Friday, September 30, 2011

MAIN FEATURE FRIDAY

Hello, my lovelies! Did you have a horrible week at work? Well, it's over now, isn't it? I hope so, anyway.

As promised I'm delivering a delicious segment of a short story called "The Spy Who Bit Me". I will post a little bit every Friday through the month of October (but beginning today), and until it is done. And just in case you missed the week before's post, I will have a link back to it, so that you can catch up. Yes, I'm that thoughtful.

Now with no further ado... The Spy Who Bit me


When the sun is out two narrow panes of stained glass splash chips of apple green, crimson, amber and indigo across the unadorned white stone walls of my domain. But my nine by twelve chamber is dark now, and so I know the sun has set. I consult my watch. It isn't a very fancy watch, I'd actually got it at Walmart. Seems I have to buy a new one every few years, as the thing goes as dead as my heart. But this one is still working and when I press a tiny button the dial glows acid green. It's ten thirty. I've over slept! No wonder I'm hungry as hell!
Agitated, I climb out of the white satin-lined coffin, which has been my safe-haven for the past year and a half. As you must realize by now I am a vampire. No surprise there, right? My name is John R. Gilbert. The R. stands for Rudolph. Yeah, I rarely used it in life, for obvious reasons. The teasing and ribbing I'd gotten as a child was terrible. But you know what? I sort of had a hay-day scaring Freddie Orso and that puke-faced Arnold Dunken, after I became an undead, I was able to do a little pay-back. That was awesome! If only I'd had a camera with me at the time when I showed up to a barbecue and they thought I was a ghost.
Anyway I've been a vampire for about a dozen years now, and I have never met up with any of my kind. No. I didn't turn anyone. There really isn't anyone in Hornersville worthy of becoming an undead with me. So, yeah, it's been kind of lonely, but not so bad, really. I do my best getting my nourishment without sending off alarms in this small Midwest town. Not that the cops around here are all that bright.
Hunger is my primary motivation for getting up every night, as a member of the Undead Society. Before, it was just a paycheck—and I still had a hell of a time trying to get up to go to work when alive. In a way, things haven't changed all that much.
On this warm, June night, I'm terribly hungry because the pickings last night were slim. There was nothing but a sour, old bum on a park bench. . . ugh! I don't think he's gonna be missed by a whole lot of people. But I really hate having Old Bum Breath when I wake up the next evening.
But that was last night. Tonight there's no moon out. The sky is a soft black velvet, filled with crisp, white stars. Normally I linger to gaze upon this sight as I arise every night, but tonight I'm just too frigging hungry. I want to get down to the important business of repletion.
Off in the distance dogs are barking. It's calm with only a gentle breeze making a rustling sound through the leaves. It tingles my ears. My hearing as a vampire is very acute. My night vision as keen as any predator's. All my senses are jacked up, including that of smell, with which I now detect a possible victim right away. The blood scent is a warm essence, almost like a vague perfume that I can't quite describe. But I can tell for sure if the warm blooded creature is human or animal. In this case it's human, and female. And she isn't twenty feet of me. Hunger pangs are now becoming unbearable. I don't like to let myself get this way. I don't like becoming a frenzied monster, so out of control there isn't anything that can stop me from getting what I need. Normally, I'd go over on Grover Street and pay the whores twenty bucks to let me bite them. They just think I”m some kinky weirdo with a blood fetish—which is very accurate, really.
But I'm thrilled to find a feast wandering so close to my den. I move silently through the small grassy plot which surrounds my humble dwelling. I caution my desire to pounce right away. My first thought is why is she here? Now as I see her swing by, I get a bad feeling about why a woman all along is walking through a graveyard at night.
She strides along, glances back over her shoulder as though she thinks she might be followed. Her long, blond hair flows loosely around her face, and her pouty lips are partially open. Now her perfume hits me. Sandalwood, mixed with warm leather—warmed from her blood, of course. Wearing an alluringly tight-fitting skirt that catches my attention right away. Hey, my heart may not work any more, but other things do!
It's not ten or fifteen seconds from the moment I first see her, watching those deliciously long legs of hers move with sudden swiftness—not away from me, but more as if away from someone else. Her heels crunch noisily over the cinder-graveled drive that winds throughout the cemetery.
Now I sense him. . . .
©2011 by Lorelei Bell

Be sure and stop by next week same time, same station for another installment.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

HUNKS THURSDAY! The Monsters!

There is just something about the old black and whites, you just can't deny, made the monster a little bit more terrifying.

Frankenstein's Monster




















Phantom of the Opera

Dracula















The use of shadows in these great film classics go a long way in creating a mood designed to be creepy. These are not all the monsters, of course. There were many others. However these four are a good start.



The Mummy











My favorite was, and always will be Dracula.

Which monster film, or monster do you like--modern or classic? Let me know, then I'll come back next Thursday with as many of your suggestions as possible.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

INTRODUCING . . .

WICKED WEDNESDAYS!
Come closer, my little pretties!!! Don't be afraid. I'm not going to ... hurt you. Teeheehee....

