Veronica Sloane's Blog
September 4, 2025
Voyage Unknown, Books 1 and 2 available now!
I spent my summer writing two new novels and you can enjoy them now! I posted them in their entirety on AO3 to make them as available as possible.
Book 1: A Shared and Loud Subtext
PG-13. A M/M Romance.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/563...
A lead role on a television show could make or break a career. Victor is all too aware of that when he’s cast as a leading role on a new science-fiction project. He arrives on set, nervous, but determined and fully unprepared for the way everything is about to change.
With years of character acting under his belt, another show likely destined for a single season before being ruthlessly cancelled by a streaming service doesn’t excite Marco much. He doesn’t expect to walk from the quiet grays of the day-to-day into a world of color and sound that may wipe away the cobwebs he’s let gather in every corner of his life.
Note: This story contains discussions of grief, being closeted, past drug use, a character with a chronic injury, and the romance does have an age difference with the mains being 27 and 43 years old.
Book 2: The Case of the Lukewarm Boy Summer
PG-13. A M/NB/M Romance.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/681...
Julian was thrilled to be asked back for season two after his character’s apparent death in the finale of season one. He also had high hopes for the New Orleans hook up scene after a series of strike outs back home.
Maybe a change of location will finally give him the fun flirty fling he’s been craving.
Or maybe it will give him what he really needs.
98k. Rated mature for a lot of swearing, a medical incident and good deal of implied sexual content.
Book 1: A Shared and Loud Subtext
PG-13. A M/M Romance.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/563...
A lead role on a television show could make or break a career. Victor is all too aware of that when he’s cast as a leading role on a new science-fiction project. He arrives on set, nervous, but determined and fully unprepared for the way everything is about to change.
With years of character acting under his belt, another show likely destined for a single season before being ruthlessly cancelled by a streaming service doesn’t excite Marco much. He doesn’t expect to walk from the quiet grays of the day-to-day into a world of color and sound that may wipe away the cobwebs he’s let gather in every corner of his life.
Note: This story contains discussions of grief, being closeted, past drug use, a character with a chronic injury, and the romance does have an age difference with the mains being 27 and 43 years old.
Book 2: The Case of the Lukewarm Boy Summer
PG-13. A M/NB/M Romance.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/681...
Julian was thrilled to be asked back for season two after his character’s apparent death in the finale of season one. He also had high hopes for the New Orleans hook up scene after a series of strike outs back home.
Maybe a change of location will finally give him the fun flirty fling he’s been craving.
Or maybe it will give him what he really needs.
98k. Rated mature for a lot of swearing, a medical incident and good deal of implied sexual content.
August 20, 2015
On Myths and Thieves
My contribution to Mythologically Torqued Volume II is Cademan Victorius, centers on Cadmean and Laelaps. Brought to my attention through a round of prompts on my tumblr, there isn't much meat on the bone of the story of the Cadmean Vixen and Laelaps. An uncatchable fox is chased by a dog that always catches his prey. To me this sang out to become a romance. How could I resist these unstoppable forces who were fated to a paradoxical end?
Cadmean, like so many clever foxes, is a light on his feet thief who believes himself smarter than any hunter while Laelaps is a young guard, who has never failed to flush his quarry. They meet cute, connive and play off one another in game with no end.
Cadmean, like so many clever foxes, is a light on his feet thief who believes himself smarter than any hunter while Laelaps is a young guard, who has never failed to flush his quarry. They meet cute, connive and play off one another in game with no end.
June 4, 2014
Between Tooth and Claw: The Vampire/Werewolf choice for Strong Independent Women
How did this become a thing? Enough of a thing that tvtropes has page devoted to it . I'd love to blame Twilight, but Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake predates those (Guilty Pleasures premiered in 1993). If you haven't read them, I highly recommend the first four or five books.
In any case, Anita Blake is a strong, independent necromancer, who works with the police. She has two love interests and (spoiler alert) one of them is a werewolf and the other is a vampire.
