Patti Larsen

Bloom Blog Tour -- Julie Anne Lindsey

2012-02-24T07:08:00.001-08:00

Today I'm thrilled to host a very talented writer and blogger--in fact, she was one of the first to host me when I was breaking into this business a short two years ago! I adore her and hope you will too. Please welcome the lovely and always gracious

Julie Anne Lindsey

Thank you so much for inviting me over to your blog today Patti! I’m tickled to be on my very first blog tour and being at your site makes me really smiley. You are a great example of what writers can find with a little social interaction. I thought I’d blog about our amazing online community of authors and writers.

Whether you’re a reader or a writer, or both, I highly recommend meeting writers online. The online writing community is one of the friendliest, wittiest, funniest most diverse sub cultures I have ever encountered. We are fascinating if I do say so myself LOL.

As a reader, I have been able to connect with some of my favorite authors online. I’ve met many in person as a result. By using social media like FaceBook and Twitter, visiting their blogs and offering my blog to them when they tour or want to promote, I’ve learned about conferences and book signings I never would have otherwise. The best thing about authors is how much they love people and every single one I’ve met has settled right into a conversation as if I wasn’t a perfect stranger to them.

I guess that’s the thing…word lovers aren’t really strangers. We’re made of the same fiber, and when we get together, we just “click.” Put a bunch of readers and writers in a room and you get a HUGE amount of fun. I know. I’ve been to a few events just like that!

For aspiring writers, life can be lonely. For example: No one in my ‘real world’ writes or understands my passion for words. It’s like how crazy some people get over golf or tennis…I don’t get it, but I do appreciate their enthusiasm. Lucky for me, knowing writers online puts a literal world of resources at my fingertips. Writers will tell you everything they know. You only have to ask. Thanks to my fellow writers, I’ve learned about who’s open to submissions and what the absolute no-nos of writing are, where the contests are happening and whose critique group has a spot to fill.

Most importantly of all, I’ve met some of the best friends I will ever have online. Most of them I will never meet – distance and time makes it impossible- and others I couldn’t pick out of a line up, but they know my kids’ names and how my husband proposed. They’re my friends. They’re readers and writers and bloggers and women with big dreams like me. I can’t imagine writing without them. Without my writer friends, I never would’ve learned about the Turquoise Morning Press’ call for submissions for their new Honey Creek imprint. As a result, I moved from aspiring writer to a girl with a sweet romance series coming this year. My Seeds of Love series begins with Bloom which released this month and continues throughout 2012 with two more short sweet romances. My writer friends make all the struggles a little easier and all the successes much sweeter.

If you’re reading this post, I hope you’ll reach out and make a new friend online today. We can never have too many friends, and maybe the one you’ll talk to today for the first time is one who is ready to throw in the towel…until you strike up that conversation. Say Hi to someone. You never know where it might lead!

I also hope you’ll find time to visit Honey Creek. It’s a beautiful place where anything can happen. Kick off your shoes, relax into that porch swing and cuddle up to a steamy mug of cider. Taking a trip to Honey Creek is as easy as Amazon : ) See you there!

Bloom by Julie Anne Lindsey

In a town filled with her past, she never expected to find her future…

Seven years ago Cynthia left Honey Creek with a broken heart. Three years ago Mitchell arrived with one. Now Cynthia’s come home, and these two hardened hearts can’t stop arguing. If they’d only take a break long enough to find some common ground, they might be surprised to find love can grow anywhere.

If they’ll let it, love will find a way to Bloom.

*Bloom is book one in my new Seeds of Love series. I’ll be planting those seeds all year.

You can buy Bloom HERE!

About Julie:

I am a mother of three, wife to a sane person and Ring Master at the Lindsey Circus. Most days you'll find me online, amped up on caffeine & wielding a book.

You can find my blogging about the writer life at Musings from the Slush Pile

Tweeting my crazy at @JulieALindsey

Reading to soothe my obsession on GoodReads

And other books by me on Amazon

Congratulations and much success, Julie!

Happy Friday, y'all! :)

YA Indie Carnival - Name that Tune

2012-02-24T06:58:00.002-08:00

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts, hopes and dreams about what it’s like to go indie in today’s publishing world.The future’s so bright, we built our own place to play.

This week in the Carnival, the question is--to music or not to music? Do you write with a playlist, and what is it?

Honestly, I've tried writing with music. Had some success at it. But I find for me, total silence is the best choice. I connect with my characters when I'm alone and the house is very quiet.

That doesn't mean I don't get to enjoy music during this process! While I don't write to the sound of singing, I format to it. Formatting can be tedious and takes time, though it's very simple. So I crank up the tunes and sing along while I shape my work into pretty ebooks.

My faves? You'll know them:

So fun!!

Big news this week for some of our carnies! Most notably the release TOMORROW of my very dear friend T.G. Ayer's debut novel, Dead Radiance! Can you tell by all the exclamation marks I'm very excited for her?!

You can find her book in softcover HERE. I'm part of her blog tour later in the week and will have ebook links then.

Congrats, Tee!

And don't forget to swing on over to our homepage to see what the rest of these very busy ladies are up to. You can find us HERE.

Now, mosey on over to their pages and find out what music inspires them.

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series

2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self
4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
6. Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7. Lexus Luke
8. PJ Hoover, Author of SOLSTICE, Blogging at ROOTS IN MYTH
9. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
10. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
11. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
12. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
13. Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga
14. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
15. Dani Snell's Refracted Light Reviews
16. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
17. M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping
18. Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
19. Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind
20. Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
21. Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler
22. Nicole Williams, author of Eternal Eden, Falling Eden
23. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
24. TG Ayer

Happy Friday!

Behind the Scenes -- Blood and Gold Covers

2012-02-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

I love showing the before, middle and afters of cover design--it's such an amazing process! When I came up for the idea of Auburdeen (Burdie) Hayle and the Blood and Gold steampunk series, it was inspired by an image from Phatpuppy Art of a girl in a black top hat. I often get inspired by images or music, so I wasn't surprised to have an entire scene accost me when I saw the picture.

I took the process one step further than I normally do. There are three trilogies in Burdie's story, meaning I had need for the same model nine times. Usually my designer buys stock and it's all good. But I knew in this case that wouldn't cut it.

So I enticed my sixteen year old niece, Shania MacPhail, to be my Auburdeen. This way I have total control over poses as well, which makes me very happy! My good friend Brian Sharp took the photos for me, which I then sent off to my designer, Stephanie Mooney, to play with.

Here are the originals:

The shoot was done on green screen...
and then transferred to white background.

As you can see, the photo shoot went very well :) I was thrilled with the results.

I talked to Stephanie about what I was looking for, gave her the rundown of each book with a brief description.

She came back with these amazing proofs:

Aren't they awesome?

Once we did some tweaks, we ended up with these for the final product:

Cool, right? I loved this process and will be using the same process for the next six covers.

Happy Wednesday!

The Horizon Experiment -- Chapter Four

2012-02-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

Quinn -- from Google Images

Chapter Four: Quinn

Quinn almost brains himself against the interior panel when the first explosion hits. He scrambles out from under the control unit on the bridge of the old ark ship and runs to the main viewer. He quickly discovers the angle is wrong, though he can see a glow coming from the direction of the colony.

He races through the dark corridors to the small hatch near the escape pod corridor. He pauses at the edge, watching small ships dive and loop into the buildings across the dump, attacking his home. He is close enough that he sees them clearly, so overcome he can only stand there and stare. They are like nothing he has ever seen before. There has never been an encounter with another race of beings, unfriendly or otherwise, since humans reached out to the stars.

He prepares to leap to the ground and run to help when he spots a shadowy figure below him, sneaking around the base of the ship, slinking along with inhuman movement. Quinn’s blood boils as his dark temper takes him over and fear turns to fury. He crouches on the edge of the elevated hatch and waits until the shadow is directly below him before dropping on top of it, driving it into the ground.

Five Hours to Contact

Quinn forced himself to breath, hating the stench of the dust and chemicals that rose from below him as the elevator climbed from the bottom of the mine. He kept his hands in fists shoved deep in his jacket pockets so no one would see just how angry he was. Not that any of the other workers were paying him attention. The fight was very fast and very public and he was sure there wasn’t a man or woman below who didn’t know all about it by now.

Defending his father had become a habit, a reflex, really. John Piers spent his whole life down below, just like everyone else. Trouble was, after a time it got to him, under his skin and in his heart, turning him into someone Quinn hardly recognized anymore, especially once the bottle came out.

He hadn’t meant to fight about it. Quinn knew what his father was like, was well aware that John had a serious problem and had to be suspended because he was dangerous to himself and others. Down below, the only people the miners could count on were each other. The mineral they harvested was volatile if handled improperly and a mistake could mean the end of the colony. If one of their number wasn’t up to the job, steps had to be taken. Quinn understood all that. He was sixteen already, spent the last three years of his life following his father down the shaft, had even been proud at first of the job he did.

Now he just hated everything about it. Including the snide remarks and nasty comments that he tolerated day in and day out about his father, stuff never said to his face, just loud enough for him to hear. They had taken to leaving him alone and he could feel them pushing him out, too, just like his dad. He knew the day was close that his supervisor would approach him and tell him that it just wasn’t working out, that it wasn’t his fault but he didn’t fit in. Quinn was dreading that day but also wanting it to come.

And it came, but not the way he wanted, not with a permanent mark on his record that would make it hard for him to get a job up above on the plant. If that damned Pike Isner had just kept his stupid mouth shut instead of running on and on about John and how Quinn’s dad was a menace to everyone in the colony, Quinn could have had his quiet talk and his gentle release.

Instead, he found himself rolling on the mine floor in the choking red dust with Isner underneath him, pounding the smirk from his face. They let him attack the older man, watched confident that Isner would take the youngster for a ride before they gave him the boot. But it didn’t take them long to gape like idiots, the pack of them who wanted him out, as Quinn turned the tables on Isner and gave him what for.

John Piers may have been a drunk but he was a hell of a fighter and he taught his son everything he knew.

Then they were pulling him from Isner, shouting for the supervisor in his nice white hat who was already on his way, accusing Quinn of starting the whole thing while the supervisor looked at him with sympathy, knowing the truth. Quinn took his punishment however, in silence and fury as the shift ended, listened to the regret in the white-collar’s voice as he formally released Quinn from the mine and told him he’d have a mark on his work record. He wanted to punch the man when he quietly took Quinn aside and told him if he had just held out a little longer, just kept his temper. The supervisor had a job lined up for him in the factory, was just waiting for confirmation, knew Quinn was a good worker and nothing like his father. But now… well, he’d have to pull his recommendation.

Quinn was on his own.

As the elevator settled to a shuddering halt at the mine exit, Quinn turned and tossed his helmet down the long, deep shaft into the dark before walking for home.

He ignored everyone who rushed past him, avoided the odd ground transport that chugged its way through the dust of the red streets. He dragged his steps, not wanting to go home but with nowhere else to go.

Not precisely true but he needed to see his father first. They had to decide what to do. With no income and very little in the bank they needed to figure out where they were going to get money to live while Quinn found another job.

He could smell the booze the moment he walked through the door. His heart sank, fury surging again. He turned left, walking into the small living area with its sagging furniture and film of red dust. He stared at his father with dead eyes, all the rage burning out in one rush.

John Piers was one of the greatest workers in the mine since it opened. He had this uncanny sense for rock and the stress it was under. He saved many lives in his long career and won quite a few medals. Time was Quinn was proud that the tall, strong, barrel-chested man with the huge laugh and generous nature was his dad.

All that remained of that pride lay sprawled on the short sofa, drooling into a ragged pillow, a half-empty bottle of bootlegged shine in one withered hand. His sunken face was deeply lined but almost child-like in sleep. Quinn couldn’t stay mad, especially when he saw the picture frame clutched to his father’s chest. Quinn could see his mother’s beautiful face smiling up at him.

He liberated the photo from his father’s weak grip. Had his mother lived, things would have been so different. If she hadn’t gone to work that day, had she not trusted the new supervisor and his assurance that the fresh tunnel was safe, had she only checked with John first before starting her digger, things would have turned out like they had planned. But Eliza’s loss set off a chain reaction in John that carried to Quinn and to the mine and, finally, to utter collapse and ruin.

Quinn rolled a light blanket out over his father, taking the bottle and putting it in their filthy kitchen. He helped himself to the last of the protein bars he had secreted away to make sure he had food the times his father threw fits and wrecked everything they owned. Then, unable to stand it any longer, he slipped out the back and headed for the only place he felt like being anymore.

Horizon waited patiently for him in the distance, calling him home.

Happy Saturday! :)

YA Indie Carnival -- Pucker Up!

2012-02-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts, hopes and dreams about what it’s like to go indie in today’s publishing world.The future’s so bright, we built our own place to play.

Okay, so last week we explored hot scenes... this time around is a little more (or less depending on your point of view) innocent.

You guessed it--first kisses. The one I'm sharing is between the main character of the Hayle Coven series, Syd and her on again off again aggravation she loves to adore, Quaid Moromond.

This scene comes from book two, Witch Hunt. Quaid has just rescued Syd from danger only to find they are both in even more. Enjoy!

We kept to the path, me stumbling along while Quaid seemed to glide over the uneven ground. He finally took pity and held my hand. The link between us rushed to life, and I could see.

Just in time, too. Something crouched at the bend up ahead, another something sprawled beneath it. Dressed in what was left of a white robe, now stained black in the darkness. The creature looked up from feeding and hissed at us. I almost threw up again. The Chosen member was missing some of his insides. A lot of his insides, actually. A gaping hole showcased the remains of his guts.

No time to fall apart. The creature rose slowly, easing toward us like smoke over the ground, a liquid menace I could feel to the center of my bones. It was still wasted thin, but there were features now, as if its feeding had given it back some semblance of life. The hooked nose quivered over its protruding fangs, a crackle of red energy sliding over and around it in a ripple of light.

Quaid’s power and my demon locked in place, so familiar I welcomed it for the first time ever. It was nice to have our foundation to lean on as the creature drew near. It helped me keep absolute terror from sending me shrieking.

“Too soon,” it snarled at us, voice ragged. “I’m not ready for you yet.”

“Too bad,” Quaid said. We attacked together, a woven net of our combined power locking together before us, already in motion. It shimmered in the dark, enveloping the creature, dimming its magic as it shuddered back from the touch of our magic. That lasted only a moment. The creature snarled and threw itself against the barrier, the sound of sizzling flesh and the hum of straining energy filling the still air. And, for one brief and shining moment, we held.

Until my power collapsed, exhausted.

The net gave way, half of it unraveling in a spiral of dissipating magic. Quaid’s shattered, no longer supported by mine, the brightness of it flashing out, leaving spots in front of my eyes. I stumbled forward, crying out for Quaid, terrified the thing was about to pounce, but instead it took one look at us and ran away.