I am so excited about the up-coming month I can't contain myself!
As you might well guess Halloween is MY  month. I know that a lot of you out there are the same way. Which is great!That's why you're here!

Wednesdays will from now on be Wicked Wednesdays, at least until October 31st. My main theme will be bringing you interesting tidbits and news. I do have some host posts I will be on in the month of October, and I hope to have news about the second book coming out.

I also want to introduce to you another special feature for the month of October, and it will be called Main Feature FRIDAY. Pay attention! I am going to be posting segments of a short story each and every Friday. The story is named "The Spy Who Bit Me" I will be entering a couple of pages of it, and so you'll want to come here for the first installment THIS FRIDAY!  This was a short story I tried to sell ten years ago and got nowhere with it. I think you'll enjoy it. You may find as you read it that it was my style of writing coming together, and it is told from the male vampire POV. It's my way of giving you a little something to tide you over. I'm going to post it on Fridays until the story is finished, depending upon how long it gets, but I want to make it last at least through October, and maybe into November. 

The rest of the week will depend upon what I have to share. Like I've said I will be on a couple of different blogs, and when I have some of the dates lined up I will announce them.

And I have some more fun things to throw at you, when the inspiration strikes me, including decorations ideas, which I will do on the weekends.

Mondays will be Dreaded Mondays, and I hope to give you little tidbits about Halloween, how all this got started, and other things Halloween-related.

So, gather around, my little pretties . . . get away from that pail of water, you!




Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Teaser Tuesday ~ Vampire's Trill

I don't know about you, but I love vampire humor.

Well, kiddies, today is Teaser Tuesday and since I've got a novel poised to come out, barring hurricans, floods, and other natural desasters (oh, didn't you see yesterdays post about tornadoes???It was fantastic, and you should really check it out. The pictures alone will make you gasp!),  I don't see why it shouldn't be out this coming fall. . . ahem.

So, I opened up my docurment for Vampire's Trill, scrolled to some random page and viola!

Let's see what Sabrina is up to now!

Slinking off to the bathroom, I dressed. The jeans fit perfectly, so did the T-shirt, but I didn't use the bra, or the panties because that would be tacky, whether they fit me or not.

"Who's things are these?" I asked, coming out of the small bathroom.

"Those were Becky's."

"Becky?" I stood into the boots he had set on the floor. They were my size--lo and behold.

"Frank's womans' things," he added.

"Yeah. Hey, I'm sorry to hear about her--God." I stared down at the floor. I couldn't imagine how that must have been. She'd had blue eyes, and brown hair that she dyed blonde, and long fingernails that she went to get done weekly.  She was pretty, I thought. My inner eye was seeing her, mainly because I was wearing her clothes. F-ing great.

Okay my pretties! There you have it.

Also, a little celebration--I went over 80,000 words in my WIP, and I didn't even realize it. I was working on trying not to write all day. And darn it, the funniest thing happened. I wrote the damned scene I was trying to avoid. Doesn't that just beat all?

Monday, September 26, 2011

The Storm Chasers by Justin Pletsch

April 9, 2011
A few of my Meteorology friends and I were seriously thinking of going chasing today.  We had been watching the weather models all week long (since Sunday), and they were indicating a big severe weather outbreak in Nebraska (NE) and Iowa (IA).  As the week progressed, the models began agreeing with each other, which does not happen too often.  On Wednesday, we made the decision to go storm chasing on April 9 because everything was looking very promising.  Even from 3 days out, the SPC (Storm Prediction Center), had our target area of W IA/E NE under a “moderate risk” for severe weather.  This was very good for this time of year, but we still had our doubts about what would happen.  Whenever severe weather occurs this early in the season, the storms move extremely fast, and that makes those storms very hard to chase.  Anyway, the set-up for April 9 was very good, as there was a large amount of CAPE (gasoline for storms) available in the atmosphere.  This meant there was plenty of instability to get storms to fire.  In addition, moisture was also readily available, thanks to warm/moist advection from the Gulf of Mexico.  There was also plenty of wind shear, which allows the storms to become tilted and become supercellular.  Finally, we knew a lifting mechanism (something to get the initial clouds to form) would be available because temperatures were fore-casted to be in the upper 80s and low 90s for our target area.  With all these in mind, we had the 4 ingredients necessary for severe weather; instability, moisture, wind shear, and a lifting mechanism.

However, there was another issue that we saw could pose a problem, and that was the “atmospheric cap.”  Think of this term as a bottle of pop.  If the lid is completely screwed on the bottle and you shake it up, what will happen?  With the exception of the pop getting very agitated, it will not leave the bottle.  Now, what happens when you shake up this same bottle and remove the lid?  KABLOOEY!!!  The same can be said for our atmosphere on a day when severe weather is probable.  If the atmospheric cap is too strong, the clouds won’t be able to break through, and severe weather will not happen.  When storms do form, they will die almost instantly.  On the other hand, if the cap is too weak, storms will fire too soon and will die almost instantly.  The key here is to have a strong, but breakable, cap.  This will allow the atmosphere to “cook”, and when it cooks long enough, KABLOOEY!!!

