Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 68

New release sample: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ

 The sign out front promised whatever someone needed would be here. Did that meant everythinghad to be here? Jane grinned, wondering if "everything" could indeed be jammed into this house.

She frowned, when it struck her that the room and the aisles certainly seemed longer than should have fit into the house. At least, not the size of house she had glimpsed from the outside. Maybe it was just an optical illusion. With so much crammed in, it just seemed bigger than it really was.

It wasn't like space could be stretched to accommodate everything shoehorned in here. Could it? Sure, some of the members of Hoax had managed to stretch space and even stretch time when they were under a great deal of pressure, but they couldn't make it last.

Her wandering brought her to the main room. Another sigh, as she saw the marble-topped counter with the brass cash register and shelves full of apothecary jars, just like she remembered them.

Where was the Wishing Ball? Panic shot through her, like the first time she rose three feet off the ground without knowing quite how she did it.

"Welcome to Divine's Emporium." A woman stepped through the doorway behind her.

Jane turned around quickly.

Angela, the proprietor of the shop, hadn’t changed in the dozen-plus years since Jane had left Neighborlee. The same long waterfall of hair in dozens of shades of gold, with a hint of strawberry. The same intense, crystalline blue eyes. The same granny-style dress in a blue handkerchief print. Angela had the kind of figure that looked good in the semi-shapeless dress, neither model skinny nor buxom. Just right.

"Uh, hi... I'm—”

"I know you." Angela caught hold of Jane's hand and led her past the counter to a tall, skinny window. The Wishing Ball was right there on the corner, why hadn't Jane seen it?

New release sample: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ

 

Was the Wishing Ball still there? What would she wish for, if she could?

"That's easy," Jane muttered as she stepped off the sidewalk onto the flagstone path and through the wrought iron gate that stood open. "To escape Fendersburg."

She grinned at her silliness. She had to grin, or she might cry. Sometimes she absolutely hated the town of lazy, entitlement-attitude mental midgets she had to look after while trying to trick the Rivals into making mistakes so Hoax could identify them.

Then she was at the porch and the front door. She sighed in delight as she pushed the front door open. Bells chimed sweetly, almost like singing, and the sound faded slowly as she stepped down the short entry hallway. The sense of having walked into a familiar place wrapped around her. She smelled fruity scented candles, the dusty perfume of books, and chocolate. Freestanding display shelves invited her to browse a haphazard collection of figurines and decorative boxes, candles, dishes, and numerous other bright, colorful items she ignored as she let memory guide her feet. 

Divine's didn't stock all the trendy candy and gimmicks that cluttered the counters at other stores. No novelty candy shaped like aliens. No trading cards and dispensers shaped like garbage cans or cell phones. She saw candy bars and gum, hard candy and licorice whips and funny, funky shapes she hadn't seen since childhood. Jane wandered for a few minutes, looking at all the display boxes and jars. Dolls in lacy dresses, wooden toys, puzzles made of metal and string and wood, pinwheels and bottles of bubbles, sidewalk chalk, squirt guns, balloons, and other fragments of an innocent, happier time.

Off the Bookshelf: HOW TO DATE YOUR DRAGON, by Molly Harper

 

Audible Original

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis

Have I mentioned how much I love Mystic Bayou?

This is the first book in the series. Figures! I always seem to find  fun new series, and start in the middle somewhere.

This is the fantasy romance that started it all. Jillian Ramsay works for the League for Interspecies Cooperation, and her first field assignment is an enormous challenge: studying the residents of Mystic Bayou to find out just how for several generations the magical, mythical residents get along just fine, living pretty much in the open with their ordinary Human neighbors. The League needs to figure this out, because technology is making it harder than ever for magical creatures to hide evidence of their existence. They need to be prepared to handle the fallout when the news breaks.

There are a few not-so-minor problems facing Jillian from day one, starting with the Rift that seems to be leaking magic into the world, and causing people with no magic in their heritage to suddenly become magical creatures. Add in some residents who aren't exactly thrilled to be under the scrutiny of the League, or anyone else. And what might just be a serial killer -- and Jillian's interviews might just be tying the victims together. But the capper is the sheriff, Bael Boon. Is it a spoiler to tell you he's the dragon of the title? Well, it's pretty obvious within the first couple chapters, but I don't want to ruin the fun!

Love this fun, sometimes silly, clever little mystery and romance and romp through a modern-day magical world.

New release sample: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ

 "Wonder how much trouble I’d get into if I looked for people I knew … No. Don't be ridiculous." Jane sighed and quashed her grumbling. The last thing she needed was to be caught talking to herself. Even in a town that regularly produced odd incidents, she didn’t want to risk catching anyone’s attention. Or worse, being remembered. One of the first lessons Beau had taught her was to blend in, to avoid notice. To be a watcher, rather than the watched. The safe, responsible use of her Gift depended on it.

