Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 7

QUIZ: Night of the Living Proof , part of the Visitors' Guide to Neighborlee, Ohio

 Listen to Chapter 1 of NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF on the Ye Olde Dragon's Library storytelling podcast, either on the YeOldeDragonBooks.com website or on your favorite podcasting app. Then, answer these questions, send your answers to 2OldeDragons@gmail.com, and earn points toward free books! Your deadline: May 31.

 

1.    Whatdid Lanie get that she shouldn't have, that made her scratch?

2.    Whatdid she want to ask Harry to get from Angela for her, while he was out runningerrands?

3.    Whywas London trying to find Kurt, and why did she ask Lanie for help finding him?

4.    Whatdidn't Felicity get for Christmas from Jake?

5.    Whatdid Stephanie's death and Lanie's broken back prove about the energysurrounding Neighborlee?

6.    Whowas waiting at Divine's when Lanie and Felicity went there, the day afterChristmas?

7.    Whatdid Lanie think was in her neck? What other possibility caused the reaction inher neck?

8.    Whatdid the doctor think was bothering Lanie? What was its intention?

9.    Whathappened to Hayward when he was sixteen? What choices was he given by the twoold men? What did he choose?

 

Excerpt: NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 5

 “What areyou doing here?” I nearly forgot to grab at my wheels to keep from slidingbackwards down the ramp.

Havingthe new owner show up before the office was officially open for business wasodd enough to be suspicious.

“Goodmorning, Daniel. Did you have a nice Christmas? Yes, thanks, how was yours,Lanie?” He gave me that crooked grin too similar to my brothers’ when they werehiding something.

I echoedhim obediently, which got a chuckle from him, and wheeled into the building. Ipaused and wobbled my chair from side to side (getting a wide-eyed look ofshock and admiration from Daniel) to knock the sludge off the wheels, onto theentryway mat.

“So whatare you doing here? Hiding from something?” I had to ask.

“Whatmakes you say that?” he asked just a little too quickly.

Guilt.Sure sign of it.

“Youdon’t have to be here. You don’t need to be here. Especially on a Friday, whenthere’s probably tons of work to do at your own office. Therefore, unusualcircumstances.” I led the way up the ramp to the level where my desk sat. The Tattleroffice occupied all four units in a row of buildings, with the common wallsknocked out years ago. I maneuvered as I always did through the detritus from yesterday’sdelivery crises. No chance of seeing his face when I made my Sherlockiandeductions. Which might have been a mercy stroke for him.

“Maybe I want to seehow the newest member of the company is doing, as we get ready to step into anew year?” His usual confident, pleasant expression was back on his nicelysquare-cut face when I turned around. I had to wonder if I mistrusted him morebecause he was good-looking than because he took away my beloved sports beatand stuck me with the lovelorn advice column, Talk to Terry.

Excerpt: NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 5

 Thereought to be a law against a workday landing between Christmas and the weekend. Iknew what waited for me. The half-awake feeling of the day after a holiday atthe newspaper office. Everyone straggling in, fighting thedon’t-I-get-a-holiday-too pokiness of the computers. The computers at ouroffice made me believe in animism—inorganic objects having sentience. Forinstance, in college, my adviser celebrated the first snowfall of the seasonthrowing snowballs at the window of the Humanities dean … until one snowballbroke it. When we had a freeze two days later, the only pipes on the entireWillis-Brooks College campus that froze and broke were in his office. Animism.

My brainstill churned over our breakfast conference, the poisoned dart in my neck, and theadrenaline rush of having had my life threatened. I could have claimed someinvalid status, either physical or emotional. But no, I had responsibilitybranded into my genetic structure by my parents. Which was weird, consideringwhat hippies they were.

So withheavy heart and slushy gloves, I pushed my chair through the sludge filling theparking lot and up the ramp to the office door. And nearly got brained by thedoor when Daniel pushed it open just as I was reaching for the handle.

Yes, Ihad finally gotten into the habit of calling him Daniel instead of the EvilOverlord. Honestly, how could I hate a fellow Trekker who was anot-so-secret-anymore fan of my comedy?

Did someone say FREE BOOKS?

 I'm participating in a giveaway at King Sumo for the fairytale anthology series at Ye Olde Dragon Books.

