Jamie DeBree's Blog, page 26
April 13, 2013
Sleep With Me is Finally Here!
Falling
in love isn't easy and for Kathrine Gibson, neither is falling asleep.
Her insomnia has gotten so bad that when her friend suggests an
unconventional treatment plan Katherine is just desperate enough to try
it. But the execution is harder than she expected, and soon she finds
herself stranded on a deserted island with the one man on earth intent
on resisting her pleas for help. Sleep, love, and life itself hang in
the balance in this stormy tropical romance from the author of Tempest
and The Biker's Wench.
Sleep With Me is available now for $2.99 in ebook format in the Brazen Snake Books store and also from these fine online retailers:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | Smashwords | Kobo
It should reach other
retailers (Sony, Apple, Diesel) within the next few weeks, and the print
copy will be available soon as well (next week, hopefully).
To get your free copy, click that Brazen Snake Books link above, put SWM in your cart, and use the code "SWMFREE" at checkout. Then you can download your choice of formats depending on how you want to read it (PDF, MOBI or EPU
. The code is good all weekend - up until midnight Sunday night, so let me know if you have any problems (or just click the email link on the BSB site).
I hope you enjoy this story - it started out as my NaNo novel last year, and when I knew it needed to be shorter with a little more focus on the relationship than adventure, I decided to go with what the book needed, rather than what I wanted it to be. And I think it turned out better for it. I hope you will too.
Happy reading!
April 10, 2013
Talkin' Books: Thrilling Tech, Fae Drama & Edward Adrift
None.
Books In Progress:
The Third Gate
Blood Faerie
Comics Read:
None.
I fully planned a comic book store trip last weekend, and never
made it due to taxes and other household "stuff" that needed to be done.
I have some digital comics waiting to be read as well, but I tend not
to remember they're there, because they're not on my Kindle (duh, comics
= color = tablet), and I was a wee bit obsessive about finding the
perfect organizational app last week. Well that and I still don't really
think of my tablet as a reading device, unless I'm on the treadmill.
And I've been lifting lately instead of walking.
Tonight though, a treadmill/comic book session. And I got signed up
to download those 700 #1 issues from Marvel too, so I should get my
link to do that sometime this weekend (I hope).
Really, I'm just kind of pouting that my next Superior Spiderman
*still* isn't here. The subscription is cheaper, but man, it's a long
wait for that first one! I'm going to the comic book store this weekend
to pick up some of the issues I've fallen behind on (Age of Ultron,
Justice League, etc). Dang it.
I'm nearly finished with The Third Gate -
man, I tell you what. The imagination in this story is just crazy fun -
cool tech stuff and a tomb hidden in an impossible place...all very
plausible within the context of the story, of course. This is everything
I love in an action/adventure thriller...even has some paranormal
elements going on to pull the tension tighter. I wanted to just keep
going to the end last night, but alas, work. *sigh*
Blood Faerie is moving along too,
although slower just by default. It's my lunch hour reading, and my
lunch hours have been going by too quickly these days. Still, the other
day I'd just reached the point at which I think I get to find out why
this faerie was kicked to the human-side of the curb when I had to put
it down - argh! Also, does anyone know what a "chippy" is in Scotland?
I'm pretty good at figuring out foreign terms from the context, and I
assume this is food of some sort, but I keep forgetting to look it
up...not that it's important, just a minor detail mentioned in passing.
Waiting for me to finish one of these two books is my fellow Montana author Craig Lancaster's latest "Edward" novel, Edward Adrift .
I have the paperback on order to get it signed Friday night at the
launch party, but since the ebook is free to borrow for Prime members, I
also have that on my Kindle because that's the version I'll actually
read. I'm a spine-breaker, so not a good idea for me to actually read
hard copies I want to keep for collector value. If you haven't met
Edward, I'd highly suggest you introduce yourself (you know, by reading
the books) - he's one interesting cat (in the figurative sense) with a
very unique outlook on life that we can all learn from, in my opinion.
And that's pretty much my week in reading, if you don't count the
draft from last year I'm reading through for revision purposes...
Here's hoping this week is a bit more ripe for reading opportunities, eh?
Enjoy
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April 8, 2013
Life Changes, Taxes & Project Management
that very well (which is probably why I'm inundated at the moment). I
like to think I'm getting better, and then one more thing happens to
push me just a little further out of my comfort zone. It's unsettling,
and while I'm quite sure it's good for my brain to be constantly
challenged like that, I'd really love it if life would just give me a
few weeks of normal, routine-driven life so I can breathe a bit. Alas,
that's not to be for this week...but there will be rewards coming soon
with my next book releasing Friday, and a launch party for another
author's book to attend Friday night.
Saturday I finally sat down and got our taxes done.
It didn't come back too badly, which is good - the money we're getting
back from the state will cover what we owe to the feds, so all balanced
there. And my publishing business actually made a small profit this year
- the first year it's actually done so! We're talking very small - $143
small, but it's a number "in the black" and that's all I care about at
this point because I've taken a loss for the past three years. The
government tends to frown on businesses taking a loss more than 3 yrs in
a row, so that tiny profit is pretty significant as far as intent and
growth goes. I'm rather proud of it.
