Smashword and their tech.)

For the next two weeks (ish? roughly?) here is a coupon code for 30% off Ideas of Sin.

Coupon Code: XK25G

It expires May 5. Have some pirate porn. :)

Edit: hmmm I have to change the title... but to what?

Hey there, you people so patiently putting up with me while I go through things and don't write at all. Well, I did write a few short things, but the reaction to them among the people I showed them to was sort of underwhelming, so I assume they, uh, need work, to put it mildly. Sometimes things just don't happen (I blame my brain chemistry) and sometimes they do. In the meantime, I've been editing ye olde (embarrassing as hell) Ideas of Sin.

Editing in the sense of cleaning it up and resisting the urge to rewrite it, because it's kind of insane, but it's also clearly me at a certain point in my life and I can't change that now. Also a part of me thinks I should write crack like that more often. Glorious cheese!

ANYWAY. I'm going to put it up on Smashwords and take it down elsewhere. I will probably also make Under the Bridge free and slap a pricetag on My Man Godric. (Aren't I nice to warn you?) That's probably what I should have done in the first place, but I was playing around with Smashwords at the time and just figuring things out. I doubt the pricetag will be high.

In other news, on Wednesday, March 6, I will be doing a blog entry for the brand spankin' new Steampunk section at Coffee Time Romance. I will probably talk about corsets and dirigibles and Jules Verne, and maybe even about Karol and Hart. There will *probably* be a book giveaway, but I have to figure out how to do that. Especially since Let There Be Light is only available in ebook format. Please come check it out, if not for me than for the other authors. This putting yourself out there shit is *terrifying*.

And before I go... I got fanfiction. FANFIC, YOU GUYS. I am too nervous author to ever read it, but IT EXISTS and that is delightful. You can find it on Goodreads under the group minemineminemine.