Welcome to What I’m Writing—a laid-back space where I share excerpts, rambles, and behind-the-scenes chaos from my current works-in-progress. Basically, it’s a sanctioned place for me to emotionally dump and nerd out about fictional people I’m loving.
The Project
My Beauty and the Beast-inspired monster romance—but with hackers, banter and digital seduction.
The Setup
Claire Rowland is a thirty-something, freshly divorced woman with a hacktivist past and a whole lot of unresolved feelings. One wine-soaked night, she spirals:
- Hacks into her ex-husband’s bank account
- Seriously contemplates donating his nest egg to Habitat for Humanity
- Starts looking up old flings…
- …then starts searching for the ones she never took a shot at
That last part? Big mistake. Huge.
Because it leads her to a reddit thread outing early 2000s hacker royalty—ZGeist, the boy-genius hacker she crushed on from afar. Turns out ZGeist is now Adam Zane, reclusive CEO of a robotics empire… with zero photos of himself online. Like a myth. Or a warning.
Claire, drunk and nostalgic and just buzzed enough on bad decisions, finds the “Caregiver Wanted” listing on his company’s site.
She applies.
Wakes up hungover the next morning.
And she has an interview.
If you like:
- Alt girl meets emotionally unavailable tech beast
- Classic movie and pop culture references
- 90s/early 2000s hacker vibes
- Found family and forced proximity
- Nerdy banter and a little chaos
- Monster anatomy spice (yes, that kind)
Then you’ll probably enjoy where this one is going.
The lights on the desk blinked on the moment I crossed the threshold.
Then every monitor activated at once.
AIDA’s voice chimed in overhead, far too cheerful for the hour.
“Playback queued. Initiating a message from Claire.”
My pulse spiked.
“What—?”
Then she appeared.
Claire. On my desk. In my chair’s line of sight. Lit perfectly in the glow of my workspace monitors.
Wearing that red-and-white jacket. Acid Burn’s jacket. Her hair slicked into that unmistakable pixie cut, eyeliner fierce, expression wicked.
The jacket gaped open, fastened at the waist. She was topless under the damn thing.
I stopped breathing.
“Hey, ZGeist,” she purred, every syllable drenched in confidence and challenge.
My hand tightened around the back of the chair.
She kept talking—flirty, teasing, hot—and all I could do was watch. Her voice was smooth and low, sliding over my nerves like dark chocolate poured over fire. And then she mentioned the library, that moment when I’d held her still, when I’d let myself lose control just enough to taste what could be.
“I still want you,” she said, eyes locked on the camera. “All of you.”
Then she slid her hand into her pants.
I let out a low, strangled sound—somewhere between a groan and a curse. My body reacted instantly, blood racing in directions that had absolutely nothing to do with rational thought.
And then—of course—she pulled out a USB drive.
“Hack the planet… or maybe just your office,” she whispered, placing it gently on the desk before blowing a kiss directly into the lens.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be using this series to share scenes, behind-the-scenes thoughts, and all the nerdy chaos as Hacked by the Beast comes together. If you’re into Beauty and the Beast reimagined with 90s hacker vibes, alt girls, monster spice, and emotional slow burns—Let’s talk about it! 💻❤️🔥
If you’re really excited about it, let’s talk about beta reading.