Lynn Thompson's Blog, page 42

Introducing–>>Lauren Algeo

 

As this weeks Feature Author

 

Lauren Algeo (1985 – ) was born in England and currently lives in Kent. She graduated from Greenwich University in 2007 with a First-class honours degree in Graphic Design. She works full time in west London as a Graphic Designer for design agency Whippet.

She published the first part of the Hikers trilogy in January 2013, followed by the second part in December 2013. The third book will be available in 2014.

Her second, standalone novel, The Perfect Date, was published in June 2013. She also has several short horror stories online.

Join the ‘Lauren Algeo Author’ Facebook page for more information: www.facebook.com/HikersTrilogy

twitter username laurenalgeo
genre Fiction











After a mass shooting in Waterloo station, Scott Brewer, a former Detective Inspector, returns to London to investigate. It becomes apparent that this was the work of hikers, a family of hired assassins with the power of mind control. Brewer now hunts them after his own near-fatal encounter with one and is joined on his mission by Georgie Duncan, a moody teenager with a turbulent past. Can they learn to work together and find a method to kill the seemingly invincible hikers?




















In the wake of the tragedy at the Grand’s house, Scott Brewer travels to America to team up with Mitch Baines, aka Striker25. Starting in Philadelphia, they begin to hunt the surviving hikers and along the way they meet Ellen MacIntosh, a woman with a deep desire for revenge on one particular hiker. Together they journey across the states, encountering death, pain, love, and the most terrifying possibility of them all – is the Grand somehow back from the dead?


















Tired of being single at thirty, journalist Kate Anderson is persuaded to join a dating site by her three best friends. After some disastrous dates she’s contacted by Damien, a man who seems too good to be true. Before she can find out if he is, her whole life is turned upside down and she’s thrown into a world where no one is who they should be. Can she keep her head without losing her heart?

 

 

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 15

This is absurd,” I said as I searched the house yet again. I wasn’t sure if I was being too paranoid or not.

“You’re right,” Chase replied from behind me. “I need a gun for just in case.”

“Do you know how to use one?”

“Nope, but I can learn.”

“Maybe we should get you a baseball bat until you do. All clear. Do you suppose I should do this every time we enter the house?”

“Probably, even though I’m pretty sure they accomplished what they intended to do.”

“But I’m not out trying to find that thing.”

“Not yet, anyway. I wish Max would show up.”

 

We were out walking the horses when the first snowflakes began to fall.

“What if something really bad happens to you? Max needs to be there to protect you. Do you even have a plan?” Chase mumbled.

“I can take care of myself, and my plan is to take care of this problem.”

“How are you going to take care of the problem, you don’t even know what’s out there. Do you know the territory? You could get lost!”

I shrugged my shoulders as we walked the animals back to the barn.

“Would you please tone it down Chase,” my anxiety levels shot up a few notches during his tirade.

“I’m sorry. I’m trying really hard not to freak out.”

“It’s all good. I don’t want to freak out either, and I don’t want to worry about something that hasn’t happened yet.” Although, every kind of scenario possible had been playing through my mind. Not all of them positive either.

When we arrived at Roses house I put my finger to my lips as I slowly opened the front door, gun in hand. Chase stood behind me, Killer sat waiting in his usual spot. Nothing had been disturbed, and as far as I could tell no one had set foot in her house either. I found a baseball bat in one of Roses closets and handed it to Chase as we locked up.

The snow was coming down faster by the time we clomped up my deck. After shaking off our jackets, stomping off our boots, and rechecking the house again we made ourselves comfortable in front of the fire.

The sun was setting when I finally got up to make us some grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. I’d just put them on plates when my nerves became frazzled. I started shaking in fear.

“Chase, Alexis and Trina are here and they’re scared. Let them in please.”

My hands balled into fists as I worked hard on composing myself when I heard pounding on the door. Chase opened it, the girls ran in knocking him out of the way, slamming the door closed and locking it behind them. They were shaking badly. It took all I had not to shake uncontrollably with them. Chase directed them to the fire place, putting some distance between us.

“I’ll get some blankets.”

“Where’s Montana?” Trina asked stuttering.

“She’s in the kitchen,” Chase handed them both a blanket, “deep breaths, in and out.”

He waited until their breathing calmed before coming into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around me. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I think so.” I followed his lead on exactly what he told Alexis and Trina, deep breaths, in and out. My nerves were shot. All of this was too much for me to handle.

“Grab those two cups of coffee and stay close.”

I picked up the other two cups of coffee I recently made, attempting to calm my nerves by focusing on the espresso machine. I noticed my hands were still trembling badly.

Chase grabbed the cups from me; I balled my hands back into fists at my sides. He handed Alexis and Trina their coffee and we sat on the couch, Chase sitting so close to me he might as well have sat on my lap.

Trina and Alexis were sitting on the floor eying us.

They both said at the same time.

“Where’s Max?”

The accusation in their eyes leapt out at me, like I betrayed Max in some way with Chase staying here. I wasn’t about to explain the situation to them.

“Max had to leave.”

“Tell us what happened,” Chase said, changing the subject.

An icy chill shot down my back, my body vibrated, their apprehension rose a few more notches.

“We were up at the springs exploring.” Trina said.

“It started to snow,” Alexis chimed in. “And we were looking for a better place for our tents.”

“We found a cave and decided it would be a great place to hold up until the weather passed,” Trina interjected, glancing at Alexis.

Alexis shook her head. “We’d just moved all of our stuff into the cave and started a fire when we thought we heard something move.”

