Michelle L. Levigne's Blog

Excerpt: ALLERGIC TO MISTLETOE, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 10

 

"Hargrove? Hargrove!Wake up, boy!"

The admonishment, in thetired, worried voice of Uncle Mortimer, was punctuated with a slap that served quiteadequately to bring Harry back to consciousness.

He lay still, trying toremember what had knocked him unconscious. A few cautious sniffs answered him. Thestink of Human gunpowder and several sophisticated Fae explosives filled his sinuses.Memory streamed back into his head. He had been playing with a new kind of controlledexplosive device, to help in archaeological excavations. Obviously, the charm controllingthe direction of the explosion had malfunctioned.

Why were people hittinghim?

"He must be consciousnow. He's fading out," said his sister, Hera-Jane.

That yanked his attentionoff trying to figure out what he did wrong. "Fading out?"

"You were visible,the entire time you were unconscious." She fumbled across his chest until shefound his shoulders, then shook him. "Come on, Harry, rise and shine."

"I'm always invisiblewhen I sleep. I have to concentrate to be seen." He opened his eyes, relievedhe could still see. That explosion had felt uncomfortably close to his face.

SAVE -- and get the paperback before everyone else!

 

The next Book & Mug Mystery, SKELETONS IN THE CELLAR, comes out October 15.

But you can get the paperback in an Amazon exclusive NOW and SAVE $$$ by following this Amazon Affiliate link.

https://amzn.to/4nR7HGY

Cadburn Township has stories about the Cadburn daughter who ran off to the Civil War disguised as a boy. Or did she? Maybe she ran away from home with her true love, to escape a forced marriage. Either way, legends say her ghost haunts the township.

Then there are the rumors of Underground Railroad tunnels leading from several houses to Cadburn Creek. And three years ago, there was a big fuss over some historical reenactors and historic researchers and academic rivalry -- with the couple at the center of the shenanigans vanishing suddenly, without warning.

Until a rainy fall starts flooding in Cadburn Creek, and suddenly, the truth of quite a few rumors and legends are brought to soggy light ....

Excerpt: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 9

 Iknew the place Pete was talking about. The lot held a ramshackle building thathad once been a convenience store and then went through at least a dozentransformations all the years I was growing up. It was in a bad location forbusinesses. The chunk of land set aside for Neighborlee schools sat right onthe southern border of town. The building had started out as a gas station, justacross the street and over the border in Allenby, nearly hidden by huge clumpsof trees on three sides. Over the years, all those businesses that had moved inand moved out had neglected the building and the parking lot. It was generally abad location for businesses that depended on visibility and traffic driving byto survive. 

Thinking about it, Isupposed a business that just used the building for a headquarters and sent itsworkers out would probably last longer than anything that had tried to set upthere in the past. At the very least, Pete would have work for the summer. Icouldn't imagine him keeping the job when school started again in the fall.

ALLERGIC TO MISTLETOE, the next featured book in the Neighborlee Visitors Guide.

 

The feature book for October in the Neighborlee Visitors Guide is ALLERGIC TO MISTLETOE, the first of the three Maurice stories.

Check out the books on the Neighborlee page and in the storefront at YeOldeDragonBooks.com

Maurice is a Fae who violated a few rules and went a little too far, dealing with bullies and bad guys. To teach him compassion and restraint, the powers-that-be exiled him to Earth. His parole officer: Angela, of Divine's Emporium. His sentence: 2 years shrunk down to 5 inches tall, with shrunken magic to match, and wings slapped on his back that even Tinkerbell wouldn't be caught dead in.

Wednesday, October 1, you can listen to chapter 1 of ALLERGIC TO MISTLETOE on the Ye Olde Dragon's Library storytelling podcast, on your favorite podcast app or at the podcast page on YeOldeDragonBooks.com, to get a taste for what's happening, and prepare for the quiz to be posted later in the month. Answer the questions, and you can earn points toward free Neighborlee novels. If you're intrigued enough to read the whole story, ALLERGIC will be on sale in all formats on the website. Get it while you can!

And be sure to come back here every few days to read an excerpt from ALLERGIC TO MISTLETOE.

Excerpt: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 9

 "Ican take my bike or the moped to the office and then ride with the truckcarrying the signs and stakes and all that stuff. No problem."

"Howclose are they?" I tried to remember seeing a sign for Pi Surprise. Theyhadn't come into the Tattler to buy advertising yet. Which suddenlystruck me as a little strange. All their advertising was either in the PlainDealer, or stuffed into mailboxes. Nothing in the local paper. So how faraway was their office?

"They'rein that little flower market on the corner down past the schools."

"Onthe Neighborlee side of the border, or the Allenby side?"

Petethought a moment, while I held my breath and told myself it was all right,nothing dangerous ever came into Neighborlee from Allenby. Darbyville, yes, butnot Allenby.

"Acrossthe street, so I guess Allenby. I saw the help wanted sign just about the timethey were putting it up in the window. It's a new office. They moved here fromEuclid. So I'll spend the first couple weeks just helping with renovating theoffice." 

"Okay. Soundsgood." I told myself I was hungry, it had been a long day at work, andPete would make a good spy, to figure out if there was somethingnot-quite-ordinary going on with Pi Surprise. Maybe someone was just out tomake things difficult for an expanding business, moving those gnomes around.

Excerpt: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 9

"Becauseit won't get in the way of going out in the afternoon, and it'll never get inthe way of my other job."

"Okay,that makes sense."

Peteturned to look at me, to make sure I wasn't being sarcastic.

"Areyou able to handle the work on your bike? Because I'm not getting up atfour-dark-thirty to drive you around. I'm proud of you that you're beingresponsible for your expenses … and I can't believe I'm sounding more and morelike …" I laughed.