Quaid spun on me and eased me to the ground. I sobbed in frustration.

“What did he do to me?” We both knew who I meant. Whatever the powder was, it crippled my magic and I was so weak I couldn’t even stand.

“We don’t have time to find out.” Quaid gripped my face between his hands. “You have to go for help, Syd. Do you hear me? I’m going after the creature. But you need to find your mother.”

I clung to his hands. “You can’t,” I said. “Quaid, not alone.”

His face bent over mine, his lips warm and soft. I breathed him in and welcomed his touch and kissed him back with all my heart. When he pulled away it was only far enough he could speak without our mouths touching.

“Be safe, Syd,” he whispered into me. His lips met mine for one more moment before he was gone.

I cried then, fat tears, gross and mournful, overcome by everything that happened. My demon cried with me, her longing for Quaid as powerful as my grief and for a terrible moment we just sat there in it and let it all out.

Poor Syd!! Yeah, well... it all works out in the end... until the next disaster strikes. :)

Now, hop over to our website and check out all the news we have this week--amazing how much there is! Such a fantastic group we have HERE.

And if you'd kindly go wandering, here's the list of my fellow carnies and their kissing scenes.

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self
4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
6. Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7. Lexus Luke
8. PJ Hoover, Author of SOLSTICE, Blogging at ROOTS IN MYTH
9. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
10. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
11. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
12. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
13. Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga
14. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
15. Dani Snell's Refracted Light Reviews
16. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
17. M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping
18. Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
19. Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind
20. Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
21. Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler
22. Nicole Williams, author of Eternal Eden, Falling Eden
23. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
24. TG Ayer

Happy Friday!

Awkward Writer Moment #127 - The Doctor's Office

2012-02-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm exaggerating about the number. Well, mostly. But still. I love being a writer--LOVE it. Everything about it makes me happy, including talking to fans! (I love my fans...) But sometimes there is a line to be drawn in the sand, people, and today I think mine was trodden on...

I've been seeing the same doctor for, well, ever. He delivered me, in fact. He's the sweetest man, maybe because I never have anything wrong with me. :)

This year, he's decided to retire. But he's found another doctor to take his place, bless him. Only problem? This new doctor is, yup, new. Young. Attractive.

Crap.

I can handle it. I really can. I'm a forty year old woman, married seventeen. I'm fine, really. Was fine, if slightly nervous about the whole numbers on the scale thing (they'd gone up somehow, damn it. Sigh.)

Turns out my new doctor is a lovely person, very professional, great bedside manner. And has a brother who is a writer. Just wrote his first YA novel, in fact. At which point I offered to assist said brother if he needed help.

Awesome. Off to a fantastic start. Had a great checkup, no nasty pap test this year (WHOOO!!) but had to have a breast exam. Okay fine. No worries. Except the stupid drapey blanket they give you is always too short and too slippery to stay up when you're seated upright.

So there I am, exam over, waiting to put my clothes back on, and my lovely new doctor hands me a notepad.

Looking for my email address for his brother.

And I'm still kinda naked.

Um. Sure, okay. Email addy given, no problemo.

I really didn't mind. My new doc and I are going to get along just fine.

I just would have loved to at least put my bra back on first.

The Horizon Experiment -- Chapter Three

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Sammel -- from Google Images

Chapter Three: Sammel

Sammel sulks in a cubby in the back of the engine room. It’s not his fault bad things happen around him nor that he has such big shoes to fill. His brother Archer is so perfect, Sammel wishes he could just disappear sometimes so his father and brother wouldn’t have to worry about him embarrassing them.

He goes over and over his brother’s last words, hating Archer, hating himself, wanting to just disappear and never have to see anyone ever again.

He is shaken from his dark thoughts by a sharp lurch as the ship bucks. He is tossed to one side, his forehead knocking against the inside of the cubby. Stunned, he feels a warm, wet flow trace down his cheek. He lifts his fingers to examine it, fingertips coated in red. The pain jerks him out of his stupor, the shaking of the ship making his head ache with sudden fury. Sammel pulls himself free of the hole and drops to the bare decking, leaving a smear of his blood behind.

As the sudden, sharp agony eases, he finds himself trembling along with the Day Wanderer. Unsure and alone, he debates what to do. The ship gives another violent buck, throwing his thin body against a bulkhead. Sammel’s shaking belongs to him, now. He’s sure the last tremor was from an impact.

The lights die, the emergency flashers coming on line, filling the air with strobing fear. A moment later, the alarm follows. Sammel starts to run.

He reaches the front compartment of the engine room before he realizes there isn’t anyone around. He gapes at the empty space for a time before it registers. Where is the crew? They would never leave their posts.

They would, his mind whispers at him, if they were ordered to.

Sammel’s heart crashes to his feet. Instantly, he assumes they have been told to abandon ship. He must have missed the call and now they are all gone without him. Sammel races for the main door, leaping through and into the corridor on his way to the escape pod bay.

He is halfway down the hall, almost to the outer hull, when he sees a huge, red glow appear on the wall. The sight freezes his feet to the deck. He stares, open-mouthed, as the metal slags, melting down to the thin carpet. When it is gone, he can see only blackness beyond.

Then, the corridor floods with smoke. Something emerges from the hole, oozing its way into the Day Wanderer. It slides through the heavy air, sending eddies through the murk. For a moment he thinks he is safe. It turns from him, drifting the other way. His terror betrays him. As he exhales, his throat constricts and he moans.

It spins on him faster than anything he has ever seen. Long tendrils reach for him through the smoke. Frozen in fear, Sammel doesn’t even have the will to scream.

Six Hours to Contact

Sammel would have liked to stand there with his father and brother as they greeted the new colonists. In fact, nothing would have made him prouder than to be dressed in one of those shining white uniforms, arms folded behind his back.

He sighed and sagged against the wall behind him, knowing it was just a fantasy. He brushed his dark hair from his forehead and tried to suppress the old jealousy that rose when he saw his father smile at Archer. Sammel knew his brother was the favorite, knew he could never be as good or fast or smart or strong. Knew he would never be anything but a screw up when everything came so easily to Archer.

“You try too hard.” How many times had his brother said that? “Do what you’re told and stay out of things that don’t concern you.”

He did his best. He really did. All he wanted was to learn. Sammel loved the Day Wanderer and everything about it. Especially what made it run. The engine room was pure heaven, the inner workings of the ship peaceful. It was all the other stuff that was hard. Dealing with the crew and the rules.

He spent his whole twelve years on the Day Wanderer, it was his life, but it never quite felt like home.

Sammel flinched a little as he turned and walked away from the chummy pair his father and brother made, matching blonde, handsome spacers in full control, admired by all. He tried not to let his last failure get him any further down than he already was.

“He’s a menace!” Second in command Anita Shore clipped at Patrick just hours before the Day Wanderer docked. “Had the chief not seen him messing with the engine housing…” She glared down at Sammel who just kept quiet. He knew from experience no matter what he tried to say no one would listen. “The chief says the drive would be slagged.”

“What were you thinking?” Patrick addressed him in Captain O’Malley mode while Archer did his best not to look at Sammel at all, face a mask.

Sammel swore he wouldn’t open his mouth on the long march to his father’s office. Swore he would just take the punishment offered and not try to explain. But facing the two people in the world who he wanted most to impress, his mouth ran away with him.

“The flow rate was off,” he stumbled over his words as he tried to get them out as fast as possible before they could stop him, in a rush to have them to listen. “The valves were out of sync and they needed to be realigned, but no one would listen so I tried to do it myself.”

He knew the moment he stopped his father wasn’t in the mood for one of his explanations.

Patrick raised an eyebrow at Exec Shore. She shook her head. “Not according to the chief,” she said.

Sammel went rigid. And yet, he had seen the chief checking the flow himself, calling for a tech while Anita dragged him away from engineering.

It just wasn’t fair.

Sammel shoved the rest of the meeting from his mind. He didn’t need to replay the hard look on his father’s face, the disappointment in Archer’s. They were far too familiar to him, an old source of pain and self-hate that he sunk so far in he didn’t know how to get out.

And yet… he had been right, he knew he was right and with a few more minutes he would have proven to them that he was. Just once he wanted the chance to show them that he wasn’t a screw up after all. Sammel resisted the call of the engine for a good two days, hearing the flow rate get worse and worse, wondering why no one else noticed. He did his best not to pay attention, to do his chores and stay out of trouble and earn his family’s respect.

But the time came when he couldn’t take it any longer. He went to the chief.

The big man scowled at him through the entire explanation then ordered one of the lieutenants to escort Sammel away, no matter who his father was.

It interrupted his sleep, drove him mad with its incessant humming. Finally, Sammel went back to engineering, snuck around the crew when no one was looking, and opened the hatch himself.

He was almost there, had the repair well in hand, when someone grabbed him from behind and tossed him aside. Sammel’s next few minutes were filled with yelling and running crew, the furious chief and, finally, the hard and unforgiving stare of Anita Shore.

They didn’t understand. Sammel acted, not out of spite or decision, but because he couldn’t help himself.

He slid his way deeper into the ship, head down, balled fists contained in his pockets. He was so wrapped up in his own misery, he failed to notice he was on a collision course until it was too late.

He tripped and fell over the luggage of a young woman who stared down at him like he was a piece of dirt.

Not far off, he thought.

“How dare you?”

“Young man,” her male companion said, “how rude. Be more careful.”

“Bad enough I have to carry my own luggage, Daddy,” the girl said, “but to be assaulted,” she aimed a kick at Sammel with her expensive high heeled shoe, “is more than I can bear!”

Sammel tried not to roll his eyes as he dodged her toe and got to his feet.

Grounders, he thought. Why are they always so much trouble?

“Sorry,” he said, trying to squeeze past them. The man caught his arm and wouldn’t let him go.

“You will take our bags to our quarters,” he ordered with so much authority that Sammel caved immediately. “After you offer a sincere apology to my daughter.”

Sammel wanted to scream, to tell them off. The big man glared at him, wide face very red, chest puffed out in offence. The girl smirked secretly at him, her green eyes full of nasty plans for Sammel’s future torment. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head and would have told her off if it was just her. But faced with her father, clearly someone of importance, and not wanting to make Patrick angry again, Sammel did as he was told.

“I’m very sorry I tripped over your luggage,” he said in a clear voice, finishing with, but if you hadn’t gotten in my way in the first place it would never happened, in his head.

That at least made him feel better.

The man grunted while the girl scowled at him.

“That will do I suppose. Now, the baggage, double time!”

They strode away, leaving him to tug two wide carriers down the narrow hall after them. Thankfully they were given floaters to use or he would have been forever getting their stuff to their rooms.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel safe on this ship, Daddy,” the girl was saying. “We’re set loose here with all the rabble. How is that in keeping with your station?”

“We’re colonists, now, dear,” the man told her. “Just folks.”

“Not me,” she said. “Not ever. This is entirely unacceptable and I expect you to do something about it.” She shot a glare over her shoulder at Sammel. “Keep up, can’t you, boy?” She turned back to her father. “I can’t believe I’m living in these conditions.”

“Yes, darling,” her father said.

The only thing keeping Sammel going that long and torturous journey to the guest suite was imagining over and over how fun it would be to push the nasty witch into an airlock and show her the door.

Happy Saturday!

YA Indie Carnival -- Some like it HOT!

2012-02-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts, hopes and dreams about what it’s like to go indie in today’s publishing world.The future’s so bright, we built our own place to play.

Our topic this week is about steamy scenes in YA. I personally am a massive prude who blushes at the very thought of sex in books (I'm blushing right now). Not to say my characters don't get themselves into some heated situations... ;)

This excerpt is from Family Magic, book one of the Hayle Coven novels. Syd and her love/hate/lust relationship with the dark, lean and delicious Quaid Moromond leads them to romance on the worst night of Syd's life...

I couldn’t bear to think of them down there with Dad so I hit the back door. I needed air, just a little air. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, leave my family alone with them, but I had to have some space to think and the outdoors was always my best place to cool my head. I escaped into the night, and ran right into Quaid.

He caught me and held me when I tried to back away. His face seemed sad, a switch from the cynical smirk he always wore. He glanced over my shoulder at the house before returning his gaze to me. His dark eyes felt bottomless, his magic, a rich, warm, exotic power, gently wrapped around me. I knew I was safe. My demon welcomed him in a rush of golden light. I was lost in that feeling as the walls between us fell for the second time and I felt his absolute regret and fear.

“Syd,” he said, “I need to tell you something important.”

I shook myself, trying to break free from the wonderful glow of him around me. It felt stronger than the first time outside the diner, deeper, more welcoming, like an offer of something I wasn’t sure I was ready for. He always kept himself as guarded as I did, but there was no way to guard against this. With each passing moment I marveled more and more at the connection. I had no idea he was so… endless.

“What?” I asked, dazed. I went through a lot that day and I wasn’t exactly focused. Being engulfed in protective energy didn’t help a whole lot, either.

He looked over my shoulder again before leaning in, lips over mine, eyes so close I could see the glimmer of the streetlight in them.

“They plan to destroy you,” he whispered.

It took a second to sink in. “Who?”

He scowled and shook me, enough to break me free of the spell his magic cast over me. It made me mad.

“Stop it,” I said, pulling free, rubbing my arms, realizing they hurt because he was holding me so hard. Now that we were out of physical contact, his power dissipated again, the walls rising to block each other out. I could finally think straight. “What are you talking about?” He needed to stop touching me.

“My parents,” he said it like the words disgusted him. “Miriam was right. There are traitors. And they’re it.”

“How do you know?” I whispered back, acutely aware the very people we discussed were so close I could feel them.

“I overheard them tonight after the ceremony,” he said. “They were celebrating, Syd, actually celebrating.” Quaid’s anger leaked into his eyes. He struggled for control. It didn’t take long for his calm to return. “I didn’t know. You have to believe me. But I guess there’s some old stuff between my mom and your mom and Batsheva’s decided to do something about it.”

“Some something,” I said.

“I guess,” he said. “You have to get out of here.”

“Why are you warning me?” I didn’t trust him despite having been inside his power and mind only moments before. Had we still been connected, maybe. But it was easy to lose that total sense of who he was when I wasn’t inside his magic. I was sure then he must have an ulterior motive or maybe they even sent him. I took a step back, even my demon rising to the defensive. I wondered at how quickly and easily she made herself a part of who I was despite all my attempts to keep her out. Nothing like a little life-threatening coven action to bring a girl around.

Quaid’s hand reached out to take mine, closing the gap between us, the exchange flowing again. “I’m not like them,” he said. “They’ve been using negative magic, Syd. I want no part in it.”