“And something was watching us.” Trina stuttered.

“We picked up our flashlights and guns, thinking we would search the cave better,” Alexis shuttered. “You know, like maybe we were disturbing a bear or something.”

“We took a few steps towards the back of the cave, and there was like green skin, or something that looked like it all over the floor,” Trina shivered, scooting closer to the fireplace.

“Anyway, the next thing we knew our fire was out.” Alexis moved closer to Trina.

“And it was a good one too,” Trina frowned. “We weren’t alone and I don’t think it was an animal. We snagged our backpacks and ran as fast as our legs would go. We thought we were lost. Then we saw your lights on and booked it down here.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Alexis said, letting out a sigh and a full body shake at the same time. “I don’t think it followed us, but it scared the hell out of us.”

Yes! I knew where it was. A shiver crawled up my back. I’d have to leave early. I would kill it then get on with my life.

I let out a long silent breath through my teeth and tried not to grin.

“I don’t mind at all. I’m just glad you didn’t get lost in this storm. Both of you are welcome to stay here. Do you want to go back up to your camp in the morning for the rest of your stuff?”

They looked at each other. “No!” They both screeched with a nervous giggle.

“We have our backpacks, nothing else is valuable,” Trina smirked.

“I have an idea,” Chase said, nudging me. “We can put them up at Roses house. She has extra beds and they’d be comfortable. Do you think she would mind?”

That would work out really well for me.

“We’ll call Bear in the morning for a tow. Is your car still up there?” Chase asked Alexis.

“Yes, it is.” Alexis replied, glancing at Trina.

“We probably will need a tow with all this snow falling,” Trina erupted in a nervous giggle. “I can’t believe we couldn’t find our car.”

All three of them turned to me.

“Sure, but please be careful not to break anything. Roses house is eccentric.”

Chase laughed. “That it is. Then it’s settled. There’s food down there, but I can whip you up something here if you’re hungry.”

“I could eat.” Trina replied.

We stood up to head into the kitchen.

Crap! Not now! My heart nearly jumped out of my chest, my face paled.

Chase turned around when he realized I wasn’t behind them and watched me walk backwards away from the living room. My arms were crossed in front of my chest, my nails dug into my sides.

“Help yourself,” he said to the girls, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

I barely noticed Chase walk up to me. Max arrived, and he was furious.

Off the Beaten Path: 10,000 Waves

10,000 waves in Santa Fe! This spa was so worth going to. I scheduled the Shoji private bath for myself and a friend (who had to cancel at the last minute), so it ended up just me and Hmm… fabulous! I had the hot tub, sauna, and cold plunge to myself, even though I didn’t use the cold plunge since it was a cool evening already. Shoji tub is outside with a beautiful landscape of trees to meditate on while sitting in the tub. A quarter moon brightly hung in the sky for viewing. 55 minutes of pure joy. And so needed.

I would have loved to get some pictures but I had late customers that night-a long drive (plus I took a wrong turn)-and by the time I arrived I was running late. Not to mention the 92-96 steps up the side of a mountain to get to the spa. I lost count on the way up. So no pictures on this post.

I paid about $40.00 for the 55 minute bath and had I gotten there on schedule I would have been able to stick my feet in their warm foot tub and try the relaxation room before the spa. Well worth it:)

If your ever in Santa Fe, NM look http://www.tenthousandwaves.com/ up. They also have a resort and restaurant. The restaurant is on my list to stop at next time I’m down there.

 

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 14

“Is it safe?” Chase said, gazing around at the enclosed forest.

“It is. The psycho could be 10 miles away and I‘d probably know.”

“Okay, I’ll get the keys if you start brushing the truck off.”

I got to work digging off the snow and barely made a dent when Chase came back with a wild grin on his face and a dangling key between his fingers. “I never believed I’d do this, but Max owes you one.”

Yes he did. I grinned as we finished removing the snow, packed everything in Max’s Ford, along with some warm clothes, and the flashlight. I rechecked my gun. Call me paranoid, but I needed to make sure it was still loaded. My heart beat double time as I put the key in the ignition, then it started beating triple time. I stepped out of the truck until Chase got himself back under control.

“I hate this.” He said when I turned over the ignition.

I blew out a breath. “Maybe it will wear off. Let’s have some fun.”

We made good time to the city. Max’s truck drove smooth and hugged the mountainous curves nicely. There wasn’t nearly as much snow on the ground once we left the mountains. As soon as the road flattened out I hit the gas to see how fast the Ford would go. When we reached 100 mph Chase made me slow down to a more decent speed. I sighed, slowing down even more as we turned onto the freeway. After a couple of miles we pulled into the parking lot of a costume store. I pulled into a space at the farthest point of the lot, with less vehicles surrounding us, and looked at Chase.

“Stay here, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he jumped out of the truck and ran towards the store.

He jogged back to the truck about a half hour later with two bags in his hands.

“Sorry it took so long,” he yelled over the noise of the radio.

The excess energy from people running in and out of the store had gotten to me. Most of the crowd lumbering around were frustrated and stressed, which amped up my anxiety level. I’d cranked the music up to try to block out other peoples stresses. Besides, Max had an awesome stereo system.

Chase tossed me a bag before turning his back to give me some privacy. It looked like I was going to be Mrs. Santa today. I changed, tightened the belt to hold up the pants then put on the wig and Santa hat. Chase lowered the volume on the radio and handed me his I pod.

Mr. Santa grinned at me. “It might help some.”

