R.A. Evans's Blog, page 17

More Authors Announced for 7 Deadly Questions

Word is spreading about my 7 Deadly Questions author interview series and I'm happy to announce the roster of upcoming interviewees.

On Wednesday, March 16th Julia Madeleine will be my guest. Julia's thriller No One To Hear You Scream is scheduled for release in June 2011, and will soon be available for pre-order on Amazon. Julia's first novel Scarlet Rose is now available in ebook format as well as hard copy. She's an author with a very dark side and I'm certain you'll find her interview very entertaining and her thriller's frighteningly addictive.

On March 23rd I'll be featuring the writing team of Maria Savva and Jason McIntyre. The unlikely pair churned out one of the best short stories I've read in some time, Cutting The Fat.  Indie authors will be especially delighted by their tale of revenge as a book reviewer receives his just deserts.

On March 30th Steve Umstead, a good friend and very talented writer, will be the subject of 7 Deadly Questions. His debut sci-fi thriller Gabriel's Redemption has garnered attention on various fronts and is being discussed as one of the best books of 2011 on Goodreads.

In April, Joanna Penn will be put to the test as she answers 7 Deadly Questions. Joanna's thriller Pentecost is lighting up Amazon. Joanna may be best known for her widely-followed and hugely-helpful blog – The Creative Penn. I am honored to have her participating in my author interview series.

I'll be announcing additional authors in the very near future. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out these authors and their books. If there's a specific question you would like me to pose to any of these authors, please contact met via twitter @raevanswrites.

I would be remiss if I didn't plug my own thriller, Asylum Lake. Praised by critics and readers alike, dive into the mystery of Asylum Lake now before its chilling sequel Grave Undertakings is unearthed in May. CLICK HERE to dive in!

Guest Post by Author Jennifer Hudock: Writing for my Young Adult Reader

Editor's Note: When I asked Jennifer if she would be interested in a guest post here on my blog she gave me the usual response – "What's the topic?" I never know how to reply to this for fear that I will suggest something completely out of bounds or just plain uninteresting. Fortunately, Jennifer sent me an email just a short while later with the idea of writing about how she has undertaken the challenge to write a YA piece with her YA daughter in mind. I hope you enjoy reading about her experience as much as I did.

 

Everything I've ever written has been written because it was a book I wanted to read, but couldn't find anywhere else, but recently my perspective shifted. I have a sixteen-year-old daughter who loves to read, and since she was a tween on the verge of Twilight mayhem, we've been swapping books. I've discovered a lot of fantastic reads, thanks to her, many of which I might never have learned about on my own.

My husband recently signed a contract with his publisher to write his first young adult novel, but before that I'd been toying around with writing something young adult too. I wanted to write a story my daughter and I could share, but so many of the storylines are riddled with vampires and werewolves and wizards, oh my! I didn't want to just write the same type of thing we'd read together a hundred times.

One afternoon she came home from school, and I said, "I want to write a young adult urban fantasy for us."

She got excited and said, "Ooh. Ooh! You should write about vampires."

I refrained from wrinkling my nose in front of her because I know how much she loves the bloodsuckers. "Maybe, but I was thinking something like this."

It was her turn to crunch her nose up and sneer at me, but she nodded and said, "Sounds cool. Have fun with that."

Not exactly the excitement I was hoping for, but then I reminded myself that I wasn't just going to write this book for her. I was also writing it for me. Despite her lukewarm reaction to the plot, I sat down and started writing the first chapter and by the time I got the end of that chapter, I was pretty happy with what came out.

During a recent job-shadowing experience she signed up for at school, she got to spend the entire day following me around my home office to see what a day in the life of an author was like. As we wound down our final hour of job-shadowing, I asked if she wanted to read the YA book I had started. She answered with the same lack of enthusiasm she showed when I first told her about the idea, but shrugged and said, "Yeah, okay."

I slid my laptop over to her and went downstairs to change my clothes. By the time I'd come back, she'd finished and was eagerly pressing the arrow key down, down, down looking for the next chapter.