Naturally
there was more money than that coming in over the year, but that was
the pure profit part - everything else went back into the business. As
it should this early on. And my sales seem to be growing this year, so
hopefully I'll have a little more profit to report for 2013.
Last
week I spent a good deal of my free time checking out task/project
management software. Free, paid, complex, simplistic...I think I
reorganized my life a good five times just trying out the options to see
if they'd work for me. Organizational software and task lists are so
personal, and it's impossible to know what will fit your personality
until you actually try using them for a few days.
By
Friday, I'd pretty much resigned myself to the most expensive, robust
software package I'd been trying, because nothing else had the main
features I really wanted, including a good Android widget that
automatically created the daily task lists based on other project lists
with assigned due dates, and organized those lists by due date. This is
something I've been doing by hand every morning, and having that
automatically generated will save me a lot of time and brain power in
the mornings when I need it most.
Then a friend posted the link for Wunderlist
on Facebook, and I decided to give it a quick try out. It doesn't have
nearly as many features as the expensive package I was trialling, but it
has plenty to get the job done, it runs on all platforms as well as
offline, *and* it's completely free. Within five minutes, I knew I could
make it work, and honestly, I'd pay for it if they wanted me to. I
spent a good deal of time reorganizing my life one last time with
Wunderlist, and I finally feel like I've got a solution that will work
for a good long time. It will even replace my shopping list app (which
made more of those changes I hate, I realized rather inconveniently on
Sunday morning just before a trip to the grocery store).
Getting
everything organized, including my writing projects and publishing
schedule, went a long way this weekend toward making me feel more in
control, even with all the changes happening around me. And that allows
me to stay calmer even when life is trying its hardest to stress me
out.
So what's on this week's list? Let's see *checks Wunderlist*:
- Scenes for 5 drafts- Start revisions on horror novella- Formatting & launch for Sleep With Me- Business bookkeeping for March- Budgeting/accounting for the household (switching to new pay schedule at the day job this month)- Workout x3
And that will be plenty, methinks. Here's to a swift and productive week, eh? Enjoy
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April 5, 2013
Friday Excerpt: Sleep With Me
Excerpt: Sleep With Me
(available April 12, 2013)
"Wine me, dine me, shag me...then leave. That's the deal."
Katherine knew
she should smile or maybe flip her hair and bat her eyes, but the man
she’d approached at the bar looked experienced enough to know what she
was asking for. Voices murmured around them as she waited for the
answer.
“Shag you?” he repeated, the corners of his lips curving up. “Does anyone actually say that anymore?”
She rolled her
eyes. “It’s better than the alternative. Are you in or not? Because I
have a prescription to fill and I need to find a guy to fill it by
tomorrow.”
The man chuckled. “You have a prescription for sex? And any guy will do? Then why me?”
“Well...I find
you physically attractive,” Katherine said with a shrug. “And you also
look like the kind of guy who doesn’t mind a one-night stand, which is
basically what we’re discussing. I don’t want an attachment, I don’t
need to find true love, and I don’t need a guy who wants my number. I
just want drinks, dinner and sex. Then we go our separate ways. But
apparently I misjudged you, so I apologize for interrupting your
evening.”
She turned
away, scanning the room for any other potentially suitable candidates.
Who would have thought this assignment would be so difficult? Candace
was so going to pay when she got home. Take a vacation, she’d said. Get
laid. Nothing like a good orgasm to take care of that whole not-sleeping
issue.
Right.
Katherine wondered when her friend-slash-therapist had tried to get
laid last. After being mistaken for a call girl twice and now turned
down for...well, she wasn’t exactly sure why she’d been rejected this
last time...she was about ready to go back to her little bungalow on the
beach and stay there for the rest of the week.
A jolt of
awareness shot up her arm as warm fingers closed around her left wrist.
Instinctively she pulled away, but her captor wouldn’t let go. She
looked down into her most recent target’s amused emerald eyes.
“Hang on a
sec,” he said, finally releasing her wrist. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t do
it, I just wanted to know why me. When were you thinking this little
date would occur? And why drinking and dinner first, if all you want is
sex?”
Katherine was
all too aware that it had gotten quiet in the bar. Apparently their
little conversation was garnering a lot of attention - something she
really didn’t want.
“You know
what?” She moved a step back from the bar, keeping her wrists out of
reach. “Forget it. It was a stupid idea. I’ll...um...see you around. Or
not. A girl can hope.” She walked as quickly as she could while
maintaining a cool facade to the front door and pushed out into the
humid island evening. Slipping her shoes off, she hooked the straps with
a finger and set off towards the beach.
She’d barely begun to feel the sand between her toes when her mystery man ran up beside her.
“Giving up so easily?” he asked, keeping pace as she kept walking. “Or just looking for a new pool to choose from?”
She rolled her
eyes, doing her best to ignore the distinctly male scent that was far
too enticing. “Why do you care? You made it pretty clear you were more
amused than interested, so just forget I said anything. I withdraw the
proposal. Leave me alone.”