I knew he couldn’t lie to me, not with that power flowing over me and through me, weaving its way through mine, making itself at home. Lying in that state was impossible for both of us. My demon purred with contentment as his aura fed her.

I struggled to concentrate.

“I can’t leave,” I whispered. “What about Meira? Mom? Gram? I won’t leave my family, Quaid.”

I could tell he was frustrated. “I know. I had to try to warn you anyway. Syd,” he let go of my hand, but the connection was still there. I wondered if it was permanent now. “I wanted you to know… because I didn’t want you to think I had anything to do with it.”

“Why do you care?” I asked him, breathless. How had I not noticed before how sweet his energy was, how lovely and generous, how great he smelled, like chocolate, oddly. How had I missed the draw of his dark eyes, the brightness of his perfect teeth? Or was it the demon in me that made me pay attention all of a sudden?

“I just do,” he said, fingers brushing my cheek.

I believed him.

“I have to go,” he dropped his hand and stepped away. “I’m sorry, Syd. I wish… I wish I could do more. Take care of yourself.”

Quaid disappeared into the darkness. I missed him immediately, missed his warmth around me, the feeling that for once I was not alone. I didn’t even get a chance to thank him before he vanished from sight.

Okay, so not so steamy... but this is the moment when Syd finally realizes what Quaid has to offer and that she's tied to him no matter what she might want.

Don't forget to check out our page: YA Author Club for up and coming excitement from our members.

Now, go and check out what everyone else's idea of YA hot is...

Happy Friday!

FREE DAY--Family Magic and Run are FREE!

2012-02-08T04:08:00.000-08:00

For the next two days, Wednesday, February 8th and Thursday, February 9th, both Family Magic and Run will be FREE on Amazon.com.

Yup, you heard it right. FREE.

Get your Kindle copy of Family Magic HERE

And your copy of Run HERE

Tell your friends, your family, strangers on the train... this is the last FREE promotion I'm doing for these two books. Once the clock rolls around to midnight on Thursday, they go back to full price forever.

Okay, that sounds a little doom and gloom... don't be disappointed! Download your copies before it's too late!

Oh dear... :)

Happy reading!

K.C. Blake--Pandora's Box--FREE until Monday!

2012-02-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

Just Released: PANDORA'S BOX

K. C. Blake used to write for Harlequin. You might have read her books under the name Kasi Blake. They included Would-Be Wife and Borrowed Identity. She still has a few manuscripts Harlequin didn't publish. Now she is releasing them one at a time.

The first up is Pandora's Box.

Madison Grey has to clear her father's name. All her life he taught her to put her country before anything else. It's because of him that she became a Secret Service Agent. Protecting the president has been her duty and pleasure. But now her father is accused of trying to assassinate the president, and the people she works with are slowly turning against her... everyone except for Navy SEAL Tyler Law, the president's son. He also thinks her father was set up. Their only clue is her father's dying words: Pandora's Box These two words will take them on a twisted journey to uncover some secrets that should have remained buried. Through it all Madison finds that she can depend on Tyler and her ex, DeMarco, but this is no time to sort out her love life.

This book is only be available at Amazon as an ebook. Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0070MHNNS

Pandora's Box is FREE from now until Monday, February 6th, but will also be FREE on Valentine's Day!

Happy reading!

The Horizon Experiment--Chapter Two

2012-02-04T04:58:00.000-08:00

Last week you met Sun, the daughter of colony doctors on their way to a new life on board a shiny new ship called the Day Wanderer. Now let me introduce you to Minnesota, a colonist on a mining planet...

Minnesota -- from Google Images

Chapter Two: Minnesota

It’s dark when Minnesota wakes. She feels lost, disoriented. She looks around her and realizes she fell asleep in the engine compartment of the old ship. Shaking the last of the weariness from her mind and stretching out the kinks she received from the hard metal hull, she makes her way to the corridor and the exit hatch. Her parents will be very worried about her. They don’t know about her visits to the abandoned colony ship, the Horizon. As a matter of fact, if they found out, she’d be in big trouble. The ship is supposed to be off limits, though she knows not everyone obeys the law.

She looks outside as the first explosions bloom in the dark. She stares, mouth gaping open, as her colony is attacked by tiny, whirring ships that bob and dodge, spewing fire. It takes her a long moment to understand what is happening. When she does, she feels terror rip through her and moves to leap to the ground and run for home.

A shadow emerges from behind her, engulfing her in arms of black before hauling her back inside the darkness of the silent ship.

Seven Hours to Contact

Minnesota happily leaned back from her examination of the fuel pump and gave her father a big smile.

“No problem, Dad,” she said. “Just needs a new bearing. Give me a minute, okay?”

“You got it, kiddo,” Noah Jordan grinned back at her. “My little genius. You must get it from your mother.”

“Nope.” Angelique flashed her very white teeth at her pale, red-haired husband as she leaned in to kiss his cheek, her jet-black skin on his creating a startling contrast. “This woman is strictly theoretical engineering, no getting of the hands dirty.” She winked one black-brown eye framed in thick lashes at her daughter. “This need to do things the old fashioned way is your fault, husband.”

Minnesota loved the way her mother talked, her deep voice and accent still strong despite fifteen years on the colony. Angelique Mombassa arrived unannounced on a cargo ship and made a niche for herself in the tight-knit community, immediately attracting the attention of the handsome head of mining and marrying him shortly thereafter.

“Well, wherever she gets it,” Noah said, slipping one arm around his wife’s thin waist and pulling her close, “I’m damned grateful. Got it fixed yet, muffin? Shaft two is shut down until I get that part in and we’re already behind quota.”

“You not be worrying about quota,” Angelique said. “All the time the quota!”

Minnesota grinned over the part. Her father’s constant fretting was the source of endless teasing from his wife and daughter.

“The ship just left.” Angelique rolled her eyes, one hand on her hip, the other stuffed into Noah’s back pocket. “I think we have time to catch up in the next ten months.”

Minnesota giggled as she fished out a bearing from her stockpile of new and scrounged parts and finished installing it in the pump. “All done, Dad.” She handed it to him, good as new. Noah bent and kissed her soundly on the cheek, did the same for his wife, only on her full and waiting lips, then strode out of Minnesota’s workshop, already on the com to the mine telling them he was on his way.

Angelique blew her daughter a kiss. “Don’t stay in the shop too long,” she said. “Dinner at dusk, don’t be late, bad child.” She retrieved her own recently repaired part and left for her office.

Minnesota sighed, content. Only thirteen, she showed such knack for repairing equipment from a young age that by the time she was ten she was tackling jobs other mechanics couldn’t fathom. A master scrounger and repair artist, Minnesota took great pride in her work. So did her parents who willingly set her up with her own shop and left her to do her thing, knowing her sense of responsibility when it came to mechanical objects was far stronger than that to other living, breathing beings.

Caught up for the day, Minnesota shut up her little shop, stuffing a pair of thick gloves in the pockets of her dull brown coveralls and headed for the scrounging ground. She capped her short mess of tight black curls with a woven hat her mother made for her, dark eyes shining in anticipation.

Today, she had a goal in mind. The cargo ship that took the most recent load of siminite from the processing factory had done a dump just prior to leaving, like they always did. She hadn’t had a chance to scour their new pile since they departed two days before. It called to her, the scrounger’s dream.

She powered up the small transport her parents let her use and trundled her way down the dirt street toward the dump. She sneezed once as the dust she stirred chased and caught her while she braked to let someone cross in front of her. Waving absently, she continued on, her mind already lost in the possibilities of the heap of garbage the cargo ship left behind. It was to the colony’s benefit that it was cargo’s common practice, all the better to take on more product and increase their weight limit.

Minnesota rounded the last of the warehouse buildings and reached the edge of the dump. When she hit the dirty walkway, she practically skipped with excitement.

It wasn’t as huge as it could have been, that blot against the pink flavored sky, bulking high compared to the flat plain where the colony perched. The empty, red-soiled landscape reached as far as the eye could see in every direction, not a scrub brush or hill in sight. The vast, open expanse covered half of the planet and happened to be the perfect place to mine. Minnesota had never been to the lush, tropical part of her world and had no desire to. To her and most of the colonists the wasteland was home.

The dump itself was well contained within a bunker of locally mixed concrete. The deep orange walls were intended to contain the waste, not keep anyone out. The pile was usually quite small, dwindling as the contents got used up. But to Minnesota’s delight it was substantial again. It mostly contained the refuse left behind by the cargo ship. New Ayer was the very first colony ever established and despite its unforgiving seasonal changes (from desert conditions to arctic winters in a matter of days) the settlement was deeply embedded and more important than any others. It was the source of the mineral that, when refined, powered the great star drive engines that allowed humans to explore the rest of space.

Minnesota loved her home despite its drawbacks. She didn’t like the freezing cold so much, or the searing heat. But there was a bare, stark beauty to the place, the deep red of the ground, the pink tinted skies that blazed like fire when the sun set and rose. There was also an inbuilt sense of freedom to the colony, something Minnesota took for granted. Everyone was so close and knew each other so well that there was no theft, very little crime at all and children were allowed to roam free when they weren’t put to work or in school learning how to help the colony grow and prosper.

Minnesota was perfectly designed for life on New Ayer. She loved to find fresh and exciting things in the junk pile that told her about life elsewhere, but her heart was in her home.

She hopped over the concrete wall and gazed up with sheer pleasure at the heap of junk, feeling acquisitive and eager to unearth new possibilities. She scrambled up the pile, ticking off her wish list as she thought ahead to what she needed when she heard laughter near by. She slipped around the side and caught sight of Miguel and Manuel, the Diego twins, messing around in her dump. The fact made her instantly cranky and it took her a minute to shake it off.

By then, Miguel noticed her and waved an object at her. She moved closer, trying to keep her temper in check. Miguel had a habit of not valuing the colony or the things that it took to keep it going. She always thought he was lazy.

“Found a magazine!” He said, holding it up again. “Real paper! In plastic!”

Minnesota came to an angry halt, fists on hips and glared at him.

“Yeah, that’s valuable.” She made a face. “Good find, Miguel.”

He scowled at her. “Better than most of the junk you dig up,” he said.

“Says who?” Minnesota hated her temper. Especially when it surfaced over something this stupid. Why she let Miguel of all people get her worked up…

“Whatever.” Miguel flipped through the pages then whistled and held up the book to his brother. With a sly grin, he turned it toward Minnesota.

She flickered her eyes to the imbedded vid of the naked woman then away, cursing the blush that rushed to her cheeks.

“Nice, Miguel,” she said. “Such class. I never knew you had it in you.”

He laughed out loud, the moving image of the nude model crumpling oddly as he let the book fall to his skinny lap. “You’re too easy,” he said.

“And you’re a jerk.” She refused to back down. “Always have been, Miguel Diego. Always will be.”

His eyes narrowed. “Shut up,” he said.

She hit a nerve and seized on it like a prize.

“Aren’t you to supposed to be at the mine today?” She knew she sounded crabby and bossy, but she didn’t care. She was done with their conversation. Besides, she wanted the dump to herself and hated that the Diego twins had beaten her to it.

Miguel made a face at her, dropping the book into the pile of junk at his feet.

“Piss off,” he said.

She was about to reply when Manuel shifted beside his brother. The giant twin was almost twice Miguel’s size, some accident of genetics making them so different no one outside the colony ever believed they were twins. Now that he had her attention, he simply looked at her, dark eyes quiet. He rarely spoke, at least to her, but she caught him staring at her a few times and wondered why he didn’t just talk to her.

She knew he what he was asking with his silence. But she wasn’t in the mood to leave it alone.

“Your father will be furious,” she said. “You skipped out yesterday too and the whole colony heard him yelling at you.”

Miguel shrugged his thin shoulders. “So what?” He grinned at her. “How come you’re not working either, smart ass?”

“I am,” she said. “I’m scrounging. It’s part of my job.” She didn’t want to be the one to back down, but she was sick of the argument. It was taking all the fun out of her afternoon.

Time to get back to it and leave these losers to get in trouble, she thought. She turned her back on them when Miguel made another shot.

“Freak girl,” he said. “Heard you like stuff better than people. Heard Kurt Martin tried to kiss you and you hit him with a wrench.”

Minnesota’s cheeks burned all over again. It’s not that she didn’t want him to kiss her. It was just that she was in the middle of a repair he pretended he was interested in and when he leaned toward her so quickly she panicked.

“Piss off yourself!” She spun back on him.

Miguel made kissing noises to Manuel who remained silent. “Oh, Minnesota,” he said, “kiss me. Kiss me!”

Tears rose in her eyes as he teased her.

“Stop it,” she said, barely able to choke out the words. The image of Kurt’s bleeding and broken nose, his shock and fear when she clocked him, made her cringe inside.

“But I want you to kiss me.” His face convulsed in grotesque ways, lips wriggling like worms.

Minnesota felt her throat close over as her stomach convulsed. She hated the horrified yet amused look her mother gave her while she helped the boy out the door.

“Shut up!” She threw the words at him like weapons, but he just laughed.

“What’s the matter?” Everything about him oozed pure and selfish meanness. “Don’t know what to do with those lips?” He retrieved the book and held it up to her, the naked woman writhing on the page. “Here, lessons!” He threw it right at her.

Minnesota batted the magazine away, feeling the tears spill over her cheeks and wishing she had never come to the dump at all. Unable to speak through her shame and fury, she turned and fled. Miguel’s mocking chased her. She threw a glance at them just before she rounded the pile again to make sure he wasn’t following.

Manuel was still staring at her.

It took her a few minutes crouched in a pile of refuse to get herself under control. When she mopped away the last of the tears with the sleeve of her shirt, she drew a deep and shuddering breath and let it out in a huff.

“Jerk,” she said.

No matter what she did then, nothing worked out. Everything she uncovered was either busted or out of date and no use to her. Exhausted from the emotional outburst and still out of sorts, Minnesota decided she wasn’t in the mood for picking over the dump after all. She sat down on a pile of trash and scanned the sky while a few more tears threatened. When she did, her gaze was caught by a familiar sight out on its own on the other side of the junk pile.

The huge, wasting hulk of the Horizon stretched across the dirt, filling half the distance with its bulk. Her heart lifted as she looked at it.

She loved the ship, loved everything about it. New Ayer may have been her planet, but the Horizon felt like a home. Every time she snuck on board the old colony ark, she felt a thrill of history, like she was walking through the spirits of the colonists who came to New Ayer first with all their hopes and dreams.

Knowing she only had a couple of hours until supper and that she would be in big trouble if she was caught, Minnesota gave in to the pull of the vessel and went to hang out with her old friend. At least Horizon wouldn’t judge her or try to comfort her or tell her she was weird. She refused to listen to her nasty inner voice as she bounced her way on soft tires across the distance that told her maybe Miguel was right about her and machines.