"What do you mean, that's it? Where's the rest? I want to read it."

"Did you like it?"

"Well, duh! You better finish it so I can read the whole thing," she warned.

And as she sauntered off to fill the rest of her afternoon with non-Mom things, I couldn't help the giddy anticipation inside me. I'd managed to excite one of the pickiest YA readers on the planet with my first chapter. There's nothing on earth that'll ever beat that feeling… well, maybe her reaction once it's finished. At least I hope so.

About Jennifer

Jennifer Hudock is an author, poet and freelance writer from Northeastern Pennsylvania. She holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from Bloomsburg University, and enjoys writing in a variety of styles from dark fantasy and horror, to drama and creative nonfiction.

She has been writing for nearly twenty-four years, and has been published in zines like Strange Horizons, eMuse, The Watershed, had one of her short stories appear in Library of the Dead's Book of the Dead: A Zombie Anthology, and has upcoming work to appear in two Library of the Living Dead Press anthologies.

Her first full-length novel, The Goblin Market, is currently available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. For more information about Jennifer Hudock, including updates on upcoming fiction, visit her official website: The Inner Bean.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

This new career as an blogger is sure taking off! Sadly, its not exactly the career path I had hoped to be venturing down. In my efforts to promote myself and my novels I've taken a left turn into becoming a book reviewer, author interviewer, and publicist. Not only is it cutting into my writing time, but its also impacted my family – something they didn't sign on for and definitely do not deserve.

So what does this mean? Well, for starters, it means you'll be seeing a lot less of me around this blog. I've been posting something new each day – sometimes multiple posts – and that's just too much. As for twitter and facebook – well, consider me on hiatus from those, too.

I've scheduled some wonderful authors for 7 Deadly Questions and their interviews will still appear each Wednesday. Additionally, guests will continue to make appearances offering their tips, promote their work, and just plain entertain you.

In the meantime, feel free to drop me a line at the email below.

Katie John Guest Post: A stern talking to my previous naive self

Feel free to eavesdrop as I beat myself repeatedly over the head – it might just help you not make the mistakes I did.

So you've got a great idea and quite a skill for writing. You've got the dedication and the passion for telling the story and that surely must be it. The secret to all of this publishing lark is surely a matter of pure talent and literary genius. Sadly not. The rejection letters are flowing like a small river through your letterbox and with each one you're convincing yourself that it doesn't matter, they just didn't get your work; that your synopsis could never hope to convey the immensity of your project.

This was where I was six months ago. Boy have I had a learning curve…no, maybe right angle might be a more accurate assessment.

Now there are those in the writing world who are as the myth goes, plucked from relative obscurity and catapulted to international success and we can all name them, and we can all name them because it is such a rarity that it's newsworthy – myth making.

Now, I have read quite a few blogs that are a little churlish at the unfairness of the publishing industry and this not only makes a writer look unprofessional and burn their possible future bridges, but it also demonstrates the slightly naive place I was in six months ago, with my romantic notions of literary discovery.

What Have I learned on my Rocky Road?

That publishing houses are businesses (and that doesn't make them evil). They have to ensure that they have a PRODUCT that is guaranteed to sell enough copies to at least make them quits from the tens of thousands of pounds they put into publishing a novel. When they are approached by a writer who has never written anything before – regardless of whether their manuscript is a potential best seller or not – they are of course going to be immediately completing a mental risk assessment. And by God was I risky.

I sent of my manuscripts for The Knight Trilogy, when in truth, although I passionately believe in my work, I had nothing to back me up.

What should I have had before even thinking about approaching a publisher?

Testimonials – Accredited testimonials, not notes from your mum and sister – send out PDF to the brilliant and varied book bloggers out there in cyberspace. If anybody is going to give you a positive wake up call about aspects of your book, it's going to be them. I can't tell you how much I have learnt and developed as a writer because of these wonderful book lovers.