He chuckled,
the warm sound sending an unwelcome tingle up her spine. “But then I
wouldn’t get to see the guy who finally agrees to...ah...fill your
prescription. Who’s your doctor, anyways? I think I could use a
prescription like that.”
Katherine
stopped, letting out a long sigh as she watched the huge sun slip far
too quickly below the horizon. She turned to the man beside her and
frowned.
“What is your name?” she asked, irritated that she didn’t already know.
He grinned, holding out his hand. “David Patton. And you are?”
“Katherine.
Nice to meet you,” she said automatically, reaching out to grasp his
palm. She barely suppressing a gasp of awareness when her skin contacted
his, and yanked her hand back before she could stop herself. The lights
from the waterfront bars cast a dark orange glow over everything, but
she could still see his amusement in the dim light.
“Listen David.
You’ve had your fun, I’ve embarrassed myself and I don’t know about you,
but I’m tired. So I’m going back to my hut now. Alone. You have a good
evening.”
She brushed by
him and continued on her way, hoping her burning cheeks had been mostly
shadowed. Half-expecting him to show up at her side again, she was
inexplicably annoyed when he didn’t.
“Hey Kat!”
She cringed at the nickname she’d hated since grade school and kept walking.
"Meet me here
tomorrow night at six,” David called out. It was a statement, not a
question, but that didn’t surprise her from a guy like that. She
considered it for a second before she yelled over her shoulder to him.
“Sorry, I’m
busy. Thanks anyways though.” With a small, hopefully dismissive wave
she continued on down the beach to the hut she’d rented.
Once inside,
she flopped down on the bed and wished she hadn’t paid up front. The
whole vacation had been Candace’s idea, and her friend had pushed for
the non-refundable advance payment option. Probably because she knew
Katherine would be ready to leave after the first night.
Rolling over,
she picked up the phone and dialed room service, ordering dinner for
delivery. Maybe tomorrow she could find a tour to take or something
interesting.
Something that didn’t involve men.
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April 3, 2013
Talkin' Books: Second Chances, Storm Fizzle & Spider Barbarians...
Serendipity
Books In Progress:
The Third Gate
Blood Faerie
Comics Read:
A Calm Before Storm (Castle) #1
Conan Lord of the Spiders #1
Another light reading week - mostly due to the whole frantic writing & holiday weekend. I did finish Serendipity
by Carly Phillips though, which I highly recommend for those of you who
like a good second chances/redemption contemporary romance. Faith and
Ethan, the central characters are great, but it's really Tess who brings
it all together (and you'll have to read the book to find out who Tess
is!).
As far as romance goes, if you're interested in historical vampire
novels, you really need to check out my buddy Brooklyn's debut novel, Bite Me, Your Grace !
It's brand-spanking new this week, but I had the pleasure and honor of
reading it when she finished the first draft, and I'm so excited that
everyone else *finally* gets to read this amazing story. You really,
really don't want to miss it - even if you're sick of vampires, this
one's different. Trust me. You'll be sucked into the history of the
vampire legends in no time (pun very much intended).
As far as comic books go, aside from waiting rather impatiently for my next Superior Spiderman
to show up in the mail (come on, Marvel! Help a girl out here!), I read
the first Derrick Storm/Castle issue and was...well, disappointed. But,
that's probably because I'm not only a huge Castle fan (in the comic,
the show is called "Palace", which made me chuckle), but I've also been
reading the Derrick Storm stories (Derrick Storm is the character that
the writer character Rick Castle writes on the show, if you can follow
all that). The thing is, Castle is amusing, light and quippy in the
personality department. Derrick Storm is *not* - he's more of the
quintessential strong, silent action hero type. But in this comic,
Derrick Storm is a young, carefree, irresponsible dude with the lighter
personality of the Castle character...so it was mentally confusing. It
didn't work for me.
I don't know if it's gonna get better or not, but there are *so*
many comic books on my TBR list now that I'm not likely to find out. I'm
skipping the rest of these, and hoping that the Grimm comics coming out
soon will be a better spin-off of the TV show.
I worked my way through the first Conan Lord of the Spiders
issue too (1998), and while it's mildly interesting I'm still not sure
whether I actually like it or not. I think I'll reserve judgement until I
get through all three issues. It's a mini-series, and I bought all
three issues when I was getting my self-picked "comic starter kit, so
we'll see. Kinda fun to read an older print comic though, on the flat
newsprint pages...and the artwork is really something else, as far as
anatomy goes. Interesting!
This week, back to Blood Faerie and continuing on with The Third Gate . I'm seeing a trip to the comic book store in my future as well... the Action Comics soap opera is digging it's hooks into me. *sigh* Enjoy
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April 1, 2013
Traditional Meals, Schedules & Working Ahead...
a strange and dangerous place on April 1st. All sorts of shenanigans to
get one into trouble, or at the very least, mocked for getting sucked
into something no one else in your circle did...
So if you are online today, bravo, brave soul! Tread lightly, and carry a dose of skepticism...
So yesterday I had not one, but two ham dinners that were eerily
alike. Ironically, neither meal that we attended was supposed to include
ham at all, but last minute decisions at both places resulted in a
less-than-varied menu for hubby and I all day. Needless to say, we were a
bit disappointed. And of course I'd bought a ham for us, because I
*knew* ahead of time that there would be no ham served on Easter. Now I
have a huge ham taking up space in my fridge that will have to wait
until next weekend to be dealt with.
