I flagellate on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The schedule is important.

The schedule is the load-bearing structure that keeps the rest of the building standing. The schedule does not hide things, unlike the walls and roof, which are built to conceal a man doing things inside.

It’s about discipline.

The flagellation is about discipline.

The prayers, matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, compline, the canonical hours, are about discipline.

The fasting on Wednesdays, the cold water, the hair shirt I wore for the first three years before the skin beneath it became a permanent landscape of welts that no longer served the purpose of reminding me of my flesh, all of it is discipline.

I am a disciplined man.

A priest who has served this parish for fourteen years, who hears confessions, administers the sacraments, visits the sick, buries the dead, and delivers sermons that the village has described as righteous.

Sermons that the blacksmith’s wife describes as terrifying in a way that made me feel clean.

Terrifying.

Clean.

I flagellate on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the blood runs down my back in channels created from the welts and scars that form a topography mapping fourteen years of discipline.

Eleven before, three since.

Three since the thing in the cellar.

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I don’t know how many men fucked me.

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But wait, how can I claim to be a soccer mom if I don’t brag about the AWESOME GOAL my best little buddy made! Go Soren!

Isn’t he amazing? I sure think so. Also! Hubby has been cooking again! Jealous? You should be. This was so delicious, it’s going to haunt my dreams.

Danger Sounds Better Out Loud

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually unnerved by the idea that one of MY stories is going to be read aloud by a narrator. It’s something I’ll need to get used to as an author, but AHHH!

Consider this your formal invitation to join us at the audiobook premiere of A Beautiful Lie on YouTube next week. I hope to see you there, because I will be there, hearing it for the first time with readers, and chatting with everyone live in the comments!

Sign up for an event reminder here!

New Release

Throwback Thursday

I’ve been playing with different types of graphics, and I guess this week my theme is sirens. I’ve been making art of all my characters with tails!

Book Fairs

Thanks for being patient with me while I try to get things written and published for you! I appreciate the loyalty. It does not go unnoticed.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay happy!

This is stupid. You know this is stupid. What exactly are you expecting?

I’m looking at myself in the mirror, my right arm rubbing my left arm over my still-empty stomach.

Liz said to dress cute, so I had put on as close an approximation of cute as I could manage. A cheap grey slip with silver sequins and a neon yellow sports bra underneath. The contrast looks rave-attire enough and, looking at the mirror, objectively, I don’t look like I’m trying too hard.

I have no fucking idea. What does trying too hard even mean?

Which has to be better than not trying hard enough.

I spent three hours lying in bed, staring at the ceiling as my phone vibrated next to me.

This was the most attention it had gotten since the first day Camila transferred ownership to me and her contacts didn’t yet realize she had a new number. Where everyone else sees a cellphone shifting to one side, it looked to me like my phone was bouncing out of control with a flurry of activity it couldn’t comprehend.

I checked it once at hour one. Then three more times at hour two. Then, once every ten minutes at hour three. Could I relate to the next cluster of messages in the chat?

I couldn’t. I couldn’t even relate to anyone specific from class, because these girls and their extended friend group didn’t chat about class. They chatted about TV shows I only have peripheral knowledge of, who won what game of which sport, guess who cheated on Becca with Nicky, but Nicky is actually Nicolas, not Nicole, and Becca was a bitch anyway-

I can’t keep up.

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The door opens with a low whine, and I walk in, fingers searching for the switch, my flats abandoned in the tiny vinyl entranceway before the carpet. The backpack slips off my shoulder without ceremony. The kitchen light turns on.

Well, the kitchen light. The key light in my 200-square-foot studio stays off. I should get it changed.

I think I say that every time I notice it.