I giggled at Chase. The Santa outfit hung loose around his sides and stomach. He needed to gain some weight or stuff a pillow under the costume to make it work. I put the headphones in my ears, but kept them at low volume. I still needed to hear what was going on around me. I was driving.

Darkness settled over us and cold seeped through the windows. We had our fingers crossed most of the city dwellers would be headed home for the night, giving me some kind of peace from the constant emotions bombarding me. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, so we decided that if the boxes for donations were outside I’d pull up beside them and Chase would quickly drop off the toys. If not I would park as far away from the building as I could.

By the time we’d made our third stop I’d burst out into a fit of giggles, had a bit of road rage, and then gone into massive depression.

I told Chase to put the rest of the toys in the next box we drove to. Every time I hit a red light the people in the car next to me would emanate their emotions right into me. After the last stop light out of town I pulled over and let Chase drive. The kids in the car beside us were so high I caught a contact buzz and couldn’t function anymore.

“Wow, check out the moo-oon,” I sighed heavily as Chase drove down the highway.

Chase burst out laughing, which put me into a fit of giggles. He grinned, shaking his head as I giggled on and off most of the way home. I vaguely remember him talking to me and I’m still not sure what he said. I felt like I was coming out of a fog when he parked the truck at my front door.

“I don’t ever want to do that again,” I shook my head, trying to release the rest of the misty sensation stuck in my brain. The inside of my mouth felt like it had been packed with cotton. I needed something to drink badly. “Sorry this time wasn’t as fun. Man I have the munchies.”

“Watching you stare at the moon in wonder all the way up here made it worth it. Maybe you should consider smoking some of the green stuff until this wears off, it seemed to relax you quite a bit.”

“Not on your life, I don’t understand how those kids were able think, let alone drive.”

I plucked my gun out of my purse, stepped out of the truck, and almost fell. “My legs are high. Is that possible?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never touched the stuff myself.” He helped steady me.

I hadn’t either until tonight, and I still hadn’t actually touched it. As soon as my legs moved of their own free will again I signaled Chase to stay behind me. I was probably being even more paranoid at this moment.

“We need to stick together tonight,” I whispered as we stepped inside.

The house was clear, the back door still locked, so we went back outside with Killer. When we re-entered the house Killer’s knee’s were shaking from the cold.

“I’ll start a fire if you make coffee.”

Chase headed towards the fireplace, I detoured into the kitchen.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this thing.” I grinned as I carried the lattes back into the living room, stopped in my tracks, and began to laugh so hard I spilled them all over the floor.

“Shh.., your going to hurt his feelings.” Chase glared up at me.

I glanced at Killer again and turned back into the kitchen with the half empty cups, so much for my almost perfect lattes. I settled down and grabbed some paper towels, telling myself not to laugh as I headed back out to clean the mess I’d made. After I cleaned up I walked over to Killer and scratched him under the chin.

“You look so cute boy.” I cooed.

“It was the only outfit I found that would fit him. And see he’s not cold anymore.”

“He’s a green elf Chase,” I tried to keep a straight face. “The body suit is alright, but the hat and booties are a little much, aren’t they?”

“Nah, he looks good, besides, it will keep him warm. We can take him to Bears Christmas party like this, the kids will love it.”

“You should wear the Santa suit if you take him dressed like an elf.”

That way Killer won’t be embarrassed, I kept to myself.

“I can do that,” Chase grinned wide as he took off Killers hat and booties.

“I’m sleeping with you tonight, I’ll go get my stuff and we’ll crash down here.”

Chase held his emotions low key. I knew he was keeping a tight rein on them. I sensed him pushing down his anxiety every time it began to surface and was grateful for it, but there was safety in numbers. I didn’t want a repeat of the night before.

We checked the house again before getting comfortable on the floor with as much space between us as we could manage. Leaving the lights on we fell asleep.

Killer snored soundly under the covers between us when we stirred. Chase had his arm around Killers neck; I was stuck with Killer breathing hard in my face.

“Yuck,” I mumbled, rolling onto my back, “I need to start brushing your teeth and maybe get you some scope or something.” I took a couple breaths of clean air. “Stop laughing Chase. You ended up with the better part of the deal.” I smiled, wishing I had the power to make Killer let out a good one in his direction.

“I’m going to search the house again then we’ll take Killer out.” Now I really was feeling too paranoid. I knew the house didn’t need searching again, but I couldn’t help doing it. What a nightmare.

Chase held out a cup of coffee for me when I wandered into the kitchen. I took the cup from him and called Killer. He wandered over to me, dressed in his elf costume again with his booties on, ready to go out for his morning constitutional. I stifled a laugh and yanked Chase out the door with us.

“I want you to come with me to meet Bear this morning. You can be my knight in shining armor if something happens.”

“No problem.”

I glanced at Chase. Why couldn’t I have fallen for him? He was a great guy and really cute too. I gave him a quick hug, whistled for Killer then headed upstairs to my bedroom to get ready.

We both decided Max’s truck was fun but needed to be returned to its rightful spot. I left a note for Max, letting him know we borrowed it, and set it on the driver’s seat while Chase put his key back. Jumping back into my truck we drove into town and parked in front of Pops’ Bar and Grill a few minutes early. I centered myself, or tried to anyway. Chase squeezed my hand tightly.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any of that green stuff on you?” I laughed nervously.

“Just remember Bear and Tree are easy compared to the city.”

“Yeah right, let’s get this over with.”

Chase was right, they were easy compared to the city. Their energy bounced between excitement for their investment and apprehension the building was too small. I thought the building was perfect.