More memories crashed down on Jane as she turned the corner onto the street where Divine's Emporium sat near the dead end. Instead of the usual metal highway guardrail barrier at the high point of the slope, Neighborlee had a pretty wooden gate, and signs pointing to paths people could take to walk down to the park below. Jane studied the building as she walked down the street, remembering bits and pieces. The multiple shelves of penny candy in old apothecary jars. The big brass cash register. The book room. The vintage clothing room, where children could play dress up as much as they wanted. Funny, how it never occurred to Jane until now that adults who came into the shop during their play never seemed upset. Angela, the owner, protected their fun.

"The Wishing Ball," she whispered, and her steps slowed as she remembered the globe just about the size of a bowling ball, dark metallic rainbow swirls, sitting in a stand shaped like a coiled dragon. She had loved simply gazing into the Wishing Ball, on the counter next to the cash register. Jane had always imagined someday the soft swirling of colors in the ball would resolve into images that would answer the questions that haunted her young mind. Who her parents were, how they had lost her, so she had been found, a little more than a year old, sitting by the side of the road just inside Neighborlee's borders. Like the other children, Jane had made her share of wishes on the Wishing Ball. Many had come true, but they were easy wishes: what she wanted for Christmas, to pass an upcoming test, for the bullies to leave her alone.

New release sample: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ

 

Jane threw away the rest of her apple. She was careful to wrap up the brownie, though. Only a fool would throw away three inches by three inches of fudgy chocolaty goodness with frosting as thick as the brownie itself. She might need the comfort of that brownie after she visited Divine's Emporium.

She remembered how to get there, like she had built-in GPS. A big olive and gold Victorian house on a dead-end street overlooking the slope down into the park. Jane dredged up memories of Divine's as she walked the few blocks over there. Outings to town were treats at the orphanage. She remembered competing with the other girls to hold their housemother's hand as they walked from their cottage to the curiosity shop. Or better yet, to hold the hand of Mrs. Silvestri, the orphanage administrator, when she took children into town for shopping excursions or to play in the park or go to a play at the college.

Funny, how easy it was to remember all those little things now, when up until this visit, it felt like her life hadn't really started until Beau and Demetrius took her to the Sanctum. Not that the Old Poops would ever employ memory-wiping. 

Off the Bookshelf: FAITHLESS IN DEATH, by J.D. Robb

 

In Death series.

Futuristic suspense

Dallas and Roarke are back, just days after their latest adventure and close brush with vindictive revenge.

This time the quest for justice for a murder victim, and to identify the killer and the motive, could be ripped from recent headlines. Racism, misogyny, self-righteousness, abuse of the innocent, and brutes wearing masks of benevolence and spirituality, twisting philosophy and scripture to justify their crimes.

Investigating the murder of an up-and-coming artist leads Dallas quickly to the doorstep of her prime suspect, and the theory that the murder took place to protect the killer's public image. How can you help but suspect the prime witness who lies so consistently to the police? Then strangely, it appears the prime suspect's claims to be a victim herself might be true. But only partly.

In the end, we're responsible for the choices we make, even when we think we have no choices, that we do the vile things we do to survive. While the first suspect didn't do the deed, she was responsible because of the choices she made.

The story takes place in only a few days. I could not put the book down -- I read it in one day. Haven't pulled an up-past-2am read-a-thon in a long time. Worth it!

New release sample: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ

 Jane had chafed, waiting for the day her teachers would give her the duty of testing Neighborlee. She had a talent for sensing when a Gift was being used. Just last summer, she had helped locate a girl in Sydney, Australia, who had started manifesting her Gift at age nine. Demetrius and Beauregard had brought her along to investigate. She had befriended the frightened child and convinced her that being able to manipulate water like clay didn’t make her a freak or dangerous.

That had been far more satisfying than the last five years assigned to Fendersburg, the town the Old Poops had put under her care. Jane understood the necessity of generating “odd” occurrences to draw the attention of the Rivals, trick them into making mistakes, to identify and trap them. Her Ghost talent was perfect for the task, allowing her to be in the middle of activities in town while staying entirely anonymous, so the Rivals would never guess she was the bait, even if she talked to them face-to-face. The problem was that Fendersburg’s population seemed to be getting more lazy and shed more I.Q. points as time went on. She wanted something more challenging and meaningful. Just how long could she play “catch me if you can” with the Rivals before they gave up and left Fendersburg alone?