I don’t really need the light, to be honest. There is nothing here. Seven steps ahead: the tiny kitchenette, fridge, stove, sink, dishwasher. Eight steps to the right there’s the desk disguised as a dining table, the single chair, the stack of books I’ve actually read annotated to the margins in pencil, the notebook with a half-finished paper on Morrison’s “Unspeakable Things Unspoken” that I will show no one. Two steps from the desk is the box spring mattress I call a bed. Two steps from the bed is the tiny hallway that fits me and a pedestal sink across from a shower and toilet.

The sink had a toothbrush; I didn’t use this morning. I hadn’t used it yesterday, either. Nobody was going to get close enough to know.

My life in one, empty, room.

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She disappeared from a rave. One text. Six hours late.

‘hey did u leave early? lol’

She never went home.

Rachel Santos has been invisible her entire life—the middle daughter, the forgotten friend, the girl the world skips over. When two strangers pull her from a crowd and a third feeds her breakfast like she matters, she doesn't fight it. She sinks.

Into their loft. Into their beds. Into a world where she's photographed like a masterpiece, marked like territory, and fed like something precious. Three men, three kinds of hunger, and Rachel—starving, invisible Rachel—finally full.

By the time the worship becomes a cage and her body becomes a spectacle, there's no outside left. Just a girl who was so hungry to be seen that she let them devour her, and a lock she turns herself.

Nobody Came Looking: A Love Story is a darkly seductive, psychologically devastating debut about what happens when being wanted is the most dangerous thing that's ever happened to you.

For readers of: dark romance with actual teeth, literary horror that crawls under your skin, and love stories you'll need to shower after.

Content warning: This novel contains graphic sexual content, sexual assault, drugging, psychological manipulation, coercive control, and themes of self-erasure. It is not a redemption story.

Welcome to Nobody Came Looking, a darkly sedu

ctive descent into the kind of love story that locks the door behind you.

Not a rescue.

Not a redemption.

A girl so invisible she vanished from a rave and got one text about it — six hours late, ending in lol — and the three men who carried her home and made her the center of everything she’d been starving for.

Due to the explicit and psychologically devastating nature of Nobody Came Looking, this will not be a free serialized novel. It will be available to premium subscribers. However, for those premium subscribers, I plan on putting future serializations on Substack first before Kindle or KU — meaning ALL future publications, from Nobody Came Looking to Letters Between Sex and Violence vol. 4, will be accessible to premium subscribers.

Not only that, but check out the following perks!

Coda Dream Team Perks

1. Character References and Behind-the-Scenes Insights: Get an in-depth look at the characters that inhabit my worlds — Rachel, Colt, Alex, Ethan, and the rest of the Santos universe — as well as behind-the-scenes notes and inspirations.

2. Safe for Work & Not-so-Safe (NSFW) Artwork Galore: Treat yourself to a variety of artwork for my stories. Enjoy Safe for Work illustrations that bring the loft to life, or indulge in more mature NSFW pieces to tantalize.

3. Exclusive Access to Novels-in-Progress before Kindle Unlimited: I got my start by serializing my novels and I hope to continue that trend with my new stories. Nobody Came Looking chapters will be released as soon as they are completely written.

Please consider getting a premium subscription. Your support is already greatly appreciated.

Schedule

Episodes of Nobody Came Looking will, tentatively, be released weekly on Wednesday — perfect for #WreckedWednesday. When an episode is released or scheduled, I will announce it on my newsletter. Comments and a chat dedicated to each episode will open for critique on Wednesday as well.

Without further ado…

Three men. One loft. A girl who’d rather drown in warm water than die of thirst in the cold.

Enter the world of Nobody Came Looking.

Amber made a mistake when she locked me in the writing cell. She demanded I write, so I did. But the deep-rooted mischievousness that lives inside my dark soul whispered, “Rebel.”

Alas, I cannot ignore that little voice. It’s never steered me wrong. And this time, it handed me the blueprint for an exciting new story. One I never would have started with distractions from the real world.

So thanks, Amber. You forced me to write, and I chose to obey. In my own way. Malice and Victoria are still on my list, but right now, I have to get Rachel’s story down.

Rachel and her three hunks.

