SA Collins has a new queer alt-earth sci fi book out, book one in the Cove Chronicles: “Beware Mohawks Bearing Gifts.”
It’s 1847, New York. William Matthias Hallett is a fashionable dandy of the Manhattan social set. His life is laid out before him: a world of soirees, riches and luxury. Yet all he wants to do is find an adventure so deliciously wicked that it would satiate his soul for an eternity.
So, disguised in a lower-class manner, into the notorious Five Points he goes, seeking that spark of adventure. That is until it greets him in the form of his old schoolmates from Dartmouth College – a pair of Mohawk warriors who will up-end his world and all he knew it to be forever.
Series Blurb:
Set in an alternative Earth that deviates from our own known timeline, William Matthias Hallett, a Mohawk/British New York socialite and dandy, who wants very little to do with his upper-crust Manhattan set, sets out to the notorious Five Points, seeking an adventure so decidedly wicked to satiate him for a lifetime. He gets far more than he bargains for when he crosses paths with two Mohawk warriors from their days at Dartmouth college.
Thrust into an unseen war that the Mohawks and the rest of the Haudenosuanee Confederacy has been fighting for over 600 years, William must come to terms with his maternal heritage that is pressing ever forward as their newly created sovereign nation rapidly expands, isolating the burgeoning United States along the eastern seaboard and now reaching a boiling point with the new Americans.
Central to this sci-fi adventure is the creation story of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy where myth becomes reality in ways that William can scarcely imagine.
As I’ve been given the opportunity to create my own covers for my books while publishing with NineStar Press, I am able to convey exactly the image I have in my head. With each work, Mohawks was no different, I always see an image in my head of what I think would best convey the essence of the story. Whether self-published (indie) or through my publisher, I get to bring my 25+ years of graphic design (predominantly for the theatrical community) to bear on my book covers. This makes me a very happy boy!
What are your favorite parts of publishing?
The creative process. Hands down, it is the best part. Like one of my creative heroes, Alfred Hitchcock, I almost don’t care about the release and how it is perceived. For me, the fun is over once the manuscript has been completed and the cover is created. As those phases come into play, I am already mentally working on the next project in my head.
What was the weirdest thing you had to Google for your story?
Not weird, necessarily, just time consuming. I include the Mohawk language in the work. I had to be fairly specific in my search because each part of the Iroquoian language (from each nation–Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora) all have their own dialects within the general Iroquoian lingua base. So, I was thrilled when I found a Mohawk app in the Apple app store that had a fully searchable working dictionary. Sometimes your searches take you down rabbit holes you didn’t even know existed. I thought I was up on where Mohawk linguistics were in preserving the language, yet the presence of an app for my iPhone changed those perceptions dramatically!
Star Trek or Star Wars? Why?
I will have to say while I love Star Wars and have every film in my collection, I am firmly in the Star Trek camp. I have been since the early 1970s when I was a boy watching them in reruns on afternoon television. I think I mostly lean their direction because of its hopeful premise.
Though with that being said, I really love what Star Trek: Discovery is up to. I like the darker aspects of this new show. Now that the show has gone nearly a full millennia from any Star Trek iteration produced before it, we will finally see a new show charting a new course, and writing their own history into the Star Trek canon. I can’t wait for this to happen! I am also looking forward to Picard when that show starts. And I am crossing my fingers that Enterprise with Captain Pike and Spock will get a green light for their own series. Ethan Peck (who is also the grandson of legendary film actor Gregory Peck) is a dreamboat Spock that I am totally fascinated with. If you haven’t checked it out, you totally should!
What would you like readers to know about Beware Mohawks Bearing Gifts that they might not be aware of?
I will be producing a series of videos discussing the work, the series, the culture and native representation in fictional works from a perspective of someone who is from that community. Right now, I have it planned to produce one every Wednesday for the month of November as part of Native American History Month. I hope you’ll join me on my YouTube channel.
SA Collins is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour. For a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter:
He leaned against the doorway with a slight smile upon his face and placed the message from my sister onto the desk nearest the door.
“So, are you planning to sleep upon the floor, or will you nest down in the kitchen?”
“Just be glad the bed I have in your room is large enough for us both. You will just have a bed mate until we can rectify the situation downstairs.”
“I could always sleep on your sofa in the receiving room, Will.”
“Certainly not. If I am anything, I am a superb host. I will not have you attempting to recline on a sofa that isbarely sufficient to sit upon, let alone gain some much-needed rest.”
“Fancy little Indian, are you not?” He indicated the quality of my nightshirt and dressing robe.
“I walk in two worlds now; allow me my fashionable proclivities,” I replied as I began to change out of my clothing and into the nightshirt. For a few moments he stood there shaking his head and smirking at my nightly routine, though I did detect a blush moving across his face as I got down to my undergarments. As I pulled my shirt over my head, I noted he had slipped into the spare bedroom.