I don't understand why people feel like a holiday meal has to be
the same meal every single time the holiday comes along. I mean, why not
mix it up a bit? Make prime rib one holiday, ham the next, turkey the
next, and then throw in some *really* original fare like lasagna and
spaghetti. The tradition of eating a meal together will not end just
because someone decided to make pasta instead of ham or turkey. Or at
least I don't think it will. It is April Fool's Day, I guess. So maybe
it really would tear apart the space-time continuum...
Today is also the day that my day job schedule changes (no
foolin'). Rather than working 8:30am - 5:30pm, I'll be working 9am -
6pm. The upside is, my mornings don't have to start out with a hefty
dose of stress anymore (trying to make it on time - I'm always late at
8:30)...which will undoubtedly be an improvement on the whole work day.
The downside is that I have to work until 6pm (which will impact
dinner/evening activities), and take my lunch an hour later, which will
require some getting used to both for me and the dogs (I go home for
lunch to let them out daily). Still, I think overall it will be worth it
once I settle in.
Speaking of schedules, I just spent the last four days furiously
writing the holiday short stories that were due on Easter. Why? Because
instead of writing *last* weekend, I was working on bookkeeping (which
needed to be done, but it could have waited one more week). And due to
unforeseen events during the week prior to that, I wasn't able to get
them done earlier.
This is something I really need to work on with my writing -
working ahead, instead of working right up against a deadline. Yes, I
tend to work better/faster when deadlines are pressing in, but it's also
very stressful, and there's a much higher chance of failure. The thing
is, I'm normally very good at prioritizing and using calendars, and I'm
disciplined enough that I really shouldn't need that "deadline
adrenaline rush" to get stuff done. In college, I had no choice - my
schedule was just that tight, but that hasn't been the case for many
years now. My only excuse now is being lazy about spending time
prioritizing and scheduling my projects - and that's a really stupid
excuse.
So this week, one of my goals is to sit down with a list of all the
current and future projects I have planned, and schedule them out so
they're not only in lists, but on my calendar as well. I'm also going to
schedule out business items like bookkeeping, reviews, formatting,
cover art - the whole works, so that I know where my priorities need to
be in any given week. I'll need to be somewhat flexible, of course
because books don't always fit into a set schedule, but I should be able
to predict within a week or so how long it will take me to finish
drafts. And if I have set publication dates to meet, I can prioritize on
a weekly basis to ensure I hit those deadlines.
Organization, peeps. It's not overrated.
Yes, this means that the Memorial Day stories should be complete
before that holiday weekend, so I won't have to spend another five days
frantically pounding out words. Theoretically, anyways.
What else is on my list for this week? Well, let's see...
- Finish the horror short for Easter
- Scene for THHG
- Work on scenes for the other drafts I have started according to the new schedule (scheduling will happen Monday night)
- Edits and print formatting for Sleep With Me
- Start taxes
- Work out details for new "sponsored" ebooks to be offered in the BSB store
- Workout 3x (Mon/Weds/Fri)
- New budget (our pay schedule at work is changing too, which requires a new bill-paying schedule)
So it's shaping up to be a very busy week, but hopefully I'll end
it with a much better sense of what I need to be working on when (and
another book nearly ready to release on the 12th!).
Here's to organization...and to keeping a good sense of humor throughout the day.
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March 29, 2013
Serial Holiday Shorts: Mr. Mysterious - Easter
Mysterious is one branch of a three-pronged holiday short series by
myself and two of my alter-egos. We follow three women through the year,
each with a different goal that may be achieved in ways they can't even
fathom just yet. This is Laura's story. You can read the first part here. All stories are posted in draft form. The combined, edited version will be released in December 2013.
Valentine's Day | St. Patrick's Day |
Easter Egg
Laura sipped at a wine cooler and watched the sun go down as she sat on the patio at Coolers. Melanie and Jodi sat on either side, Melanie scoping out the prospects for her next date, and Jodi trying to look like she wasn’t watching the door. Or checking her watch every five minutes.
“So when are we going to meet this guy?” Melanie asked, looking straight at Laura. “Considering you’ve broken your own rules and not even sent us a picture yet, I think we deserve at least five minutes to make sure you’re not dating a serial killer or something.”
Jodi nodded. “I agree. I mean, it’s a little weird that he’s giving you gifts already, don’t you think? If it was one of us, you’d want to meet him, right?”
Laura set her bottle down and sighed. She couldn’t very well just come out and tell them that David was a spy. She probably shouldn’t even tell them his name. But they had a point. They deserved to know something.
“It’s complicated,” she said, earning two annoyed glares from either side of the table. “I mean, he’s...not your average guy. And he’s not a serial killer, I swear.”
Melanie shook her head. “Not good enough, and you know it. Maybe Jodi and I will just hang around until he gets here tonight. I haven’t picked anyone out yet, and your date will wait Jodi, won’t he?”