“Why don’t you two stay for lunch? It’s on the house.” Tree said, putting his hand on my arm to steer me towards the bar.

Okay, the meeting went well until now. I clinched my teeth. Tree’s touch zapped me of my remaining strength. All of his emotions raced through my body in seconds flat.

Chase saw my face turn pale and stepped in holding out his hand. “Thanks for the offer, but we really need to get going. The horses have to be exercised before it snows again.”

Tree released my arm, shook Chase’s hand, and glanced at the clouds in the sky. “It’ll be snowing by tonight at the latest. The offer stands whenever you’re ready.”

Introducing–>>Zoe Dawson

As this weeks Featured Author

Zoe Dawson is the alter ego of Karen Anders, award winning, multi-published author. Her writing journey started with poetry and branched out into fiction. With a couple of college English courses under her belt, she penned a historical, then moved onto contemporary romance fiction. Today, she is happy producing romantic suspense, romantic mystery, new adult, urban fantasy and paranormal novels. The words feed her soul and the happily ever afters feed her heart.

url https://www.goodreads.com/zoedawson
website http://www.zoedawson.com
twitter username zoedawsonauthor
genre
Romance, Mystery & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy

 

 

 

Going to the Dogs (8 books)

by Zoe Dawson (Goodreads Author)

 

A Perfect Secret (3 books)

by Zoe Dawson (Goodreads Author)

 

The Starbuck Chronicles (2 books)

by Zoe Dawson (Goodreads Author)

 

Go Big or Go Home (3 books)

by Zoe Dawson (Goodreads Author)

 

Going to the Dogs 2: The Alphas (1 book)

by Zoe Dawson (Goodreads Author)

More series by Zoe Dawson…

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 13:2

Chase whipped us up some lattes while I pulled food out of the refrigerator, placing it on some trays. After I finished the food preparations I put on my jacket and boots, craving fresh air. Chase’s energy continued to yo-yo back and forth from anger, to concern, to wishing Max would show up. His confusion was getting on my last nerve and I felt a mental breakdown coming on. I wished I’d never moved here.

“I’m going outside to scout around,” I told Chase, picking up my camera and gun.

“I should go with you.”

“No! Stay here. I’m not going far, just walking around the house.”

He began to freak out, not sure what he should do, and studied me for a moment.

“Okay,” he replied defeated. “Don’t get into any trouble.”

I laughed; I was in trouble up to my eyeballs. Actually, I was in over my head.

“Chase, this isn’t your fault.” I said, staring him straight in the eyes. “Check your arm. You were knocked out just like me and Killer.”

I braced myself and gave him a hug, jumping back within seconds. Jolts from his tension raced through my entire being from the contact I’d made, and it felt strange. Was I ever going to be able to touch anyone again? Chase was only a friend.

I mentally flashed back to the intense electrical charge of Max’s touch and my skin pricked. He affected me too much already, without this little gift I received last night. No way would I ever let him touch me again. I would probably die of overload. I shook the thought from my head, one problem at a time.

“I’m sorry Chase.” I said, hurrying through the door.

I lit another smoke after inhaling some fresh air. I was a wreck, and torn. I wanted to high tail it out of here, leaving all of this behind me. I also wanted to go find that thing.

I plodded around the house, avoiding sinkholes in the snow, keeping an eye out for footprints, while I contemplated my next move. The only prints I found belonged to birds and raccoons. I stopped and listened, I could feel, really feel happiness and excitement coming from the surrounding wildlife. I took it all in, letting the tranquility balance me out and sooth my spirit, while searching for any evidence those men might have left behind.

I rounded the side of the house to the driveway. No tracks here either. What did they do walk on air? Or maybe they flew in through the window? Ugh, how aggravating, to top it off I heard Bear driving up.

I ran back into the house, tossing my jacket on the peg. “Chase! I need you to stick around for the meeting. If I freak out make up some excuse and get me upstairs.”

He nodded his head. “I thought you were going to bolt and leave me here.”

“Me too, but I can’t do that to you. We’ll work this out.” Hopefully, before Max arrived.

“They’re coming up the front steps. Would you answer the door please?”

Bear and Tree arrived full of excitement. I wanted to run away. Instead I clamped down on their emotions that were zinging through me and offered them some food and beverages. Once we had our plates full we sat down at the island and got down to business.

This was the worse meeting of my life. Sweat pored out of my skin, under my clothes, from the exertion of blocking their excitement, and from concentrating on what they were saying. I prayed sweat wouldn’t start dripping from my face, dampness was already forming around my hairline. I fisted my hands under the table as I listened to what they had to say.

They wanted to set up a greenhouse with a small organic market where the locals could shop. The building they had in mind was located next door to the bar. They also knew of several people with chickens, which meant fresh eggs would be available.

The problem with living in the mountains was the growing season was too short and everyone had to leave town to buy their groceries, which meant smaller amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, and bigger amounts of boxed staples. Not to mention gas prices were high and anything delivered up to the mountains cost more. Bear and Tree heard many complaints over the years and now felt they were in a position to do something about it. They wanted to find a few close farmers to buy the fruit and beef from. They already had the fresh eggs and chickens taken care of. Their voices faded in and out as I looked over their proposal. They continued to explained to me they had already talked to many of the locals.

“Everyone wants to back us on this. But most don’t have the income to invest with us.” Tree said.

I liked the idea, but wanted to see the property first. I considered Alexis product, maybe Bear would put up a shelf for it. We agreed I would keep the proposal overnight, reread it, and change anything I might feel needed changes.