Jane paused in mid-crunch and had a hard time swallowing the last bite of her apple. Thinking about going back to that antithesis of Mayberry had just killed her appetite. On the surface, Fendersburg looked a lot like Neighborlee: small town, business district measured in blocks, not miles; weekly newspaper, Mom & Pop businesses. Everybody knew everybody else's business. Underneath... Neighborlee didn't have a suspected inbreeding problem. Here, people cared about good personal hygiene, and everybody graduated from high school and at least tried to go to college. No Gifted child would ever appear in Fendersburg. Most of her duties entailed protecting the town from itself. 

That sense of being wasted, of having a useless job, made this visit to Neighborlee feel like a treat. Other than the Sanctum and her little apartment in Fendersburg, this was the only other home she had ever had. Ten years in the Neighborlee Children's Home. She had been happy there. She had friends. What happened to those friends? Did they remember her? She had been a quiet child, with a talent for blending into the background and being unnoticed, even before she discovered her Gift.

New Release: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ, Neighborlee Book 6

 

Jane Wilson disappeared when she was a child. When she learned to make herself invisible, her teachers made her disappear from Neighborlee Children's Home. And just in time, too -- before some nasty folks known only as the Rivals tried to take her away, to turn her into a weapon.

 

Years later, she used her semi-pseudo-superhero powers to become the Ghost, defender of the little town of Fendersburg. The plan was to attract the attention of the Rivals, and lure them into a trap. Unfortunately, the people of Fendersburg got lazy, and soon grew so dependent on the Ghost to fix all their problems, they stopped thinking for themselves.

 

So Jane quit being the Ghost. In the wake of the odd events during the holidays in Neighborlee, she returned to her roots. 

Her mission:

Find out what happened to all the Lost Kids who lived in Neighborlee Children's Home.

Find out what the Rivals are looking for in Neighborlee.

Find the guardians.

Out NOW, in Print and Ebook, from Ye Olde Dragon Books

Off the Bookshelf: THE STORY OF WITH, by Allen Arnold

 

Subtitle: A Better Way to Live, Love and Create

A few weeks ago, Realm Makers had an online retreat with Allen Arnold as our teacher. He worked from this book. I bought and read With two years ago, but I needed to read it again. And some of my friends have recommended re-reading it on a regular basis.

This is that type of book, half teaching and half story, that you need to keep reading because you learn something different each time, building on what you learned before.

The "story" is the journey of Mia, who has been disappointed and blocked time and again through her life, kept from following her heart, kept from pursuing the things she loves to do, for the sake of so-called "reality." On a day when several personal disasters strike her all in a row, she ends up out of gas, on foot, lost in the woods, and stumbles on a house where the woman who lives there, Iona, has apparently been waiting for her. She sends Mia on a journey of discovery, in her heart and soul and imagination.

Behind Mia's story of risk and fear and creativity is the simple and yet incredibly complex message that the only way to be truly creative, to follow our hearts, to live life to the fullest, is to do it WITH God. Not creating and serving FOR God, but in partnership WITH Him.

Honestly, in just a week, the simple exercise Allen recommended has been making a change already in me. What is it?

First thing in the morning, ask God, "What do You have planned for us to do together today, Lord?" I'm not saying the answer will be fast or obvious, but just asking sets the tone for the day.

Stand back and watch what happens.

New release sample: NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF

 “Mata Hari must be pretty bad, huh?”

“You know how in Buffy, the vampires are always so gorgeous and fun, then right before they sink their teeth into you, they turn really ugly? Lanie? Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick.”

“Close.” No way was I going to admit we had something else in common. With my luck, he’d invite himself to the annual Buffy marathon with Felicity, Mandy, and a few other girls from the ship. I made a mental note to tell them not to tell the Evil Overlord.

“Maybe you should go home. Can you work from home? Can I give you a ride?”

“Aren’t you supposed to butter me up before I give you what you want?” I should have called in sick.

“You are my best friend.”

“No, I’m your commodore who doesn’t want to lose my new communications officer by having you move to Singapore to get away from Mata Hari. How did you ever get linked up with her, that she thought you two were a couple?”

“It started when we were kids. Granddad rented a house here in town one summer.” He leaned back, frowning at me.

“What? What did I do?”

“You probably know her. I think she’s your age.”

“Oh … man …” I fought down another surge of nausea. “Sylvia Grandstone?” I tried to laugh when he nodded. Maybe I hadn’t been hallucinating, catching glimpses of Sylvia? “My condolences. I grew up with her. She did the town a big favor when she ran off to Hollywood and hasn’t looked back since.”

“Warning, she’s back in town, gunning for a June wedding.”

“I have some friends in the military who can probably get you into Witness Protection.”

Daniel’s grin looked a little more normal.