Jodi hesitated, and then nodded. “I’m sure he would. I can call and let him know...” She picked up her phone and started tapping.
Laura reached out to put a hand on her arm. “No, don’t do that.” She sighed again, and leaned forward. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I know, but you can’t tell anyone. Not a soul. Got it?”
Melanie smiled, leaning close. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Spill it, Laura.” Jodi put her phone down and rested her elbows on the table, nodding her agreement.
“His name is David,” Laura said. “And he’s a...well, he’s working undercover. That’s why no pictures, and why you wouldn’t see him even if you waited - he’s not coming here tonight.”
Jodi frowned. “Let me get this straight - you’re dating some guy who told you he’s a spy, and he’s having you meet him somewhere else? Somewhere quieter, I take it? Less people? And this is fine with you?” She shook her head. “I never thought you were that stupid. He could be totally feeding you a line of crap, and you’d never know it until it’s too late.
Laura looked over at Melanie, who raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “I agree with Jodi. It doesn’t sound safe. And we don’t even know what he looks like, so we have no way to track him down if something happens to you. This isn’t what we agreed on. We just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know it sounds bad.” Laura toyed with the gold coin hanging from her neck. “But I’ve been talking to him online for months now, and I really feel like I know him. And...” Laura stopped, noting the concern on her friends’ faces. “You just really don’t believe me, do you?”
Jodi and Melanie glanced at each other, then back at her, shaking their heads. Then something drew their attention up, and their eyes widened.
Strong, familiar hands grasped Laura’s shoulders just before she would have turned around.
“I know we were supposed to meet later sweetheart, but I got away early and decided to surprise you.”
Laura tried to hide her confusion as she looked up at David. He leaned over and kissed her, winking before he slid into the chair beside her.
“Are these the friends you wanted me to meet?”
She nodded, forcing a smile that she hoped looked genuine. “That’s Jodi, and this is Melanie. Girls, meet David.”
Two cell phones came up, each snapping off a shot as Laura closed her eyes.
“Subtle, ladies,” she said, giving David an apologetic look. He merely smiled, sliding an arm across the back of her chair.
“It’s okay,” he said, addressing her friends. “You didn’t buy the spy story, did you?” The women shook their heads again. He turned back to Laura. “I told you they wouldn’t. We might as well tell them the truth - that we met online, and I couldn’t wait to meet you.” He kissed her again, gently, and she swayed toward him, as if under a spell.
“So what exactly do you do then, David?” Melanie asked. Her smile was cordial, but cool. It surprised Laura - normally Melanie loved all men.
David met her gaze straight on. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” He winked, and then turned to Laura with an easy grin. “Are you ready to get out of here? I’m starving.”
She nodded. “Absolutely - let’s go.” She glanced at her friends. “You two have fun tonight, okay? Don’t forget to check in...”
“We won’t,” Jodi said with a smirk. “You make sure to answer your phone, or we’ll have to hunt David her down.”
Laura just rolled her eyes and followed David out the door, relieved to finally be free. He helped her into her car and then took his seat on the passenger side.
“Do you mind if we go to your place?” he asked. “There are some things we really should discuss...”
Laura nodded and pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m sorry I told them you were a spy, though they didn’t believe me anyways. They were just so worried that you were some sort of serial killer, and --”
He chuckled. “No one ever believes the whole spy story. It’s probably one of the safest covers there is. What I meant was, we need to talk about the coin I gave you.”
“You mean the USB drive?” Laura kept her eyes on the road, all too aware of his eyes on her.
“I wasn’t sure you’d figure it out. Did you look at what was on it?”
She considered lying, but knew he probably had some way of finding out anyways. “I looked, but it was just files with random pieces of information in them. A name here, an address there, letters, spreadsheets...I figured it was something to do with the case you’re working on.”
He was quiet for a long moment, and she glanced at him after pulling into her parking spot and turning off the engine.
“I shouldn’t have looked, right?”
He shrugged, giving her an absent half-smile. “I knew you would if you found out. It was a risk I had to take. It was safer with you than anywhere else just then. But I need to see the information, if I can borrow your computer.”
Laura nodded. “Of course. Come in.” She got out of the car and they walked to the door in silence. She wasn’t sure what to think just then, wondering if he was just using her. Maybe he didn’t actually care. What had been hidden in the other gifts?
Did she want to know?
She fitted the key in the lock and let them both in, locking the door again once they were inside. Then she pulled the coin out from underneath her shirt and the chain over her head so she could hand it to him.
“There you go,” she said with a shy smile as her fingers briefly brushed his. “The office is back here. Follow me.”
As he sat at her desk and plugged the thumb drive into her laptop, she thought about all the nights she’d spent chatting with him in that very spot. Talking to him while he’d been who knows where, doing who knows what. It was an odd feeling, and she wasn’t really sure what to do about it. Part of her wanted the physical man and the possibilities that came with. The other part wanted to go back to that time when he was just a mysterious guy on the other side of her screen, a safe fantasy rather than risky potential.
As he clicked through the files, she stood back and watched, wondering if she should give him privacy but not wanting to leave. It wasn’t long before he opened a black window she’d never seen before and typed in a string of commands that opened another window branded with the CIA logo.