On the morning of April 9, the four of us met at the NIU parking garage, and we left DeKalb around 9:15 AM.  We headed west toward Omaha, NE, as this was our initial target city.  After stopping in Des Moines, IA for lunch about 4 hours later, we continued our trek west to Omaha.   We stopped at a gas station to fill up and for a pit stop.  After we looked at weather data again, we decided to head north toward Blair, NE, where we would once again figure out what we would do.  We noticed cloud towers going up in the distance, which was a sign that the cap was starting to break.  Each tower got higher than the previous one, and it was not until the 5th tower went up when we knew something big was about to happen.  Needless to say, we started heading East to follow the newest tower, and it certainly took its time to develop into what would eventually be a supercell.  We got very excited when this tower turned into a thunderstorm and was placed under a severe thunderstorm warning for 1” hail.  This cell was eventually placed under a tornado warning, as Doppler radar indicated very strong rotation within the storm.  We passed through Decatur, NE, on our way to Mapleton, IA and the storm produced a tornado near Decatur after we had left.  Being that this storm was moving east, like we were, we did not get too concerned.
photo by Justin Pletsch

When we were about 2 miles west of Mapleton, we stopped for a brief moment to see what this storm was going to do.  Obviously, this storm was already a supercell, and it was a beast!!!  There were four areas of rotation inside this storm, and they were all rotating around each other.  It was really neat to see this on radar, as it looked like a miniature hurricane.  At this point, this storm was beginning to drop hail the size of quarters, half-dollars, AND ping pong balls.  We decided to head into Mapleton to seek shelter from the hail, so we found a BP gas station and chose to play the waiting game.  Our position was perfect, and we would soon realize just how perfect it really was.  The sirens were blaring in the town, which was a very good sign.  As we were gawking and taking pictures of the storm, the gas station power went out.  Our initial thought was that lightning must have struck some power lines. 
photos by Justin Pletsch

It was at this point when the rotating part of the storm (the mesocyclone) came right over us, and we noticed a “bulge” protruding from the base of this monster.  This “bulge” was a funnel cloud if you were to view it from a distance.  Soon after this feature was pointed out, we saw dust getting picked up about 200 yards away from us.  THAT, ladies and gentlemen, was the tornado ON THE GROUND!!!  I have never seen 4 people get into a car as fast as we did, and our hearts were beating faster than ever!!  We thought about taking shelter in a car wash that was nearby, but we decided to get out of town as fast as we possibly could.  For a few minutes, WE were the ones being chased by the tornado, which turned out to be an EF-3 monster (3/4 of a mile wide).  We stopped VERY quickly to take pics/video of this before we continued to high-tail it out of harm’s way.  However, we got caught between the hail core (dumping baseballs at this point) and the tornado, so we spent what seemed like an eternity trying to get away.  Yes, it was raining, and we knew we were close to the core when we heard a loud BANG on the car.  This was because we were getting pelted by baseballs, so it made the situation even worse. 
tornado on ground photo by Justin Pletsch

After the tornado dissipated, we started to head toward Fort Dodge, IA, where we would be spending the night.  On our way there, we encountered ANOTHER tornado, and I was fortunate enough to get a very brief video of it.  At this point, darkness had come upon us, so we had to rely on the frequent lightning strikes to see what was happening.  We also noticed what appeared to be a very low hanging wall cloud (hills were obstructing our view).  The next morning, we found out that this “low hanging wall cloud” was actually a 2.5 mile wide tornado that stayed in the fields.  We followed this storm to Sac City, IA, and watched as it went through Pocahontas, IA, and dumped grapefruit sized hailstones on the town.  In fact, before it went through, the storm had 2 tornadoes on the ground at once!!!  After enjoying an amazing display of lighting, we finished our trek west toward Fort Dodge.  All in all, this was a very exhilarating chase, even though we came very close to meeting Death face-to-face.
As for the town of Mapleton, 60% of it was completely destroyed by the tornado that went through (including the car wash we were thinking of taking shelter in).  Despite all that, no one perished because of the 20 minute lead time they had.  The worst injury was a broken leg.  This storm was known as a “cyclic supercell”, which means it produced tornado after tornado after tornado.

Justin Pletsch is a GRADUATE of meteorology at NIU.
(underlines and bolds by the blog mistress)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Crypt Is About To Open Up !!!

Hello to all my pretties. Yes! The crypt is about to open! What's inside? I really don't know. But October is MY month and so, anything goes and I hope to give you some scares, thrills and titillation, and also hope an announcement or two.

I've got a very real and frightening story coming up. It's about tornadoes and it comes from a co-worker who is going to NIU to become a meteorologist. Why is that so interesting, you may ask? Have you ever heard of storm chasers? Well, Justin is a member of a group of storm chasers and he got up close to a developing storm that became a tornado which took out a small Iowa town back in the spring. I'll let you read about it rather than go into detail about it.