Happy Saturday!

Deleted Scene #2 -- Family Magic

2012-02-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

I cut two chapters from the original version of Family Magic. I posted the first last week here.

This is the second.

Syd has had a fight with her mother and father over her destiny, and is sulking in her room. Thirsty late that night she creeps downstairs to overhear a conversation between her mother and her vampire Uncle Frank.

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

As strange as it sounds, I think it was the sudden silence that woke me. Somehow I managed to fall asleep amid the full-out noise of the party in the kitchen below me, but the final silence had enough power to jar me awake. Weird.

I lay in the total quiet, ears straining for any noise in the old house. We hadn’t been living there long and I was still unfamiliar with the nighttime habits of the century-old three-story.

There was a soft sound below me, a murmur of voices and a clink of glass on glass. I realized at that moment I was terribly thirsty and briefly contemplated getting a drink upstairs as an alternative. Nope, bathroom water was just not going to cut it. Kitchen water or nothing, and my parched throat wasn’t giving me a choice. With a sigh, I threw back the covers and padded to my bedroom door.

Uncle Frank--image from Google Images

I peeked out into the dark hallway. The glow from the kitchen shone on the bottom of the stairs and was the only light visible in the lower floor. I made it to the top of the stairs before I heard the voices again, too soft and far away to make out clearly. I snuck down the steps, avoiding the second from last, already aware of its telltale creak from previous sneaks, and slipped into the hallway to the kitchen.

I’m not sure why I didn’t want to disturb the conversation already in progress, except that perhaps I already knew the topic of discussion was yours truly. It seemed like I was a common topic these days.

Turned out I was right, although the two having the conversation stopped me in my tracks.

I eased around the corner and spotted my mother, no real surprise there, piling dishes quietly into a huge mound of suds in the sink. Standing next to her, dishtowel in hand, was Uncle Frank. That was the surprise. I did a quick check to make sure no one else was in the room and squared my shoulders, preparing to go into the battlefield and face my mother for a stupid drink of water.

My first step never happened. Uncle Frank spoke.

“I told Syd about me, Mir,” he said softly. I felt the tension in the room tighten suddenly.

“You did what?” She snapped at him. “Why?”

I leaned against the wall, watching in silence, barely able to breath. Better him than me.

Frank crossed his arms over his chest and faced down my mother like he’d done it before. I guess he had.

“She’s sixteen, Mir. The same age I was when I left. She deserved to know.”

My mother’s whole body looked tight. She very precisely set a glass in the sink so she wouldn’t break it. She hadn’t yet reached the breaking stage.

Yet.

“To know what, Frank? That you were born with exactly what she wants? Did that make her feel better?”

“You don’t get it,” he said, carefully wiping the glass over and over, “you never really did. None of the coven did. What it was like to be so different, to just want to fit in. You never had that problem, Miriam. You were what Mom and Dad always wanted. I was the disappointment.”

“In your own eyes, Frank, not in mine,” she answered, barely a whisper.

“I know, Mir. But you have to admit, I was an outcast.”

“Being a vampire hasn’t changed that, though, has it?”

Frank shook his head, finally setting down the glass. “Not to the coven. But I belong, now, as much as that matters anymore. I found who I am. That’s the important part you will never understand.”

“And what exactly does this have to do with Sydlynn?” Mom turned on him, frothy suds dripping from her hands to the worn tile on the kitchen floor as she wrung them in front of him. “She has power, more power than anyone any of us has ever known. She belongs, damn it!”

Frank reached out and gently wiped the soap from my mother’s hands with his towel. He set the towel aside and took her hands in his, drawing her closer. Mom’s face was so twisted in pain I barely recognized her and the heavy lump of guilt in my stomach tightened. This pain of hers was too real, more real than any I had ever seen and I didn’t want to admit I could make it go away if I really wanted to.

Miriam--image from Google Images

“Syd’s way more like me than you want to admit,” Frank whispered into her hair. Mom struggled against him, but even she isn’t stronger than a vampire, unless she chose to use magic. She obviously didn’t want to get away that badly because no power swirled in the room, just her sadness, an almost tangible thing.

“Sydlynn is a witch,” Miriam started.

“Who doesn’t belong,” Frank finished. “Or at least doesn’t feel like she does. And that, dear sister, is the problem. And her point.”

My mother pulled away from Uncle Frank and leaned against the counter, tears running down her face. Somehow, I knew these were the only real tears I had every seen her cry. Usually, my mom is a faucet and tears one of her favorite weapons. That night, though, despite my normal immunity, I had to struggle to keep from running into the kitchen and begging her to forgive me.

“Oh Frank,” Mom cried, “what did I do wrong?”

Frank laughed a little. She shot him a look.

“It’s not funny,” she said.

“Yes it is,” he answered, reaching out to wipe tears from her face. “What makes you think this is your fault?”

I took a sharp breath in the hallway. But it was her fault, their fault, wasn’t it? The whole fact that I was a witch in the first place. What did he mean, not her fault?

Frozen in that state of uncertainty, I heard my mother ask the question for me.

“How can it not be? I gave birth to her, raised her, taught her. And still she turns against the family, the coven, her birthright. How can you possibly tell me I did everything right and still end up in this mess with Syd?”

I choked a bit, heart pounding. It was her fault, it was, it WAS.

Uncle Frank had his own ideas. “Somewhere along the line, Syd decided that she didn’t want to be like us. At quite a young age, if I recall correctly. Something traumatic for a small child happened, Mir, something that triggered fear or doubt or a pain surrounding power.”

“I would never put her in a position where she was in danger,” Miriam said.

“It may not have seemed dangerous to you, sis,” Frank answered. “In fact, it may have been totally innocuous to anyone else. But not to Syd. At that moment, she decided she did not under any circumstances want anything to do with being a witch. That the life of normals was more appealing, less scary maybe, more stable, without the secrets, the constant uncertainty and danger. It could have been as simple as wanting a life where Mommy and Daddy would be there for her with cookies and milk and a bounce on the knee before a nice tuck into bed and a sweet princess story and a kiss goodnight. Don’t ask me where it came from,” Frank held one hand up to silence her, “but it came from somewhere. And despite the fact you want her to be different, that you want her to want to be like you, she made her own choice and refuses to let it go, even when letting it go is probably impossible.”

I was stunned there in the dark, alone with what Uncle Frank had said, unable to fight back or make a snide remark because none came. Was he right? Was I just being a spoiled, stubborn little brat who wanted her own way and refused to do anything different? And what did he mean, impossible? I shuddered, thoughts turning over and over. I almost missed the next part of the conversation, I was so wrapped up in my own crap.

“So, what do I do about it?” Mom’s voice was soft but with an edge of desperation, a quiet plea for something, anything, that would make it all okay. I kind of felt the same way myself and held my breath as Frank answered.

“Give her space,” he said, “but do what you can to make her life feel more, well, normal, more ordinary, less witchy, less magical. She needs to feel like she can fit in, Miriam, like she has choices in her life, the ability to make her life the way she wants it. There’s a good chance if you give her the space she needs, she’ll come up with a compromise that everyone can live with, even you. But until she finds a way to do that, you have to give her the time to figure it out on her own, no pressure and no strings attached.”

“Or,” my mother whispered.

“Or,” Uncle Frank said, “she’ll leave, like I did, but unlike me, there’s a good chance you’ll never see Syd again.” He looked up at that moment, staring me right in the face, letting me know he had known I was there all along. “Ever. And nothing you do or say will bring her back again.”

My mouth was dry, but not from wanting a drink after all. I stared back at Uncle Frank. He broke eye contact and looked back at Mom. She nodded slowly, pushing her own tears away.

“I’ve tried everything else, Frank. I guess I can try this. I’m just so afraid…”

“Of what, sis?”

She sighed heavily and tried a little smile. “I just remember how hurt you were. How hard you tried, how much pain you were in. I don’t want that to happen to Syd, for her to end up…”

“Like me,” Frank said.

“Regretting her decisions. Her life. Because of me.”

Frank stepped in and hugged Mom.

“Force her into a life she doesn’t want and you’ll both regret it,” he told her. “But let her find her own path, make her own way and I think you’ll both be happy with what she comes up with.”

Frank smiled at me as he hugged my mother and I tried but couldn’t smile back. I retreated back down the hallway, to the stairs, not really caring that I forgot the second step and its loud voice. I made it back to my bedroom and collapsed on my bed.

I had spent so much time blaming my parents for what I was I never really thought about why I really didn’t want to be a witch. I had never truly asked myself that question, not ever. And now, with the question there, hanging over me like a force of nature, I didn’t have a clear answer. Who was I kidding? I had no idea whatsoever and wasn’t sure even if I was strong enough to dig into it and find out.

I could just let it go, forget the whole conversation, go on the way I was going, but the smart part of me wouldn’t let me turn away, as painful and grown up as the whole thing was. I had to deal with it. Fine. Didn’t mean I was going to like it, and in fact I was pretty sure I wasn’t. But to be totally fair to Mom and Dad and, honestly, myself, I had to find out the truth.

Until I did, though, I knew the real happiness, the normal life I wanted, was never going to be enough.

How much did that suck?

Happy Wednesday!

The Horizon Experiment -- Chapter One

2012-01-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, I developed a television screenplay. Titled Horizon, it tells the story of eight teenagers lost in space on an old colony ship, trying to rescue their parents from alien invaders. It's kind of a cross between Voyager and Firefly, but the kids are in charge.

I loved the idea and still do. It was optioned with a production company, but shortly after the US economy hit on hard times and the show, sci-fi being notoriously expensive to produce, was shelved.

I couldn't bear to leave it there, so I slid it into my writing docket, expanded the outline and wrote it as a book.

Problem is, it still feels like a TV show. Is that a bad thing? Not sure. But I wanted to run an experiment here on my blog to find out.

So, for the next eight weeks, I'm going to share the first eight chapters of the book. I've shared a portion of this first chapter before, if it seems familiar to any of you, but never the full read. Since it's told from rotating points of view, at the end of those eight weeks, you the reader will have met all of the players and, perhaps, will be able to tell me what you think.

If everyone is happy, asking for more, well... there are six more rounds of eight chapters I can share. So we'll see.

Let's get started, shall we? Welcome aboard...

The great ship lies silent and forgotten, a shell of her former glory. Occasional visitors come to see her and are welcome, but they never stay long nor encourage her to fly. Her dreams of doing so again grow dim, her hearts falling still. She sleeps more and more, giving in as the dirty planet slowly eats her alive.

Chapter One: Sun

Sun -- from Google Images

Sun wakes in violence, heart pounding as she is thrown to the deck of her tiny cabin. Red light floods her quarters from the emergency beacon flashing over her head. A strident alarm pierces her to the bone, her terror gripping her like a fist and squeezing out her breath.

She staggers to her feet, almost falling again as the ship shifts around her, shuddering with an unknown impact. Sun clutches her bunk to keep from dropping to the floor, waiting it out. She can’t decide what to do, so afraid her mind retreats to instinct, settling on flight without knowing she’s done so.

Sun finds herself in a darkened corridor, the same harsh crimson lighting the haze descending toward her. Lungs constrict as she chokes on smoke stinking of chemicals and fear, clinging to the wall as she pads barefooted toward the other end of the hall.

She reaches the corner and peeks around it, not knowing the wavering film in front of her vision is tears. An empty corridor stretches before her while a groan of protest echoes through the hull of the vessel, increasing her panic.

She is grabbed from behind by frantic hands and spun to face her mother. Sun’s fear gushes out of her in sobs as she realizes she is safe. Lily shakes her abruptly, her voice deep.

“Come!”

Sun is half-dragged by her tiny parent down the corridor only to be jerked to a halt. Lily turns and pushes against her daughter, her face a mirror of Sun’s desperation as she forces their retreat.

“Go!”

Sun obeys, returning to the corner, finding her way back toward her quarters. She wants to ask her mother what is happening, but is unable to form the words. Lily pulls her to a stop next to an access vent and bends, popping it free. She shoves Sun deep inside and replaces the panel.

Her tiny fingers hook through the vent holes as Lily meets Sun’s eyes.

“Stay here,” she says. “I’ll be back for you.” She glances over her shoulder at something Sun can’t see before running the other way. Sun crouches inside the cramped crawlspace, massive shudders gripping her body. She hugs herself and cries silently into the darkness, waiting for her mother to come back.

A scream. A thud. Sun freezes, tremors stilled as her heart skips a beat. She holds her breath, panic rising like a ball of fire within her. The temptation to bolt is powerful. Until she hears something drawing closer, a shuffling, dragging sound.

It is black and angular and glides past her hiding place. She is at floor level and can only see to its knees, but it is enough to terrify her even more. Sun is so overcome by it she can barely comprehend what the thing drags behind it until she recognizes her mother’s vacant eyes staring back at her.

The creature drags Lily away.

Sun’s mind screams into the dark while she rocks herself into oblivion.

Eight Hours to Contact

The spaceport teemed with people, the bright sun shining in the full glass walls, adding an air of celebration. It was a special day in a lot of ways for a number of families. The last of the travelers bound for Zandia (Colony Marker 134) assembled for their voyage to their new home.

Sun Chang couldn’t tear her eyes from the sleek form of the shining silver transport that would carry her and her parents to the orbiting space station high above Earth’s atmosphere.

“Quite the sight.” Her father’s smile reflected back to her in the glass.

“Have you ever been off world before?” She realized she never asked either of them.

“Not me,” Lee said, “but your mother has.”

“She’s never talked about it.” Sun wasn’t surprised.

“You know your mom,” Lee said. “She’s a private person.

Private didn’t begin to describe Lily Chang. But Sun was too thrilled to make an issue out of it.

“By the way,” Lee held up his right hand. “I almost forgot in all the excitement.” He extended his index finger. Sun raised her palm and felt a tingle as he swiped her securechip. “Happy sweet sixteen, honey.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Leave it to her father to remember her on the most important day of their lives.

“From both of us,” he said. Sun knew what that meant. She knew her mother loved her, but Lee took care of anything to do with foreign concepts like thoughtfulness and affection.

Sun slid her right index over her left palm, triggering the chip. A small holo screen flickered to life. Sun scanned the contents and squealed as she saw her birthday present. A slim silver hovercar flashed its features at her, lots that were practical, certainly. But a car of her own! She flung her arms around her father’s neck, hugging him so hard he protested.

“It’s waiting for you when we get there,” Lee said.

“Thank you, thank you!” Sun glowed like her name.

“You’re welcome,” her father said.

“I see you showed her already.” Lily appeared out of nowhere, a famous trait. She wasn’t smiling, but she wasn’t frowning either, so Sun took a chance and hugged her mother too, if with less enthusiasm.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said.