Why these two creatures of all the supernatural beings? Why does every hardboiled paranormal woman find herself torn? I hadn't thought about it much until I picked up the Mercy Thompson series by Patrica Briggs (awesome braincandy) and found a tough female mechanic that I really liked. And while the vampire in those books isn't posed as equal to the werewolf love interest, he's still there in the background. Being....distracting.
Do these two archetypal monsters represent some kind of quintessential female choice? Certainly both vampires and werewolves suffer from uncontrollable urges that are beyond their control. That's a label we have long ascribed to men's sex drives, an idea that has proven toxic to all genders.
The implication is generally that vampires are somehow more comfortable with those urges, embracing their nature and use it to seduce while werewolves fight the change and are reduced to a mindless state.
Why are these our fearless heroines only choices? Where is the mortal dude who takes on support staff instead of jumping in front of the bullets? Male action heroes seem to prefer that kind of mate, hanging back being all mortal and appealing to all enemies.
Instead, women are given these borderline abusive mates (he can't help it! He's supernatural!) with their mind control powers, thrall and mating instincts that make sex an uncomfortable dance of consent issues. The only benefit seems to be that these hyper-masculine dudes can rush in to save the day when the heroine gets in over her pretty head.
I'd love to read a series where the woman is a kickass warrior and her partner is a useless cheerleader, who keeps getting kidnapped, but never flags in his devotion to her cause. He could even be a stay at home dad, watching their adorable fangy children, who often wind up protecting him from mom's enemies. Maybe he makes awesome muffins.
In any case, Anita Blake is a strong, independent necromancer, who works with the police. She has two love interests and (spoiler alert) one of them is a werewolf and the other is a vampire.
Why these two creatures of all the supernatural beings? Why does every hardboiled paranormal woman find herself torn? I hadn't thought about it much until I picked up the Mercy Thompson series by Patrica Briggs (awesome braincandy) and found a tough female mechanic that I really liked. And while the vampire in those books isn't posed as equal to the werewolf love interest, he's still there in the background. Being....distracting.
Do these two archetypal monsters represent some kind of quintessential female choice? Certainly both vampires and werewolves suffer from uncontrollable urges that are beyond their control. That's a label we have long ascribed to men's sex drives, an idea that has proven toxic to all genders.
The implication is generally that vampires are somehow more comfortable with those urges, embracing their nature and use it to seduce while werewolves fight the change and are reduced to a mindless state.
Why are these our fearless heroines only choices? Where is the mortal dude who takes on support staff instead of jumping in front of the bullets? Male action heroes seem to prefer that kind of mate, hanging back being all mortal and appealing to all enemies.
Instead, women are given these borderline abusive mates (he can't help it! He's supernatural!) with their mind control powers, thrall and mating instincts that make sex an uncomfortable dance of consent issues. The only benefit seems to be that these hyper-masculine dudes can rush in to save the day when the heroine gets in over her pretty head.
I'd love to read a series where the woman is a kickass warrior and her partner is a useless cheerleader, who keeps getting kidnapped, but never flags in his devotion to her cause. He could even be a stay at home dad, watching their adorable fangy children, who often wind up protecting him from mom's enemies. Maybe he makes awesome muffins.
April 10, 2014
Family of Choice
As a writer, there are the plots you choose and the ones the story provides on its own. When I started writing Stories Beneath Our Skin, I planned on having a few fun side characters to liven up the place. Like decorative pillows or knickknacks. My story had another idea altogether. The casual background characters grew more and more crucial to the plot. Eventually, I found an entire new theme running through the story: Family of Choice.
It probably isn't surprising that this topic rose up from my unconscious as a mostly welcome kraken. I’m an only child, who often felt isolated from extended family by age and circumstance. Instead, my friends have often taken the place of familial roles. One such companion, another only child, came up with the term 'sister-friend' which has the added bonus of sounding a bit creepy cultish if said in the correct tone of voice. Separated by half of North America, we speak on the phone every week without fail and often text during the day when we encounter the weird and weirdly banal. It's a complex relationship to navigate in many ways. The reality is that we don't have those powerful blood ties or family pressures that might bring us back together during a rift. Instead, we have to build that bond ourselves. We have to believe in our sisterhood and revive it constantly. Only our investment makes it 'real'.