“I would like to examine the property in the morning and then go over the proposal one more time if needed.”

They got up to leave. I didn’t need to spend much time on this. I knew they would do well. But I did need some time to get myself back together before going back out into the real world.

“Not a problem, this is going to take a while to get up and running, but it will benefit all of us.” Bear reached out to shake my hand, making me cringe inside.

I avoided touching him. “I think so too.” I wiped sweat off my brow and dropped my hands by my sides. “I think I might be coming down with something. I’ll meet you in the morning.”

“Stay in today and get better,” Bear said as he and Tree left the house for work.

“Thank goodness that’s over.” I said to Chase as I watched them pull out of the driveway. “I have to go outside and cool off. Grab Killer and join me.”

I stepped outside without my jacket, lighting another smoke.

“That’s what, the sixth smoke you’ve had today?” Chase said, keeping some distance between us.

“I know,” I leaned against the railing, rubbing my eyes. “I haven’t smoked this much in years.” I lifted my head up and glanced at the trees surrounding me. The snow sat heavy on the branches. The scenery looked like a winter wonderland. I wanted to be one of those trees right now, standing in the glory of nature with no worries and no sweat dripping off me. I put out my smoke. I really didn’t need it.

“Will you help me do some research on the Internet today? I need to find a way to block this better.” I laughed. “At this point I don’t care if its voodoo magic.”

“I’ll start right now. Your looking too pale and on edge. Its making my gut hurt. Come on Killer.”

I took a few more deep breaths before heading back in to get on my laptop.

We spent the rest of the morning printing out different spells, meditations, and mantras. The afternoon trying all of them out. The meditations seemed to work the best. The mantras might have helped, but I couldn’t seem to get the words out without giggling. After a lot of practice, I was able to block Chase better. I wasn’t certain it would work on anyone else, until I tested it out on Bear and Tree the next day. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

By late afternoon our packages arrived. We were going through them when it occurred to me that we needed to take the gifts down tonight. I was only going to give Max a couple of days, if he didn’t show I would take care of the problem myself. I’d planned on doing it before, but my mind was made up now.

“We need to take these down tonight.”

“Do you really want to do that? I’m not sure your up to dealing with people right now.” Chase said, glancing up at me. “Your going to leave aren’t you?”

Was I that transparent? “I’m going to give Max a couple of days. If he doesn’t show, then yes, I’m going hunting on my own. Right now let’s separate all of this.”

“I hope Max gets back soon then. I should call him again.”

“Don’t do that Chase, we should stop by a costume shop after we rent the car.” I quickly changed the subject, “Your pick, Santa’s, elves, trolls, whatever.” At this point I was rooting for the trolls.

He chuckled. “I’ll have to think about it. Maybe we should use Max’s truck instead of a rental, I’m not old enough to rent a car and I don’t want you going inside.”

“Do you know where the keys are?”

“I sure do.”

“What about the wolves? Will we be safe from them?”

“They won’t be a problem.”

We separated everything, checked the weather, and hit the road, leaving Killer at home this time. Chase directed me to Max’s driveway. It was nicely hidden, off the beaten path, behind a cluster of trees. His truck was in the driveway, covered in snow, his house dark and silent when we pulled up.

#Warning–May be bad for your Dogs health!

I have a 10 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback/Lab mix (will be 11 in 2 weeks.) We would go out 4-5 days a week for fairly long walks and I noticed she was slowing down a little, feeling her age. I had just recently taken her in for a physical and she was in great health. I’ve always given her some sort of vitamin and started joint pills when she turned seven. I thought I was feeding her healthy dog food too.

Three weeks ago she started having seizures, and I’m not talking just one. Within a 30 hour time frame she had 8!!! I rushed her up to the vet after the first seizure and they pulled some of her blood to make sure she wasn’t toxic and didn’t have an infection. 7 seizures later we were able to put her on PHENobarbatol. This medication stopped the seizures, but now she’s acting like she’s 200.

While in the process of trying to figure out what happened to make my dog have seizures I ran into some not so pretty information.

*Note: I also have a cat that is 10 years old and she is allergic to just about everything-including shots, so I don’t use toxic anything in my house or yard.*

Raw Hide Bones: I’ve been giving these to my dog for years as a Christmas present (the extra long ones.) Full of heavy metals, made in China, even if the label say it’s made in Arizona or some other state. They still buy them from China!!! Many older big dogs and small dogs have had seizures from these!!!

Milk Bones: Have formaldehyde added to them– very toxic.

Many dog foods have wheat and corn as there main ingredient. Corn is hard to digest and all wheat has bromine in it, hmm… eating bromine may be a tad easier on the system than eating chlorine….

Natural Pet foods: Watch these, some have been recalled due to salmonella poison.

I didn’t do research on any more pet foods. I’d had my fill after researching those. Right now I’m making her my own special recipe, black rice, veggies without corn, chicken broth, and boiled chicken for protein. I’m sure the recipe will change once I do some more research, but at least I know what she’s getting and it may even be cheaper than the dog food prices on the cheapest dog food. I’ve also noticed that since I changed out her dog food her breath doesn’t stink as much.

