here there be spoilers – KrisRipper.com

Origin Stories: The New Born Year

There may be spoilers. Probably not so much, but maybe. The New Born Year was my reward for surviving my first year of publishing. I looked forward to writing this for about four months while I wrote the entire Home Series and Red and Bad (Serial One). It's still one of my favorite things I've written in the last few years. The inspiration for this book was Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold. Winterfair Gifts comes after a long line of books in the Vorkosigan Saga and jumps POV to a relatively minor character. (Roic, who is a much larger character now, but at the

March 24th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, origin stories, the new born year|

Origin Stories: The Boyfriends Tie the Knot

Spoiler alert: the boyfriends get married in this book. Okay, so there were a few times I tried to weave together two stories in one book, and failed massively. But in TBTTK I got it right. (At least, I think I got it right.) This is the story of Hugh and Truman getting married, and their best man's presence standing up with them at their wedding is far from traditional. It's always the story of how Hugh and Truman's best man started over with the woman he never really stopped thinking about. I wanted this book to be...hot. Okay, you got me,

March 17th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, origin stories, the boyfriends tie the knot|

Origin Stories: Fairy Tales

Oh, Fairy Tales. Real spoilers start about halfway through. There's a note. At some point in the middle of 2014 I decided to write a romance novel. As with most things my brain decides, it latched onto the idea and for a few months I wrote (and read) nothing but romance novels. I'd written romance novels before, a handful of times, but I'd never thought of them as romance novels, so this was basically my muse with a brand new chew toy: taking other people's books apart until there was fluff everywhere, destroying the squeaker, generally making a nuisance of itself. No,

March 9th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, fairy tales, here there be spoilers, origin stories|

Origin Stories: Breaking Down

[Here there be spoilers.] Breaking Down is one of the hardest things I've ever written. It touches on a lot of shit that reads to me like open wounds, and throughout the process of writing, then redrafting, then revising it, I frequently felt like I was executing the writerly version of that old game Operation; the story was a wide open body, all exposed nerve endings, and if I hit any note wrong it would sound an alarm. A friend of mine, who's only ever read the descriptions for my books, thinks I gave Molly a bad ride. (And, indeed, if

March 3rd, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: breaking down, dvd extras, here there be spoilers, origin stories|

Origin Stories: Unexpected Gifts

Probably not real strong spoilers, but if you're sensitive: here there may be spoilers. I love Molly. So, Unexpected Gifts faced a similar challenge to Hugh's New Dude, though at the time I didn't realize anyone reading The Scientific Method expected Will and Hugh to actually hook up at the end. (Did I mention I'm aromantic? Yep. Never even occurred to me.) Had I known that, I might have stressed a bit more, so it's good I didn't. The first draft of HND/UG was one long intertwined story, but it didn't quite work. I liked the more-or-less parallel track of the two relationships, but the story

February 19th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, origin stories, unexpected gifts|

Nick Gains Insight (SFW)

This scene takes place after Surrender the Past and during the course of The Boyfriends Tie the Knot, and is referenced in both. It could be considered spoilery for Surrender the Past. READ image by brewbooks on Flickr. From Surrender the Past: “I shouldn’t,” Truman said. “Question for you, Nick. Confidentially, if you wouldn’t mind.” Nick turned. “I usually keep confidentiality at my discretion. What’s up?” “Would you take me on as a client? Between now and the wedding, I mean.” “You don’t want him to know?” “I expect to fail.” Nick took Truman in through the back door and immediately pulled him into

February 10th, 2015|Categories: blog, free-stories|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, missing scene, surrender the past, the boyfriends tie the knot|

Origin Stories: Surrender the Past

[olympus_box color="blue" float="center" text_align="left" width=""] SPOILER ALERT for Surrender the Past! (Which you can buy early here!) [/olympus_box] Let's talk about Nick. The first scene I ever wrote with Nick Coates still exists, in only slightly-altered form, in The Scientific Method. Hugh, desperately avoiding any actual feelings he might have for Will, flees to the arms of a fuck buddy, who also happens to be a real buddy. Nick calls him out, just like Lucy does, and the three of them are the nucleus of the family that predates all of these stories. In many ways, Hugh, Nick, and Lucy are

February 10th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, origin stories, surrender the past|

Origin Stories: Red and Bad

Oh, Red and Bad, Red and Bad. Little Red and the Big Bad didn't exactly start out as a story. It started out as one of the funny little tales I tell to myself while falling asleep, or out for a run, or--back when I lived in a place that had street lights--during nighttime walkabouts. First, though, I have to tell you a little bit about Lucy Martinez. I've got a lot of rules. One of which, dating back to my mid-teens, is that I'm not allowed to use "real" characters from "real" stories as fodder for my silly little musings. The real

January 25th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, little red and the big bad, origin stories|

Origin Stories: Home Free

I don't know how spoilery this will get, but consider yourself warned: here there may be spoilers. So people who review Going Home almost always mention D and Teddy. Often by name. And they either love them or hate them. (Whoa, the hate. And I'm not complaining. I'm in awe.) When I considered D and Teddy's arc, I felt a pretty serious responsibility. I don't consider myself an activist writer. Certainly writing is a form of activism, and it's one I sometimes engage in, but I'd definitely sacrifice all higher intentions for a good line or a moment of delicious plot tension. Still. Since

January 22nd, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, home free, origin stories|

Origin Stories: Take Three Breaths

Oh, Take Three Breaths. Here there will definitely be spoilers, yo. In some ways this story remains slightly off-kilter in terms of organization. It has three beats, three points of view. It should work just fine, but I find it off when I read it. Not in a way I want to fix. Just in a way I notice. And yet, perhaps more acutely than any other, this story is exactly what I want it to be. For a long time, this was the only book I'd ever written with a dedication. TTB is a love story about depression and the people who

January 19th, 2015|Categories: blog|Tags: dvd extras, here there be spoilers, origin stories, take three breaths|