“You can access that from here? They aren’t going to think I’m trying to hack in or anything, right?”
He chuckled, not looking up as he signed into the network. “It’s a secure connection. Yes, they can track it to your place, but since I logged in, they’ll know it was me. I just need to upload these files--”
A loud bang from the back of the house cut him off, and Laura jumped as he terminated the connection and pulled the coin drive out of the socket, cursing under his breath. He pressed the coin into her hand, curling her fingers around it and squeezing hard.
“I’m gonna go check that out - you find a place to hide.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “No arguments. I’ll get rid of them, but you have to keep the drive with you, okay? We can’t let them have it. I’ll explain as soon as I can.”
Heavy footsteps clomped through the hall and David was gone. Laura stood frozen, watching the door and flinching at a shout followed by the sound of flesh striking flesh.
She glanced around the room, knowing that if David couldn’t subdue whoever it was breaking into her house, they’d find her soon enough. Keeping the coin with her wasn’t good enough, but where to stash it?
A basket of brightly colored plastic eggs on a bookshelf near the window caught her eye. She’d put several around the house trying to get in the holiday spirit, and it was unlikely that anyone looking for the drive would look through them.
Crossing the room, she opened one egg and stuffed it with some of the fake grass from the basket to keep the coin from rattling if it got knocked out somehow. Dropping the thumb drive in, she closed the egg and put it back with the others.
Running to the closet, she shut herself in, settling into the farthest corner and tucking her knees up under her chin. The scuffling sounds had stopped, and she wondered if it was over already. Would David call for her soon?
Heavy footsteps clomped into the room, and she hugged her legs tighter, barely daring to breath.
“Is he dead?” a gruff voice asked, uncomfortably close to the closet door.
“Not yet, but he will be soon.” The second man sounded farther away, and Laura knew they were talking about David. She trembled, trying not to panic but knowing that if they found her, they’d kill her too. The knob on the closet door rattled, the distant sound of sirens in the background.
“Local law enforcement headed this way,” a voice crackled from a radio. “Hold position or fall back?”
The rattling stopped.
“Fall back,” the gruff man said. “Bring Eklund. We’ll come back for the disk later if we can’t extract what we need directly from him.”
Laura listened to him leave, straining to hear anything as the men vacated her house, presumably carrying David away with them. Swiping a tear, she couldn’t make herself leave the closet, even after the house was silent.
It seemed like forever that she sat there, wondering why the police hadn’t come in. Why the men hadn’t come back.
Whether or not David was dead.
Then a barely audible ringing sound penetrated the closet door, and it took a few minutes for her brain to register that her cell phone had been ringing.
Check-ins.
She moved tentatively, every sound she made making her pulse jump as she crawled to the closet door and pushed it open a crack. Peeking out, she saw no one, and after a few more moments, she braved the now-silent house to retrieve her phone from the kitchen counter. There were two missed calls, one from each of her friends wondering where she was and admonishing her to call as soon as she could.
Laura took her phone to the kitchen table and sat down, taking a deep breath as she dialed Melanie’s number first. She needed help.
###
Join us for the next installment of Laura's story right here on Memorial Day - May 27, 2013.
Curious about what Melanie and Jodi were up to while Laura was meeting
Mysterious? Check in on Melanie at AlexWesthaven.com (horror), and Jodi at TrinityMarlow.com (erotic romance) - both installments will be posted later this weekend. Thanks for reading! Enjoy
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March 27, 2013
Talkin' Books: Rogue Fae, Prodigal Sons & Heroic Soaps
Dragon's Kiss
Books In Progress:
The Third Gate
Blood Faerie
Serendipity
Comics Read:
Superior Spiderman #5
Amazing Spiderman #700
Justice League #13
Justice League #17
Age of Ultron #1
As you can see, it's been a good week for books. I finished Dragon's Kiss ,
and would recommend it to anyone who likes things on the erotic side of
paranormal, but not just for the sex, because the story is excellent as
well. I think that book is the first in a series, so I may look up more
of those later...
I haven't made a lot of progress on The Third Gate , mainly because I've either been up late watching reruns of Alias
on Amazon, or writing. That's the thing about paperbacks - I read them
more slowly these days because they're relegated to my nightstand for
the most part. Still, this book is very intriguing, and I find myself
thinking about it and trying to figure out how to get to bed earlier so I
can read just a "few more chapters", which is always a good sign...
After I finished DK, I went "shopping" in my Kindle TBR pile, and decided to finally start Blood Faerie by India Drummond. I've been meaning to read it for a long time now, just never quite got around to it. India edited Desert Heat
for me several years back, and though I haven't gotten too far in the
book, I'm already intrigued by the story so far (aside from being
generally annoyed with names I can't pronounce phonetically, though
India does helpfully provide a guide at the front of the book - I'm just
too lazy to look back every single time). This is actually where ebooks
could be very helpful to readers - if that name was clickable, and
would just bring up the pronunciation guide so one didn't have to go
back to the guide every time, that would be helpful. Something to think
about later, perhaps?
