Introducing O E Tearmann
Where did the idea for the story come from?
2016 hit my community like a hammer. I’d been hearing tons of defeated ‘we’re screwed’ talk, and I have a streak of scrappy resilience in me that sneers at defeatism. So I said ‘fine, let’s start from ‘we’re screwed’. Let’s write something that starts at the nadir of what our society could become. And then let’s write our way out of the dark, to show people how it’s done.
Give a quote from the books, one that says little but speaks volumes.
A found family coming together and fighting for what matters.
Give a short summary of what the book is about.
It’s 2155, and seven corporations run the City Grids for a profit on the land that was the United States of America. You are indentured to your Corporation the day you’re born, and your life is dictated by the hand that holds your Corporate Citizen Contract. Freedom is just a word in the news vids.
But off the Grids, there are people fighting for a change.
The Aces High, Jokers Wild series revolves around one unit in the fight to return democracy to America. Officially Democratic State Force Base 1407, they are known as the Wildcards. They are dreamers and fighters. They are a family. They fight for one another, and a future worth living in.
What genre is it?
LGBT, cyberpunk, spec-fic
How many pages is it?
Book 1- 428 pages
Why do you think the readers will want to read it?
If you need hope, shenanigans, and a scrappy sense that things suck and we’re going to do something about it, this is your read. If you want to see diverse characters from all walks of life and all colors of the rainbow kicking ass and making their lives better, then you’re the person this book was written for.
Where are you located?
Denver, Colorado, USA
Description
The Hands We’re Given (Aces High, Jokers Wild Book 1)
Life’s a bitch. She deals off the bottom of the deck. But you play the hands you’re given.
Aidan Headly never wanted to be the man giving orders. That’s fine with the Democratic State Force base he’s been assigned to command: they don’t like to take orders. Nicknamed the Wildcards, they used to be the most effective base against the seven Corporations owning the former United States in a war that has lasted over half a century. Now the Wildcards are known for creative insubordination, chaos, and commanders begging to be reassigned.
Aidan is their last chance. If he can pull off his assignment as Commander and yank his ragtag crew of dreamers and fighters together, maybe they can get back to doing what they came to do: fighting for a country worth living in.
Excerpt
On the tab screen, the red dot of a drone approached their location. They waited in breathless silence as the long-range drone passed, not even the sound of whirring to announce its presence.
The red dot moved out of range. Aidan breathed out. Kevin looked up with a smile. So close. They were so close.
“That’s the last of them. A very fine night’s work if I do say so.”
Aidan tried to smile, but it faltered. “I didn’t get the holo board. That was the part we needed most.”
Kevin smirked as he pulled the bag up from the floorboard and into his lap. He rifled quickly through the materials they had managed to grab, yanked, and pulled out the board with a wink.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“What? How…?” Aidan breathed, feeling the wave of defeat that had been threatening lift.
“Fell down the pile when you did,” Kevin whispered, grinning. “I simply grabbed it up. After all, I am the requisitions officer. Snatching things is my forte.”
A rush of joy shot through Aidan. They’d done it. They’d got everything. Nose to nose with Kevin, he grinned. “Holy shit, we- Holy shit! You… wow. Kevin, holy shit! This is like one of your vids!”
Kevin’s eyes glittered like silver in the low light. “You know, if this is a vid, I know how the scene ends.”
“Yeah?” Aidan asked, still giddy with relief.
Kevin was still smiling, his teeth white outlines in his grin. And he was leaning
closer. Aidan could feel the heat of his skin, his breath.
“Heroes always get a kiss at the end of the adventure. That’s the convention.” Kevin tipped his head, eyes holding Aidan’s. “Would the hero like a kiss?”
Aidan froze. Was Kevin actually… Was he…? He wet his lips. His voice escaped as a whisper. “Am I supposed to be a hero?”
Kevin’s smile was soft now, and he was so very close. “I don’t see anyone else in the driver’s seat. So you must be.” Then he pressed his lips against Aidan’s.
Kevin’s lips were hot. Aidan’s brain turned inside out. Kevin was kissing him.
Kevin had started kissing him.
This was real.
He leaned into the warmth with a pleasure that was almost pain. This was only
going to be a second, but if only this second would last.
Softly, Kevin drew back.“Was that okay?” Kevin’s whisper barely made it through the buzzing in Aidan’s brain. He gasped in a breath.
“Um, okay. Yeah.” He swallowed hard and forced himself to sit up. “We-we should get going home…”
Kevin nodded, eyes still holding his as he drew away. “I suppose we should.”
Karen J. Mossman 