Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 111

Coming: New Book in the Neighborlee, Ohio series

January 11, Uncial Press will release the next book in the humorous fantasy series, NEIGHBORLEE, OHIO.

DORM RATS

This is the sequel to GROWING UP NEIGHBORLEE, where Lanie Zephyr, wheelchair-bound comedian and semi-pseudo-superhero guardian of Neighborlee tells the story of her life, from growing up in the Neighborlee Children's Home, meeting the other Lost Kids and developing "rules" for their Gifts, to learning their destiny and duty as guardians for the weird little town of Neighborlee.

DORM RATS continues the story. Lanie is in high school and visiting England with her investigative writer parents, Charlie and Rainbow Zephyr. Of course, odd things always happen to the Zephyrs. Lanie finishes high school, survives Senior Prank Night, and goes on to college.

That's when things get interesting. It appears that someone has maneuvered the housing situation at Willis-Brooks College to experiment on the freshman class. Instead of lab rats, are they dorm rats? Magic, the power of belief, Time Lords who have no control over time travel, the perils of student teaching, and other adventures fill Lanie's life, up until a pivotal Senior Prank Night when everything changes for her.

You can pre-order DORM RATS now, through Kindle and Kobo.

Want more information on Neighborlee and the other stories set in the weird little town that's a combination of Roswell, Eureka, and Buffy's Sunnyvale -- just minus the vampires and weird science? CLICK HERE.

Book of the Week: GROWING UP NEIGHBORLEE

The last and most recent Neighborlee, Ohio book, leading up to the release this January of DORM RATS, the newest Neighborlee book -- which also happens to be the sequel to this week's Book of the Week.

From Uncial Press

Excerpt:
Anyway, Divine's definitely welcomed me. I stood there for a few seconds, staring at the Wishing Ball, with my hand firmly tucked in Mrs. Silvestri's, just amazed. I wanted to get up there, and I was playing with the idea of using my trick to get up to the counter for a closer look, when Angela walked into the room.

My trick was something I had discovered quite by accident, just a few months before. I was momentarily unsupervised at the cottage while the houseparents were busy with the babies. I wanted a cookie and I didn't want to wait for someone to open the cupboard and get it for me, so I climbed up onto the table in the kitchen and walked across it to the counter. A logical progression for a nearly-five-year-old, right? The problem was the four-foot gap between the kitchen table and the counter. I didn't stop to think, I just took a couple steps back and made a running leap, like I had seen someone do on TV the night before.

My jump took me up to the top of the cupboards, and I hung there in the air, for a good ten seconds before drifting down to the shelf where the cookies sat out in plain view.

I could fly. Kinda-sorta fly. Not zipping through the air like a jet like a certain alien superhero. More like controlled gliding, or going straight up, hovering, and coming straight down. When I got older, that talent made it possible to get incredible photos. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Book of the Week: GROWING UP NEIGHBORLEE

The last and most recent Neighborlee, Ohio book, leading up to the release this January of DORM RATS, the newest Neighborlee book -- which also happens to be the sequel to this week's Book of the Week.

From Uncial Press

Lanie was a Lost Kid -- a toddler found by the side of the road, with no one to claim her. She ended up in the Neighborlee Children's Home, where her long journey to become a semi-pseudo-superhero began. She and her friend Kurt, and later Felicity, made up the "rules" for what they were and what they could do as they went along. Most of the time, they borrowed them from comic books.
Lanie could kinda-sorta fly and move things with telekinesis. Kurt could invent and make broken machines work when all mechanical laws said they shouldn't. Felicity gave off uncontrollable EM bursts and controlled dogs. Where the trio came from and how they got to Neighborlee faded into the background when faced with the really big questions: Why were they the way they were and how could they do the things they did? Were they aliens? Genetic experiments? Mutations? Should they look for a spaceship? Should they fear the Men in Black or the CIA?Adventures and misadventures tested their imagination, their loyalty, and their courage as they explored their abilities and their world. And one thing became perfectly clear: the Lost Kids were as necessary to guard Neighborlee from the rest of the world, as they were vital to protect the rest of the world from the everyday weirdness and magic of Neighborlee.

BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 11 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:
            She didn't care about her aches and stiffness.  Darcy let out a giggle as she finished warming up and started across the mats to the sword rack.  Things were fine between her and Duncan again, Amanda wanted to take her shopping that afternoon "to get some bait to solve your man troubles," and her arm was healing nicely.  She couldn't wait to see how well she did today in her lessons.
            "My sword's missing!"  Her wail cut through the unusual silence of the long room and echoed back to her.
            Confusion, anger and a sense of having been robbed cut through her.  Darcy stood still for two seconds, then turned to run to Duncan's office.  The door opened before she reached it.  Detective McGee stepped out, followed by Duncan.  The red-haired detective looked as rumpled and frustrated as always.  Duncan smiled tightly at her.

            "Your sword, Darcy?"  McGee asked in that quiet tone of voice that usually meant deep trouble for someone -- usually not her -- when her father used that tone of voice.
            "Duncan lets me use it for practice.  I was hoping to buy it someday.  What's going on?"
            "That explains the mystery fingerprints."
            "What's going on?"
            "About what time did you get here yesterday?"
            "I don't know.  Maybe seven, seven-thirty."
            "Was the sword in its rack when you were here?"
            "Yeah."  Darcy felt her face heat in a blush.  "I checked on it.  I mean, it's my sword, y'know?"
            "We know," Duncan said, nodding.
            "You were with MacLeod until when?" the detective continued.
            "About midnight."  Darcy glanced back and forth between the two men.  "Duncan, what's -- "
            "Somebody killed Andy last night, Darcy," Duncan explained.  He held out a hand, as if he thought she might lose her balance.  "That sword was found by the body."

Book of the Week: HERO BLUES

Excerpt:

Kicking off, she floated up over the McCreedy boys' heads and snatched three shovels, two picks and a bag of blasting caps from outstretched hands. The items turned invisible the moment she pulled them inside her Ghost field. Jane snorted, muffling laughter as the McCreedys just stood there, hands grasping at empty air, their mouths dropping open. She didn't pause to hover in mid-air and enjoy the moment, but darted away to the crumbling face of the reservoir. A little extra oomph to her Ghost field, and she parted the cement molecules enough to shove the tools into the center of the reservoir's retention wall. There they would stay until the Ghost came to retrieve them, or the sub-standard construction finally eroded. Without the pressure of the scummy lake behind it, Jane estimated the wall would last another four or five years. More's the pity.


She flew back and found the McCreedy boys stumbling around, trying to find their tools. Did they actually think they had dropped their stolen booty and couldn't find anything in the open gravel yard, in the light of the nearly full moon? What kind of idiots was she dealing with tonight?

"That's a rhetorical question if I ever heard one," she said, and didn't bother to keep her voice down.

"Who's there?" Slick, the oldest McCreedy boy bellowed.

"Who do you think?" she shouted back.

Coming through the Ghost field, her voice dropped nearly two octaves. One of these days, she considered doing something to the field so it would sound like her own voice. Until then, the residents of Fendersburg would continue to believe the Ghost was a man.

"Hey, Ghost, long time no see," Jeff, the third boy said with a vacuous grin.

"Idiot," Clint, the fourth, snarled. He tried to elbow his older brother, but misjudged the distance and nearly fell off his feet. "Nobody can see the Ghost."

Jane didn't wait for the usual fight to break out among the McCreedy boys. She swooped down among them and picked up the rest of their demolition tools. Spray-paint cans, two hoes, charcoal lighter fluid and three boxes of matches. Those joined the other tools in the center of the retaining wall.

When she came back to the truck, she found the boys had scattered, running along the edges of the reservoir. Ten IQ points higher, and they might have had the sense to jump back in their truck and get out of there. But no, the McCreedy boys were intent on doing damage. It was hard to decide if they considered it their right, or their duty. Jane flew over the stinking water of the reservoir, trying to ignore the smell of pea soup algae gone out of control, and listened to the boys shouting directions to each other.

Some people seemed to think that if they couldn't see the Ghost, then the Ghost couldn't hear them.

Book of the Week: HERO BLUES

Excerpt:

"Looks like another busy night for the Ghost," Jane muttered as she swooped down through the crystal-clear, stifling hot night air, and came in for a landing. "Goody gumdrops."