*Just a heads up on what you may be feeding your pet. I know seeing my 88 pound dog going into seizures is frightening, it doesn’t matter if its the 3 time or 8th. Could I have prevented it? Maybe? If I ever decide to own another dog I know now what NOT to feed them.*

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 13

I shook off the nightmare, opened my eyes, and realized the nightmare was happening in real time. Three big burley men, dressed in black, with black ski masks over their heads stood next to my bed. I blinked. This is not a drill the little voice inside my head told me. Your gun is on the dresser. You have to get it right now. I couldn’t believe I let myself get into this situation. My gun should have been next to me on the table, or better yet, under my pillow. Get a grip Montana, don’t freak out, they haven’t noticed you’re awake, yet. I glanced at them under half lidded eyes. The small sliver of the moon outside didn’t shine enough light in my room to see what they were doing. But at the moment they weren’t paying much attention to me, so I took a deep, quiet, breath and pounced out of bed with my arms swinging, going for my gun.

Halfway to the dresser one of them grabbed me. He put his hand over my mouth so quickly it made my head spin. He clutched my waist, digging his fingers into my flesh, and tried to push me back onto the bed. I rounded on him the best I could and punched him hard in the ribs. Another guy yanked my wrists, getting a good grip, he pulled my arms away.

With my legs still free I started kicking at them wildly. As the two men wrangled me back onto the bed the third man wrestled for my legs. He was strong, but I was able to get that one good kick into his jaw, sending him flying into the dresser. I felt a pin prick, my body went limp immediately. They placed me back on my bed.

Okay, now it’s time to freak out, my little voice said. I couldn’t move. I was ready to freak out, my calmer side started writing down notes instead. I wanted to laugh. That damn nervous reaction again. Laughing was better than crying any day as far as I was concerned.

Mental note: all three wore black. They were definitely human. Not one of them had mumbled a word the entire time they were restraining me. They were professionals. My eyes became heavy. I tried to get any kind of description of them that I could, to no avail. Everything happened way to fast. I felt another pin prick as I nodded off.

My alarm clock kept beeping annoyingly. I opened my blurry eyes, found it and turned it off. I gazed at the ceiling for a while and wondered why my brain was so fuzzy. When my mind started to clear, bits and pieces of the night before flooded back to me in one quick rush. Those men drugged me!I bolted out of bed, my head spun, my body felt like a ton of bricks weighed it down, and I became really nauseous. I dropped down to the floor, taking deeps breaths I crawled into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet. I threw up. After my stomach emptied its contents I rested my head on the cool tile floor for a moment, letting the nausea pass.Thoughts of Chase and Killer downstairs brought me back to reality. Damn. I needed to make sure they were all right. I laid there, rattled to my core, shaking all over, and terrified to stand back up. What if I couldn’t stomach moving? What if my head started spinning again? What if…? Taking several deep breaths, I forced myself to focus. I couldn’t, wouldn’t think about the what ifs. So what if my muscles felt to heavy in my skin right now, I wouldn’t let that stop me from checking out the situation, from checking on Chase and Killer.

Slowly, I crawled back into my bedroom on my hands and knees, passed the bed and headed towards the dresser. I glanced up; sunlight gleamed off my gun, all I needed to do was reach it. I hefted my arms up, put my hands on the edge of the dresser and lifted myself at the same time. Halfway there my head began to swim again. I dry-heaved a few times, but kept going, taking deep breaths every step of the way. A million years later.., at least that’s what it seemed like, I held onto the dresser tightly, steadying myself.

Tears ran down my face from the effort I’d put into getting this far. And I wanted to cry more for the effort I knew it would take to get down to Chase and Killer. I wanted to crawl onto a ball on the floor and forget everything. Instead, I looked up into the cracked mirror to make sure I hadn’t been roughed up after I’d been knocked out. No visible bruises. I actually looked pretty good, I thought, smiling trough the tears. That a girl, positive thinking.

I imagined the guy I kicked, my smile grew, and I hoped he had a big bruise from it or better yet, a broken jaw. Maybe I broke the other guy’s ribs too. I glanced down at my foot; my toes were swollen; slightly bruised. It was definitely worth it. I noticed the red hand prints on my arms when I picked up my gun and sighed, I could live with a few bruises. I checked my gun for bullets then focused on getting downstairs.

I stepped wobbly to the wall, pressed against it, and slid to the second floor landing, taking small steps to the staircase. A bad sense of vertigo overcame me when I looked at the spiral staircase, my stomach curled. With no choice but to go down them I closed my eyes tightly and slid down the wall onto my butt, then slid down the stairs. The vertigo passed when I sat firmly on the solarium floor. Taking another deep, shaky breath I crawled into the living room, staying low, gun ready.

The boys laid dead still under the blankets. I closed in on them, saw Killer panting, and scooted around him to check Chase. He was breathing fine and began to stir. I let out the breath I held, scanned his arms for pin pricks, and found one. They both must have been knocked out like me. I leaned back against the couch and stretched until I felt my muscles loosen up. I found one hole in Chase’s arm and I had two. What did it mean? What did those men stick in me that they didn’t stick in Chase? I glanced at them, it would probably be better if I let them wake up on their own. Without disturbing them I slowly stood, gaining some strength back I  wobbled to the kitchen to make coffee.

The coffee was hot and burned my throat going down, but tasted amazing. Functioning better, I poured a second cup and tiptoed back upstairs. After a quick shower I would go outside with my camera to see if the guys last night left any footprints or tire tracks. I’d also have to search the house to make sure they didn’t take anything.

I wondered what these men wanted and kept circling back to the psycho roaming around my property. Did I have information they needed? I didn’t think so. Were they from a different agency? What did they want from me? I had no idea what they were after, but my gut said this was about the psycho creature.

My arms started to shake as I got dressed. My body felt like I went on a drinking binge the night before. I plopped down on my bed, and lit a smoke. A moan escaped my mouth, my head pounded, tears streamed down my cheeks, and my legs felt heavy again. I was starving and nauseous at the same time. I lit another smoke, wondering what the hell those men had done to me.