The first fairytale anthology, WHEN YOUR BEAUTY IS THE BEAST, with stories all based on Beauty & the Beast, has been delisted as of May 1.

This giveaway -- for both print and ebooks -- will give away the first 5 fairytale anthologies, to say farewell to Beauty and welcome the piggies.

Here's your chance to enter, one last chance to claim Beauty!!

Entering the giveaway puts your name on a list to go to all the participating authors, to add you to their newsletters for sneak previews of books, cover art, works-in-progress, giveaways, public appearances, and more fun stuff!

New Featured Book in the Visitors' Guide to Neighborlee: NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF

 

Nightof the Living Proof

Theshadows from Lanie's past continue to haunt her and her friends as Neighborleemoves from Christmas to New Year's Eve. Something or someone is tampering withthe magical defenses of the town. Things and people disappear and reappear,with no explanation, and gaps in memories and time. An age-old nemesis isgathering its strength for another attempt to shatter the door that Divine'sEmporium holds shut.

SylviaGrandstone returns, and she's got her sights set on Daniel, Lanie's new boss.It's the same old Grandstone scheme to gain power and wealth by any meanspossible, including marriage. It would be easy to blame Sylvia for the newproblems and mysteries, applying the Jessica Fletcher theory of crime-solving:the most famous guest artist is the murderer. However, Sylvia's years inHollywood never got her anywhere near star status, and no one would everbelieve she could be a criminal mastermind. Or so the guardians would like tobelieve.

As NewYear's Eve approaches at Eden, the Neighborlee community center, thedisappearances and time gaps increase. Instead of trying to convince townofficials to cancel the New Year's Eve party, the guardians prepare for ashowdown, and brace themselves to do what they have always done: defend thepeople of Neighborlee from the outside world, and defend the outside world fromthe magic and wonder and general weirdness that is Neighborlee, Ohio.

 

 

Firsty Freebie: SUMMER SONG, A Tabor Heights novella, sequel to FIRESONG

 

Why is this month's FREE short story a Tabor Heights story?

Because ....

FIRESONG is my new release this month. The next story in the Tabor Heights small town romance series releases TODAY from Mt. Zion Ridge Press.

If you go to Ye Olde Dragon Books, you can get the ebook or audiobook at a discount.

SUMMER SONG, is the sequel, a little more than a year after the events of FIRESONG.

Here are your links to get either the ebook or the audiobook FREE, today: 

Audio:  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/mbxho5njrz

Ebook:  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/vzya8hdo4t

 

What are they about? Well, music, first of all. FIRESONG is the singing group that my heroine, Dani Paul, and her brother and cousins have formed. They're on the verge of breaking out into the big time. They have a new manager. They're preparing to professionally record a CD. But the big time isn't all it's cracked up to be, and when they're forced to choose between their faith and their principles, and what their manager wants ... they face losing everything.

In SUMMER SONG, Dani faces more choices, and more threats, and she's feeling a little impatient when it comes to her romantic relationship with the boy from her past who returned to her life. Success isn't exactly how she imagined it to be. She thought she was ready for some sacrifices, but now she isn't so sure.

Love changes everything.

Excerpt: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished), Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 4

 

I slumped in mychair, feeling like someone had pulled a plug and I was deflating like apunctured waterbed. "How long have they been missing?"

"I'msorry."

"How long?"

"What'sup?" Pete demanded, joining us. He saw Felicity two seconds after hestumbled in, dressed in threadbare boxers with purple hearts on them. Heshrieked and dashed into the laundry room, just off the kitchen, and emerged afew seconds later with a bath towel wrapped around his hips. To add insult toinjury, Felicity was too busy watching me to notice Pete's condition.

"How long havemy parents been missing?" I demanded again, choking on the words.

"Twoweeks," he admitted on a sigh.

"And you've beenlooking for them all this time?"

"If Mum and Popdidn't want anybody to find them for some reason, nobody could find them,"Harry growled. He glared at me when I signaled him for silence, then sank intothe nearest available chair. Fortunately, it didn't have any of Felicity's looton the seat.

"When I havemore information, I'll contact you," Hayward said. "Don't stir up anymore trouble than there already is by calling here or the hotel they were lastat. Understand?"

"Oh, Iunderstand far more than you might imagine."