This story is not completed, and I have not yet begun to upload to Substack, but it’s unfolding inside my head as I type this. Scenes are scratching at my skull, demanding attention. So, I’ll have to get back to them very soon.

For now, let me introduce you to Rachel’s men.

• Ethan: obsessive golden retriever ⇢ villain, morally black love interest, “I’ll ruin you softly,” dark academia energy, camera-as-cage, he named you, and now you’re his.

• Colt: feral himbo with rage issues, tattooed morally grey cinnamon roll, touch-starved possessive, “mine” said through teeth, knuckle-tattoo romance, primal kink, he’d kill for you and cry about it after.

• Alex: caretaker kink, “let me feed you” romance, the quiet one is always the worst one, control disguised as service, wolf-eyed service top, tracks your location as love language, overstimulation aftercare king.

Make sure you follow me on Substack, Instagram, and my page on Facebook if you don’t want to miss updates on this story. It’s going to be epically delicious.

Book Fair

While you wait for me to return… Let me offer up a free story worthy of your attention.

Breaking the Reins by C.L. Slias.

I’ve read it. Hell, I watched the series unfold when it was first released. And I promise, this one does not behave.

It begins with survival and becomes something else entirely. Breaking the Reins isn’t as dark as what you normally get with my stories, but if you’re craving something sharp, defiant, and just a little dangerous…

Go, indulge.

Read Breaking the Reins FREE now!

Make sure that if you read that story, you harass the author in the comments. She’ll love it.

Now, it’s past time for me to get back to working on my newest story. Rachel’s men are demanding to have their way with her.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay happy!

I’m Amber, Administrator of the Fungeon. The one who keeps things running when the Mistress is busy being adored, feared, or otherwise occupied. I usually handle the messier tasks. The ones she doesn’t feel like getting her hands dirty with.

Which makes this situation particularly… entertaining.

Because this time?
She’s the one who fell behind.

Yes, yes—there were excuses. Something about a new job, exhaustion, the slow unraveling of sanity. Very tragic. Very human. We don’t do that here.

So.

The Mistress is currently unavailable.
She’s been secured in a private cell with her laptop, an aggressive amount of caffeine, and lighting bright enough to make sleep a distant memory. The liquor cabinet has been locked. The chocolate has been confiscated. Cake is no longer a privilege she has earned.

There is also a carefully selected 90s pop playlist looping in the background.
Relentlessly.

I’m told it’s doing wonders for motivation.

She will be released once she produces a respectable portion of the words she owes. Until then, consider this your official notice that progress is being… encouraged.

You may expect updates when she earns them. The Fungeon needs its ruler, and the subjects have been neglected. I’m here to correct that.

— The Administrator 🖤

New Releases

There are none. But there will be when I finish with her.

This is what she’s currently working on(there isn’t a link, which was the final straw that put her in a cell).

**She disappeared from a rave. One text. Six hours late. *hey did u leave early? lol***

**She never went home.**

Rachel Santos has been invisible her entire life—the middle daughter, the forgotten friend, the girl the world skips over. When two strangers pull her from a crowd and a third feeds her breakfast like she matters, she doesn't fight it. She sinks.

Into their loft. Into their beds. Into a world where she's photographed like a masterpiece, marked like territory, and fed like something precious. Three men, three kinds of hunger, and Rachel—starving, invisible Rachel—finally full.

By the time the worship becomes a cage and her body becomes a spectacle, there's no outside left. Just a girl who was so hungry to be seen that she let them devour her, and a lock she turns herself.

*Nobody Came Looking: A Love Story* is a darkly seductive, psychologically devastating debut about what happens when being wanted is the most dangerous thing that's ever happened to you.

**For readers of:** dark romance with actual teeth, literary horror that crawls under your skin, and love stories you'll need to shower after.

**Content warning:** This novel contains graphic sexual content, sexual assault, drugging, psychological manipulation, coercive control, and themes of self-erasure. It is not a redemption story.

