Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 61

New release sample: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF

 That night, Loralee woke up crying. I had the awful feeling she was sick, or maybe going into premature labor. Before I could get from my bed to my wheelchair, Cerb let out a howl that almost made me feel sorry for whoever had enraged him. Then he walked right through the wall from the guest room to my bedroom. He gave me a look that told me he was in defensive mode, then he leaped through my bedroom wall to go outside.

He stopped after that first howl, otherwise I might have had some irate neighbors to deal with. Harry got outside and was walking around the garage apartment and the rest of the yard by the time I got in my chair and to the door. He came up the ramp at the same time Cerb went back to the guestroom by going straight through the wall.

"Anything?" I asked, and backed up so Harry could come inside.

He stayed outside and shook his head. His forehead wrinkled up and his mouth twisted in a crooked grin, and I was pretty sure that shake wasn't a no, so much as it was admitting he wasn't quite sure what was going on.

"Could have sworn I saw something, but it scurried away before I could get close." He snorted. "Before Cerb could get to it. Something small. I'd say rabbits or groundhogs or something. We don't have skunks, do we?"

"Hope not."

"Yeah, well, there was a smell, but it wasn't skunk." He rubbed his nose. "It's gone now."

"Something worried Cerb."

"Yeah. I was really hoping …" Harry shrugged and started backing down the ramp. He had left his door open and a flickering, bluish light spilled out, meaning he was watching a movie when Cerb raised the alarm.

"Hoping what?"

"That they really are camping here to give them a break from all the woo-woo magical fluctuations at Divine's."

"Why wouldn't they?" 

He muttered something that I was pretty sure was Spanish his parents wouldn't have taught him.

New release sample: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF

 

"I can take my bike or the moped to the office and then ride with the truck carrying the signs and stakes and all that stuff. No problem."

"How close are they?" I tried to remember seeing a sign for Pi Surprise. They hadn't come into the Tattler to buy advertising yet. Which suddenly struck me as a little strange. All their advertising was either in the Plain Dealer, or stuffed into mailboxes. Nothing in the local paper. So how far away was their office?

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

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

Pete thought a moment, while I held my breath and told myself it was all right, nothing dangerous ever came into Neighborlee from Allenby. Darbyville, yes, but not Allenby.

"Across the street, so I guess Allenby. I saw the help wanted sign just about the time they were putting it up in the window. It's a new office, they moved here from Euclid, so I'll spend the first couple weeks just helping with renovating the office."

"Okay. Sounds good." I told myself I was hungry, it had been a long day at work, and Pete would make a good spy, to figure out if there was something not-quite-ordinary going on with Pi Surprise. Maybe someone was just out to make things difficult for an expanding business, moving those gnomes around.

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

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

Off the Bookshelf: THE VERY FIRST DAMNED THING and WHEN A CHILD IS BORN, by Jodi Taylor

 

Audiobooks, Audible Original

Narrated by Jodi Taylor and  Zara Ramm 

The Chronicles of St. Mary's

This is a delicious series of stories, some of them very short, about a time traveling group of historians in a future England. I was lucky enough to be resting my brain in between editing sessions and perusing the free section of Audible and found 2 half-hour pieces. Then I went back for MORE, and found lots more.

The Very First Damned Thing is listed as the long-awaited prequel to the series, detailing just how Dr. Bairstow got the funding for the St. Mary's project, before they even found the location, and how he recruited the leading members of the team. This is a near-future England where civil unrest has shattered the country and toppled the government and the people are still putting things back together.

I'm listing this story first, but it's really the third book I've listened to, so it was fun meeting "for the first time" characters I'd already seen in action in the previous stories. Actually, it might be more fun listening to this after enjoying several others, just because of the "Oh, yeah, so that's where he found them" sensation when people show up.

When a Child is Born was the first story I listened to. Lovely, short introduction to the whole premise of the series. Dr. Maxwell (Max) and her team are sent back in time to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror -- but of course, they never get there. Somehow, although they have the right time and location programmed into their pod, they land far away from the cathedral. They end up interfering in the fate of a peasant family -- because they can't just stand there and let a man bleed to death in the snow, and when they take him home, his wife is giving birth.  Max is the unlucky one who has to report their huge mistake to their leaders. Later, after much research, she learns that once again, the force of History itself intervened, to make sure they were at the right place at the right time, to make sure something further along in time did happen when it needed to happen.

Or at least, that's her theory ...

DO dive in and devour the series. I've listened to four so far, and there are so many more! Great fun.

New release sample: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF

 

"What was 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.

"Pi Surprise." He sighed, like he had gone through this a few times already in his mind, and practicing hadn't helped.