In any case, it's the story of a Fae woman banished to the human
world, and she's chasing down a rogue Fae who's just killed someone and
taken...well, you'll have to read it if you want to know what he took
from the human. Interesting though, I promise. I'm looking forward to
seeing where this is headed...
And then the other day on Facebook, Carly Phillips posted that the Kindle version of Serendipity
was on sale for $1.99. It's normally $7.99, and I'm always up for both a
sale and a contemporary romance novel. So I picked up a copy and
couldn't resist starting it last night. It's the story of a prodigal son
come back to make amends, and a fallen "princess" of sorts who is, of
course, perfect for him (though they'll both need the story to figure
that out). I tend to breeze through romance novels in a big hurry (which
is why I have very few in my TBR list at any given time), so I should
finish this soon and then I'll get back to Blood Faerie.
Last Friday night, hubby had a pool tournament, and I had a "date"
with several comic books that had been sitting on my DR table waiting to
be finished/read (see the list above). I practically inhaled the
Spiderman comics...I don't know why (maybe it's my web dev identity or
something), but I'm just loving the whole Superior Spiderman
thing. And now I'm super-impatient for #6 to get here...it's in stores,
but I went ahead and subscribed through Marvel to cut the price down,
so I have to wait. Dang it. Needless to say, I was bummed at the shape
poor Spidey was in for the first Age of Ultron...ouch! And I need to get
my hands on an issue of Morbius (sp?) one of these days - I'm intrigued after his appearance in The Amazing Spiderman #700. Dang it.
I dipped a toe into DC comics as well with a couple issues of the main Justice League
comics. I have to say, those are kind of like a big ol' soap opera for
superheroes, with Superman, Wonder Woman and others having these
personal assignations/love triangles/smooches and adding emotional
complexity to a job that's already insanely difficult (that would be
protecting the world from evil, of course). And now, of course, I have a
better background for the Justice League of America series, which I started with #1.
Reading time will be iffy this week, what with a birthday dinner to
host on Saturday (MIL) and the holiday dinner line-up on Sunday. And
those holiday stories I committed to writing on a whim, that are now
kicking my butt with their demanding schedules. But I'll find time here
and there - I always do.
So...read any good books lately?
Enjoy
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March 25, 2013
RSS, TL;DR & NKOTB
your hands raised out there, but this is my blog, so I get to go first.
Feel free to rant back at me in the comments, a social media post of
your choice, or in the comfort of your own home. I wouldn't recommend
yelling if you're at work in a shared office, but hey, if you're comfy
with the idea, have at it. Maybe you'll amuse a co-worker or two.
So last week I exported all my RSS (stands for "Real Simple
Syndication") feeds from Google Reader into Netvibes. Two days later, my
feed URL's (yes, today is acronym day here at VP - URL = "Uniform
Resource Locator", more commonly known as an internet address)
mysteriously disappeared from Netvibes. The titles were still there,
just not the feeds. I surfed around a bit, checked out the alternatives,
and while I often rebel against being trendy, I decided to be a sheep
for once and set up an account with Feedly. It hasn't been too difficult
to get used to, once I figured out where the "titles only" view button
was, and I can get a very scaled down view on my tablet too, so I'm not
stuck with the magazine layout. So for now, it'll work.
Not much of a rant, eh? Here's the thing I don't get. So many
people across the 'net don't "get" why feed readers (and those of us who
use them) are so important. The thing that feed readers really do well
is allow you to collect articles from all over the web and *read them
later*. You can also sort them for easier searching and better
organization, and save or share all from the same place. I miss a lot of
links on FB, Twitter, and the other social sharing sites simply due to
being at work during the day, and often when I do see an article I want
to read, I don't have time to read it right then. My feed reader means
that all those articles, blog posts and web site updates that I'd
otherwise miss are captured and held for me in *one spot* - I don't have
to visit a million different sites to get information from *you*, which
means I'm able to read and see more than I would otherwise. I'm also
able to easily save articles that I might want to refer back to later or
pass along, all in the same app.
Personally, I don't understand why *everyone* isn't using a feed
reader. It's the ultimate organizational tool and takes so very little
effort to use...
On a similar and semi-related note, I recently started seeing the
abbreviation "tl;dr" popping up here and there. I'm normally pretty good
at figuring out text/bulletin board speak, but this one I actually had
to look up (grinding my teeth at the semicolon the whole time). When I
finally figured out that it stands for "too long; didn't read" (and
after I got over thinking the semicolon should be a comma or not there
at all, and "didn't read" should be abbreviated "DNR", not "DR"), I was
actually pretty depressed. You didn't read something because it was too
long? Really? I think you're lying, honestly. If an article, book, or
whatever is engaging enough, you'll keep reading no matter how long it
is. If it's not, you didn't stop because it was too long, you stopped
because you weren't interested in continuing. And if you didn't read it
because you looked at the length and decided you just didn't have time,
then you need a feed reader, dang it! Save it for later, read it when
you have time. Complex thoughts and discussions can't be had in the
space of three evenly-broken-up paragraphs. I'm not sure when our
collective attention span got so small, but really, we should be
consciously working to change that. It's a bug, not a "feature".