“We know you’re old enough now you’ll need your own transportation,” Lily drained the fun out of the moment with every word. “And that you’ll act responsibly behind the controls.”

Sun forced herself to let go of her joy. She knew her mother thought her too enthusiastic. She overheard them talking that morning about just the thing.

“This child has her head in the clouds, never on planet,” Lily said.

Fortunately for Sun, her father was much more tolerant than her traditional Chinese mother.

“You’re just holding on to the old ways of thinking,” he said. “Be brilliant but silent. Do your work and be the best, but don’t stand out.” Sun was grateful he stood up for her.

“At least I don’t encourage her to be so liberal,” Lily said. “She behaves like a good daughter should until you put ideas in her head. I worry about this move, Lee and how being in a young colony will affect her development.”

“She will thrive,” he said, patting his wife’s hand. “She has greater potential that this world can challenge her to uncover.”

Sun knew her father won that argument, as he usually did, but she wasn’t willing to risk Lily’s displeasure. As much as she agreed with her father’s ideas, the last thing she wanted was for her mother to take away her present because of excessive exuberance.

“I’ll take very good care of it,” Sun said.

“We’d also like you to start at the hospital with us right away,” Lee said with a look at Lily. “You’ve been studying so hard, it will be nice for you to have some hands on experience.”

Sun could tell her mother wasn’t as keen on that idea as her father but Lily didn’t say anything to the contrary. Both of her parents took their new jobs as head of medicine for the colony very seriously and she would never do anything to jeopardize that for them.

“I’ll do my best,” she said, voice dropping under the weight of her mother’s disapproval.

“I know you will, honey,” Lee said. Happily, he changed the subject. “Did you get our tickets, Lil?”

She frowned, the act pinching together her fine, arching black brows. Lily was several inches shorter than her daughter, but Sun never noticed. Her petite parent always felt like a giant to her.

“Not yet,” she said. “Delay at the gate. I’m going back now.”

“I’ll come too.” Lee smiled and winked at Sun. “I’m sure someone is more interested in having a closer look at her birthday gift at the moment.”

Lily nodded and turned to go, Lee trailing behind her. Sun was surprised when her mother turned and paused.

“Happy birthday, dear,” she said.

Sun didn’t get a chance to answer. Her parents moved off into the crowd.

Sun went back to her observation. She pressed both hands against the glass and memorized every line of the ship, though she had seen it in holo models a million times in the past two years. In fact, all she had to do was bring up the schematic preloaded on her securechip. But there was nothing like the real thing.

She pictured herself disembarking from the giant vessel she would be boarding in a few hours far above her, setting foot in the lush landscape the vids of Zandia displayed. She was thrilled to see from the promotional material her parents shared with her that the new colony was an idyllic place, a picturesque landscape of lush vegetation and lavender tinted blue skies, dotted with the smooth white domes marking the original settlement. Sun sighed over the brave men and women who were the front line of colonization and hoped there was still some exploring for an eager new resident to do.

She was so wrapped up in her own little world, she almost missed the young woman waiting nearby. Sun caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see the girl, about her age, also looking at the ship.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Sun spoke up before she thought about it.

The other girl shot her an annoyed look, frowning. “It’s a ship,” she shrugged her shoulders, her expensive polyfiber dress swaying in time with her movement. Sun was in instant awe. Artificial fibers were so rare in clothing. She herself wore sturdy recycled cotton and hemp. Sun lowered her gaze, feeling chastised and like a silly girl.

“It think it is,” she whispered to the glass.

The girl tapped her bright pink nails on her forearms as a burly man approached her and lifted her four bags from the floor.

“About time.” She strode off without waiting for him to follow. She gave Sun the once-over on her way past, her look of arrogant sympathy making Sun quiver. And then she was gone in a wash of synthetic perfume.

Sun was embarrassed she had spoken up, but more appalled the girl was so blatant about her thoughtless use of Earth’s resources for her own entertainment. Since the near-collapse of the planet’s ecosystems in 2019, the population finally decided to work together and put an end to the destruction of their only home.

Now, a hundred and twenty five years after the first colony ship left Earth, Sun was embarking on her own adventure and not even the rude girl’s attitude could put a complete damper on her excitement.

Besides, Sun thought, tracing the shape of the transport with her fingertip on the glass, we are the last of the new colonists to go. There will be plenty of other people my age to make friends with.

“Ready?” Lily and Lee reappeared beside her. Her mother swiped her palm, downloading her flight pass. Sun shuddered as Lily’s sharp nail scratched over her skin.

“Ready,” Sun said, unable to keep from smiling back. On such an amazing day not even her mother begrudged her that.

The port fell silent as a soft chime rang three times for their attention.

“All passengers for Colony Marker 134, please prepare to board.”

Before Sun knew it she was standing in line with her small bag clutched to her chest and her heart pounding. As she neared the front of the queue, she saw the other girl again, this time with a big man in a lovely suit. They disappeared through a side door, bypassing the line all together.

It was then Sun realized they were more than just wealthy. The markings on the man’s baggage were diplomatic. Sun tried to make friends with the daughter of the colony’s new governor.

She flushed to herself, embarrassed all over again just as she reached the front of the line. The young woman in the crisp security uniform scanning for passes smiled at her in sympathy, misunderstanding the redness in her cheeks.

“It’ll be fine,” she said as she slid the pen-sized scanner over Sun’s chip. “Just remember to breathe.”

Sun didn’t bother correcting her. She forgot all about it only a moment later anyway as she set foot on the deck of the transport.

The deep blue seat was cramped, the fabric new and stiff, but Sun was small so she didn’t mind. She carefully placed her bag into the pouch provided and clasped her hands in her lap, forcing them to stillness. There was a peculiar odor to the vessel, a mix of fuel and people that gave her a slight headache, but she was too excited to let it bother her. She was grateful her father took the seat next to her. Not that she didn’t love her mother. It was just that she could relax and enjoy the trip to the colony ship and not worry her enthusiasm was annoying Lily.

The captain wasted no time. As soon as the big door hissed shut the engines powering the ship hummed to life. Before Sun had a chance to say goodbye to Earth she was rising above it, the nose of the transport turning her away from the only home she ever knew and pointing her toward space.

Sun watched the atmosphere thin and fade to black and stars, straining over her shoulder to see the view of blue and white fall behind her. She tried to be patient the two hours it took to reach the moon base and space station, but she found herself fidgeting anyway. Lee was kind enough to offer her a vidbook when scanning through her implant revealed she forgot to download anything besides textbooks. But Sun couldn’t concentrate, finding herself beginning the same paragraph over and over. At last, she closed her hand over the holo display and gazed out the porthole at the stars and tried to imagine she was there already.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the captain’s voice interrupted their trip, “if you will look to your right, you will see the next leg of your journey.”

Sun was so happy to be in the right place for viewing she turned her whole body around and plastered herself to the window. Just coming into view was the curve of the moon and, in front of it, a long, narrow scaffolding of shining metal with two large constructs on either end. In the middle, docked to the grid, was the Day Wanderer. Sun already knew what it looked like, too. She did extensive research and looked into the ship as soon as she found out which one would be taking them to their new home.

“Did you know it can hold up to a thousand passengers?” She told her father in a rush as he leaned in, trying to get a look. “Crew of two hundred. The newest and fastest in the fleet.”

She knew he did. They looked at the holos together. She was just so excited she could barely hold it in.

“Captain O’Malley runs a good ship,” Lee answered, a smile in his voice. “Best out there, they say.”

“It’s lovely,” she said.

There was nothing like seeing the real thing compared to reading about it. The Day Wanderer hung massive and shining in the reflected light of the sun that gave the moon its brilliance. She thought the transport was sleek. The Day Wanderer looked like a shining silver bullet, tapered at the prow and wider at the back. Glass shone all over the hull, the many windows of the vessel pouring light into the darkness. Sun exhaled deeply as they drew nearer and leaned back. She had to slouch herself as small as possible as passengers from the other side of the transport fought for a look at their ride.

Sun barely felt the bump as they connected with the Day Wanderer and before long the hiss of the seal connection alerted her they were firmly docked. She was up and waiting despite being half-way back in the big vessel, much to her father’s amusement.

“Going somewhere?”

Sun clutched her bag to her stomach, mostly to still the butterflies taking over her insides.

“Sorry,” she said, making no attempt to sit again.

“Don’t be.” Lee gathered his own carry on. “I’m excited too.”

Sun knew without looking up that her mother was frowning at her from the next row back, but for once chose to ignore it. This was as much her adventure as it was Lily’s.

Sun followed the exodus of colonists, trying not to push, keeping herself as small and compact as possible. She smiled shyly at the crewman who waited at the portal. He winked back at her, making her blush. She stumbled over the lip of the transport, blinking into the bright light of the Day Wanderer’s promenade. She slowed, overwhelmed by the sheer size of the ship. The main docking corridor was narrow but opened into a massive space, the ceiling vaulted all the way to the top, fifteen decks above. She felt herself being jostled from behind and realized just as her mother’s iron hand took a grip on her arm that she was blocking the exit.

“Sun,” Lily said. “Pay attention.”

She was trying, but it was so hard to focus with everything so new and amazing around her fighting for her notice. She stumbled again, flushing with embarrassment and let her mother lead her through to the edge of the crowd where she was out of the way.

Two men and a woman stood in the center of the main deck smiling and nodding, their shining uniforms identifying them as crew. Lee joined Sun and Lily in moments, emerging from the crowd. Sun kept her head down and followed her parents forward as her mother studied her hand-held for directions. Sun risked a glance at the crew on the way by and realized with a start that the man nodding and saying, “Welcome aboard,” to everyone, the man with the blonde glossy hair and easy laugh, was Captain O’Malley himself. She very much wanted to meet him, but her mother was quicker.

“This way.” Lily headed out with purpose, Lee close behind. Sun paused one more moment, her eyes settling on the spacer standing behind the captain.

He was as blonde as the commander and very handsome, maybe a little older than her, with the same chiseled face and blue eyes. They met hers and he nodded to her with a big grin.

Sun blushed and hurried after her parents before her mother could notice she hadn’t already. She was determined however to meet that boy again and find out his name. She giggled to herself as she thought of how bold she was becoming.

Lily would not approve.

It seemed like forever before they found their quarters near the outside edge of the ship. The long, polished corridors all looked the same to her and she was sure she would be lost if it weren’t for her mother’s guidance. Studying vids and holos were one thing, but navigating in real space quite another.

Their door swished open to Lily’s palm impression. The small but spacious-feeling living area had little but two chairs and a slim sofa. A large porthole looked out over the stars. Sun went to it immediately as her parents sorted out their space.

“Your room,” Lee called to her. Sun tore herself from the view and followed him to a small doorway. She peered inside and was instantly disappointed.

“No window?” She said without thinking.

“This is a space ship,” Lily scolded in her most level voice, “not Earth. Be grateful you have your own room.”

Sun was horrified and spun to apologize, but Lily was already gone, disappearing through the door on the other side of the room.

“I’m sorry,” Sun said.

Lee patted her shoulder. “It’s alright, honey,” he said. “It’s been a big day and it’s not over yet.”

He left her to join Lily. Sun entered her room all the way and heard the door hiss shut behind her. She set her bag on the narrow table with its tiny sink and mirror and sat down on the plain bunk. It wasn’t so bad, after all. And it was only for a little while.

As she settled in, putting her few belongings away, testing out the comfort of her bed with a few good bounces, Sun’s mind turned back to the handsome young man and what an amazing adventure she was on.

She only left her room and her fantasies when she heard her mother calling her to dinner.

Chapter Two next week!

YA Indie Carnival -- Interview with a Villain

2012-01-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts, hopes and dreams about what it’s like to go indie in today’s publishing world.The future’s so bright, we built our own place to play.

This week's topic? An interview with our favorite villain. I adore bad guys, love writing them, the creepier and more sinister the better. And while I adore all of the dastardly characters I create, one stands out as my favorite so far.

Please welcome Dr. Kirstin Lund, geneticist and the creator of the Hunter program. It is her frightening creation that is the catalyst for The Hunted series (Run, Hide, Fight and Hunt).

PL: Good morning, Dr. Lund. Welcome to the Carnival.

KL: (tosses her glossing black pigtails and smiles with great charm) Delightful.

PL: I wanted to ask you a few questions about the program you're running. The Hunter program.

KL: (wrinkles her nose, folding her feet under her on the chair. My eyes are drawn to the t-shirt she wears, advertising roller derby and the name 'Magic Pony') I'd rather discuss something else.

PL: All right. What would you like to talk about?

KL: The future. Tell me, Ms. Larsen, what do you think ours looks like?

PL: I thought I was the one asking questions, Dr. Lund.

KL: (all the charm and kindness leaves her face, the child like innocence replaced with an edge that makes me shudder. She does not speak, making me very uncomfortable)

PL: Well, I hope it's positive. And that we figure things out. Stop hurting our planet.

KL: (snorts and winks at me, twirling one pigtail around her fingers) You know what I see?

PL: Please, tell me.

KL: (leans toward me with a light of absolute madness in her eyes as she smiles so wide she resembles a snarling dog) Death. Destruction. Reduction of the masses. Chaos. And at the peak of it all, standing over the remains of humanity will be my Hunters. (She leans back, suddenly cheerful and innocent again, head tilting to the side, child like and appealing.) With me leading them of course.

PL: Of course. Is this the near future?

KL: (giggles and claps her hands like a four year old) That's the plan!

(Note: The remainder of the interview was cut short. Some men in black outfits carrying guns came to collect her. I was a little nervous but she just patted my cheek and left with one last parting shot.)

KL: Choose sides wisely, Ms. Larsen.

Whew! I'm happy I made it out of that in one piece... but does Reid, the lead character in the series? Only one way to find out... (so subtle, aren't I?)

Don't forget to check out what's new for the members of the carnival this week--you can find out HERE.

In the meantime, pop over and find out who my fellow carnies interviewed...

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self
4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
6. Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7. Lexus Luke
8. PJ Hoover, Author of SOLSTICE, Blogging at ROOTS IN MYTH
9. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
10. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
11. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
12. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
13. Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga
14. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
15. Dani Snell's Refracted Light Reviews
16. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
17. M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping
18. Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
19. Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind
20. Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
21. Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler
22. Nicole Williams, author of Eternal Eden, Falling Eden
23. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
24. TG Ayer

Happy Friday!

Deleted Scene #1 -- Family Magic

2012-01-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

I have a treat for you today! A whole deleted chapter from the first draft of Family Magic! I love this, actually, but it didn't further the story by much so I decided to pull it. But that doesn't mean you don't get to enjoy it!

