Book Title: The King’s Fear (The Brass Machine #2)
Author: Isaac Grisham
Publisher: Cooper Blue Books, LLC
Cover Artist: Dissect Designs
Genre/s: Fantasy, LGBT Fiction
Trope/s: Good vs. Evil, Magic, Shifter, Bi the Way
Themes: Darkness and Light, Heartbreak of Betrayal, Revenge and Forgiveness
Length: 95,000 words/290 pages
Everything will burn
Blurb
Myobu has waited all his life to find love, and just as he makes a connection, it’s taken from him in an instant. Reeling from the fatal climax of his love story with Prince Kitsune, the magical Yokai must take advantage of his second chance at life, reconciling his past and present while keeping the prince from going down a path of darkness. Together with Kitsune, Myobu is tasked with destroying an evil that threatens the brass machine—and their world.
Meanwhile, Prince Kitsune is lost in the depths of responsibility and the murkiness of grief. His role is at the head of an army, defending against the whims of his deranged father. King Oni’s aggression is mounting, and he will stop at nothing to maintain his power over Kitsunetsuki.
Overcome with the guilt of killing the man he loved, Kitsune finds direction when he discovers the legendary Sword of Inari—but when the voices within the steel speak to him, they lead him deeper down a path of deceit. In a tale of good versus evil, life and death, Kitsune and Myobu must come together alongside their allies to face unspeakable horrors.
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Trigger Warnings
Most of my dreams are nonsensical fantasy. The other night, my unconscious mind gifted me with an unaired backdoor Supernatural pilot on an episode of Deep Space Nine, guest starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford! I would totally watch that!
Unfortunately, the sheer nerdy giddiness of that dream was wiped away by its nightmarish follow-up: a man forced his way into my car, held me at gunpoint, and threatened to blow my junk off if I didn’t do as he said. To prove he meant business, he jabbed me several times with the barrel of his weapon. It was an terrifying moment—I knew he was going to pull the trigger—and it jettisoned me right into consciousness.
Dreams that stick with me tend to affect my mood, and I had a tough time shaking that one. In fact, on my way into work that morning, I could suddenly feel cold metal pressing against my skin. The vehicle became claustrophobic, and breathing became difficult. I had to pull over and step out of my car until I calmed down.
If a dream could trigger such a reaction out of me, how would I have behaved if the situation had been real? How do people deal with it?
*
Recently, I’ve had the displeasure of watching some of my favorite authors commit blunders over social media. Thankfully, they responded well to backlash, but one in particular got me thinking: the use of trigger warnings in literature.
Like most professions, writing and publishing is a continual learning process. When I published my first book, I had no concept of trigger warnings and was genuinely surprised when a reader was unable to finish it due to a particular scene. I thought to myself, “I wish the person had read on. That part was there to [rationalization] and the reader is missing out on some really good stuff afterwards!”
It’s a train of thought many authors have when faced with certain feedback. At the time, I didn’t understand the difference between a person not wanting to read about something because they’re not into it…and not wanting to read something because doing so could result in negative and intense psychological reactions.
Thankfully, the effects of my nightmare wore off quickly, and I was able to drive without mishap the next day. Others are not so lucky, and are actual victims of sexual and physical assault, hate, mental illness, and so much more. They carry those mental wounds with them every day. Such events won’t fade away like a bad dream, and can be recalled by the slightest trigger—including the powerful emotions and reactions involved. The last thing I want—that anyone should want—is to be the cause of that.
To that end: In my first book, The King’s Sun, there is the implication of a rape in the beginning of the book, and it is later recalled in detail. Also, that book and its follow-up, The King’s Fear, are fantasy. They include swords, arrows, and powerful magic. Readers should expect a certain level violence and a few deaths.
It was the perfect morning.
Treating himself to a good long stretch, Myobu worked his way up to sitting. With his back against the wooden headboard, he looked down at the pair with whom he had spent the night. Ryn and Nikki owned one of the oldest taverns in Hawte, having belonged to Ryn’s family for generations. Myobu had met them not long after arriving in the capital nearly three sun cycles ago.
Something else had happened as their friendship grew. Late one night after helping close up the tavern, they had spent a few hours drinking by the hearth. Ryn and Nikki spoke of their first encounter and subsequent marriage, purportedly a scandalous affair.
Having lived over a century without ever engaging in sexual activity, Myobu had drunkenly bombarded them with endless questions on the subject. The pair looked at one another, a glimmer of humor and desire in their eyes, and decided to answer his queries physically rather than verbally. Taking him by the hand, they led him upstairs to bed.
Upon closing the bedroom door, the first thing the couple did was peel off their clothing. Myobu had watched in awe as the differences in their skin were revealed. Ryn was a burly man, and there were few areas on his body not covered in hair. Nikki was dark-skinned and appeared free of any blemishes or extraneous hair.
The two had begun tugging at Myobu’s own clothing, which he sluggishly gave up. He wasn’t timid or particularly self-conscious, though he had wondered if the human form he had taken was correct in the details. He possessed all the parts of a man, but he lacked the massive tufts of hair Ryn displayed. He was almost as smooth as Nikki. Concerned they would figure out he wasn’t actually human, he had contemplated adding hair to his body before his shirt could be removed.
In the end, the two hadn’t given a second thought to his nearly hairless form. They stripped him naked, looked at him appreciatively, and began running their hands over his body. The dual sensations of Ryn’s rougher palms and Nikki’s smoother fingertips elicited a gasp from Myobu. Goosebumps broke out over his flesh. It heightened his tactile awareness, dulled his sense of time, and deeply aroused him. He tentatively put a hand on each of their bodies, awkward at first, but easily got into it once he realized his touch elicited the same types of responses from them.
Isaac Grisham currently lives in a blue county of Illinois with his partner and doggos. By day, he works at a local college. The King’s Fear is his second completed novel and, by night, he is busy assembling the gears of the third and final piece of The Brass Machine.
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