Like many of you, I am a writer. I like to write from the gut. The world is full of horrifying things. Man-made as well as natural. Natural disasters are of course, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, earth quakes, ice storms, snow storms--all which are in themselves terrifying to go through. I will be posting Justin's story tomorrow. It is called The Storm Chasers. It is in his words, and he has done a superb job I think in making it interesting and understandable in layman's terms. Pictures? Oh, my yes. The pictures alone will give you chills! I would not have been able to sit in a vehicle and have something like that be developing practically over my head. You'll see.

Justin's Storm Chasers story will be the introduction of my posts for the coming month of October. I hope to entertain as well as inform, and possibly frighten you, if I can. Remember that I said that the world is full of frightening things.

BEWARE: THE CRYPT IS ABOUT TO OPEN ! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

HUNKS THURSDAY ~Much Ado About Vampires

There's just something about a good looking guy on the cover of a book that pulls the eyes. Am I not right?

Katie MacAlister's Much Ado About Vampires will be released on October 4th. I don't know about you guys but I might have to go and get this one.

Paranormal Romance
Paperback/Kindle $7.99

Description: "Corazon Ferreira is a jaded woman. Turns out she was a vampire's mate in a past life. And no matter how distractingly gorgeous he is, she just can't get the image of him killing someone out of her head. But when her life depends on him, Coazon's going to have to stop over thinking things and start trusting her heart..."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Who Let the Zombies Out? ~ Sumiko's Reads!

Foreword:    Sometimes Sumiko surprises me with what she is reading. Sometimes she inspires me.   Sometimes I worry about what she's got going on her kindle. Should I?
I went to Amazon and read the first line of Feed, I could see this was going to be tongue in cheek . . . um . . . well, you get what I mean.
Note: Mira Grant is the author of the Newsflesh Trilogy and she is also Seanan McGuire who writes the Toby Daye books.
And I then totally realized that I promised you zombies. .. well not zombies exactly but a write up of the Newsflesh trilogy.  These things are connected:  Seanan McGuire and Mira Grant are the same person.

And as such:  the newsflesh trilogy is quite as much fun to read asher Toby Daye books.  

How to describe them:  they are series of political/medical thrillers disguised as zombie novels.  The characters are vivid and so is the writing.  The books are fast paced and very enjoyable.  I think that they are by far the most enjoyable zombie books I've read.  (And I have tried quite a few - there are quite a few out there now!)

The books are:  Feed and Deadline - which are out now and Blackout which will come out in the Spring of 2012.  There is also Countdown ~which is a prequel that was released electronically only.  Very interesting to read that after having read the first two books and a nice way to assuage hunger from that 'verse while waiting for Blackout.

The books feature siblings Georgia and Shaun Mason and their friend and blogging partner Buffy M.  They get hired by an up and coming politician to blog his presidential campaign and wackiness ensues . . . in an adrenaline/danger filled sort of way.

Sumiko

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Teaser Tuesday ~ More from Vampire's Trill

This is Teaser Tuesday! If you joined me last Tuesday you know that I posted something from my next book, Vampire's Trill, which is coming out soon.

The object is to choose a random page and two lines from that page and post. I'm going to cheat and give you a little more from the end of a chapter.

The picture here is for mood.



Once I tore through the last obstacle to the outdoors, I pulled in wonderful scents. It lit my brain in such an exciting way, I wanted to explore it all. I wanted to experience everything I saw and smelled. I dove onto the cool grass and rolled around on my back, scratching it. Oh! How good and freeing this felt.

Then, I heard the lone plaintive call from a little distance beyond the open field and stopped my wiggling movements on the ground. It was a beautiful sound. Better than what I could make. High, sweet to my ears. I rolled over to listen, cocking my ears.

I sniffed the air toward that sound.

Male. Oooh, goodie.

Monday, September 19, 2011

New Purchases from Bookstore!

I am sooooo far behind my reading list it is not funny.
 I've wanted Black Magic Sanction since I knew it was coming out, way back last year. Well, I guess it helps to wait, I got the hard cover on sale. That is a bit of a scare, if a hard cover doesn't sell and B&N needs to put it from $25.99 down to $6, that may mean it wasn't very good. I hope not. I'm pretty sure I saw good reviews on this. But I buy Kim Harris mainly because her writing is somewhat like mine. I like the characters in it, and especially Rachel Morgan is a realistic character--even her pixie, Jenks seems real the way she writes him. And all the magic is from mixing ingredients into a pot, and sometimes things really get out of hand.



Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman is a new one to me, but it has been out since 1992. This looks very promising. I discovered it on a blog I follow and since I didn't win a copy, I bought it.

Description:
It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. His polluted bloodline spreads through London as its citizens increasingly choose to become vampires.
In the grim backstreets of Whitchapel, a killer known as 'Silver Knife' is cutting down vampire girls. The eternally young vampire Genevieve Dieudonne and Charles Beauregard of the Diogens Club are drawn together as they both hunt the sadistic killer, bringing them ever closer to England's most bloodthirsty ruler yet.

 Golly! I don't know about you, but I think this one has me itching to read first!