"Why would you want to do that? Especially after Gordon told us about all the complaints they've been getting."

"Because it has to be done really early in the morning --"

"I repeat, why would you want to do it? You're the one who doesn't run on solar batteries, remember?"

Getting up early to bomb someone's lawn with decorations was part of the package. It had to be done early, so the workers wouldn't get caught and sent away by the unwilling recipients of the embarrassment.

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

"Okay, that makes sense."

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

"Are you able to handle the work on your bike? Because I'm not getting up at four-dark-thirty to drive you around. I'm proud of you that you're being responsible for your expenses … and I can't believe I'm sounding more and more like …" I laughed.

"You were going to say you sound like Mum and Pop, but you don't, because they would never talk like that," he said, sinking down into the nearest chair with a big grin. 

"Just sounding like a parent. Man, is this what happens when there's a baby on the way? The air changes and does something to your brain so you start sounding like an adult?" I shook my head and held up a hand to stop him responding with whatever smart-aleck comeback was making him grin like that. "Okay, I'm proud 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. Not me."

Contest: CAN YOU FILK?

 All right -- first question: Do you know what FILKING is?

Basically, it's a fandom thing. People take a well-known tune and then put new words to it, about their favorite fandom, either a movie series, TV show, or book series.

I need YOU to put on your creative cap and do some filking for me.

You see these books to the left? The covers of the first two AFV DEFENDER books.

Book 3 is coming out in December (at least, that's the plan, I keep getting sidetracked from revisions and editing ...)

What's the TITLE for AFV Defender Book 3?

ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOATHED BEFORE

We kind of go backward in time and show you a few important episodes from M'kar's childhood and years at the Academy on Le'anka.

If you've read HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS, there's an episode that sort of gets glossed over, during which M'kar has an odd adventure on Nisandros, her homeworld, which she doesn't want to talk about. She promises to report to her captain later on the details, and refers to it as the "All The Boys I've Loathed Before incident."

Well, NOW's the time.

So what does this have to do with FILKING?

Write me the lyrics for this adventure -- M'kar dealing with some really arrogant, misguided, unreliable, disappointing, power-hungry, socially climbing jerks, who have tried to take advantage of either her telepathic Talent or her Nisandrian blood, her royal status, her diplomatic connections, for their own profit. 

What's your PRIZE?

Your choice of either all three books in ebook or audio (when I get them recorded, of course -- which I hope to have done in time for the release of ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOATHED BEFORE), or the new, third book in paper.

Check back here, and on the Ye Olde Dragon Books website blog for snippets of M'kar's story as I get them refined and polished, for help in writing the song -- and check the Ye Olde Dragon Books blog for  the rules and deadline.

Ready?

Set.

Let the silliness begin!

New release sample: SHRUNK: THE EXILE OF MAURICE

 

Holly sat on bench and Robin Hood knelt at her feet, trying to get hold of her hand. Not Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner or Cary Elwes, but suspiciously like the guy from the BBC version where Paul Darrow from Blake's 7 played the Sheriff. That just proved her very good taste. When Maurice walked through the sparkling hole in the hedge, she stopped resisting. Robin Hood got hold of her hand and raised it to his lips.

"Oh, please. This is getting really old." Mischief sparkled in her eyes as she watched Maurice approach.

He got a funny, hollow sensation in the pit of his stomach. How long had it been since someone was glad to see him?

"But, my darling..." Robin Hood whined.

"Aren't you forgetting somebody?" Maurice had to ask. For the fun of it, he swept off his cap again and bowed to Holly.

"Who are you?" Robin Hood barely glanced over his shoulder. "Begone. My lady and I wish to be alone."

"I'm not your lady." Holly yanked her hand free and stood up.

Robin Hood followed her as she circled the bench.

"The lady wants you to scram, so scram." Maurice stepped between them.

"I know not who you are," Robin Hood rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, "but you would be wise--"

"Yeah, that's me. The wise guy. That's how I got in this mess in the first place." He grabbed Robin by his shoulders and gave him a heave-ho though the closest hedge wall.

Holly laughed and applauded. "You have no idea what a nuisance he can be. If I don't get rid of him fast enough, Maid Marion shows up, and she fights dirty."

"But--" For a moment, he felt dizzy with the contradictions and questions colliding in his brain. "If you know this is a dream... You know you're in charge here, don't you?"

"I know, but if I use the power too much, all the magic goes away. It's more fun to follow the rules, you know? Figure things out the hard way. And I need all the magic I can get my hands on."

"Yeah, you and me both, kid." He bowed and offered her his bent arm again. "Shall we?" 

"Thank you, kind sir."

