Six Sentence Sunday: Nonestic Tales: Pirates of the Nonestic

Nonestic Tales: Pirates of the Nonestic

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Wyatt Cain cantered through the gates into the Royal Palace's compound. The Royal Army hadn't finished renovating the former Longcoat headquarters, but the Palace next to the barracks gleamed in the suns. He wondered which tower housed DG before shaking his head. A lowly Tin Man--even if he was a hero of the realm--shouldn't be concerned about such matters. He cast one more glare at the Palace before stopping his horse in front of the guard on duty. He tilted his fedora as he looked down at the uniformed young man. "Commander Wyatt Cain to see Captain Cain."

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Summary: Away from the familiar O.Z., the runaway Princess and the Tin Man join Captain "Blood-rage" Betsy Bobbins' quest and cross swords with sullen pirates, the navy out to stop Bobbins, and a legendary evil lurking in the Nonestic Ocean.

The second story in the Nonestic Tales series takes place an annual (year) after the Tin Man miniseries. DG runs away from the princess gig and Cain is sent after her, and they end up outside the borders of the Outer Zone with pirates. Because nearly everything is better with pirates!

On a more serious note, this is the story where all my headcanons began to bounce around and really expand the worldbuilding. I pulled from L. Frank Baum's original Oz series, Gregory Maguire's Wicked series, and a fascinating movie adaptation of Return to Oz from 1985 that also traumatized many of its viewers. I ended up making a more detailed history timeline than I normally do, making maps to illustrate the changes to the landscape between what we know of Oz and what the miniseries portrayed as the Outer Zone, and finally detailing out the solar system the best I could so I could figure out the calendar. I hope you enjoy this novel and the series it is a part of.

Six Sentence Sunday: Nonestic Tales: What Memories Can Bring

Nonestic Tales: What Memories Can Bring

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

She propped her head on her elbow and considered the nude man standing at the large window. The glow beyond the glass tinted his scarred muscles and fair hair green. Heat pooled in her belly as she remembered how those strong limbs had tangled with hers on this bed. But he seemed content to expose his glory to Central City below. "I married as exhibitionist."

His lips stretched into a grin. "Only for you."

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Summary: Now I see you standing with brown leaves falling around and snow in your hair. Now you're smiling out the window of that crummy hotel over Washington Square. Our breath comes out white clouds, mingles and hangs in the air. Speaking strictly for me, we both could have died then and there.

This short prequel story to the Tin Man miniseries had two germinating ideas. The first developed from my analysis of a scene we get in the miniseries:

So later after Jeb has said Zero killed Adora, after seeing Jeb has his own suit with his camp (and that must have made packing in a hurry a bitch. I hope it came in handy with interrogation sessions.), Cain has a nightmare of finding a time loop projection of Adora's death. Not even her real death, a projection of it! *Pause to snuggle issues!Cain*

Okay, so now that we've established that we interpret these two scenes through Cain's macho POV, here comes the question that popped into my head. What if Adora was the one in the suit?

The second germinating idea was hear "Diamonds and Rust" by Blackmore's Night. The lyrics were haunting and for me fitted perfectly for a woman who lost her husband and the pain involved in the memories. And the story grew from there. I have linked it directly to the Nonestic Tales series, but it also works as a prequel for Dragons and Ninjas, Not His Kink, and Alchemy. Content warning for a suicide. I hope you enjoy this story.

Six Sentence Sunday: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Turbo

Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Turbo

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

"You sure are going to a lot of trouble." Vinnie leaned against the bathroom's doorjamb, and watched Throttle buttoning the black, long-sleeved shirt. "You two should be way past the bribing into her pants stage."

Throttle rolled his cybernetic eyes. Who in the universe picked me to teach Vinnie about relationships? "Trust me, it's easier if you keep the lady happy. Charley wants to go to this concert, and I want Charley happy."

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Summary: Turbo arrives in Chicago, and secrets Throttle has kept buried for most of his life now threaten Charley.

Let Us Give Thanks (BookWorm's Library | Ao3) ended up being my headcanons about Charley's past, but Turbo was all about my Throttle headcanons from the start. His past, other than dating Carbine, hadn't been established by the show, so we know even less than what we know about Modo and Vinnie. And I had a blast filling in some blanks and writing the bros before the Plutarkian-Martian War. I hope you enjoy the story, and the rest of the series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Evil Jack: For Worse

Evil Jack: For Worse

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Hannah Davidson leaned her back against the wall of her mother's garage. The sun shone down on her knees. Her uncles told her to guard the bag of kitty litter that towered over her head. But they just wanted her to watch while they played.

Uncle Modo revved his purple bike near the end of the block. The tires hit the puddle of oil in front of the Last Chance, but he controlled the skid heading for the bottle.

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Summary: Jack returns to Chicago determined to use Charley and Throttle's drunken mistake to destroy the Biker Mice.