I finally thought my system was returning to normal when my legs started losing their heaviness, and my head throbbed at a dull ache. That is, until I became plagued with worry and concern. I lit another smoke. I needed to get it together. I expected Bear to drop by soon. I glanced at the clock, I still had a few hours. The sensations became stronger as Chase ran into the room with Killer behind him. I vaguely sensed Killers happiness at seeing me, but Chases emotions came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Chase shook. I started shaking uncontrollably.

“You need to leave,” I whispered, “go back downstairs and center yourself or something.”

“What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Chase’s agitation grew.

I groaned. “Your anxiety is killing me, it’s too much to handle, please leave.”

Chase stared at me for a moment, watching me shake and cry.

“I’m calling Max,” he said, stepping into my office.

I could feel him trying to calm his nerves. It wasn’t working.

“Please don’t,” I whispered, not sure if he heard me. Now he was worried and scared on top of being agitated.

I couldn’t take anymore. I grabbed my smokes and closed myself off in the bathroom. I could barely hear him talking on the phone, his emotions weren’t quite as intense anymore, but I was getting queasy again, and I had this crawling sensation under my skin. This is what they had done to me. This is what they’d done to me! I wanted to scream and not stop. Instead, I washed my face, screaming wouldn’t do me any good. Think positive. How could I be so rational about this? I must still be in shock. Okay, I would use this to my advantage, but I needed to get control over it now in order to do that. Then I needed to figure out how I would use this to my advantage.

I applied some makeup while picturing a shield around me, to protect me from unwanted emotions. I brushed my hair, letting the smooth strokes calm my nerves until I was as ready as I ever would be to face Chase again.

Chase sat on my bed patiently, waiting for me, when I opened the bathroom door.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, working hard at keeping his scattered energy from overwhelming me.

“Calmer, but I’m more concerned about you,” he checked me out, “I called Max. He’ll come back as soon as he gets the message.”

I sat on the bed next to him, refusing to let go of my control. “You need to call him back and tell him it was a mistake. Tell him I had a nightmare or something.”

“I can’t do that. He’d kill me if something happened to you.”

“You have to Chase. It’s because of him this happened.”

“I can’t and I won’t.” He handed me the note. “This was left on the foot of your bed.”

“HELP MAX,” was all it said.

“Someone he works for did this to me,” I whispered, crumpling the note, “but why?” The truth was too much for me to handle right now. “I don’t want Max here.” I didn’t want to know how deep his emotions ran for me. I would if he came back, because of the stupid injection. I shook my head, worrying about his emotions should be the least of my concerns right now.

“I don’t understand what was done to you, tell me.”

I took a deep breath. “You know how I could always sense who was around if I’d met them? Well I could also get a good sense of feelings and intentions too.” I sighed, wanting to cry again. I wanted my nervous laugh back. I didn’t feel like myself anymore. I didn’t know if I ever would again. It didn’t help that Chase’s emotions were too intense for me to handle right now, and if Chase was this bad what would Max be like?

“They shot me up with some drug, now I can feel those emotions more. It’s like they’re 1,000 times stronger than before.”

“What!?” Chase’s face turned red, his anger building.

“Stay calm. Please.”

Every muscle in my body tensed up, my anger rose, matching his. I felt like I was made of glass and at any moment would shatter. Then, all of a sudden, his anger subsided, making mine more manageable. I chuckled; I needed to learn that trick.

“I need to keep control over this and I need your help. Stay centered. Bear will be here soon. Let’s go get some coffee and set some food out. Okay?” I stated, hoping my muscles would loosen up enough to move off the bed.

Introducing–>>N.R. Champagne

As this weeks Featured Author

N. R. Champagne joined the Navy at age 25 and has been something of a gypsy ever since, having lived in many different places and done many different jobs. Currently she lives in Scotland with her retired British husband. She has a degree in history and is writing full-time. She enjoys reading, writing, watching movies and documentaries, cooking, and “rambling” in the woods and fields of southern Scotland.

url https://www.goodreads.com/NRChampagne

genre Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Lonely engineer Miranda Jones finds the new guy at work attractive, but rather strange. She’s unaware that Jared is Irin, an ancient race with supernatural abilities descended from the Fallen Angels, or that he has been sent to protect the company while it develops a revolutionary new green technology. A passionate love grows between Jared and Miranda, but Jared’s people forbid it. Meanwhile, Jared’s outcast twin brother Gareth is consumed by hatred, jealousy and a desire for revenge. When he learns that Jared is out in the human world on a mission, Gareth jumps at the chance to destroy his brother and everything he loves. Miranda finds herself caught up in a holy war between the two immortal brothers. Alone, she must attempt a desperate and dangerous journey to win a love that is far from certain.

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 12:2

I jumped out of bed and ran to the window, shrugging on my robe at the same time. I looked out to blue skies, sunshine, and a blanket of sparkling, white, snow everywhere. My deck was covered, I didn’t think we would be able to get out of the house. Life was wonderful. I hurriedly got dressed in the warmest clothes I could find, ignoring the clothes Max had – probably- intentionally – left in my closet, and ran downstairs for my first latte.