Off the Bookshelf: NEIL GAIMAN AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE, by Arvind Ethan David

 

Audiobooks, Audible Original

Performed by Neil Gaiman and Jewel Staite

Okay, this is a fun one. Because Neil Gaiman plays himself ... sort of ... in an audio drama written by someone else.

When an astronaut wakes up in the middle of an emergency, all the ship's functions are going crazy and all data has been erased and he has absolutely no memory, the computer voice tells him he is Neil Gaiman, and he's all alone. He has absolutely nothing to do except wait.

So he starts reading ... you guessed it: stories written by Neil Gaiman. And as he starts exploring through the stories, he starts thinking and living again.

Interesting little piece that ends far too soon, and provokes a lot of thought. I can't tell you any more because that would ruin the fun twists. It's only 30 minutes. Good for a walk around the block, or a trip to the post office and back. Worth the time. And you have to wonder just how much fun our hero had playing an amnesiac reading his stories and criticizing them and then changing his mind.

Coming release sample: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF

 

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

Once we had things set up to Loralee's liking, she and Cerb and Maurice headed out again. They were on patrol, after all, making sure that inimical forces on Earth didn't hear the lying siren song of Big Ugly like the Rivals had, and come 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, after she and Jake finished renovating their house and moved out. Sometimes I did miss that ridiculous espresso machine. The furniture in Harry's old room was simple, meant for guests. Pete moved the desk out, and we turned the dresser drawers upside down so they became stairs, so Loralee could climb up onto the bed. I had a few squeamish moments, imagining her giving birth and soaking the mattress. Well, it was a spare bed. I would worry about replacing a mattress when I needed to replace it, and not before.

Pete and I put some time in searching through my freezer and refrigerator, trying to figure out what to serve our guests for dinner. According to Maurice, Cerb and Loralee both liked ordinary Human food, and she had developed a taste for spicy cuisine in the last month. Great, a dog with a hankering for Szechuan or Mexican. It could have been worse. How would I explain a dog chowing down on pickles? Or chocolate? It was supposed to be poison in large quantities for dogs. 

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

New release sample: SHRUNK: THE EXILE OF MAURICE

 

They slowed to a walk when the trail brought them out onto the riverbank again. Maurice reached up and discovered he had a hat with a long feather in it. He tipped it grandly to her, then offered her his arm. Holly curtsied again and linked her arm through his, and they settled into a leisurely stroll along the water's edge.

"So, does this kind of thing happen a lot around here?" He would visit her dreams every night, if this was her pattern.

"It depends." She shrugged and reached up in the air. A butterfly appeared from thin air and landed on her finger, slowly fluttering its jewel-toned wings.

"On what?"

"How rotten the real world is and how much I need to bash somebody before I turn into an ax murderer in real life." She blew a kiss to the butterfly and it fluttered off her finger and away into the sunshine and shadows.

"Wait a minute! You know you're dreaming?"

"Is this a dream?" She tugged her arm free and darted away, laughing. She immediately vanished into a hedge maze that sprang up from the ground faster than a lightning flash.

Maurice grinned and dashed into the maze after her. "Hey, Holly, where are you?"

"Over here!" Her voice came through the greenery from straight ahead.

"Oh, yeah, that's a big help," he muttered.

He stumbled around five corners with no results before he got fed up. He raised his hands experimentally, because this wasn't his dream. Magic swirled thick and hot, buzzing around his fingertips. He snapped his fingers at the hedge wall in front of him. It vanished in a blue flash of light.

"That's more like it. I don't care if it's only a dream. It feels good to be up to full power again." He blasted the next hedge wall, then a third. He stumbled out into a rose arbor.

Off the Bookshelf: ODD THOMAS:: YOU ARE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER, by Dean Koontz

 

Audiobook, Audible

Narrated by David Aaron Baker

This short audiobook acts as a nice introduction to the character of Odd Thomas, a fry cook who can see the spirits of the restless dead.

The story starts with teenage Thomas and his sweetheart, Stormy Llewellyn, who just want to go to the carnival and have some fun. The restless spirit of Elvis hitches a ride in the back seat, but that's all right because Stormy is in the front seat and she can't see him anyway. It's a good thing Elvis is there, even though he can't talk to Thomas -- they have to communicate with signs -- because he's there to help the ghost of a recently murdered man who flags them down on the way to the carnival. Investigating what happened, and trying to satisfy the new ghost's hunger for justice gets in the way of the date. For a short time, anyway.

I've heard about Odd Thomas for years, and I keep meaning to pick up one of the books. I'm glad I picked up this one. More will follow. Someday ... when I excavate my way through my to-be-read piles, and piles, and piles ....