Make sure you diligently copy and paste all reviews, comments and URLs of features on to word documents.

A properly edited / proofread manuscript – okay school-boy error, but at the end of the day, it costs and most of us are not rolling in cash. I should have not been quite so wrapped up in having finished writing a novel to see the woods for the trees. (I did spend at least a year doing three revisions and two months checking it – but it still had errors because you go actually go blind to your own errors.)


A fully operating and interactive website – Your website is a way to show off how much hard work you are willing to commit to your work. Also everything about it communicates your concept and you as a writer. BEWARE, an agent or publisher will have your site deconstructed and analysed within minutes. Really ensure that it is going to impact in the right way. Think BRANDING, use of consistent colour and image to genre, market and audience across all of your media platforms – this doesn't mean you can't build a diverse range of sites and platforms but think of them as a family unit, not separate projects.

Internet coverage – before most publishers even look at a manuscript, they Google you. When I did this on myself six months ago I was mortified to find the obituary of a wonderful 90 year old lady.

Think of it this way – it is your job to clutter up as much of Google's first three pages with your name and books as possible. I am currently running at three sides of Google litter = RESULT!

Create yourself – this doesn't mean to your own self be [un]true, it means get yourself an appealing photo, work on a short bio for blogs, be funny but clearly communicating your genre. Take the best, most interesting bits of you and make sure you foreground them.

Now some might disagree but I think it is a good thing to display a personal personality in social networking – it's meant to be less formal, sometimes show your playful self, your caring self, give a little (BUT not too much). Remember always YOU are your books, and the readers trust you and have slightly idealised expectations. Don't swear. Don't moan. Don't be political- unless that is specifically your bag.

Now this sounds a little like a lecture, and it is, but not to you but to myself. I only hope it helps you before you make some of the embarrassingly silly mistakes I did.

So wishing you good luck, many happy readers, satisfaction in a job well done and maybe even film rights.

Feel free to take a meander around my website http://theknighttrilogy.com which is a doorway into all the other projects. Some of the toggles in the navigation bar go to other sites which as writers you may find interesting.

About Katie John

Katie lives in Middlesex with an incredibly handsome giant, a two foot fairy (that likes muddy puddles and wrestling) and a magic rabbit that can pull conjurers out of hats. Her favourite thing, apart from pistachio macaroons, is writing.

She is the author of the highly-reviewed The Knight Trilogy. You can follow her online at www.theknighttrilogy.com

7 Deadly Questions with author Luke Romyn

1. On the surface, your novel THE DARK PATH has all the makings of a classic tale of good vs evil, but after sitting down with your book I realized you've really blurred the lines. Talk to me about good vs evil and how you let them play out in THE DARK PATH?

Nothing is ever clear cut in the real world; the villain from one perspective is quite often the hero from another, so why should a novel be any different. If the enemy is evil, able to play outside of the rules, why would the opposition try to find someone who is squeaky-clean and morally virtuous?

Vain is the perfect person to go up against the forces he has to, unbound as he is to the ridiculous beliefs which would make a lesser man falter when the time came for action. Nobody else could step into Hell itself, calmly converse with Satan, and then make off with the one object which might help him survive against the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and he does it with a certain amount of panache, endearing him to the reader.

2. I've always connected with the anti-hero in stories and you've created a great one in VAIN. I can only imagine how much fun it is to write a hero with a dark side. Did you find it difficult to reconcile this dichotomy within VAIN?

Not at all, I simply likened it to my own internal conflicts of personality, and those I assume every person has. Nobody is pure, regardless of their best efforts; in Vain this separation is merely more defined, and the clash between the opposing aspects of his nature is much more pronounced.

The initial creation of Vain was the hardest thing, delving deep into the darkness of my own nature, dredging up the most horrific nuances of what makes up me. I had to go into a very nasty place and then, much like Vain does in the novel, I needed to come out of that place, finding the brighter aspects of the story along the way and using him to deal with them in spite of his conflicting emotions.