It was only recently, despite years of writing romantic stories, that I realized how strongly romance is about seeking that very kind of relationship. After all, what is a long term romantic partner, but family of choice? Out of all the people in the world, you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. That's a powerful statement that many spend their lives longing to hear.
With all these thoughts stewing in my messy brain, it isn’t surprising that Stories Beneath Our Skin became laced with these ideas. Beleaguered Liam, who is about to lose his central father figure, spends much of the story on the outside looking in to the assembled family that makes up the tattoo parlor where he works. While his budding relationship with Ace is critical, the friendships that he builds with the rest of the Great Sin Ink crew are what truly help him come of age.
This book is my first novel length publication and if it weren't for my own family of choice, it might never have come to be. I hope for all my readers that they have at least once such person in their lives. Feel free to tell me about your family of choice in the comments.
It probably isn't surprising that this topic rose up from my unconscious as a mostly welcome kraken. I’m an only child, who often felt isolated from extended family by age and circumstance. Instead, my friends have often taken the place of familial roles. One such companion, another only child, came up with the term 'sister-friend' which has the added bonus of sounding a bit creepy cultish if said in the correct tone of voice. Separated by half of North America, we speak on the phone every week without fail and often text during the day when we encounter the weird and weirdly banal. It's a complex relationship to navigate in many ways. The reality is that we don't have those powerful blood ties or family pressures that might bring us back together during a rift. Instead, we have to build that bond ourselves. We have to believe in our sisterhood and revive it constantly. Only our investment makes it 'real'.
It was only recently, despite years of writing romantic stories, that I realized how strongly romance is about seeking that very kind of relationship. After all, what is a long term romantic partner, but family of choice? Out of all the people in the world, you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. That's a powerful statement that many spend their lives longing to hear.
With all these thoughts stewing in my messy brain, it isn’t surprising that Stories Beneath Our Skin became laced with these ideas. Beleaguered Liam, who is about to lose his central father figure, spends much of the story on the outside looking in to the assembled family that makes up the tattoo parlor where he works. While his budding relationship with Ace is critical, the friendships that he builds with the rest of the Great Sin Ink crew are what truly help him come of age.
This book is my first novel length publication and if it weren't for my own family of choice, it might never have come to be. I hope for all my readers that they have at least once such person in their lives. Feel free to tell me about your family of choice in the comments.
August 30, 2013
The Shiny Penny Book Group
After some long discussion, I'm starting a book group with two of my best friends. I'm nominally in charge given that I've already started and run two book groups at work. This one will be sort of eclectic and informal. We're starting with On the Road by Jack Kerouac, but I've got the feeling that we many be turning to lighter fare next time judging by the initial reactions.
July 18, 2013
Our Empty Cities now available!
A few weeks ago, I offered something new to my tumblr followers. If they reblogged the post, I would write a short poem based on their username. I figured I'd wind up writing ten or so poems and it'd be fun for everyone.
I wrote 150 poems in three days. Looking at this long trail of posts, I knew I couldn't leave them to get lost in the short memory of tumblr. I'd thought about self-publishing before, but never with any seriousness. I started looking into it more on a whim than anything else.
Then I remembered another collection of poems I'd written for my weekly writing group. It had been sent to a few contests without much success. The themes weren't dissimilar from the tumblr poems and adding them in would make it a far more reasonable book length.
Two weeks later and I'm holding Our Empty Cities in my hands! Talk about instant gratification. Hopefully KDP will have the ebook out soon. Our Empty Cities
I wrote 150 poems in three days. Looking at this long trail of posts, I knew I couldn't leave them to get lost in the short memory of tumblr. I'd thought about self-publishing before, but never with any seriousness. I started looking into it more on a whim than anything else.
Then I remembered another collection of poems I'd written for my weekly writing group. It had been sent to a few contests without much success. The themes weren't dissimilar from the tumblr poems and adding them in would make it a far more reasonable book length.
Two weeks later and I'm holding Our Empty Cities in my hands! Talk about instant gratification. Hopefully KDP will have the ebook out soon. Our Empty Cities