Bald tires, a road badly in need of patching, and overgrown bushes and trees hanging over the edges of the crumbling blacktop meant the McCreedy boys had to drive slowly up the steep hill and follow the hairpin turns instead of bouncing up and over. Jane appreciated their caution. She was in a bad enough mood without carrying the guilt and dismay of saving a McCreedy's life tonight. She had just painted her nails and didn't want to risk chipping them, if she had to lunge to catch a rusty bumper and keep the truck from going over the edge.

With her luck, she would get tetanus or hepatitis or any of a dozen diseases hiding in the thick coating of filth that kept the McCreedy truck from falling apart.

Unlike the other Gifted she had grown up with, Jane wasn't bullet-proof or made of steel. She could fly, she could go invisible. She could walk through solid objects and heal broken bones within a couple hours. That didn't mean she was impervious to pain or disease, and she needed a decent night's sleep even more desperately than most people. Or at least, most people in the backwards town of Fendersburg.

"Told ya it was broke," a whining McCreedy voice crowed, just before the truck crashed into the lopsided gate of the reservoir.

"Told you to get it fixed," Jane muttered, and stepped back as the truck skidded to a stop in the gravel yard of the reservoir. How many times had the Ghost made surveys of all public property, listed the necessary repairs, the accidents waiting to happen, and gave those lists to the town council? She had lost count. She had even sent the list three times to the Fendersburg Trumpet, and the newspaper actually printed the lists and demanded action. Nothing had happened.

As evidenced by the broken lock on the fence and the lack of a single spark when Willy's truck hit it open. That fence was supposed to be electrified, to stop mutants like the McCreedy boys from breaking in.

"Let's go have some fun!" Willy chortled, and slid out of the driver's seat. He reached into the back of the truck and pulled out tools for his brothers.


Most of the tools had price tags still attached. Jane sighed at that evidence that Joe-Bob over at the hardware store still hadn't repaired his burglar alarm from the last time someone broke in. She supposed she'd hear an angry tirade in the morning, about how the Ghost hadn't stopped the burglars. Honestly, how could anybody resist when the door wouldn't stay locked and Joe-Bob left the lights on half the time, so anybody walking by could see what was waiting to be stolen and no one was in the store?

The War Room: BOOK TRAILERS

I now have all my book trailers available for viewing on this blog.

Just go to the Pages listing in the right-hand column, below the links and archive listing.

You can view a video and get a taste for what's in some of the series I've written, and also view the book covers. For more information, you can go to my website, or the publishers' websites.

Lots to choose from!

Right now, here's the introductory video .....

Book of the Week: HERO BLUES

This continues the feature on books set in my weird little town of NEIGHBORLEE, OHIO.
Think of a place that's part Mayberry, part Roswell, part Eureka, and part Buffy's Sunnyvale -- but without the vampires or aliens.
Yeah -- MAGIC!A little creepy at times, a lot of fun, and always something going on. For those who live there, the odd events are kind of shrugged off with a, "Ho, hum, so what ELSE is new?" attitude. And what's really odd is that newcomers don't really notice. Of course, then there's the "we don't want you here, go away" vibe that some people get, so they don't stick around long enough to notice something strange is going on.


All of this is leading up to the release of the next Neighborlee, Ohio book published by Uncial Press: DORM RATS. Otherwise known as Growing Up Neighborlee, Book 2.
HERO BLUES



Superheroes have it rough -- especially when the towns they protect expect them to fix everything, from forgetting to fill their gas tanks to children running wild to the consequences of a lack of common sense. Jane is finally fed up with being the Ghost, notifies the citizens in her town of mental midgets that she’s quitting, and sets off to make a new life and solve some mysteries of her own.First item on the list: return to Neighborlee, the town where she was found as an abandoned child. Jane knows there are others like her: abandoned children with unusual powers. Where did they come from, how did they get to Neighborlee and other towns like it, and why are the Gifted -- as they call themselves -- the way they are?As Jane retraces her childhood, she is pleased to discover that some people remember her. She settles in, makes a new place for herself, and is welcomed by the people and the town itself. That’s important, because Neighborlee protects its own -- and those who don’t fit in are soon driven away. She makes contact with others like her and slowly earns their trust and confidence.However, it’s a bumpy process. Living in the “weirdness capital of the United States, possibly the world,” means being extra cautious. Even when it comes to someone with superhero powers. Or maybe especially someone with superhero powers.Then someone -- or something -- from outside her understanding makes contact. It or he or they promise Jane not only answers to the questions she’s had all her life, but a way to go home, wherever her real home might be. It’s everything she’s ever wanted … or is it?

BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 10 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:
            "Got a minute?" Duncan said, stepping up to the bar. 
            Joe's Place wasn't open yet Tuesday morning, but the door was unlocked for the employees to come in.  For the moment, Joe was alone at the counter, working on the same beer tap that had been giving him trouble for the last month.
            "A few."  Joe glanced up, smiling.  His smile froze and then faded.  Duncan realized how he had to look;  stiff posture, the extra lines around his mouth.  "Problem?"
            "I don't know yet.  It depends on what you say."
            "Uh oh."  He tried to smile again.  "Something I did?"

            "Joe, I know you try not to interfere with my life.  It makes things awkward, being friends when you're my Watcher.  I appreciate it."
            "Big problem."
            "Did you tell that kid to get close to Darcy Porter?"
            "What kid?"  Joe put down the screwdriver and rested both hands on the bar.  Duncan had his complete attention now.
            "Andy somebody."
            "Andy Blaine?"  He flinched, visibly realizing too late he had given away too much.          "I assume since Martha is his grandmother, she's Josh's Watcher."  Duncan tried to smile.  "Don't worry -- I'm not asking and I won't do anything about it either way."
            "Thanks," Joe said with a wry grin.  Then a moment later his eyes widened and his grin faded.  "What do you mean, get close to Darcy?  Like recruiting her?"
            "I hope he isn't.  I haven't heard what he's been saying to her.  Hopefully it's just a lot of romantic mush."
            "Romantic."  He rested both hands on the edge of the bar.  "Are you telling me that boy is romancing the daughter of an Immortal?  He should know better than that."
            "Something wrong with that?"  Duncan tried to look innocent when he felt great relief.  His instincts had not been wrong.  "Darcy's a nice girl."
            "I'm gonna kill him," Joe muttered.

Book of the Week: LONDON HOLIDAY

Excerpt:

"Right, and yet not entirely." Angela took hold of my hand. "My dear Athena... How I wish you weren't so perceptive, that you hadn't inherited your grandfather's gifts and the responsibilities that come with them. And yet I know, from long years of experience, we are born to duties and burdens, and we destroy our souls if we refuse them." She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, all the while gazing into my eyes. "First, I sent them away because there are things I don't want Bethany to hear. I'm afraid Doni will have to hear what I tell you someday. When she starts having dreams of her own.

"And that is the second thing. You are right. You are an appointed guardian of Neighborlee, and so shall Doni be, when she is older."

"Why don't you want Bethany to know?"

"Her bloodline has done enough already for Neighborlee. Her mother was another foundling, just like your grandfather, like Lanie Zephyr and her friends, like several others in our town."

"Her mom?" I shivered, the cold coming from deep inside, as I remembered when Bethany's mother died. We were only nine. Sometimes being young helped to make the heavy sadness fade, but other times it just made the impact worse, and last longer.

Then I knew. I understood. Fragments of those sad, confusing days bobbed up to the surface of my memories. They connected like they were magnets, drawing to each other, forming pictures without any effort on my part.

"Mrs. Miller... She didn't die of a heart attack, did she?" I whispered.

Angela gripped my hand tighter and shook her head.

Six years ago, there were strange buzzing sensations in the ground and an electrical storm that lasted nearly two whole days. Other people didn't seem to notice the electrical tingles in the air, in the soil, but Granddad sympathized with me and let me stay home from school, curled up on the couch with him, where we both kept our feet off the ground. Mrs. Miller had left the diner on an errand during a lull between lunch and dinner, and didn't come back. A freak storm had struck, sending people diving for cover, driving rain horizontally. When it cleared up, she was found collapsed in an alley between two stores on the Mall, drenched and white like all the blood had been drained out of her, cold and dead.

Part of me wanted to yank my hand free of Angela's and run away. If I tried, she probably wouldn't hold onto me, keep me there. Not with her hand, anyway.