3. With so many spiritual overtones, can you talk about how religion and spirituality have influenced your life and writing?

I was raised in a Catholic household and went to private Catholic schools, so religion was always around me, but my parents never forced it down my throat, for which I am grateful.

Religion is a wonderful thing in the right hands, but it is often misused and confused. I like the themes I have used in my book, but I can't forget being refused entry into the Vatican for the clothes I was wearing and wondering if this is what a religion created by a man living in rags wearing sandals would have wanted. I also have trouble forgetting the convicted pedophile teaching at my school who was kept employed despite complaints from my fellow classmates.

I love God and always will, but the ones who screech loudest in His name often give me the shits.

4. From your bio I see that you've worked for years in the security industry. Sounds like you've had some wild experiences. How have you used those experiences to your advantage as a writer?

Working as I have has really drawn me through a wringer of experiences due to the diversity of places I've worked and things I've had to do. Nightclubs are an incredible place to learn about human behavior – especially aggressive behavior and how it is contested. Fear is also prevalent prior to the anger, and the fight or flight response is so hard to combat when it's right in your face that only being there and experiencing it could give insight into what to do. Bodyguard work shows another side of things with the potential of focused, dangerous individuals as opposed to the random violence of a spontaneous brawl.

So basically what I'm saying is I've been in the thick of it. I've been involved in over a thousand fights and have seen some of the worst human behavior imaginable; from drive-by shootings to people stabbing each other over a game of pool to drug users trying to chew off other people's noses. I've associated with criminals who have done some truly detestable crimes and seen beyond that to their human side. I went so deep down the rabbit hole it seemed impossible for me to come back… but somehow I did.

5. What's the last book you read and why did you choose it?

The last book I read was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Despite simply loving the Harry Potter series, I find the way J.K. Rowling creates her characters and develops the story around them incredibly simple and yet awesomely effective. At the moment I'm working on a trilogy based around the same concept – hugely character-driven – and as such I like to read as much stuff like that in order to research the writing style and put my mind in the right frame in order to do what I need it to do. It's pointless for me to read an action-driven story if I want my characters to be the main focus of a novel, and the same is true vice-versa. Even though my storyline is nothing like the Harry Potter series, while I'm writing as such I'll continue to read her books over and over, each time picking up a tiny nuance I can use in regards to speech or something else.

In a way it saddens me that I can no longer simply immerse myself in a great book without analyzing it, but this is the only way to learn how to be a better writer. In another book I was writing I needed massive landscapes of description and so I started reading the Thomas Covenant Chronicles by Stephen Donaldson who created some phenomenal lands through his six novels about a man with leprosy. I tend to avoid Stephen King since his work is immensely imagination driven – whilst also being great writing, don't get me wrong – but I have my own ideas flowing when I write and his are just so off the wall I don't want to get confused.

6. As a fellow horror writer I understand the stigma that sometimes attached itself to you; some people just refuse to believe that you don't have severed heads in your fridge! Time to reveal the softer side – what one hobby or interest would readers be most surprised by about you?

Unfortunately I'm not simply a horror writer, I'm also a reformed hired-goon, and so with such a double-whammy against me it's hard to find a softer side, but I'll try.

I spend a lot of time studying philosophy, trying to find my place in the universe amid the disharmony of my life. Simple things like walking with my wife at sunset bring me a certain amount of peace, although it is an uncertain peace, easily shattered, and so it is often short-lived. My meditation is usually found in the gym, training with weights. I have always said this is how I maintain my focus, but such a thing is hardly the softer side you asked about, so I'll search deeper.

Hmm. Not sure if this is what you're after, but it's the best I've got. At one point in my life, many years ago, I reached rock-bottom. I was doing some terrible stuff and had pretty much lost the plot with my drinking and violent tendencies. I seriously wanted to change my life, but had no idea how, and so I asked God.