This story finally deals with the Vinnie-Charley-Throttle triangle that has been hovering in the background of the Evil Jack series (until the characters decided to change things up in the future on me--authors, always the last to know). And Jack makes his reappearance to cause deadly trouble. I hope you enjoy the story and the series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Evil Jack: In Sickness

Evil Jack: In Sickness

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

"Well, if you would just kick his cheesy ass for keeps, you could come home." Carbine's voice punched through the whispering static.

Throttle stared at the communication receiver before he closed his eyes. "Not this argument again."

"What argument? Limburger's the reason you won't come home, take out Limburger. You just don't want to do what it takes."

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Summary: Hannah is in the hospital with an unknown disease. How can Throttle save her from that?

Evil Jack: Domestic Bliss was a huge success and spawned another series in my head. Thankfully, only five stories long this time; not counting the crossover that takes place after the series is completed. Evil Jack: In Sickness came together fast, and is important to the series despite the lack of Jack MacCyber. This story does take place in a hospital with a sick child. I hope you enjoy this story and the series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Let Us Give Thanks

Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Let Us Give Thanks

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

"Another Earth holiday is comin' up." Sparks plopped down on the couch between Throttle and Modo. The Sunday night football game was on a commercial as he maneuvered a thick book in his lap and opened it. "It's called Thanksgiving."

"Must not be real important." Vinnie stretched out between the couch and the TV set. "The stores are already decorated for Christmas, have been since Halloween."

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Summary: Sparks wanting to celebrate Thanksgiving sets off a mystery from Charley's past. Can the Biker Mice find the answers?

Back when I was planning the Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare series, I realized holiday stories were popular: Christmas, Halloween, New Year's. I was going to do Mardi Gras later, and nobody had used Thanksgiving. It is an American holiday and Native American culture is appropriated and fails to acknowledge the violence colonists did to the Native American tribes, which was also beyond the scope of my story and wasn't on my radar when I wrote it in 2006. But being thankful for blessings and family is a universal theme. It is the perfect holiday for exploring Charley's past and showing proof that this band of Martin mice and humans have become a family. I hope you enjoy the story, and the rest of the series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Family, Friends, and Foes

Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Family, Friends, and Foes

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Zack tapped the ink pen against his bottom lip. He stared down at the blank loose-leaf paper and wondered how to start. Detailed snail-mail letter writing had never been a skill this fifteen-year-old had bothered picking up. For him, e-mail was quicker and flowed more naturally. But he wasn't even sure how this letter was going to reach his errant sister, so e-mail was out of the question. He sighed as he used the pen to brush his straight black hair out of his dark, almond-shaped eyes. It's not gonna write itself, he thought. He brought the pen tip down to the paper.

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Summary: The bros are being chased by mutated humans who aren't working for Limburger. And Chi-town is shaken by the arrival of two more vigilante groups who are attacked by Limburger. Can the mysterious Ronin pull the good guys together? Or will Manuelo's family pay the price? A crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"You were expecting maybe turtles?" -- Modo

I don't remember when I first saw "Rock 'n Ride." I must have started watching Biker Mice From Mars at the end of their Saturday morning run and the switch to weekdays--which Fox put on in the mornings; Disney Afternoon filled the after-school hours--but I was hooked. However, I don't remember what episode I saw first. Not that it mattered when I got up a half-hour earlier than I needed to just so I would be dressed and could watch them. That's how I got up every morning my senior year of high school.

But the first time Modo uttered that line, all the "what if" receptors fired in my brain. When I saw the following exchange in "Chill Zone"

Throttle: "Oh no, man! You don't really want toys that look like waterlogged reptiles, do you?"
Vinnie: "Yeah! Fuzzy and buff is where it's at!"

it was cinched. This crossover was destined. I hope you enjoy this story and the expansion to the Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Evil Jack: Domestic Bliss

Evil Jack: Domestic Bliss

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

She stood up out of the water and felt it sheet down her muscular and curvaceous body. She faced the shore, a secluded area with a grassy spot right under a large oak tree perfect for reclining beneath. Three males were already taking advantage of the shade.

"Even us interplanetary heroes need time off now and then." The tan mouse stretched out on his back. His black leather vest fell open and gave an unimpeded view of his fur-covered, sculpted abs and pecs.

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Summary: Charley is married to Jack, and they have a four-year-old daughter. But why can't Charley remember anything from the past four years? And why do three bikers keep following her?

Biker Mice From Mars: Evil Jack: Domestic Bliss is a what-if story. What if Jack McCyber was so totally evil everyone would have justification to hate him? So I made him a lot crazy. I also wanted to have Charley solve her own problem. And since the episode "My Cheese is Quick" was screwed up as a mystery, I'd make it a mystery. Charley would have to figure out what happened to her life. It ended up spawning a series. I hope you enjoy the story and the sequels.