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott was also a must, since Ms. Elliott friended me on facebook, and I think we had a conversation one afternoon there. Which was super cool! I already know the woman is an accomplished writer, and has a great site from which you might pick up some great advice.

Cold Magic was also one of Sumiko's picks. Which, as I recall, she liked. I know it was posted under "Sumiko's Reads" a while back in Lorelei's Muse, so I  may have to read up on what she thought of it.

There you have it. I get to go to the bookstore so infrequently, when I do go I try to buy more than one book.
Oh! one more thing. I must welcome my mysterious 79th Follower. If you read this, Mr./Ms. 79th Follower, do leave a comment so I know who you are. I cannot see my Followers box at all. Unless you wish to remain anonymous, and become one of my stalkers and lurkers, who I love and adore equally *wink*.

Who will be my 80th Follower? I wonder. Will it be YOU?

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Breathing Life Into An Old Manuscript

The old church on Blackhawk Road rested like an old tug boat in a sea of un-mowed grass and weeds. The simple wooden structure stood out in stark contrast of white against its harbor of green. Weeds had slowly begun to encroach the gravel parking lot as well.

Hi everyone, hoping your Sunday is going well.

Yesterday I pulled out an older manuscript which has not been forgotten, it's just that I didn't know what to do with it. I discovered my last work on it was around the years 2003/2004. It's title was Vampire Legacy--rewritten from a work much older and had also had been rejected many times in the '80's.

Seems that when you look at your older work you want to chuck it back into the bin, or closet and forget about it all over again. "What the heck will I do with this?" you wonder. Because maybe in the first place the whole idea was old. Or there were other problems with it and you simply can't get your mind around how to fix those problems which lead to more rejections than you can shake a red pencil at.

My original mss. exceeded 700 pages.

Yeah, you read right. I read through some of those pages yesterday while trying to make sense out of the several inches of this voluminous paper trail. I realize now that I had more than two books here--probably three or four. The above paragraph came from Chapter 14. It's not a bad paragraph. It might still work for some opening chapter with a little work.

I realized from my overview of my characters, too, that I had way too many of them, and they each had their own story going on. Ah, the mistakes of a novice writier. I had so many things to still learn about writing. 

I wrote this in 3rd person, getting into nearly all of their heads. I don't know how I kept them all straight. And several of them, as I said, had some sort of story going on, and I delved into each one. Like I said I could potentially have several short stories, novellas and novels from this mass of paper.

Of course this was my very first vampire novel. It still will be my first, as bad as it was. But as I sat reading through some of it, and going "nah . . . nah . . ." and putting chapters aside because they were not interesting enough for me, I began seeing something in my main character Jan. A police detective, he was in the middle of a missing person's case that had him baffled. And of course a vampire was at the very center of it. This is one of those "closed" worlds in which the main characters don't know/believe that vampires exist. It's basically police procedural.

When I read the first lines of the first chapter (once I located it), I remember thinking--at the time--it was pretty good. It might be, but I'm so over it I don't even want to read it all the way through. However, I did find a short story within its pages and wrote it out and it might be presented here at a later date.

The Murder Mystery Evolves
So, when I sat on my couch with all these chapters on chairs, tables and floor, I was seeing a main character with merit emerge.

Out of all this work I did--months that turned to years of work--where several stories meld, but can be separated now--I began to see the phoenix rising out of the ashes of all this paper mess in my office, being reborn into something new.

No. Not a vampire book. Not urban fantasy, or even a paranormal romance, but a mystery with a paranormal twist. Jan Vladislav became Jansen Cross, ex-detective whose wife was murdered while he was suffering from a severe migraine and was a "person of interest" , but never charged. The murder is still unsolved. A cold case--for now. And now his wife is a poltergeist who has tantrums, once in a while by throwing clothes and shoes out of her daughter's closet on bad days. Although Jan is an ex-cop, and because of his expertise in certain areas of police work, he is called as a consultant by police. . . and his wife (who he never sees, nor talks to) literally drops little clues for him to follow.

That's pretty much what I have for now. Work must continue, but I'll be seeing you all on the blogsphere! Have a great rest of the weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Promised Scene

Something happened yesterday with the end of my post. I had the scene all prettied up for you and somehow it did a magic act and disappeared on me! So Abracadabra, I twich my nose and POOF!
Scene set up: Bill Gannon in car with a minor-minor character, Cooper. This is the fourth book, so just sit back and read it for what it is. The backpack belongs to Sabrina who has lost it in a scuffle with vampires in Garden of the Gods, Colorado.