It wasn't a prayer so much as a plea. Your earlier question probably made it clear about my thoughts on traditional religion, but my faith in God has always been strong. And so I begged Him for help, asking for three things: a good job, a better place to live and someone to love me. The next week I got offered a new job and my friend asked me to move in with him exactly where I wanted to live.

And I met my future wife….

7. Where can people learn more about you and your work?

My website is constantly getting updated with news about my career along with short stories, links and interviews like this. It's http://www.lukeromyn.com . I'm also very active on the social networks with links to both my Twitter and Facebook accounts found on my website.

About Luke Romyn

Luke Romyn spent many years, fifteen in fact, working in the security industry. From doorwork in some of Australia's roughest pubs and clubs to protecting Mickey Mouse and the Disney crew from the overzealous jaws of tenacious toddlers, Luke has worked throughout Australia and internationally in a vast array of roles. He's done close protection for UK celebrities in Fiji and chased feral pigs and snakes out of the jungle film sets on Steven Spielberg's and Tom Hank's epic: The Pacific. There are few things Luke hasn't seen.

With all this experience behind him, it would be tempting to write a set of memoirs. Instead, Luke utilized it to fuel his own expansive imagination and began writing fiction. Initially starting with short stories, Luke rapidly progressed onto novels. His first book, THE DARK PATH, is now out and swiftly became a #1 best selling Horror and was also voted in the Top Ten Horror novels of 2009. His second novel, BLACKLISTED, is almost set to go and will blow the roof off action thriller novels.

Katie Salidas Guest Post: Balancing the writer within against being a mom and wife

I am Super Mom!

Endowed with special powers and abilities, beyond those of mortal women,  I can get the munchkin off to gymnastics, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons.  I can put hot food on the table for dinner while assisting with homework, baths, and bedtime… And, I still find time to keep the hubby happy (nudge nudge wink wink). I can do all of this and still have time to write my novels.

Sorry… I can't even write that with a straight face.

Lies all lies.

Here's the reality. I'm a sleep-deprived, overworked, mom who just doesn't know the meaning of the word balance. I wish I were super mom.  I wish I were super author. I try so hard to do it all, and at the end of the day I fall face forward into the couch.

Yes, you read that right, I tend to sleep on the couch. It's a point of frustration for my hubby and a thing of comedy for my daughter. Imagine waking up to your little child yelling, "Mom slept on the couch again!!!"

Because being supermom (or trying to) means a lot of time devoted to family, writing is often done when said family is peacefully snoozing away. I can't tell you how many times I've fallen asleep with my laptop, on the couch. It just happens. Then, bright and early at 7am either my hubby (on his way to work) or my daughter (getting ready for school) wakes me up.

Writing is my passion. It's a part of me. More than just a hobby, it's a compulsion. I have to do it. If I don't do at least one writing related thing each day I get cranky. But to be able to write, I need a certain type of quiet.  Hence the dilemma.

For my family's sake, it gives the illusion of balance. While the family is home, they have 100% of my attention. I'm there ready and willing to take care of the things they need.  Daytime is family time. Then, once I have tucked them into bed my real work begins.  And, as many of you writers know, once you have the muse working, it can mean hours upon hours of writing time. Which is why I said that "balance" is illusion. Sometimes those bouts of inspiration and writing turn into an all-nighters. That leaves me so spent that if I don't end up sleeping on the couch, I end up crashing shortly after I drop my daughter off at school. We have to sleep sometime.

Not every night goes this way, but many of them do while I'm feverously working on a project.  So far, I've been able to write and publish 5 titles in the last few years. I write a mix of Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Erotica.  Surprise, surprise, all of my titles involve vampires. There must be some connection there between writing about those creatures of the night and the time of day I use for writing.

If you're interested in checking out my special brand of vampires, feel free to stop by my website http:///www.katiesalidas.com

Or you can search for me on any of your favorite ebook retailer's website.