"Lanie… I'm sorry. They'remy friends." Another sigh. "I didn't even know the military wastrying to ride on the coattails of their research until after they werereported as missing."

"If that's aploy to try to find out what we know—"

"Your parentsare my friends. Trust me, all right?" He waited, while I tried to findwords, and swallow down the sharp-edged block that filled my throat."Lanie?"

"We don't reallyhave any choice, do we?"

"I'll contactyou as soon as I can." Then he hung up before I could respond.

Excerpt: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished), Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 4

 

"Hi,Colonel." My voice shook for half a second. Hearing from the military,even if that particular officer was a good friend of my folks, could not be agood thing. "What's up?"

"You're gettinga registered letter today. I thought I'd prepare you. As a friend.Unofficially."

"Officially,"I said, forcing ice into my voice, "my folks aren't working with the militarythis time."

"Things don'talways work out the way we want them to."

"What does thegovernment want with my folks' investigation of electromagnetic fluctuationsaround the Bermuda Triangle?"

"We won't knowuntil we figure out what we saw."

"Meaningwhat?"

"Exactly that.No one is sure what happened. All I can tell you is that your folks…vanished.They're officially listed as missing, reason unknown."

"What were theydoing?"

"No one knowsyet. There's nothing to analyze."

"What do youmean, nothing?" My voice got loud enough to trigger a thud from down thehall. About five seconds later, Harry stumbled into the kitchen, holding up hissweatpants with the broken drawstring and trying to pull a Willis-Brooks CollegeT-shirt down into place. He must have remembered that Felicity had threatenedto invade, first thing this morning.

"They weren'tmeasuring anything. No equipment. Nothing indicated in the notebooks we foundin their room at the hotel." The frustration in Hayward's voice cutthrough the churning in my head and gut. "Those on-site are trying toblame the stormy seas and freak weather patterns. Considering your parentsweren't anywhere near the water, that doesn't do us much good."

"No signs of astruggle? No explosion? What were they working on?"

"As far as Iknew, they hadn't started working yet."

Video: Sneak Peek at the next book in the Visitors' Guide to Neighborlee, Ohio.

 

NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF

Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 5.

Check back later in May for the quiz to earn points toward free books.

Listen to chapter 1 on Ye Olde Dragon's Library storytelling podcast starting May 1, then answer the quiz questions.

Come on, it'll be fun!

Excerpt: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished), Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 4

 

The three of us weregrateful that we hadn’t been discovered and snatched away, because Neighborleeneeded us. We were also kind of ticked that more Lost Kids hadn’t been left tohelp carry the burden. That was part of why we were looking for others like us.

About the time Ibroke my back, we decided it was time to expand our search beyond the bordersof our town. Were there other towns in the U.S. and scattered throughout theworld where other abandoned children showed up and did the Superboy routine?Who made those other potential semi-pseudo-superhero kids vanish?

Not to start soundinglike a sulky little brat who didn't get chosen for the school play, but howcome they didn't take us?

True, Kurt's gift formechanical wizardry wasn't splashy, and Felicity's talents with dogs, changingher appearance, and killing electronics were easily hidden with believableexplanations. I had always been careful to do my flying/gliding where most peoplewouldn't see me. But if someone had the power and connections to snatch otherkids away, how come they'd never noticed us?

Maybe we felt morethan a little left out.

"Whoknows?" I said to Felicity, who was rearranging her loot. About then Ithought I heard movement coming from my brothers' rooms, and took a look downthe hall. No signs of life yet. Well, it was only 9:30, and we had been up latewith pizza, and it wasn't like anyone had homework to worry about until Sundaynight.

Correction: I hadhomework. My first Talk to Terry column.

Lord, now would be agood time for the Rapture. Please? I'd settle for an alien invasion.

Remembering theroller coaster of good and bad news from the day before, I brought Felicityup-to-date while we dove into examining the rest of her loot. I got as far asdescribing the first request for lovelorn advice, when the landline phone rang.I headed for the shelves holding the phone and answering machine. Naturally,the outgoing message played before I got to it.

"Lanie, this isCol. Hayward." It was a gravely male voice. "Please pick up thephone. This isn't something I want to leave on an answering machine."

I yanked withbrainpower when I was still two feet away from the phone, and nearly clockedmyself across the cheekbone with the receiver before I could grab the handle.