"Youwere going to say you sound like Mum and Pop, but you don't, because they wouldnever talk like that," he said, sinking down into the nearest chair with abig grin. 

"Just sounding like aparent. Man, is this what happens when there's a baby on the way? The airchanges and does something to your brain so you start sounding like anadult?" I shook my head and held up a hand to stop him responding withwhatever smart-aleck comeback was making him grin like that. "Okay, I'mproud of you. Even though you couldn’t pay me enough to take a job like that.Staying up late to fly patrol is one thing, but getting up early? Nuh uh. Notme."

 

Excerpt: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 9

 Peteand I put some time in searching through my freezer and refrigerator, trying tofigure out what to serve our guests for dinner. According to Maurice, Cerb andLoralee both liked ordinary Human food, and she had developed a taste for spicycuisine in the last month. Great, a dog with a hankering for Szechuan orMexican. It could have been worse. How would I explain a dog chowing down onpickles? Or chocolate? It was supposed to be poison in large quantities fordogs.

Whilewe worked on dinner, Pete dropped his bomb: he had lined up a second summerjob. I bit my lip to keep from asking how he thought he was going to spend anytime with Meggie, when he was working a second job. I had the feeling thesecond job was so he could take Meggie out on really nice dates. *sigh* Mylittle brother was growing up and facing adult conundrums.

"Whatwas that?" I had an awful urge to stick my pinkies in both ears and dig,because my brain didn't want to acknowledge what Pete had just told me.

"PiSurprise." He sighed, like he had gone through this a few times already inhis mind, and practicing hadn't helped.

"Whywould you want to do that? Especially after Gordon told us about all thecomplaints they've been getting."

"Becauseit has to be done really early in the morning --"

"Irepeat, why would you want to do it? You're the one who doesn't run onsolar batteries, remember?" 

Getting up early to bombsomeone's lawn with decorations was part of the package. It had to be doneearly, so the workers wouldn't get caught and sent away by the unwillingrecipients of the embarrassment.

Excerpt: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 9

Petecame home while I was settling the expectant parents in Harry's old room. Hewas pretty excited to see Cerb, then tripped over his tongue and nearly trippedover his own feet a few times when he saw Loralee and realized what was goingon. He didn't say it, but he gave Cerb the "you dog" look. It waskind of funny.

Oncewe had things set up to Loralee's liking, she and Cerb and Maurice headed outagain. They were on patrol, after all, making sure that inimical forces onEarth didn't hear the lying siren song of Big Ugly like the Rivals had, andcome into our town to try to help him break through to invade Earth. 

Pete's timing was good,because there was furniture to move around and put into storage. Not much,since Harry had moved almost everything he owned into Felicity's place, aftershe and Jake finished renovating their house and moved out. Sometimes I didmiss that ridiculous espresso machine. The furniture in Harry's old room wassimple, meant for guests. Pete moved the desk out, and we turned the dresserdrawers upside down so they became stairs, so Loralee could climb up onto thebed. I had a few squeamish moments, imagining her giving birth and soaking themattress. Well, it was a spare bed. I would worry about replacing a mattresswhen I needed to replace it, and not before.

 

It's QUIZ Time!

 

Ready to take a quiz and earn points toward free books?

How do you play?

Listen to Chapter 1 of RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF either on the Ye Olde Dragon’s Library storytelling podcast page at YeOldeDragonBooks.com, or on your favorite podcast app.Answer the questions.Send the answers to 2OldeDragons@gmail.com

Points add up to get a free ebook or audiobook or print book in the Neighborlee series. This is your chance to catch up on the weirdness that is Neighborlee, Ohio.

RETURN QUIZ:

What did Lanie do to the attempted carjacker?What did the cop call Lanie?What did the carjacker do while the cop's back was turned?Who made the keychain for Lanie, and what was it made from?What was the name of the lawn decoration company?Where were Athena and Wallace going, to spend a week with Bethany?What was in her neighbor Tom's front yard, when Lanie got home from work?What did the flyers for Pi Surprise advertise?Who dropped his cup of coffee when Lanie mentioned blue storms?Who was Gahlmorag?

Excerpt: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 9

 WhatI wanted to know, but didn't dare ask at that time, was why someextra-dimensional visitors had to take on terrestrial forms, and theirlimitations, such as Cerb and Loralee, while others, like Maurice, went aroundin their own bodies? Although, granted, in the case of Maurice, with somemodifications.

Instead,I thought for a few seconds, then said, "Harry moved into Felicity'splace. Would his old room be good enough? Not much furniture to move around.Put the mattress on the floor, or would they want to sleep on the bed at normalheight?"

MaybeI gave in too fast. On the other hand, this was a pregnant woman, even if shedidn't look like one. I owed Cerb for protecting my neck a few times last year.

"Arethere any special arrangements they need?" I hated talking to Maurice whenCerb and Loralee were right there. I had gone through situations just like thisafter I landed in my wheelchair. Too many people had a tendency to want to talkover or around someone in a wheelchair or showing other handicaps. They seemedto prefer to deal with the able-bodied person with the gimp, instead of talkingdirectly to the gimp. Kind of rude. I didn't want to do that to them. Sincethey couldn't talk to me, I had to ask Maurice, who was clearly there asgo-between.

"Justa place to get out of the darkness. There's a kind of a clash of magics andresonances, so it's a little uncomfortable to stay at Divine's for too longonce the sun goes down. Don't ask. I don't understand."

Cerbsnorted and Loralee gave a little whine. 

"Yeah, neither dothey. Probably some side effect of staying so long in these bodies. Anyway, duringthe day, they'll be on patrol, although Loralee will probably spend a lot ofthe next couple weeks getting off her feet, down in the park, or atDivine's." Maurice shrugged. "They've never been through this, I sureas heck haven't been through this before, so … we're all guessing."