Amazon.com

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Novels in the Immortalis Series

Immortalis Carpe Noctem

Hunters & Prey (Immortalis #2)

Pandora's Box (Immortalis #3 due out October 2011)

Paranormal & Erotic Romance Novellas by Katie Salidas

House of Immortal Pleasures

Halloween Fantasies

Karma & Melodies

ABOUT KATIE SALIDAS

Author of the hot new Urban Fantasy series, Immortalis, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she's dreamed up fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires at an early age, she devoured every book, featuring those mysterious, blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find. She claims that, of all the monsters out there, vampires had always been the most interesting.

It was only natural that a love of reading about vampires, and a love of writing, turned into a desire to write her own stories.

A Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin, Katie loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories.

For a writer I'm sure not doing much writing!

Just this morning I had to remind myself that I'm an author. No, it's not early-onset Alzheimer's that has be forgetting what it is I'm trying to do with my life. It's the fact that I am stretching myself a bit thin doing a million other things.

My 7 DEADLY QUESTIONS author interview series is really taking off. I now have authors scheduled for the next six weeks with a list of others inquiring into available slots. This makes for a lot of reading on my part to sound somewhat intelligent with the questions I pose, but I am thoroughly enjoying the interaction with fellow writers.

I've also been reviewing books for the BLOODY GOOD READS page on this blog. Again, lots of fun and I am beyond impressed with the stories knocking around in the heads of these authors. But these tired eyes don't read as fast as they once did.

Add in the effort I've been putting into marketing my thriller ASYLUM LAKE and its soon-to-be-released sequel GRAVE UNDERTAKINGS and I've little time left for actually writing. This is disappointing for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I feel this new project – FLIGHT – will be my most chilling yet!

I have been fairly religious with my writing schedule – each morning from 3-6am – but for the last several mornings I have been doing more tweeting, reading, and staring blankly at my computer than writing.

So if you have any advice on how an INDIE AUTHOR can balance the need to promote and build his Author Platform versus actually do the deed that I hope will one day pay the bills, please let me know.

In the meantime, sign up for the official Asylum Lake newsletter (and let me capture your email address) by leaving a comment on this post, celebrate Read an E-Book Week by purchasing a copy of Asylum Lake on SMASHWORDS for only $1.49, and be sure to check out the roster of authors who have participated in my 7 DEADLY QUESTIONS series.

See – even in complaining about not having time to write I'm still turning tricks to sell books!

How Are You Celebrating Read an E-Book Week?

It's Read an E-Book Week and what better way to celebrate than by slashing the price on my debut thriller Asylum Lake. This week only, take 50% off the listed price of $2.99 with coupon code RAE50 at Smashwords.

Several Smashwords authors are slashing their prices. If you're an avid e-reader, this is one sale you won't want to miss. Discover tomorrow's next great author today at Smashwords!

The Value of a Book Trailer

Pitch me your book in just a couple of sentences.

Ugh! Really? How am I supposed to condense the epic drama of my novel down into a few brief sentences? It's not an easy task, but definitely one that authors need to master.  The best I could do for my novel Asylum Lake was.

Memories are like water. Some float at the surface bright and clear. Some lie deeper – obscured by time and distance. Others rest far from the light in the depths of the darkness. These memories are best forgotten.

Trust me – it looks great on the poster. But even that brief description leaves so much unsaid. Fortunately, there's a solution for the teaser – it's called a book trailer and it's a vital part of an author's marketing strategy.

Sadly, we writer's don't always come equipped with the technical skills to produce our own trailers and some production companies charge an arm-and-a-leg for the service. With a little ingenuity and patience, however, there are plenty of options  to develop a trailer that helps you promote your book and strengthen your author platform.

I stumbled across Animoto and instantly fell in love. It's an interactive website that helps you turn your photos and video clips into stunning videos. The best part – you can create thirty-second videos for FREE!  I did upgrade to the paid service for only $5 a month so I could create longer videos, but either way it's a real bargain.

The process is really quite simple. Upload photos and music, create text slides to tell your story, and Animoto does the rest. You can choose from different presentations that adjust the speed and transitions.