Exclusive Feature

Daphne's life hangs in the balance.

Her heart is racing, and she can barely breathe, but she must keep moving, or he will catch her. His manipulation has no end, and he will use any means to make her return.

She escapes to another town but fears being found. She fakes her identity to keep her anonymity safe among the town folk. She wants to make enough money to afford the next ride out of town to keep moving.

A local shop owner takes pity on Lana when she stumbles into her store and senses she needs help. Max, the shop owner's son, thinks Lana is hiding something.

Lana knows she must keep moving, but how long must she stay safe in this town? Can Daphne finally leave behind the emotional torment and manipulation he held over her?

Daphne has tried to leave her past behind – but can she truly outrun the demons that haunt her? Will she find herself right back where she started, or will he be the one to destroy her?

Find out in this romantic, suspenseful novel.

Enchanting is a suspenseful small-town romance. It is the first book of the Enchanting Starting Over series and must be read in order.

Order Here

Book Fairs

Hopefully, the Mistress will earn her way back to the real world. Until she does, Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay happy!

The coffee was cold. Made two hours, 32 minutes, and 20 seconds ago.

The caffeine will remain potent for another 21 hours, 27 minutes, and 36 seconds.

Right hand, clad in black surgical gloves, gripped the mug, downing the tepid, oil-colored liquid before setting it behind her. Her eyes, much like her left hand, remained on task. The pipes above her, behind her, took quick breaths. The generator at her feet shuddered and gasped, galvanic mechanisms pumping electric currents. The glass flutes bubbled with clear liquid, flexible tubes pumping cooling fluid through the needles piercing the body underneath the sheet.

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But hey! Last week had a few great meals from my personal chef/husband.

Chili Dogs with pepperjack and shredded cheese in an air fryer, followed by stromboli with homemade dough. It was top-notch.

New Story Alert

Ignore the lack of announcement for new Taming Malice episodes. They exist in my head, so I did write them, just not on the computer. I would be more inclined to make time to transfer them to a physical sense if only my subscriber count would increase overnight. Hint, hint.

Exclusive Feature

Relationship therapist Sophia Benning is ready for love. When she meets Zanephyn Heardt, she believes she has found the perfect man.

But Zane harbors secrets he carefully keeps from her – his predatory nature and the fact that he craves her blood.

Zane has found a way to cure himself of being a vampire, and he needs Sophia’s blood, even though he knows she won’t survive his plans for her. He misleads her into believing they are a normal couple in love.

But Sophia is not alone. Magickal forces work together with her friends for the protection Sophia needs.

From the moment he sees her, Captain Jared Walters is drawn to Sophia as if by magick neither he nor Sophia can control. He’ll do anything to keep her safe from harm.

But how will the vampire deal with his plans being interfered with?

Book Fairs

Grief remade her. Once a woman of science and wonder, Victoria now moves through a world hollowed by loss — a cathedral of smoke and silence. In the hush of her workshop, where gears turn like rosaries and glass hums with trapped breath, she seeks what the heavens have denied her: life born from death, beauty drawn from decay.

When her creation stirs beneath the storm, it opens its eyes not to the light, but to her — the mother, the maker, the mourner. Between them blooms something fragile and forbidden, a tenderness that teeters on the edge of ruin. Every touch is a confession; every breath, a betrayal of nature itself.

In a city gilded with Art Deco splendor and corroded by secrets, Victoria becomes both god and ghost, haunted by the love she has forged from grief’s raw marrow.

A re-imagining of Frankenstein steeped in shadow and sorrow, Victoria is a gothic elegy for the ones we cannot let go — and the monstrous beauty born when we try.

Welcome to Victoria, a Gothic reimagining of Frankenstein, where a genderbent Victor commits the same blasphemous act of reanimation.

Not because she can.

Because something was taken.

And neither God, nor time, nor grief would give it back.

Due to the gothic and erotic nature of ‘Victoria’, this will not be a free serialized novel. This will be available to premium subscribers.