I carried the nightshirt and robe over to the spare room to join him as he began to slip off his leggings and mocs. After he shucked his shirt, I paused to appreciate the simple utility of the Haudenosaunee male wardrobe. Moments later, Joss changed from the comfort of his daily outfit into a simple loincloth suitable for sleeping, and here I struggled with overgarments, shirts, pants, undergarments, and various pieces that served only as ornamentation. I began to question for the first time the intelligence of my way of dress.
::But you wear your clothing so well. I do not judge your choice of them. This is simply what I know and have grown comfortable using. Why are you curious as to our way of dress?::
::Well, I suppose I should gain a better understanding of our people’s ways. I feel I know so little about my Mohawk life. I assume I can lean on you for that. Unless you find me a lost cause.::
::Will, have no doubt. You are Mohawk; your lineage is clear. You just have not had much in the way of guidance in our way of life. You can always turn to me for that.::
“Thank you. I cannot tell you how much that means to me. Since I came into this whole new world of the Guardians and Flintlings, I have felt little more than a leaf upon the raging river, with little hope of purchase with which to grant me some sense of security. You have provided the security I desperately need.”
“Wait here…” He gated out of the room, though to where, simply wearing his loincloth for protection against the elements, was beyond me. I did not have to wait long as he returned within a few moments with a beaded side bag in his hand. He threw it upon the bed and began to rummage through it. He extracted a beaded belt and a tightly rolled piece of blood-red cloth.
“Get out of that precious royal swaddling you have encased yourself in,” he chided me as he unrolled the cloth, revealing it to be about the length of the loincloth he was wearing. I realized he had retrieved his spare clothing, though from where I was uncertain.
Reading my musings, he replied, “I have spare clothing set aside in various places. I can retrieve them whenneeds arise. These shall be yours now.” He indicated the bag on the bed as much as the belt and loincloth he held.
“Oh, Joss…” I gasped, filled with awe at his offering, knowing that to refuse would deeply mar our new relationship. Not something I was willing to risk, given our being inextricably bound to each other.
Forgetting my near nakedness, I knelt upon the bed, running gentle fingers over them, and watched as he completed the folding around the back of the belt. A small smile broke over his face, bringing his eyes to light.Clearly, he was most happy in his offering. I only wished I had something to offer in exchange. As if hearing mythoughts, he had a reply. “Just your wearing it will be more than enough,” he murmured as he
handed me the garment. “Come, let us have you try it on.” “I am afraid you will have to help me out a bit.”
Shortly thereafter, I found myself wearing my first Mohawk loincloth. My slightly burnished alabaster skin, witha dusting of freckles along my muscular shoulders that mellow as they wend their way over my bare torso, standing in stark contrast to the rich colored fabric of the loincloth.
He placed two gentle hands on my shoulders as we regarded my reflection in the mirror. I felt him course along our link with such gratitude and care that I was undone by his gesture.
Joss beamed, watching me take root in my heritage, pleased he could do this for me. After sheathing myself in some of the finest material and clothing the world could offer, I was amazed at how much comfort, both in movement and luxury, this simple natural garment afforded me.
He pulled out the leggings, a pair of mocs, and a shirt. After another few moments, I was fully clothed in my maternal heritage clothing. A sense of pride seemed to swell within me that I had not anticipated. I nearly wept from thesensation. I know Joss did not miss my eyes misting up from the transformation at his hands.
“Joss, I never knew just how comfortable these really are.”
“You wear them well; as if you were born to them,” he added with a bright grin, no doubt pleased with himself.
I paused, turning this way and that, before bringing Joss into a tight embrace, so thankful for his offering. He moved his head from my shoulder to place my forehead against his, his hands on either side of my face, gently holding me there.
::Like this, Ohnehta’kowa. When it matters most, this is how we share that moment.::
I nodded, thankful for his teaching and his generosity. I knew, being so linked with him, our intimacy would be something I needed to embrace and let flow. It was a part of who we are. If I were truly honest, I longed for it to go on into the night; spending this singular touching moment with him and to share it thusly shattered what I knew about myself and the world around me. Joss sensed this and gradually broke contact between us. I felt bewildered and in aslight stupor for the loss of him. I needed to regroup.
“Yes, well, now to bed, ehhhh
SA “Baz” Collins hails from the San Francisco Bay Area where he lives with his husband and Zorro, a character of a cat. A classically trained singer/actor (under a different name), Baz knows a good yarn when he sees it.
Based on years of his work as an actor, Baz specializes in character study pieces. It is more important for him that the reader comes away with a greater understanding of the characters and the reasons they make the decisions they do, rather than the situations they are in. It is this deep dive into their manners, their experiences and how they process the world around them that make up the body of Mr. Collins’ work.
You can find his works at sacollins.com, violetquillredux.com and as a co-host of the wrotepodcast.com series.
Author Website: www.sacollins.com
Author Facebook (Author Page): www.facebook.com/sacollinsauthor
Author Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sacollinsauthor
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacollins.author/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11881481.S_A_Collins
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/sa-collins/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/SA-Collins/e/B00RQ93PXC