Sure, Animoto has its limits. But you can't beat the price of FREE – and even their paid subscriptions are quite reasonable. With just a few clicks your videos are uploaded to Youtube and you can start sharing them.

Don;t just take my word for it – take a look at the trailer I created for Asylum Lake!

 

Beneath The Waves of Asylum Lake – try it before you buy it!

As is the case with most daring adventures planned at the spur of the moment, the act of doing the deed rarely measures up to the anticipation.  Swimming out to the float to light off fireworks seemed like a great idea while standing on the shore near the warmth of the fire, but actually doing it had some serious drawbacks. For one, climbing out of the warm water into the cool air was more than a little uncomfortable.  The wind had also picked up, bringing with it low hangin clouds that suffocated the moon's pale light. The clincher, however, was that nobody had thought to bring a lighter or matches.

"So let me see if I have this right," Tammy asked as she stood shivering on the edge of the float with April, teeth chattering and water dripping from her hair. "You dragged us all the way out here to light off fireworks and you didn't even bother to bring a lighter?"

Brady was smart enough to know a rhetorical question when he heard one. Sadly, however, Jeff stumbled right in. "How was I supposed to know that aqua-man here," jerking a thumb in Brady's direction, "would swim us all out here? I figured we'd light 'em from the shore." He took a step forward and reached for her, offering his most innocent smile. "Besides, it's really not that bad once you get used to it."

Tammy responded with a look of disgust and more chattering teeth, but she took his hand and let him bring her into his arms. She buried her head in his chest as he stroked her arms and shoulders in an attempt to generate some heat.

Smooth, Brady thought. His plan to impress the ladies with a romantic fireworks display out on the lake was blown, excuse the pun. But sure enough, Jeff had turned misfortune to his advantage. He stood there watching them, one hand folded across his chest for warmth and the other still clutching the trash bag full of fireworks. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice April's approach.

"Well played. Most guys would have been happy cuddling by the fire, but not you. You maroon us out here in the middle of the lake." Smiling now, she moved closer, "All part of your master plan, I suppose?"

Brady could see the water running down her goose bumped arms and legs. He had seen her in a bikini before, but always safely in the light of day. Out here, at night, she looked…different. His first inclination was to take a step back, but his heels were already at the edge.  "I – uh – um – I," came his stammering reply as he fidgeted with the bag and his words.

She leaned in and pressed her shivering lips to his, sending warmth through him like a bolt of lightning. The last thing he remembered before closing his eyes to her kiss was the touch of her hands to his face and the passing thought that even without a lighter, these fireworks were amazing.

A short time later, the fireworks from their make-out session behind them, Brady and April sat together. She rested her head on his shoulder. Behind them Jeff and Tammy were also cuddled – the sound of their conversation drowned out by the splashing of the water against the barrels supporting the float. The prediction of stormy weather appeared to be coming true as the raft rolled on the wind-blown and choppy surface of the lake.

"I wish the wind would just blow us back," April snuggled closer into Brady's chest. "I really don't want to get back in that water. I just want to fall asleep right here in your arms."

Brady didn't blame her. The air had cooled at least ten degrees since they had been out here and there was no telling how much colder the water would feel.  He had already resigned himself to the fact that the night was going to end with a very cold swim back to the shore. Fortunately, however, there was a warm fire waiting for them. He could see it flickering in the distance.

Without warning a jagged finger of lightning splintered across the sky.  It was quickly followed by a clap of thunder that shattered the silence and swept over the lake like the blast from a shotgun. Jeff jumped to his feet. "Holy shit – that was close!"  He seemed almost excited by the prospect of re-enacting Ben Franklin's famous kite and key experiment. "Look at the hair on my arm, dude – its standing straight up!" He held out his arm begging for someone to notice. "That-was-fucking-awesome," he screamed into the night and raised his arms into the air, as if urging the storm overhead for an encore.

Tammy grabbed him by one outstretched arm and spun him around. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't being in the middle of a lake like the last place you want to be during a thunderstorm?"