Bill tossed him the backpack. Cooper caught it.
Let's get in and find the vampire's lair on the GPS.”
Both men slid into the front seat of Bill's white SUV. Bill turned the engine over and brought up the in-dash monitor.
Give me the address of the vampire who lives in the area,” Bill asked.
Twenty-one eleven, Rampart Range,” Cooper said.
Bill looked at him. “You're sure? You don't have to consult a note pad or something?”
Nope. I've got a steel trap for a memory. Go ahead and put it in. You'll see.
Bill punched in the address. It took only a moment before the site map came up. The roads that lead out of this area of The Springs curved and wound and had dozens of switchbacks.
Mountain roads,” Bill muttered as he magnified the area. He put it into the satellite mode to see the terrain. “Definitely mountain road.”
This road goes for miles through mountains,” Cooper said as he unzipped the backpack. “It meanders through Pike National Forest. I think it might eventually go to Denver.”
Not interested in that. But if that's the correct address, his house is right there, on this curve of road.” He tapped the screen with a fingernail. “A lot of switchbacks . . .” Bill trailed off.
Cooper, meanwhile, had unzipped the backpack and discovered Sabrina's purse. He pulled it out, using the driver's side light to investigate the bag further.
Hey, you'd better leave that stuff alone.” Bill grabbed Sabrina's purse from the lid of the console.
Wow.” Cooper's word came on a chuckle. “Your intended bride is into weaponry, I see.” He pulled out a dagger in a fancy black leather sheath.
What are you doing? I told you to leave that alone.”
Just curious,” Cooper said.
The dagger wiggled out of its sheath on its own accord, drawing both men's undivided attention as it hovered momentarily in mid air. Then, it darted forward and jammed into Cooper's chest between the fourth and fifth ribs.
Cooper's scream startled Bill more than anything. A memory quickly surfaced. It was something taught to Bill at a very early age. He had thought that the story of The Dagger of Delphi was a myth, told to scare young apprentices in the Nephilistic League of Young Men.
Automatically Bill exited the car, and shut the door, and for an extra precaution, he hit the remote lock. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone. With a thumb he went to his #10 contact, and hit SEND.
It rang several times, and it went to voice mail—which was what he was told it would do—while Bill passively watched the scene inside his white Escalade. Now the interior was no longer pristine white, but blood spattered. The window was smeared with a bloody hand print. Cooper twisted in the seat, trying, to no avail, to pull the dagger from his chest, and illicit Bill's help.
Bill knew better. To help Cooper now would mean his own death. The Dagger of Delphi would seek all which it deemed its enemies—which were all the Nephilistic race, as well as vampires and demons. Nope, he'd remain here, thank you.
When he got the tone he spoke his message: “Cooper has been killed by the Dagger of Delphi. Repeat: Dagger of Delphi exists! I've left the vehicle in the parking lot of The Garden of the God's Trading Post, in Colorado Springs. You'll have to send in non-Nephilistics to do clean up.” He looked at his Rolex watch. His father was in Madrid Spain. This message would get to him automatically. But those who were part of the HAZMAT team would be sent here post haste.
Cooper had become quiet. He was dead, now. Bill was certain of it. Stupid son of a bitch! “It's eight-forty two o'clock, mountain time,” he went on with his message. “I'm calculating that it will be several hours before his body has turned to dust. You'll want to have the car towed away before its discovered . . . it's rather a mess inside, and I know you don't want anyone to see it. Especially the police.”
Bill hit END, and strode away. For him to chance being seen now was quite dangerous. Especially since the Albino was known to be in these parts. The Undead couldn't resist a soul from a Nephilic being. He scrolled to his car rental number. Always open. He wondered how fast they could get him an SUV, as he headed down the road, toward town.

~*~

Friday, September 16, 2011

What The Hell Friday

BLOOD.

This morning I had to go to watch a training video on blood born pathogens. Well, jokingly I asked if this video had any vampires in it. Nope. Darn!

Did anyone see that show about "Vampire Secrets", I think it was on the History Channel? I spoke to one person who did, and I know what it's about, now. I actually belong to a vampire site where many of the individuals are either psychic or sanguine vampires.

And since we're on the subject of BLOOD, I spoke to one student about the whole idea of drinking blood (I drive NIU students around campus and off campus), and he is a biology major. He knows that I've written a vampire novel, and was talking about the fact that drinking human blood does get a person high. You might recall in True Blood episodes/books where they touch upon vampire blood being a "drug".He said this is an actual fact, and he explained the reasons about it, and since I'm not an expert on the hows and whys of it all, I'll just leave it as a titillation for now. Possibly I might come back to it in another post.

In the meantime, here is a bit of a teaser scene--speaking of blood--from my WIP. It's very short, but interesting.



Thursday, September 15, 2011

HUNKS THURSDAY ~ Help Me Decide . . .

Ian Somerhalder with a hat . . .
 Without A Hat . .
 Or, maybe with less CLOTHING???
Tell me what you think.
And E.J. Wesley, I'm still waiting for the pictures...*tapping foot here* :P

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Whatever Wednesday : Review~Dance On Fire by James Garcia Jr.

I've been busy as of late, and so I have not posted much through the week, lately. I've been trying to find coinsiding posts for the days of the week. Such as I have Hunk's Thrusdays, which seems to be popular, Muse Mondays, and now I've got Teaser's Tuesdays--in which I've decided to give a few lines from my up-coming book Vampire Ascending--as long as I don't give anything away, of course.

I think Wedesdays are a tough one, so I'm calling it "Whatever" because I never know what I might have come up that I can blog about. A sort of "free" day post so that if I don't have anything I just won't post.