However, for those premium subscribers, I plan on putting future serializations on Substack first before Kindle or KU, thus ALL future publications, from ‘Victoria’ to ‘Letters Between Sex and Violence vol. 4’ will be accessible for premium subscribers.

Not only that, but check out the following perks!

Coda Dream Team Perks

1. Character References and Behind-the-Scenes Insights: Get an in-depth look at the characters that inhabit my worlds as well as behind-scene-notes and inspirations.

2. Safe for Work & Not-so-Safe (NSFW) Artwork Galore: Treat yourself to a variety of artwork for my stories. Enjoy Safe for Work illustrations that bring the world to life, or indulge in more mature NSFW pieces to tantalize.

3. Exclusive Access to Novels-in-Progress before Kindle-Unlimited: I made start by serializing my novels and I hope to continue that trend with my new stories. Thus I will be releasing ‘Victoria’ chapters as soon as they are completely written.

Please considering getting a premium subscription. Your support is already greatly appreciated.

Schedule

Episodes of ‘Victora’ will, tentatively, be released weekly on Thursday as this would be perfect for #ThrowbackThursdays (throwing it way far back). When an episode is released or scheduled, I will announce it on my newsletter.

Not only that but comments and a chat dedicated to each episode for my publications will open for critique on Thursday as well!

Without further ado…enter the world of ‘Victoria’.

I come with an exciting update, not a plea for forgiveness. I’m not behind on Taming Malice… I’m simply allowing the story to stew until it’s ready to serve.

Okay, fine. I fell behind. A touch. Sue me.

Or, better yet, cheer for the promise of not one, but TWO delicious episodes dropping with the next newsletter.

(If I fail to meet this promise, may all of my followers swallow me in a mob of torches and pitchforks, demanding retribution.)

Did somebody say delicious?

And yes, that’s made-from-scratch. Per the usual. Only the best from the hubs <3 I fall deeper in love with him every single meal.

New Episode Releases

Exclusive Feature

Well-behaved women rarely make history...but well-behaved monsters might!

But what battleground tactics will lead them to the promised land instead? The answers to this riddle prove as shocking as the strategies employed. For they will soon settle upon a series of outrageous stunts, meant to make them stand out from the anonymous rabble - while it's true that smacking random strangers on their backsides is perhaps not as common as it used to be, most standard icebreakers have been trod so far into the ground that there's no hope of standing out otherwise. Much more original approaches are therefore required.

When some of them eventually discover what angles truly work, the results are as unexpected as their outlandish ideas. Still others will refuse to believe in their successes, despite the causes and effects parading around in plain sight. For most, however, in particular their hapless targets, once these concepts catch fire, they have considerable reason to wish this mischievous, costumed genie had never been poured from its mid-range liquor bottle. Oh, if only they could return to a quainter day, when everyone was screwing around with silly props instead! Because when it becomes irrefutable what kind of twisted behavior acts like a magnet in attracting mates, these findings are legitimately monstrous, and give everybody involved a dimmer view of human nature.

Order Here!

Book Fairs

Enjoy all the amazing finds from those fairs! I need to hole up and work on Taming Malice before you come get me.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay happy!

I need to be real to ya’ll and ‘The Mountain’ is a perfect place for this. There are words I will never use and have never used. I dislike those them and wish they would not appear in their common modern-day contexts.

These are called slurs for a reason, so nobody should use them in polite company.

They disparage and insult. These are words that are thrown out by edgy kids who really want to troll and get under their opponents’ skin. These words shock and enrage.

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However, on the sweetness side…My husband made us homemade ramen. We use pork neck bones to make the broth, order rare Japanese seasonings and pork belly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME IT WAS AMAZING!

Honestly, last week has been awesome for meals. My personal chef, aka my husband, has been on a tear. Between working again, getting back into working out and home cooked meals, I think I’m gonna end my third decade on a better note!