This was to be chapter four, shortly after Syd's fight with her mother and father, a conversation between Syd, her vampire Uncle Frank and his undead girlfriend, Sunny. Reading it now, it feels more like a short story of all telling... no wonder I pulled it. But it also makes me want to explore Sunny and Frank's relationship more, so it's all good.

(Deleted) Chapter Four

I made it to the light at the end of the tunnel, namely the door at the top of the stairs, and forced my way through the hungry crowd in the kitchen. I reached the exit before anyone could stop me and pressed my back against the cool wall of the dark hallway, trying to shut out the laughing voices in the next room. The last thing I wanted to do was participate in the social gathering that always followed a night of ceremony. Mom took her role as coven leader very seriously and the party would go on well into the night. I just hoped the fight we’d had would prevent her from insisting I join the rest of the coven.

For some reason, I just didn’t feel like celebrating.

I made it to the stairs without being challenged and took it as a victory. As I mounted the first step, I heard my mother’s voice, cheerful and welcoming, coming from the kitchen, and breathed a sigh of relief she had recovered. I fully intended to corner her the next day and try to apologize, especially since I knew if I let it go too long she would start moping and using guilt again.

I was so focused on escape I practically tripped over the two people kissing on the stairs. I let out a small, involuntary shriek and slipped back a step, clutching at the rail to keep myself from falling. I needn’t have bothered. Two sets of very strong hands grabbed and held me as the cozy couple moved with supernatural speed to save me from a tumble. They pulled me down practically on top of them, overestimating each other’s strength, I guess. I ended up in a three-person heap, laughing with my would-be rescuers.

On one side, a handsome, boyish face grinned at me in the dark, features becoming clearer as I grew accustomed to the low light. Shiny white teeth and blue eyes flashed and the strong hands let me go. On the other, pale blonde hair shone in the faint light coming from the kitchen. Another set of very white teeth sparkled, pointed and very sharp.

I struggled to right myself, only succeeding in collapsing on them again. The resulting laughter eased my tension and I ended up relaxing between them as they both hugged me at once.

“Watch the fangs, Uncle Frank,” I mock-growled. My very handsome and very dead uncle did his best Hollywood Dracula impression.

“Oh, common, Syd,” he swept his head back, fangs exposed, “join the club! It’s a gas.”

I pushed away from him, sniggering.

“Dead guys get gas?” I ducked the fake swat he aimed at me and ended up with his girlfriend’s arms around me.

“I’ll hold her down,” Sunny said.

Yes, Sunny was her real name. Most unfortunate for a vampire, but she thought it was funny. I pretended to struggle and fought a case of the giggles. Release of tension usually made me a little giddy.

“Fangs but no fangs,” I punned. Uncle Frank groaned and made a horrible face.

“No! Anything but puns! I’m melting!” He made a hideous noise and fell back against the railing. Sunny and I giggled appreciatively.

“Not bad,” she prodded his ‘dead’ body with one bare foot.

“No Oscar here,” I said. “No actual melting happened, so…”

Uncle Frank sat up suddenly and shrugged.

“Everyone’s a critic.”

Sunny and I laughed. I leaned forward and hugged Uncle Frank hard, much harder than I intended. And even though it would have taken a lot more that than to hurt him, he noticed. He pulled back and cupped my face in his hands.

“Skipping the party, Syd?”

I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go. Sunny’s grip grew a little tighter, too. I sighed. Couldn’t pull one over on a vampire, I guess.

“Not interested,” I said, trying to be casual and failing utterly. The tension came back and I know they both felt it.

Uncle Frank made a face. “Yeah, us either.”

I made a face back. “Vamps aren’t invited.”

“Their loss,” the pair said in unison. We giggled. Then, I sighed, heavy and sad, and sagged completely against Sunny. She hugged me, her body warm. She must have eaten before I got there. I tried not to shudder at the thought.

Uncle Frank let me go and settled down on one elbow, blue eyes on mine.

“Miriam giving you a hard time again?”

“Try tag team Hayle,” I said. “They even dragged Meira into it.”

“Ouch,” Uncle Frank said. “Not really fair.”

I loved Uncle Frank. “You have no idea.”

“So the same old or new stuff?”

“Same old,” I toyed with the bracelet on Sunny’s wrist. “They just don’t get it.”

“What, that you wish you hadn’t been born the daughter of a demon? That you hate moving so much because something always happens that makes the coven relocate? That you have the potential to be the most powerful witch of your generation?”

I nodded, tears actually welling. I felt like crap. I knew Uncle Frank would get it.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Poor you,” he said softly. I looked up at him and realized for the first time he wasn’t really sympathizing. He actually looked angry.

“Sorry?” I said.

Uncle Frank took a deep breath and exchanged a look with Sunny. He looked back at me and let the breath go. I wondered at the significance. After all, neither of them had to breathe.

“Sorry, Syd,” he said. “I’ve just gotten to the point of having a hard time understanding that you are rejecting everything I ever wanted.”

I looked over my shoulder at Sunny. She seemed really sad. I glanced back at Uncle Frank and shook my head.

“I don’t get it.”

“Of course you don’t,” he answered. “You missed it all, kiddo. You were just a baby when it happened.”

“Are you planning to fill me in?”

He shrugged, not looking at me. I got mad all of a sudden and kicked him, hard.

“You know what really pisses me off? The stupid secrets! Our big, dark secrets we keep from the world and, obviously, from each other, too. Man, I hate this family!”

I struggled to pull away, but Sunny held me again.

“Let go,” I snapped, pushing her hands away.

Sunny looked at Uncle Frank. “Tell her,” she said.

Uncle Frank nodded. “Miriam will kill me but, yeah, okay, let’s tell Syd the truth.”

I managed to free myself from Sunny only because she was suddenly willing to let me go. I looked back and forth between them. Uncle Frank flashed a half smile, bitter and full of emotion.

“You never heard how I became a vampire, did you, Syd?”

I shook my head. “The usual way, I guess?”

Uncle Frank and Sunny both laughed, but there was no humor in it. The air seemed cold and I hugged myself.

“Yeah, Syd, the usual way. But you don’t know why.”

I watched him as he shifted on the step, uneasy, his hand gripping Sunny’s.

“It was my fault,” Sunny blurted.

“No way, Sunshine,” Uncle Frank stopped her. “Mine, all the way.”

“Hang on a sec,” I said. “Are you saying that Sunny… that you…”

“I made your uncle a vampire,” Sunny said.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding and tried to process it.

“Wow holy cow.”

Uncle Frank squeezed Sunny’s hand. “It was an accident, Syd. We never meant for it to go that far.”

I shook my head. “Seriously, Uncle Frank, what did you expect would happen? You’re a witch, or you were. You know vampirism is contagious. How could you possibly have an accident?”

“Because, Syd,” Uncle Frank spoke so softly I had to strain to hear over the growing noise in the kitchen, “that’s just it. I wasn’t a witch.”

“Sorry,” I said. “You said what?”

Uncle Frank looked up at me, an old and aching sadness in his eyes that made me want to hug him as hard as I could and never let go. “I was born into the most powerful witch family in the country, the only son, second born, and I was born normal.”

I sat in silence, the second blow harder than the first. “You were born without magic?”

Uncle Frank nodded. I looked at Sunny whose expression confirmed it.

Suddenly, I felt like total crap. I had spent my entire life using Uncle Frank as a crying post, the only person I thought understood my feelings about being a witch. I had spent countless hours commiserating over my miserable life with him and he offered only comfort and understanding. I thought the vampirism had been from an attack. He was very powerful in undead magic and I just assumed being a vampire accentuated his abilities, not created them. I leaned forward and hugged him. He slowly hugged me back.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Frank,” I said.

His arms tightened. “I’m not,” he answered.

I let him go and leaned back. He smiled again, this time with genuine happiness. His eyes flickered to Sunny then back to me.

“I spent my whole life trying to raise my magic. You think you feel like a fish out of the aquarium? Imagine being the only person in your whole family who can’t do magic. Who everyone looks at with pity and treats like the class idiot. The normal who doesn’t fit in.” Some of the bitterness came back. “My parents didn’t know what to do with me. The coven ignored me and banished me from ceremonies, even from the parties afterwards because I made them uncomfortable. I couldn’t get it, Syd, don’t you see? I wasn’t one of them and never would be.”

I nodded. “I get it.”

Uncle Frank went on. “The only person who cared, who tried to help, was your mother. Miriam was the oldest and she saw it as her responsibility to help me find my magic. She defended me so much, I wondered if she felt guilty that she had so much magic, that she was even more powerful than our mother, and worried that was the reason I had none.”

He shifted again, this time to relax a little. “I did blame her, later, just a little. I started thinking the same thing when we finally realized her full potential. I reached the point where I rejected everyone in the family and just ran away.

“I traveled for a few years, trying out what it was like to be normal, but I craved the power, the belonging. It seemed like everywhere I went, I met witches who knew our family. I was away when your grandmother, my mother, faced the Purity Coven and won, but I wasn’t there for her to help her and I always felt guilty, like if I had power, maybe Ethpeal would still have her mind.”

“Mom tells me nothing could have saved Gram, Uncle Frank,” I said. “She gave up too much.”

Uncle Frank nodded. “Still. You can guess how I felt.”

I nodded, silent, not knowing what to say. I had never been on the comfort side before, at least not with him.

“I decided to try to find my magic on my own, by any means necessary. It really hadn’t occurred to me maybe I was born normal after all. I always believed the magic was hidden, blocked somehow and if I could find just the right spell, the right ritual, I could release it and finally claim my birthright.

“I tried everything, Syd, as guilty as that makes me feel. Yes,” he held up one hand to silence me before I could ask the obvious, shock on my face, “I even dabbled in negative magic. It never went very far, mind you, but only because I couldn’t bear the price. I contacted demons and foreign covens, witch doctors and priests, but no one could help me. No one.

“At least, that’s what I thought. Until I met Sunny and everything changed.”

I looked at Sunny, too stunned by the revelations Uncle Frank was sharing to speak, but wanting her side of the story. Sunny smiled hesitantly at both of us.

“Frank changed everything for me too, Syd,” she said softly. Someone in the kitchen laughed loudly and we all jumped. Sunny giggled. “It feels like we’re breaking the rules, Frank.”

“We are. Keep going, Sunshine.”

She nodded, pale gold hair rippling. “I’ve been around a long time, Syd,” she said. “And no, a lady doesn’t tell her age, but I will tell you this: I’ve been a vampire long enough to know that someone like your Uncle Frank and the wonderful family who made him don’t come around very often.”

I tried to ignore the gentle chiding and nodded.

She touched my face gently and smiled again. “When I met Frank, I had been alone for a long time. I gave up the traditional vampire ways of feeding on normals and turned to already drawn blood. Not as satisfying, but does the trick.”

I tried not to shudder even as my mind tallied her age. Vampires gave up feeding on humans over a century ago, in accordance with a treaty between them and the coven High Council. At least, the ones who wanted to survive.

“I decided it was too dangerous for me to be around normals from then on and began to search for a place I could hide for the rest of eternity.” She made a face. “Am I glad I gave up that idea.”

Uncle Frank laughed. “Me too, love.”

Somehow their exchanges of gooey eyes didn’t bother me as much as my mom and dad.

Sunny went on. “Frank and I hit it off immediately, I think because he knew right away what I was and didn’t care. I stayed in the world for him at first out of curiosity and then out of love. When Frank finally told me what he sought, I felt terrible for him and wished there was something I could do to help. I went with him to try to find an answer, but with each failure I watched him become more and more withdrawn, more desperate and torn apart.”

“I was a bit of a mess,” Uncle Frank grinned.

“I guess,” she answered. “One night we started talking about power. Frank knew I had magic, in fact was magic and, to him at that point, even vampire magic was better than none. We came up with a plan to infuse him with just enough of my blood to trigger his power, but keep him alive.”

“Guess that didn’t work, huh?” I kept it light and the pair laughed.

“Nope,” Uncle Frank said. “We both underestimated the strength of the vampire infection.”

“I wanted so much to make you happy. And because of that I gave you too much,” Sunny sighed.

“You gave me what I asked for,” Uncle Frank leaned over me to kiss Sunny on the temple. “And it wasn’t enough. I took more and ended up, well, dead.”

“Happy dead,” she laughed.

“You betcha,” he laughed back.

I sat between the two vampires and felt like a total jerk. I had spent so much time feeling sorry for myself that I hadn’t even considered that they had a sadder story than I did.

“That’s crappy, Uncle Frank. No offense, Sunny,” I said quickly.

“None taken,” she murmured with a smile.

Uncle Frank disagreed, however. “I’m exactly where I want to be. And because of Sunny and the vampirism, my power, my magic, emerged. I’m finally what I wanted all along.”

“But the coven/” I was really mad at everyone in the kitchen all of a sudden. Didn’t they know what he had done, gone through, to be one of them? “You’re still on the outside, Uncle Frank.”

He nodded slowly. “Of the coven, yes. But not of the magic community. We vampires have our own family, Syd.”

It still seemed totally unfair. And then it hit me, like a glass of cold water in the face.

“Knowing what you know, being who you are, how could you put up with me all that time?” I asked, outraged for him as odd as that was. “I would have smacked me up side the head about a million years ago.”

Uncle Frank smiled at me. “Because, Syd. Despite the fact we wanted opposite things, you were exactly like me. You just wanted to fit in, to be normal, like everyone else. Except, normal to you was, well, exactly that. To be a normal. I got it, I get it and I love you for it.”

“I feel a huge ‘but’ hanging out there, Uncle Frank,” I said.

He nodded, serious. “But… be careful, Syd, very careful what you wish for. It never happens exactly the way you want and can severely bite you in the butt. And the power, it doesn’t just go away, it just hides for a while… and when it comes out, it can take everything away again.”

I hugged myself then and they hugged me too. I felt their love pour over me and into me like a warm wave, but this time I didn’t resist. Not their love, their power, because I felt perfect and accepted in their arms, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

“You don’t expect anything from me,” I whispered.

Uncle Frank leaned back, eyes widening. “Is that it, kiddo?”

“I guess that’s part of it. I’m tired of being told who I am, what I’m supposed to do, how powerful I’m supposed to be, it’s crap, Uncle Frank and I’m sick of it.”

He was suddenly very still.

“Have you told them?”

“What’s to tell?” I felt the bitterness well up and didn’t try to hide it. “They don’t care. All that matters is the family, the power, the lineage. You get that, Uncle Frank. They did it to you too.”

He sighed then, deep and long.

“Now it’s my turn to be sorry, Syd. I had no idea.”

“Maybe I didn’t either until just now,” I said, believing it. Weird how revelations can come on a stairway in the dark with two vampires as witnesses. I’d have to try it again sometime.

I pulled myself to my feet, away from them, suddenly really tired.

