Being a Villain in Panopolis is about more than just what you do, it’s about who you are. Panopolis is a city of Supers, people who end up with extraordinary abilities usually through no fault of their own. But not every Super is created equal, and not everyone is given the same chances to make something good out of themselves. But how, then, do some become branded as Villains?
Posit this question with you in the shoes of a person with powers. Let’s say…you can fly. Woohoo, flying! Flying is awesome! But instead of fluffy angel wings or unobtrusive telekinesis, you’ve got a giant pair of bat wings attached to your back. Maybe you got caught in the crossfire of a transfiguration ray, or someone spilled the wrong test tube on you in your college genetics class. The important thing is: you were a normal person, and now you’re a person with enormous bat wings.
And the bat wings kind of suck. They’re really big, and you don’t know how to control them very well yet, so you tend to knock into a lot of things when you’re trying to get from point A to point B. You can’t sleep on your back anymore because, hello, wings, so you’re exhausted and unable to finish all your school work. Your professors call you a disruption, and the university offers you a little settlement in order to keep you quiet and bids you adieu. So now you’ve got to go get a job, but no one wants to hire a person who looks like you do to deal with customers. Your landlord has informed you that he’s not going to be renewing your lease, either, because of the damage your wings are doing to the property. When you report him to the police, they dismiss you out of hand because everybody knows that bat wings are a sign of the devil, and people associated with the devil can’t be trusted.
So you’re unemployed, running out of money and soon to lose your home. Perhaps you do something desperate to stave off a future that looks so bleak: you try to pick someone’s pocket, maybe. Only you’re too clumsy to do it well, you get caught, and then you get a prison sentence because you’re too scary to let go with a slap on the wrist and some community service. When you get out of the slammer, you’re a convicted felon. Good luck finding a job now!
Sometimes Villainy is a choice in Panopolis, like it was with The Mad Bombardier and even, to an extent, with Edward Dinges. Other times, Villainy seems like the only available path once society is done screwing you over. There are both types of people in Where There’s Fire, and let me tell you: no hatred burns so brightly as the wrath of a human scorned.
Title: Where’s There’s Fire by Cari Z
Panapolis Series Book Two
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: M/M, Sci-Fi, Romance, Dystopian, Alternate World, Action/Adventure
Length: 113 pages/Word Count: 30,000
Summary:
Making a name for myself as a Villain in Panopolis is hard work. Six months ago, my boyfriend broke me out of jail. Now he’s spending most of his time defending our turf against other Villains he accidentally freed along with me. And my new psychic powers are not only impossible to control, but they’re also giving me migraines.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. My skills are improving every day, and Raul—aka the Mad Bombardier—and I have never been happier. That is, until my first solo job is interrupted by a mysterious woman who tells me that Raul has been kidnapped by a ruthless new Villain. The only way to free him is to do a job for Maggot, a man with scary ideas and an even scarier superpower.
I can’t go to the cops or a Hero for help. Odds are they wouldn’t listen to me anyway. If I fail, Raul will be killed. If I succeed, we’ll both be bound to a man who’ll stop at nothing to put Panopolis on the path to civil war.
It looks like the only way to win is to take out the competition.
Add to Goodreads.
Purchase Link: Riptide Publishing
Author Bio
Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.
Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.
Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.
Author Links: Website * Blog * Twitter
Cari is Riptide’s author of the month! Read her interview on Riptide’s website: hhttp://riptidepublishing.com/authors/cari-z
Giveaway
The winner of the Where There’s Fire blog tour will work with Cari to name a character in the next Panopolis novella! Comment on this blog tour to enter in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 18. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Please leave your email in your comment so we can contact you if you win!
Follow the rest of the tour HERE.
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