Here’s to staying young as we get older.

New Episode Releases

I may have missed the episode for Taming Malice. For which…I have no excuse. I wasn’t sure how to transition from the confrontation last episode to the point I have in my head. However, I do have an outline for the next chapter!

Stay tuned!

Exclusive Feature

When Meredith Cassaro catches her fiancé cheating, her world shatters. Drawn into the dangerous realm of rival crime families, she finds herself unable to resist Leonardo Donati—her brother’s best friend and the city’s most feared businessman.

Leo has loved Meredith for years, but protecting her meant keeping his distance. As old secrets resurface, he must choose between keeping her in the dark or risking it all to keep her safe.

Bullets fly. Betrayals mount. And a fierce, all-consuming love might be the only thing that survives.

Order Here!

Book Fairs

Now, if ya’ll excuse me, I will be living the remaining of my 3 decade reign planning the fourth decade. A lot to consider, but I am optimistic and looking forward to where the universe takes me next!

I decree that my subjects must stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay happy!

HOT TAKE! I think women should register for the draft.

I KNOW!

That’s a HAWT TAKE. However, hear me out.It’s a spicy one, but you already know me and have read several other episodes of ‘The Mountain’ (which…I should probably republish here, honestly).

I believe that, during this day and age (heck even decades past to be fair), advanced long-range weaponry combined with even more advanced information gathering and logistics has transformed war from relying on human physical strength as the main component of winning a fight.

Key events and subterfuge win wars, not enormous battles or an overwhelming show of force.

Though America has the most capable show of force compared to any other country (or dare I say, of all other countries combined), it also overwhelms in logistics.

Considering all of this, why shouldn’t women be obligated to register for the draft?

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LOOK AT MY SAKAMOTO SAN! Hubby got me adorable plushie of Sakamoto while he got kiddo a Spiderman pillow! Valentines day was so much fun with delicious sushi, chocolates and fantastic company!

I hope ya’ll had a great weekend too! What kind of Valentine’s did you have? However it was, I hope it made you happy!

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Of course, the mortals would have no way of noticing what lurked and moved through the shadows. The fae and mages never strayed far from the light, thus they were also unaware of my presence. Not that they could do anything to me.

My abyss would easily engulf their paltry parlor tricks.

What vexed me most was the two arrogant so called royalty standing before their loyal sycophants! This was what that stupid imp took my flower for?! The only light I allowed in my lands...for what?!

That barely alive, mewling thing?!

What an insult!

“So, this is where you took Selene’s Blossom, whelp.”

The flowers that had invaded this quaint chapel shriveled as I rose from the accumulation of shadows everyone regretted ignoring.

Verdant vines blackened and petals rotted into dust as I stood, soaking in the sheer terror in those pink eyes.

Eirlys would always be that tiny bug like pixie.

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I’m Puerto Rican.

That should be very obvious.

Puerto Ricans will PROUDLY let you know where we’re from and why our Island is a beautiful place deserving of your attention and your respect. It’s fucking gorgeous, the food is amazing, as I have been told by multiple creepy older men when I was an overly developed 11-year-old, the people are beautiful.

However, there is something that gets’ lost in the translation. Something that both sides of the political spectrum conveniently and annoyingly forget.

Puerto Ricans are US citizens. We have been US citizens since the end of the Spanish American War.

I am unsure why people forget this, and it frustrates me each time. The media and some online discourse almost insidiously and conveniently frame the narrative by how they talk about us.

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Decided to throw the start of ‘Taming Malice’ into the ring for Novel Beginnings! I have already 2700 words with finishing up the next episode of Taming Malice. I think once I have five chapters up, it will be sent off to Novel Beginnings above, since it should be about the nece…

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The first week of being back to work was uneventful. Thank god for that.

There is cool stuff that I want to start working on; mostly getting back into software development instead of being forced into infrastructure. Not sure if anyone is super interested in the nitty gritty of the software industry but I can give a small summary.

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