“I’m going to go to bed. Can you tell Mom if she asks?”

“Did you make her cry?” He asked.

“Yup,” I sighed.

“I’ll tell her,” he winked.

I hugged both of them and continued on up the stairs, my whole body feeling heavy and almost sore. I made it to the last step and my bedroom, aware that I was feeling way less sorry for myself, but wondering if I would ever really be free.

“Love you, Syd,” Uncle Frank said.

“Love you too,” I said, and closed my bedroom door.

Happy Wednesday!

Family Magic Blog Tour--Day Seven!

2012-01-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

It's the final day of the tour and I'm so thrilled! A HUGE shout out and thanks to all the bloggers who hosted me:

http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com hosted an interview and giveaway!

http://readinglittlebitofeverything.blogspot.com/ kindly posted a character profile of Syd

http://bookpassionforlife.blogspot.com/ shared a review of Family Magic as well as an interview

http://refractedlightreviews.com/ posted another wonderful review of Family Magic and a giveaway!

But most of all, a MASSIVE and AWESOMESAUCE thank you to Megan McDade at http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com for not only hosting me on day six with a great review but for putting together this incredible blog tour--thank you SO MUCH, Megan!

This final day is mine... and I'm going to use it to share a snippet from the sequel to Family Magic. In it, Syd's been invited to a local field party, the first of the year, and is doing her best to fit in...

Witch Hunt

“What’s the matter, Syd?” Suzanne Parker, cheer squad leader and not my biggest fan, tossed her glossy blonde pigtails from her shoulders, though not as smoothly as she would normally. Her nasty smile seemed cut by the fact she could hardly focus on me. “Too good for us or something?”

Her friends laughed while I waved my hand in front of my face. “Might want to lay off the booze, Suzanne,” I said, disgusted by the waft of horrid breath I caught. “Getting a little ripe.”

She scowled, wobbling, sloshing a beer can toward me so I had to dodge the droplets shaking free. “You’re a loser,” she slurred.

Whatever. I caught Brad’s eye and felt a surge of anger. He grinned and held up the beer.

“Syd’s cool,” he said. “Right, babe?”

Peer pressure sucks. Big time. And he so wasn’t worth it.

Suzanne had already lost interest, it seemed, too enthralled by the can in her hand to notice if I cared or not.

I drifted away from Brad when his football buddies began a spitting contest, trying not to judge him too harshly for being disgusting. A thick puff of wood smoke erupted from the fire as I passed, making me choke and wave my hand to clear it. I stumbled on a small collection of kids hovered around a joint, the musty, tart odor making me flinch. Did I mention drugs were worse for witches? Talk about accessing some scary power. A little weed was a great way to accidentally tap into raising the dead or calling up more unpleasant things that go bump in the night. I waved at the strong smell, trying to breathe in as little as possible, quickly moving on.

I made it to the edge of the crowd and hunched further inside my coat, resisting the urge to hug myself. It wasn’t until I turned to face the bonfire that I realized Beth and Simon were still with me.

Simon’s eyes shone huge behind his glasses and I knew the sheltered kid never saw anything like this party before. I went to some pretty overwhelming coven shindigs and at least knew what to expect, but he was total fresh meat. As for Beth, she had a permanent smile etched on her face, cheeks white and pinched from it.

“You two okay?” I asked them. They both nodded quickly and murmured some crap about how fun the party seemed.

Right. What fun.

Someone, actually a pair of someones as it turned out, began rustling and moaning in the bushes behind me. That kicked me physically into moving on again. Yikes! Talk about small town kids gone wild. They could sell the video.

But the last straw for me came when Billy Thomas, football star, stripped off his shirt and chugged the remainder of a keg over his head while the crowd chanted, “Drink! Drink! Drink!”

I was witness to my first power puke ever, streams of beer and undigested cheeseburger and fries making a straight shot like the spray from a fire hose into the crowd.

My dinner did stay down. Barely.

I took one look at my innocent friends and felt a surge of protectiveness echoed by my demon. Prude or not, witch or not, bitch or not, enough was enough.

“You two stay here,” I said, marching off. “I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t look back to see if they obeyed. I was too busy scanning the crowd. I spotted Pain hanging with the emo crowd and went right to her.

“Can we go?” I asked her before I even came to a standstill, not making it a question. Pain immediately stood up from the cooler she sat on but Blood caught her arm and waggled one open hand at me.

“Chill, Sydalicious,” he said, eyes a little glazed. Great. He was stoned. “The party’s just getting started.”

“Well, it’s just ended for me.” I didn’t care the edge in my voice came out harsher than I intended.

“Whoa.” He blinked at me, pulling himself up from the ground, swaying. “Ease off, my friend. Gently.”

I scowled at him. “Nice to see you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Wicked.” He chuckled before sobering and frowning a little. “Wait, you didn’t mean that, did you?”

Oh boy.

“Never mind,” I said to Pain. “We’ll walk, it’s not far. Have fun.”

I turned away and headed back to Beth and Simon, trying to push down my anger. It really wasn’t far and now that I saw how stoned Blood had become, I worried maybe Pain also partook of the happy grass. No way could I risk that. Besides, it wasn’t their fault I didn’t want to be there, was it? Stupid to take it out on them. I knew the truth before I even arrived.

I just didn’t belong here.

I was halfway back when I spotted a vision in leather sitting on a black motorcycle watching me. I actually stumbled to a halt and stared back. My demon roared to life and purred like a kitten, reaching for the guy on the bike. I swayed toward him as he climbed off and stood next to it, slowly pulling off the heavy black gloves he wore, not taking his eyes from me.

Quaid Moromond was the guy Mom wanted me to marry. Sort of. At least, that was the arrangement when we were babies, made by my very misguided mother and his power hungry one. Turned out his parents were the evil traitors who hated my family and tried to destroy us all. Quaid, on the other hand, tall, lean Quaid with his heavy black hair and chocolate brown eyes, his beautiful olive skin and wide lips, was not like them. Nope. Quaid was a good boy in a bad boy’s body.

Were those leather pants? My gut clenched and I caught my breath. What was wrong with me? My demon hummed happily and fought for control. I honestly would have thought it was a spell if I didn’t know better.

Stupid hormones.

Fortunately or not, my focus shattered. I saw the change in Quaid’s face before I felt the bubble we were in crack and fall away.

“Syd!” Brad’s hands fell on my arms as he spun me around, the stink of beer even stronger now. He must have been in the path of some of the disgorged keg. “Where’d you go? We were just getting into it! You should have seen me, I beat everybody!”

I tried to smile and pull myself away, but part of me worried if I freed myself from him he wouldn’t have the balance to keep himself upright.

“Cool, Brad,” I said. Not really, but I did my best.

“Come on,” he said, pulling me toward the fire. “I’ll get you a beer.”

I tugged myself loose as gently as I could. “I’m actually leaving.”

“How come?” He seemed genuinely confused, the little boyishness in him exactly what drew me to him in the first place. How could he be so innocent and sweet and such a Neanderthal at the same time?

“Have fun,” I said and turned my back on him. And almost walked right into Quaid. He wasn’t looking at me, though. His eyes glittered black in the low light as he watched Brad with a cynical little smile twisting his lips.

“Nice,” was all he said. He looked down at me then, something in his face that actually made me feel guilty by association.

Jerk.

“Moromond,” Brad growled at Quaid.

“Football,” Quaid rumbled back.

Boys. Seriously.

“Come on, Syd,” Brad said, hand going for my arm. “I’ll take you home.”

I didn’t even get a chance to protest that he, under no circumstances whatsoever, would be driving anywhere in his condition. Quaid’s hand blocked Brad and he smoothly put himself between myself and the football captain so quickly I barely had time to register he moved.

“Maybe you want to go hang out with your buddies.”

Well, that was a shocker. Quaid stood up for me? To Brad? The night was getting weirder and weirder. Not that Quaid and I hated each other or anything, but we definitely shared a complicated relationship.

“Syd?” Brad gestured for me. “Let’s go.”

Quaid never moved and didn’t have to. We both knew I wouldn’t let Brad drive me home without some serious magic to sober him up and neither of us were allowed to do that.

“Go ahead,” I said. “I’ll find my own way home.”

“With Munster here?” Brad’s chest puffed out further, fists clenched at his sides, protective aggression taking over. I knew the alcohol fueled the latent talent within him. See, it wasn’t me he was into, as far as I could tell. The magic called to him, magic he had just a touch of, enough to draw him to me and make him want more. And his very latent talent made him a volatile drinker. At least, when I was around. Best to put some distance between us before things became any worse.

Of course, typical Quaid wasn’t in the mood to leave well enough alone.

“She said she didn’t want your help,” Quaid said in his deep, quiet voice. “Now, go back to your keg and get hammered, loser.”

I winced. I don’t think the loser bit helped much. In fact, I’m confident it was meant to piss Brad off, but who was I to know the mind of Quaid Moromond?

He easily dodged the punch Brad threw at his head and quickly and efficiently, almost gently, put him on the ground.

I was speechless, struggling between walking away from the both of them and taking sides. Unfortunately, we’d attracted some attention. The rest of the partygoers had naturally chosen exactly that moment to look our way. I could almost feel the rumble of anger from the football team through the ground at my feet.

I grabbed Quaid’s arm and turned him toward me. He actually smiled, eyes alight with some secret joke I was sure he would keep to himself. He usually did.

“What the hell was that?” I hissed at him, trying to ignore the crawl of power leeching from him to me even through the heavy leather of his jacket and the delicious smell of him that clung to me like a promise of something better.

“Like I owe you an answer,” he said. I flinched like he slapped me. My hand fell away. What was his problem?

“You may want to leave,” I told him, furious now. “Before you have to use magic to save your sorry ass.”

The football team drew closer while Brad groaned as he tried to pull himself to his feet. Quaid looked over the advancing line with what looked like eagerness before pushing it down and smothering it with his old sardonic smile, the one that never reached his eyes and made me want to slap it from his face.

“Having fun with your boyfriend?” His chocolate eyes did a great job of judging me.

“Piss off,” I snapped back.

“What the hell are you doing here?” His voice actually had some heat to it and I realized he hid anger behind his smile.

“What’s it to you?”

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, hanging with these idiots.” Same even tone, same smile, but the fury finally reached his eyes and I couldn’t decide if it was an improvement or not. Even the hint of angry Quaid came across as one scary guy.

“Mind your own damned business.” I let my demon fuel me, despite her preference for Quaid. She was spoiling for something and a fight with him would serve her purposes just as well as anything else.

“Tell me you haven’t been drinking.” Quaid’s voice fell soft, heavy. The coils of his power reached out and touched me, pulling me to him with subtle heat. I pulled back, furious. How dare he!

“And if I have?”

“I know you’re not that stupid.” His power retreated like I hadn’t just knocked it away.

“Screw you, Quaid.”

His expression never changed. “You’re not my type.”

My demon became so worked up I was surprised the power wasn’t visible. I struggled for control and seized it. Barely. And knowing Quaid, this was just another attempt to get me to lose it in public. He was such a jerk sometimes. But I was done playing his little games, uh-huh. Time to end this melodrama for the evening.

Turned out I didn’t have the chance. Suzanne of all people, grand high nasty bitch of Wilding Springs and now thoroughly drunk, beat me to it. Although I was about to wish things could go back to drunken mayhem.

Since when did my life go the way I planned?

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped in and participated! I have a HUGE thanks for you--comment on this post and I'll enter you for a chance to win ALL FOUR ebooks of the series now out! AWESOME, right? I'll be drawing the winner in one week... :)

Happy Sunday!

FREE TODAY!!

2012-01-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

That's right! Today's the day! FREE on Amazon.com:

Family Magic:

Raising the Demon

“Haralthazar,” my mother glided closer to the statue, “we summon you this third night of Power, nine days and nine nights from Samhain Eve, to tighten our bond with you and your realm.” She knelt at the foot of the altar, the picture of the submissive handmaiden. Could she be any more ridiculous? Seriously. “My love, come and be welcome.”

The blinding flash that leapt from her to the statue continued to pour out of her in a deep blue rush of light. I turned my head slightly to the side, squinting in the glare, grateful for the edge of the cowl and the shadow it made. The whole room started to thrum, the floor vibrating with condensed magic as Mom used the energy we had given her to make the doorway that would let my father through.

Sixteen-year-old Sydlynn Hayle is the daughter of a powerful witch and a demon lord of the seventh plane. The trouble is, she just wants to be ordinary. Syd struggles to survive the minefield of her new high school while being torn between her attraction to football hero Brad Peters and the darkly mysterious Quaid Moromond. When her coven comes under attack, Syd is forced to face the fact only her power can save her family’s magic.

Run:

Kidnapped

Alone, Reid gasps in one deep breath, another. It hurts his ribs, his lungs. He manages to roll over on his right side and regrets it. His shoulder screams in protest. Still, he is finally able to wriggle his numb hands loose from what holds him and claws at the cloth around his eyes.

Darkness. But not complete. The moon is up. Trees loom over him, the smell of spruce and fresh air so sharp it almost hurts. He jerks at the plastic ties around his ankles while. his vision swims through a veil of pain-laden tears. He manages somehow to force his screaming hands to work the ties loose and he is free.

Sixteen-year-old Reid thinks life is back to normal. His sister Lucy pulls herself together and cuts him free from a year of foster care. She promises to take care of him, that her new boss and her new life are what they both needed to start again. Until Reid is taken in the middle of the night, dumped in a wild stretch of forest far from home with no idea why he is there. Lost and afraid, he learns to run from the hunters who prowl the darkness, their only pleasure chasing down kids like him. And killing them.

Get your copies today!! Happy Saturday!

YA Indie Carnival - What Reading Teaches Me

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts, hopes and dreams about what it’s like to go indie in today’s publishing world.The future’s so bright, we built our own place to play.

This week in the carnival--What does reading teach me as a writer?

When I was a child, reading taught me I could escape to anywhere, that with the mere opening of a book, turning of a page, or even through the sound of my father's voice reading out loud, I could be anyone, do anything. All it took was the words on the thin sheets of paper to create something magical.

When I was twelve, reading taught me I could be a writer as well. That the passion, the spark for this amazing process lived inside me, if only I could find the courage to grab on and ride it out.

When I was a teenager, reading taught me how to improve my writing, far more than any English class. But it did more that that--reading saved my soul from bullies, angst and a deep and powerful melancholy I called the black pit of despair.

When I made it to my twenties, reading taught me everything I wrote sucked, that aspiring to be just like the authors I admired and adored was a pipe dream I'd never attain. Reading taught me to quit trying and just admit I'd never be a real writer.

In my thirties, reading taught me there were many more genres than the ones I'd been attached to my entire life, books for kids and teens that spoke to me SO CLEARLY it was as if a literal switch flipped inside my head.

