Introducing to Surial and Kade
By Sean Michael
While Surial and Kade are destined to be together, they are very different men and they don’t particularly like each other at the beginning of their story.
Surial is in fact, not a very sympathetic character at the start of the book. He is young, was sent away from home when he was even younger, and seems petulant and uncaring when in fact he’s desperately lonely and afraid he’ll never be allowed home again, that this place where he doesn’t relate to anyone is where he will live out the rest of his life.
Windbrothers: Desert is the story of Surial’s growth, or perhaps it would be better put as it is the story of his coming into his own. He already cares for his household better than any of the other nobles of Azize. He doesn’t agree with their views on slavery, or on how to treat their workers. He cares, but he was taught by his father and brothers that to show that care is a weakness. It’s only as Kade gets to know Surial that the reader does as well and realises that there’s a very good guy hiding beneath the ill-fitting cloak of bored Azize noble that Surial wears.
It is much easier to like Kade right from his introduction. A slave, stolen from his homeland many years ago, Kade has a quiet dignity even when he is being beaten and whipped. He has pride and spirit and was once a fierce warrior. That spirit lives in him still, a small spark that keeps him going, keeps him looking for a way out.
At the beginning, Surial sees only a slave in Kade, and he hates the idea of owning another man, but knows if he refuses to accept Kade, the man will go back to an owner who will use and beat him. Kade for his part, thinks Surial is just another spoiled noble with little care for his fellow human. Windbrothers: Desert is the story of their journey to becoming two sides of the same coin.
Sean Michael
Smut fixes everything
Blurb:
Banished from his homeland, Surial is sent to Azize to run the family business. When he wins a slave, Kade, in a dog race, Surial is unsure what to do with him, as he doesn’t believe in slavery. Kade’s way with horses leads to him being relegated to the stables, where Surial becomes drawn to the big, quiet man.
A proud warrior at heart, Kade has been a slave for too long, and when he is passed to yet another owner, he goes without a fight, no hope left in him. When he discovers Surial’s secret, a fragile friendship blossoms between the unlikely master and the unwilling slave as Kade shows Surial that what lies within him is not a curse but a gift.
In a world of magic, Surial and Kade face their fears and hopes amid dangers that threaten both of them as their friendship is put to the test. What lies at the end of their trials is something more precious than either of them has ever dreamed of.
1st Edition published as Windbrothers by Torquere Press, 2007.
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Often referred to as “Space Cowboy” and “Gangsta of Love” while still striving for the moniker of “Maurice,” Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and pursuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to “Chicago.”
A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
Barring any of that? He’ll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.
Twitter: @seanmichael09