As the reality of her comment sunk in, Jeff lowered his arms and sheepishly looked from Tammy's face and over to Brady and April as they rose to their feet. "Maybe we should just – um – head back," he added and jerked his thumb back in the direction of Brady's house.

"There's really nothing to worry about," Brady said, and then slouching slightly as he stood next to April he added. "As long as the Amazon Woman here," nudging her with his hip, "is out here with us we're safe. Lightning always strikes the tallest tree, right?" He knew April would one day regret that half-inch advantage she held over him. For the briefest of moments he stood with that lopsided grin on his face – the one that his mother claimed always meant mischief.

Her response was quick and not altogether surprising. The Amazon Woman easily shoved him off the edge of the float and into the water.  His lop-sided grin quickly fell from his face as he plunged beneath the waves. He sunk like a stone.

Brady found himself in the lake's frigid grasp, his very life being squeezed from his lungs as he sank further into the darkness.  It seemed an eternity that he fell. He knew from the amount of chain it had taken his father to secure the float that the lake bottomed out at nearly forty feet; Brady had the sensation that he was fast approaching its limit. And then, just as quickly as he had descended, Brady was belched out and upward as if the lake had thought better of swallowing him whole. He sputtered and splashed as he broke the water's surface.

"Brady! Brady!" He heard Jeff's frantic call from the darkness somewhere to his left.  The storm had finally broken and sheets of raining were ricocheting off the lake's choppy surface. The water ran from his hair and into his eyes nearly blinding him to the cries of his friend.  As he felt the air rush back into his lungs he responded to Jeff's calls with a stuttering whisper that was no match to the sound of the wind blowing across the lake, "H-h-ee-re.  O-ov-e-rr…he-e-re."

Without warning, the lake reconsidered and, with its icy tentacles, pulled Brady back down beneath its surface. What little air was left in his lungs emerged as a silent bubbling scream as he struggled against the force that was pulling him deeper into the inky blackness.  His last thought before giving into whatever awaited him at the bottom of Asylum Lake was of April…the taste of her cherry Chapstick…and fireworks.

The clouds, which had hung gray and threatening most of the night, fully opened above him, sending sheets of rain across the once placid surface of the lake.  The drops washed over Brady and traced salty lines as they ran down his face.  He wiped the back of his hand across his eyes and shook his head in disbelief as he realized the rain was mixed with his tears.

Brady turned to find Gruff standing in the shallow waters near the shore. The dog's tail was tucked and its eyes were locked onto some distant point out on the horizon.  Brady could read the anxiety in Gruff's body language.  A slow and silent spark of lightning arched through the clouds overhead, and for the briefest of moments the asylum across the lake stood illuminated against the menacing backdrop of the surrounding hills and trees.  The sight made Brady's skin crawl.

The feeling was familiar and it brought his thoughts back to that night on the float, and more specifically to what he had experienced beneath the waves. Quickly, his thoughts jumped forward to the next thing he had remembered after surrendering to the cold darkness of the water – waking up two days later at a hospital in Traverse City, courtesy of a twenty-five minute aero-med flight.  The helicopter ride and everything else in between and right after was lost or at least buried in a way that he hadn't quite found a way to uncover…yet. It gnawed at him from just below the surface of his memory.

Maybe this journey would be little more than a failed attempt to reconcile himself with the painful memories from his past but, as he stood at the end of the dock and gazed out through the wind and rain of a summer storm into the muted grays of the midnight hour, Brady felt both oddly cleansed and at the same time as if he were on the verge of something great…and terrible. It brought neither a feeling of fear nor comfort, but turning to make his way back to the Up North House, he knew at least the few remaining hours of this night would be filled with dreams of a far happier and less complicated time.

As Brady began the trek back from the sandy beach, he was unaware that his was not the only spirit searching for answers and in need of cleansing. Mere yards away, strewn along the rocky and forgotten bottom of Asylum Lake, the unremembered were growing restless.

 

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