And now, at forty, reading has taught me I'm ready. That my books, my voice, is strong, that the twelve year old I was had it right all along.

Reading has also taught me that no matter what happens, where life takes me, what happy moments or tragic experiences I go through, I will always, always find myself again in a good book, whether mine or someone else's. And that is the greatest gift I've ever been given.

Don't forget to check out our PAGE for updates, book releases, news and events for our carnies. We have such a vibrant, busy bunch, there's so much more to see!

Speaking of which, pop over to find out what my fellow carnies had to say about this week's topic!

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self
4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
6. Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7. Lexus Luke
8. PJ Hoover, Author of SOLSTICE, Blogging at ROOTS IN MYTH
9. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
10. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
11. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
12. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
13. Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga
14. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
15. Dani Snell's Refracted Light Reviews
16. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
17. M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping
18. Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
19. Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind
20. Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
21. Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler
22. Nicole Williams, author of Eternal Eden, Falling Eden
23. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
24. TG Ayer

Happy Friday!

Amazon Adventures

2012-01-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Very shortly, Family Magic and Run (book one of The Hunted) will only be available through Amazon.com.

I know, I know. All of you Kobo, Nook and iPad readers... it's not fair. And I apologize. But in order to take advantage of a promotional program called KDP Select through Amazon, I've decided to post those two novels on Amazon exclusively (their requirement) for 90 days.

I've already had readers asking and wish there was flexibility in this. BUT once the 90 days are past, both books will be for sale with all distributors again. I'm also doing the same with my new series, which means the first book of the up and coming Blood and Gold series (Smoke and Magic) will only be for sale on Amazon for the first three months.

Am I shooting myself in the foot? I certainly hope not. And it's not my intention to leave anyone out. I want all of my readers to be able to have access to my books, no matter the platform you read on (including paperbacks!). So bear with me, if you will, and remember you can download a free app (find it HERE) for Kindle that you can use to read on your computer.

Thank you for your support and patience.
XOXO
P

Image Snippets

2012-01-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some slivers of the photo shoot images taken for my new series, Blood and Gold. Modeled by the beautiful Shania MacPhail, these are the raw photos, without embellishment or background, taken by the talented Brian Sharp at Springhead Studios... Yes, I'm a tease...

Book One: Smoke and Magic

In the first book, Auburdeen Hayle, better known as Burdie, finds herself shipped off to London, sent there by her mother to protect her from the coven succession. Burdie's family is taking over and her parents agree the situation is just to volatile for her to be home in America. Unfortunately, Burdie tends to be a bit of a trouble magnet and within moments of arriving at the dock, finds herself aiding and abetting a young man named Jack Bishop who is being pursued by Scotland Yard.

Book Two: Fire and Illusion

Burdie's adventure's continue while she and her new friends race to escape London and save Jack from the fate he's found himself wrapped up in. (I so wish I could tell you more...)

Book Three: Steam and Sorcery

Burdie finds herself in as much trouble as her friend Jack, and deep in the same circumstance (no, I can't give you more than that! No plot reveals just yet!). Needless to say, she finds herself in worse danger than had she stayed home in America...

EDITED: (With thanks to Dani!) These are set in the 1870's with a bit of steampunk and a whole lot of magic... ;)

Release dates for the series are to come, but book one is now in edits with my lovely and talented editor, Annetta Ribken, with book two to follow shortly. I'm completing the first draft of book three this weekend while the covers are in design with the amazing Stephanie Mooney.

I'm planning behind the scenes posts for each cover--raw images to completed work--so stay tuned!

Happy Thursday!

Things that make me smile...

2012-01-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

I NEED a giraffe. NEED. The most soulful eyes anywhere.

Few things make me go "AHHH!!" like soft, cuddly, adorable animals... am I right? It's as if there is a deeply-buried trigger inside me that adores all things furry and helpless...

My husband is very nervous. My zoo list is growing...

I've never felt I had a maternal instinct... try to hand me an infant and I'm a jittery mess, but offer up something with four paws and a butter-soft muzzle... I'm all over it.

Cutest EVER!

Anyone who knows me shakes their head when it comes to this subject. I'd have a zoo. Be a crazy cat lady. Thank goodness for the level head I married.

I'm not allowed another dog. But... but!

There's just such a sweet innocence to animals that attracts me. A lack of judgment, a faithfulness that comes from total and unconditional love.

Bunnies are the softest little bundles...

Am I a softy? A sap? Oh yes. That's why you'll find animals in most of the books I write, and why those amazing animals are the most dependable friend my MC's tend to have.

My Bluey Kablewy. Blueski. Baby Blue. Irresistible.

I'll leave you with an image of one of my babies--this is Blue, at about four months old... attitude, love and the most mellow personality you could ask for. How could you NOT love that face?

Happy Wednesday!

2012-01-18T05:18:00.000-08:00

My friend, author Kimberly Kinrade, visits today to announce a MAJOR GIVEAWAY of all of her books!!

There's something for everyone today… Kids, Young Adults and Adults.

For children 4-9 years old: Lexie World (Three Lost Kids, #1) A magical adventure to another world where one little girl learns about courage, love and caring for the planet. Find it on Amazon.

For Young Adults and Adults who love YA! Forbidden Mind (Forbidden, #1) She reads minds. He controls minds. Together, they might get out alive. Find it on Amazon.

For Adults: Bits of You & Pieces of Me A collection of short stories, poems and essays about the darker side of love and life and how one girl found the light. Find it on Amazon.

See below for more information on each book!

Don't have a kindle? No problem! Download a FREE app for your computer, iPad, smartphone and more! In addition to my books, my publisher, Evolved Publishing, is also having a few more books for FREE on Amazon today, so it's definitely worth downloading that app!

Lexie World (Three Lost Kids, #1)

Amazon Link> Lexie World

…Each time I put my foot down, it sank deeper into trash. The crunch and grind of it all sounded like monsters coming to eat me. Oh my goodness! The crunching and grinding got louder. So loud, I knew it couldn’t be just us. My hands shook and my feet stopped working right. I didn’t want to look behind me. Then something smacked me in the back of my head! My eyes got all cloudy with tears. I looked behind me. Big mistake…. ~~

5-year-old Lexie is tired of getting in trouble for leaving her stuff and trash outside. She doesn’t mean to litter or ruin her shoes, but it’s just so hard to remember sometimes.

When she, her two big sisters and their dog TayTay find a portal to Lexie World, Lexie discovers the consequence littering has had on her special world. Garbage Goblins have taken over and are destroying the Earth!

To save Lexie World, the girls (and TayTay) must travel with their new Unicorn friend through the Waters of Waste and over the Mountain of Lost Clothes to retrieve a piece of the Mirror of Ice in order to remind the Garbage Goblins of their true form and break their curse.

On this journey, Lexie learns about courage, love and the importance of taking care of her world.

With full color illustrations by Josh Evans, Lexie World bridges the gap between picture books and chapter books, offering children 4-9 years old a new, exciting reading journey.

Get free Three Lost Kids bookmarks by sharing this blog post on Twitter and Facebook and emailing me with your mailing address at kimberly.kinrade@gmail.com. Please allow a few weeks for delivery.

Want a sneak peek of the first three chapters? Read them here >> Lexie World, Chapters 1-3.

Amazon Link> Lexie World

Forbidden Mind (Forbidden, #1)

Amazon link> Forbidden Mind

Winner of the 2011 Forward National Literature Award

"...a thrilling, dark and deeply romantic read that had me sitting on the edge of my seat and eagerly awaiting the next installment." - Refracted Light Young Adult Book Reviews

She reads minds. He controls minds. Together, they might get out alive.

Sam thinks she’s months away from freedom. After spending her life in a secret school, rented out to the rich and powerful as a paranormal spy, she is ready to head to college like any normal eighteen-year-old.

Only Sam isn’t normal. She reads minds. And just before her big going-away party, she links to the mind of a young man who changes everything.

Drake wasn’t raised as a ‘Rent-A-Kid.’ He was kidnapped and taken there by force. But his exceptional physical strength and powers of mind control make him very dangerous, especially to Sam.

When they meet, Sam is forced to face the truth of her situation, and to acknowledge that not all is as it seems in her picture-perfect world. For what awaits her on her eighteenth birthday isn’t a trip to college, but an unexpected nightmare from which she may not be able to escape.

To survive, they must work together.

But will their powers be enough to save them before it’s too late?

Amazon link> Forbidden Mind

Bits of You & Pieces of Me

Amazon link> Bits of You & Pieces of Me

Not an Amazon Prime member? Get this bookFREE for anyone through January 17th!

“Kimberly Kinrade is a genius. Simply put. Bits of You & Pieces of Me is a work of literary art. ” ~L.M. Stull

A collection of short stories, poetry & essays on life. While each piece stands alone, together the chapters tell the story of an idealistic girl in love with love who discovers the demons of a splintered heart when that love turns violent. Through it all, she climbs her way back to Hope and finds that in the end her True Heart remained Unbreakable.

This collection includes some horror short stories, dark poetry on painful love and difficult subject matters such as domestic violence.

Download “Bits of You & Pieces of Me” Sample

Amazon link> Bits of You & Pieces of Me

This is your chance to try my books FREE! Also look for the release of Bella World, book 2 of the Three Lost Kids series, next Monday!

Check out Evolved Publishing for more amazing books that are FREE on Amazon Kindle today only. Do you enjoy psychological thrillers? Native American Historical Fiction? Fantasy and short stories? Go forth and download!

I hope you enjoy my books and the books of my colleagues. If you do, we'd love to hear about it (and reviews are ALWAYS appreciated!) And share the love if you have reader friends.

Thanks so much!

About Kimberly Kinrade:

Kimberly Kinrade was born with ink in her veins and magic in her heart. She writes paranormal and fantasy for all ages, is Marketing Director for Evolved Publishing and a Jr. Project Manager for Novel Publicity. Find her at http://KimberlyKinrade.com , on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/KimberlyKinrade or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/KimberlyKinrade

Family Magic Trailer--Behind the Scenes

2012-01-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

Last week, I had the absolute thrill of seeing the trailer for my novel, Family Magic, turned into a trailer.

What does that process look like? Check it out:

With the help of my amazing friend, producer Renee Laprise, we worked out the concept...

Renee is an amazing artist and editor--I'm so lucky to know her!

I auditioned a number of talented young women, choosing Rebecca Sanderson as the voice of Sydlynn.

Rebecca is just all kinds of perfect... :)

I then created a shot plan which I took to Brian Sharp, the director at Mugisha Enterprises and Springhead Studios.

My clever and talented sister, Caron Prins, carved the candles...

SO much work, but she did an incredible job!

Her alter ego is as a rockstar... :)

while my husband, Scott, helped create the pentagram we painted on the studio floor.

Nothing like a man who is good with tools...

NEED one of these in my basement now. NEED.

From there, we borrowed a smoke machine from Jeff Smith at the Comic Hunter, blacked out the set with curtains...

Brian and Renee contemplating lights!

while Brian set up the dolly and camera...

one last mopping of the floor...

and we were off and running!

Candles are lit and light on...

Framing the shot...

Lights, camera...

Three hours later the shoot was complete. Renee, fast and fabulous, had the completed trailer delivered to me within a few days, once I supplied her with music and the credits for the amazing movie you're about to watch.

How fun is that?

YA Indie Carnival -- Books I'm Grateful For

2012-01-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts, hopes and dreams about what it’s like to go indie in today’s publishing world.The future’s so bright, we built our own place to play.

We're back after a fantastic holiday and diving into the new year with a great question: what books are we grateful for and why?

There are so many, it's hard for me to choose, honestly. I grew up in a family of readers--my mother adored romance, but my father was a hard-core science fiction/fantasy fan. Which meant I had The Lord of the Rings read to me at the age of six and was devouring the likes of Isaac Asimov (I, Robot) and Anne McCaffery (Dragonriders of Pern) when most kids were into Nancy Drew (yes, I'm dating myself with the Nancy Drew reference...)

The books that stand out the most for me were the Belgariad and Melorean series, written by David Eddings, about a boy named Garion who started his life as a nobody only to discover he was the most important person ever born. They are beautifully written with incredible characters and so much heart that every time I reach the end of the last book (ten in all) and it's over, I cry. Yup, tears. Even though I know all I have to do is pick them up and start again... "The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm."

These books shaped my existence, from a nerdy teenager to an even nerdier adult. I reread them every other year, sometimes more often, returning to the girl I was every time I do.

But I have to say, the books I'm most grateful for are the ones I've written. Am writing. Will write. Because they are the final, wonderful, joyful expression I've been dreaming about since that child heard about Gandalf and Mordor, Lessa and Ramoth, Garion and his adventures with Aunt Pol and Belgarath. When I write, I soar on the backs of dragons and cast spells of my own with the delight of a geeky girl who just wanted to be extraordinary.

Okay, enough of me and my sappy memories... There is so much more to do and see in this carnival!! Make sure you visit our website to see what is up and coming. You can find us HERE.

Now, pop off and visit the rest of my fellow carnies and enjoy the ride!

Happy Friday!

Am I Doing It Wrong?

2012-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

What is 'it' exactly I'm referring to in the title of this blog? Why, blogging, of course. I recently read a post about blogging that said if I'm a writer blogging about writing I'm missing the mark.

Truth is? I think that blogger is right. I am. My target is to reach readers. But writers are readers... then again, not all readers are writers.... big circle, isn't it?

The argument she makes is if I'm blogging about writing, I'm limiting my reach. I agree to a point. Part of me truly believes there is an inner writer in most readers, however, who would and could benefit from the posts I write on writing. Mind you, I don't post 'how to' segments--at least not very often. I mostly write about my experiences in the process.

But I'm still writing about writing. And am about to start recording a vlog series on writing. So, the question remains--should I stop blogging this way? Am I doing it wrong?

I don't know for sure, but I do know my goals are two fold in writing this blog. One, to entertain and inform and two, gather a following for my work. Fair enough, correct? If that means changing what I blog about... well, I'm willing to give it a go.

But I believe in balance. I have a passion for writing, which means it's likely I'll still be posting my personal experiences here about my work and the industry at large. But I think I'll experiment with some other topics as well--behind the scenes of the actual books rather than the writing of them.

Will it make a difference? I'm hoping you all will tell me. As I progress along this rutted but exciting road, I value the feedback you give into how I'm doing--and why you read my ramblings in the first place.

For now, I'll leave you with a photo of the shoot I did today at Mugisha Enterprises with my friends (and the owners/producers) Renee Laprise and Brian Sharp for the Family Magic trailer (coming so soon I can taste it!) as a trial run of this new and improved blogging me.

Happy Wednesday!