Todays Whatever Wednesday is a review of Dance on Fire by James Garcia Jr. We sort of book-swapped and he now has my book, if he finds some magical extra hour in a day, he might have time to read it! *wink to you, Jimmy*

From what I remember reading, following his blog and such, I know that he had been working on this book for twenty years and finally had it published with Vamplit Publishing, and I know that was a wonderful moment for him, and I also know that when the paperback verson came out he was so very proud. I do know how that feels.

I liked this story for several reasons. I thought the basic police procedural plot was a good way to hold the tension and keep it tight. Written in 3rd person, and given from different character's POV was well done. I especially like that he told the background of his two vampires throughout the story and it helped not only hold your attention, but also developed the two vampires. You have your basic good against evil, for sure, but I liked that he pit the good vampire against the evil one.

I don't want to give away too much about it, I think you can discover this great book, and I know that he is working on the sequel called Dance on Fire : Flashpoint

You can visit James Garcia Jr. Here.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Teaser from Trill


My Teaser of the Week is from Trill, since it's on sale this week for $0.99!

Nicholas looked about thirty, in human years, and he wore his straight black hair pulled off his heart-shaped face. He was equal parts of Hungarian and Romanian descent and could swear eloquently in either language. His turning was about the time when the bubonic plague was poised to infect all of Europe.

I'd always admired Nicolas' impeccable taste in dress. Tonight was no different. He wore a light-as-air blue shirt, a matching shiny-blue tie that had slanted stripes offset by dark, thin lines, and black slacks. No jacket. I'd almost forgotten how broad-shouldered he was, and I had to avert my gaze from him. His unique scent, of spicy-cloves and wood smoke, circulated in the currents of the air ducts, almost as if purposely drawing me in, seducing me. His vulpine face and hawkish nose were not his only distinguishing features. He also had deep brown eyes, nearly black. I knew that low light was commonplace throughout this level, but in here, it was nearly as dark as a theater.

“Well, I'm here,” I said, gesturing with my hands. “You wished to see me, master?” I added flippantly.

His lips quirked as he descended the steps toward me in a vampire-smooth move that required no contact with the floor, he just floated, while rubbing his hands together, as though trying to generate heat into them. He now looked villainous. I was sure this one small habitual movement meant he was relishing our meeting, as always, which I thought was odd since I hadn't seen him since the night he came to my backyard and I'd shot at him with Toby's sling-shot, but missed. He'd taken offense at that, and, to make this as uncomfortable as hell, I hadn't apologized, nor was I about to.

“Careful, dulceaţă, your humble devotion to my dominion over you merely excites me, and you know what happens when I get excited.” His warning should have been enough, but I felt bold and bitchy. Time of the month, indeed. I seemed to have no control over what came out of my mouth tonight.

“I would think my blood changing so drastically would make me utterly repugnant to you,” I threw in sarcastically, holding my handbag by the strap, both hands in front of me. I realized my knees were practically knocking. Shit. I knew he could sense my nervousness. It probably turned him on big-time. Vampires get off on fear in humans.

“On the contrary,” he said in his cool-as-ice-water voice. “I still want to fuck your brains out.” Nice. His Medieval eloquence and refinement flew out the window at this point. I was walking a knife's edge with him. It was time to change both my tactics and the subject. I clearly needed tactics when it came to Nicolas. I had allowed him to seduce me in my own bedroom, early on in our—um—professional relationship. Fortunately, he'd had the ability to stop before it was too late. However, I hadn't known at the time that he had already tasted me. That's what had pissed me off the most. He knew he'd bitten me while taking the werewolf venom, but never told me. I'd found out later. I was vulnerable to him then, and still was. He knew my emotions at a distance, and he could easily put a thrall on me. Good thing I came prepared.

I grimaced and blundered ahead anyway. “Is that why you came to my room that night, before you went to England?” I accused boldly, thinking to get this out in the open was a healthy way to keep our relationship strained. God, am I nuts, or what?

“Yes. I wanted to see you. I would have too, except your shifter intruded, and I had to leave—abruptly.”

“He's not my shifter!” I said heatedly, gripping my other arm with my free hand. “And don't think I don't know that you blanked my mind, so you didn't leave that abruptly. Makes me wonder why you took the chance in coming over to the human side when you don't have a pass to get in. Did you really think no one would figure out you'd been there?”

“It matters not.” His smirk seemed overly smug. “Do you realize how simple it would be to seduce you, now?” his silky voice cascading over me was like an inviting waterfall. I could feel that he was suppressing his thrall, just enough. He didn't need eye contact with me because he'd bitten me; a blood bond is much stronger.

To counteract, I pulled out my crucifix from inside my shirt. It gleamed in the limited red light. He blinked and glanced away. It wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped it would be. What I wanted was a full cowering with hisses, but I could cling to the knowledge I had at least some power to counter-act his thrall.