That's enough of a rant for today, don't you think? I wouldn't want
to strain myself or anything. On with actual news (I figure we've
already lost those who think this post is too long, right?):
Last week I was cruising along until Mica-dog ended up sick Tuesday
night. Which means I didn't actually have much "cruising" time. We were
up all night, and that meant Wednesday pretty much sucked too - wave
goodbye to productivity, eh? Mica was better by Weds night, but my
momentum was shot. Hard as I tried, I couldn't catch up with the
writing, though I did spend most of this weekend catching up the
business bookkeeping - by which I mean it's 98% done, thank goodness.
So lots to do this week - I don't get Friday off or anything, so
it's a full week of work for me, and I need to at least get the taxes
started on Saturday. Busy, busy...and I have those three stories due
this weekend, only one of which is started. *eyeroll*
Here's the list for this week:
- 3 Easter-themed stories for the Holiday collection
- Whatever writing I can get done on other things after those are finished
- Taxes on Saturday
- Vacuum, since I didn't get it done yesterday
- Resist the urge to mainline the rest of the season 3 episodes of
Alias so Sydney & Vaughn can finally get back together (Alias is my
"manicure night" entertainment - Amazon Prime has it streaming free)
And that's it. Honestly, if I can just get all that writing done and our taxes started, I'll be a happy camper.
Finally, I was catching up on YouTube videos this weekend, and
stumbled across some newer NKOTB ("New Kids on the Block" for those who
were not obsessed teenage fan girls) videos. I've avoided listening to
them as adults on principle (I was a huge fan when I was 15 or so), but
out of curiosity, I watched one of the new vids. And then another. And
another - seriously, they grew up quite nicely. Yes, I feel geeky
admitting that, but hey, we all have our vices, right? In any case, this
was my favorite of the videos I watched, and the song is stuck in my
head, so from me to you on a Monday morning. You're welcome.
Enjoy
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March 22, 2013
Friday Excerpt: Slow Thaw (from Cold Feet)
Excerpt: Slow Thaw
Nate changed
the cold pack on Anna’s head three times, twenty minutes on and twenty
off before there was a knock at the cabin door. He pulled the bedroom
door shut behind him. Danielle was the only other person on the mountain
that he knew of, and she’d already proven herself dangerous in her
state of panic.
Not sure what
to expect but ready for anything, he opened the door. Danielle stood
just outside, and behind her, the sheriff from Highgrass, revolver in
hand.
“What brings
you out in this weather, officer?” Nate didn’t invite them in. Danielle
was all smiles, but her eyes had a hard glint that told Nate he may have
underestimated her.
“Ms. West here claims you kidnapped her and her friend. Is that true?”
Nate shook his head, pressing two fingers to the bridge of his nose. This vacation was turning into a nightmare.
“Does anyone ever actually answer that question with ‘yes’?” he asked, earning an unamused stare from the Sheriff.
Nate shook his
head. “I didn’t kidnap anyone. Anna came up to me while I was doing my
morning exercises. She told me their car was broken down and asked if I
had a phone. I don’t, but I told them they could warm up and stay here,
and when my ride gets here tomorrow or whenever the storm lets up, I’d
take them into town.”
The sheriff glanced at Danielle. “This one says you held her against her will. Locked them both in your bedroom.”
Nate knew there
was no way to make it sound good. “I cut my foot, there was blood on
the floor, and she freaked out. I was worried she’d freeze to death when
the snow came in, so I brought her back and locked her in the bedroom
for her own good - so she wouldn’t try to run out in the cold again. She
knocked her friend out cold, knocked me over and then ran out the door
when I went to check on them.”
“Anna fell,”
Danielle said, her voice more childlike than Nate remembered. “I tried
to help her, but I was so scared that he,” she pointed at Nate, “...was
going to rape me that I just ran. Who knows what he did to Anna while I
was gone!”
Nate barely
resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I kept ice on her head so it
wouldn’t swell from where you hit her with the lamp - and I have the
broken lamp to prove it too, Sheriff, if you’d like to take that into
evidence.”
“Where’s the
girl now? I need to see her.” The officer stepped in front of Danielle.
Nate let the door swing open and pointed toward the bedroom.
“She’s in there, on the bed. She’s been unconscious since her friend ran out.”
The sheriff clomped across the floor and looked inside while Nate turned back to Danielle.
“Just how did you get a hold of the sheriff?” he asked. She shrugged and held up her phone.
“My phone is
set up for satellite calls - Daddy thought it would be a good idea if I
ever got kidnapped. Guess he was right.” She batted her eyes and smiled,
no fear whatsoever in her gaze.
Obviously he’d
been set up, but Nate wasn’t sure why. He tried to remember Danielle
from his past, something that might have been cause for her actions, but
nothing came to mind.
“Well, it looks
to me like we’re all headed into town,” the sheriff said, coming back
into the room. “Frankly, there’s a lot more supporting her side of the
story than yours and that girl in there needs a hospital. So until we
get some answers you’re all coming with me. Turn around, hands against
the wall.”
###
Want to read the rest? This and several other great short stories by various authors can be found in the Cold Feet anthology, available now from your favorite online retailers for just 99 cents per ebook or $7.99 in print. Enjoy
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