“Hey,” Chase said, poking the fire until the flames roared.
“Good morning! Coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
“We really need to get you a bed; especially if you’re going to be here awhile.” I noted the pile of blankets still on the floor.
Chase glanced down at his makeshift bed. “Nah, I’m fine. Killer sleeps right up against me and we’re in front of the fire. Did you know that Killer gets cold? He crawls under the blanket with me every night. You might want to consider getting him a dogie sweater or something.”
I imagined Killer in a dog sweater, hit the start button on the espresso machine, and laughed. I would have to get him something in black since he was such a macho “hunk of a dog.” I pictured him in pink and laughed harder.
“I’m serious Montana, he gets cold.”
“How about a big, pink sweater?”
“Don’t be mean, you’ll hurt his feelings!”
“I was kidding Chase. It’s just hard to believe my big, bad, dog needs outerwear.”
Chase scratched Killers head. “She doesn’t deserve you.”
“I heard that,” I brought out our flat lattes and rubbed Killer’s ears.
“You know I love you, right?” Killer ignored me. “Fine, I’m putting on my snow boots and going outside to dig us out of here.”
“You have your phone on you right?”
“No. I wasn’t aware I needed it.”
“I promised Max you would keep it on you at all times and forgot about it yesterday, so you need to go get it.”
“Fine,” I stormed up to my bedroom, turned it on, and checked my messages. Nothing. I stormed back downstairs and yanked my shoes on, reminding myself that I didn’t want Max in my life.
“What did he do to make you so angry at him?”
“Nothing.” Max inserted himself into my life then walked out of my life! I wanted to scream. I couldn’t seem to keep my thoughts on anything else but Max.
I picked up a shovel. Yanking open the door I disturbed the natural order of things, causing a snow drift to enter the house. I tried to close the door, without success.
“Were going to have to shovel the snow back outside,” Chase commented, gazing over at the mess I made.
I glared at the snow. “I’ll shovel if you get the mop.”
I gently removed the snow from my floor to avoid scratching it, then made my way outside. There had to be at least three feet of the white fluffy stuff on the ground. When I’d finally dug a walkway from the front door to the end of the stairs I stopped, looked around, and lit a smoke. Chase managed to coax Killer outside and was standing by me with his shovel when my phone rang.
“Are you going to answer it?”
“It’s debatable,” I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello.”
“Hey Montana its Bear.”
“How’s it going Bear?”
Chase glanced at me disappointed. I was pretty sure he hoped it was Max.
“Sounds good, I’ll see you soon. Bear is coming to plow the driveway for us. If you take the left side I‘ll take the right, maybe we can get the deck cleaned off before he shows up.”
We diligently plowed through the snow on the deck and barely finished when we heard the low rumble of the plow coming up the road. We stood there, freezing, until he rounded the corner and I was able to get his attention. I signaled him to come inside when he was done; he waved back at us.
We were sitting by the fire with more coffee when Bear knocked.
“Come in.”
He stomped off his boots before taking them off. “How do you like all this snow?” he said, walking to the fire. He peeled off his gloves and warmed his hands for a moment.
“I love it. It makes the fire even cozier.”
Bear glanced around the house before looking at me.
“Max had to leave.” I noticed the grin on his face he was trying to hide.
“Would you like an espresso?”
“Sure, but then I have to go plow more driveways.”
“How much do I owe you for coming up here?”
“You have to give to our toy drive. That’s the deal I make with all the folks.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Also, do you mind if Tree and I visited tomorrow morning with our proposal? The bar and grill is on the winter schedule twelve to eight. Is ten o’clock all right?”
“Sure,” I said, watching Bear. I knew he wanted to ask about Max and was glad he didn’t. “How are Rose and the girls doing?”
“Trina and Alexis are leaving up to the springs tomorrow, they’ve been keeping the bar a lively place since they’ve been here. I’ll miss them, but I think Tree will miss them more. Rose is absolutely miserable. Both of us would rather her be here.”
“Me too, I miss her.”
“Pumpkin and I miss her too,” Chase chimed in. “Tell her Pumpkin is pregnant and she’s needed at home the next time you talk to her.”
Bear smacked his hand on his thigh, booming with laughter. “Are you serious? No wonder the cat is so fat.”
“I’m serious, but I can’t tell you when she’s due because she is fat and was adopted that way,” Chase said.
“I’ll let her know. It will give her something to think about while she’s gone. Maybe it will even give her a good excuse to come home early.” Bear pushed his empty cup aside, “I have to go, thanks for the coffee.”
We said goodbye to Bear. I headed upstairs to check on my business dealings, grabbed my laptop and got comfortable on my bed. I noticed my gun sitting on the dresser, smacked myself on the forehead and reminded myself I needed to remember to carry it, even if everything was peaceful.
The rest of the day went smooth. When I finished with business I took the laptop downstairs and Chase and I surfed websites for outdoor wear for Killer. I couldn’t motivate myself to do any research on the creature right now. It almost seemed like the whole thing was a bad dream and I was finally waking up.
After munching on Thanksgiving leftovers we headed down to the barn to walk the animals, then up to Roses to plow her deck. Another perfect day.
We hiked back up to my house, settling in with pumpkin pie and a movie before calling it a night. Once I was back upstairs I noticed I’d missed a call. Okay, so I wasn’t used to having my gun or phone on me at all times. I dialed into my messages as I ran a bath, recognizing Max’s voice.
“It’s nice you remembered to turn your phone on Montana, but I need you to carry it around with you at all times.” A flame ignited in my belly from listening to his sexy voice. “I was just checking in. I wanted to make sure you were all right, and remind you if you need anything to give me a call. I will drop what I’m doing and come back.”
I hit save and sunk into the nice hot water dreaming of Max. When my skin started to look like raisins I got out and snuggled into my bed.