“But I won't. Now, put that silly thing away, please. We have important things to discuss. I will not continue until you cease your ridiculous attempt to thwart me.” His voice sounded angry and had a savage edge to it. It was prudent not to push him. I reminded myself that, technically, he was now my boss, and his power over me was the scariest part. I put the crucifix back under my shirt, knowing I could pull it out at a moment's notice. If he didn't stop me, that is.

On sale from December 27 - January 2, 2016

Monday, September 12, 2011

Interview with Heather McCorkle, Author of Secrets of Sprice Knoll


Heather McCorkle

Heather and I met on Author Nation blogsite, and we sort of meandered away and I followed Heather here to blogspot, to Heather's Odessy. I was one of her first followers, and she was my very first--and probably the only one for a very long time until I got the hang of things here. So, you could say that Heather and I have been blog buddies for a number of years.

So, let's start out finding out a little more about Heather, for those of you who do not know her, and about her book,  The Secrets of Spruce Knoll.

 I am an author of young adult fantasy, in all its many sub-genres. Helping other writers and supporting fabulous authors is my passion. When I'm not writing or surfing my social networking sites, I can be found on the slpes, the hiking trails, or on horseback. As a native Oregonian, I enjoy the outdoors almost as much as the worlds I create on the pages. No need to travel to the Great Northwest though, you can find me here, on my blog four days a week, and Monday nights on Twitter where I co-moderate the #WritersRoad chat with my good friend TS Tate.
The Secrets of Spruce Knoll


Book blurb:
Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live wit her aunt. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with "channelers"--a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands.

Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they--and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Now, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad.

Interview:
Did you start out wanting to write YA fantasy? Or did you have another genre you liked to write in?

I didn't actually. I started out writing adult fantasy and switched over when I met a few friends who wrote YA. They showed me how much innovative and edgy it could be and I knew it was for me. 

What author(s) have inspired you the most, in that you said “Oh, I need to write something like this!”

There are so many! The top of my list for YA is Saundra Mitchell (The Vespertine was lyrical and AMAZING) and Leah Cypess. There are many more though!

I think my favorite post—and the most creative—on your blog, by far is your Creatures Friday. How did you come up with this, and do you think you'll ever run out of creatures?

That post started because I wanted to give people a taste of my writing and provide something of interest for my blog readers who weren't writers. Also, I wanted to use it as a way to develop my writing skills for 1st person which I haven't done much of. I hope I never run out of creatures but it could happen!

Because I've followed you for some time, and I know that at one time you had an agent, and you parted ways, looking at how far you've come with your book, at this point in time, was this the best thing that happened for you? Why/Why not?

Though my agent was wonderful it really was the best thing for me. He didn't have the time to look at a new novel and I knew I had to move forward because I was told by so many in the industry that the novel had great potential. 

There's plenty of controversy over self-publishing, and angst in authors who decide to self publish. How difficult was it for you to go with self-publishing?

It was the hardest decision of my life because to do so is to give up the dream of being traditionally published. But you know what? I'm SO glad I did. The freedom and control in self-publishing is worth all the risk. And if authors hire a good, professional editor and a cover designer, and are willing to pour themselves into promoting it, then they can be very successful. Just a side note, now days even the big houses will expect you to do a lot of your own promoting anyways.  

Was this the first novel you've written, or more like a second, or third in which you were working to find an agent with? Will you knock on some agent's doors again with this next offer?

Not by a long shot. This is my fourth novel that I have completed and edited thoroughly. Really, it was just with this one that I got the process down. Though it's the fourth I've written, it's the second I've had with an agent.

 As a first time author, seeing your book in physical form, holding it in your hands, all the events surrounding your novel's break-out—is the gratification all you hoped it would be?

That and so much more. I cried~in a good way~when I first saw the cover and I cried when I held the book in my hands. Now, seeing the first reviews go up, and seeing that they're positive, I'm crying again. :) 

Any regrets?

Oh yeah, there are things I would have done differently but overall I'm very happy with the process and I learned a lot, which I'll apply to the next book! I'm always happy to share details with anyone who is considering going this route. All they have to do is leave me a comment with their email address on my blog and I'll email them!

What is Heather's next journey in writing? What are you working on now that you'd like to get into a published form?

I'm working on the next novel in the Channeler series and it's scheduled to release in spring of 2012. There is much more on the horizon too!

That is exciting! Will you be knocking on any agent's doors any time soon?

At this time I'm done knocking on their doors. If they come knocking then we'll see. I will always respect an agent's role in the publishing industry though.

Okay, fun question: If you were to meet and have lunch with someone famous, living or dead, who would it be?

Bruce Lee! He has always been my idol and I would love to chat about martial arts with him. Not what you were expecting huh?! I've got a few surprises left up my sleeves. ;)

Wow, Heather, you knocked me over with that last answer! Heather's novel, The Secrets of Spruce Knoll can be found at Amazon. And when you get a chance, check out her awesome blog. She's really creative, helpful and a wonderful person and I sure did enjoy having her here at Lorelei's Muse.

AUDIO BOOK NOW AVAILABLE!

Hi, everyone, I have some great news! My first Sabrina Strong book, Ascension, is now in an audio book format.  NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTE...