Lisa Logue's Blog, page 9

New Year, New Things

2014 is about to start and I'm chomping at the bit to get my show on the road. There are so many untapped resources out there for me, one of which is blogging. I've not been really good about blogging this year because I've been beyond busy with things outside of my writing world. I haven't had too much time to devote to blogging or writing much in general, but I'm hoping that will change in the new year.

I'm working on a new business/marketing plan for 2014 and all of the things I need to do to get back in the saddle. Among them is finishing my series, but I'm sure you all have heard enough about that! I will be embarking on several other projects, as well as a possible collaboration if I can muster up the courage to trust someone else with a piece of my soul, as much of my writing is just that. Needless to say, I plan to be busy with a little bit of everything, including writing this upcoming year.

Over the next two weeks, I will have some free time and I will be (hopefully) posting some more information and possibly getting in on some blog rolling action. I have to do my research and find some good blogs to help me get started. Eventually, I will be looking into a Street Team and building up my swag packs for awesome giveaways, including work that isn't mine. I want to branch out to as many arenas as possible, without stretching myself too thin. I do have a family to look after!

Well folks, that is the short version of my outlook for 2014. I hope to see you all and many new faces over the next twelve months. Anyone else have exciting stuff going on in 2014?


xoxoxoxo
Lisa

Hermit, I am

NaNoWriMo helped me get a good start on finishing Fiery Secrets and I'm glad I decided to do it. I didn't finish yet, but I have definitely gotten a good start and I'm happy about that. Luckily, I have a vacation from my full-time job coming up and I'm hoping to finish then. So much is going to happen with this book, sometimes I just don't know how I'm going to fit it in!

Anyway, I wanted to give you all a quick update. There will be some exciting things coming up in 2014 that I will be posting and sharing all over the web. I will be finishing up Legacy of Secrets and moving on to my next project, which I am incredibly excited about! If there is something you all want to see from me, don't hesitate to drop a line!

xoxoxoxo
Lisa

Stumped!

So I've been having a difficult time finishing this book. I find myself writing a few hundred words and feeling like something is missing. I'm not sure if this is normal, but I hope I am just being my own worst critic. I've heard good things about the parts I've let some of my friends read, but they are my friends so I always feel like they're just being nice :). It could all just be in my head, though. If you want to take the time, here's part of an excerpt that I'm thinking about trashing. If you could leave some comments telling me what you think, that would definitely help me feel like I'm moving in the right direction. Pweeeeeaaaasssseeee? :D








 Kalonice narrowed her eyes, "What you fail to realize is that all vampires are born with the same handicap. We cannot at first remember our human lives aside from the fact that we are one. Usually, this happens to protect the young vampire because he or she couldn't simply wander home to snack on mommy and daddy. Vampires are drawn together like magnets. We thrive in groups and we tend to survive much longer that way.  So, when you wandered away from your birthplace, you were migrating towards others. We're engineered to seek out our own kind, even if we don't know it's happening."

I sighed and rubbed my hand over my scalp, "I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect to either of you, but since flipping that switch I'm not sure how to live as a vampire without losing the person I've worked so hard to become."

"Christian," Emerson sighed. "Do you remember when you first found out what Lia was and you felt yourself slipping? The vampire in you wanted her, even though you didn't want him to. Do you remember that?"

I nodded, "But I don't know if he wanted her for her blood or because of what I felt. I was too afraid to slip too far away because I couldn't let anything happen to her."

Kalonice folded her arms, "Yet you were able to co-exist with your vampire side while able to think clearly and react as you normally would?" I nodded. "Then you already know that it's possible, you just have to let go of the fear. You are much older now and your vampire is, too.

"As a newborn, you didn't possess the capacity to concentrate on anything except the blood. It was the only thought and drive you had, which is why carnage followed you. Once you were taught how to be a vampire the right way, you were able to think and fuction as you did when you were a human. Now, whether you think so or not, you have found harmony. If you allowed yourself to give in to your instincts, you wouldn't feel so different."

"I don't want to kill people again. I can't do that. It's been a long time since I've killed someone for blood and I don't have plans on doing that now," I shook my head furiously.

"You don't have to kill anyone, unless you want to that is. No one can make you do anything, not even the vampire inside of you. Tell me what's more important, your moral dilemma, or saving Adalia from the pit of Hell the Trylle have laid out for her?"

My heart squeezed, "You already know the answer to that."

"That's what I thought. Now, if you decide that you're ready to grow up, we can begin tonight at sundown," Kalonice moved toward the door.

"Begin what?" I asked gruffly.

"Your baptism," she smiled slyly and disappeared from the room.

#WRITINGFUEL

So I've decided to start a new trend. #Writingfuel is going to be my tag while I keep myself motivated and busy writing and finding things that help me stay on track. I invite all of my friends to use the same tag to show everyone what keeps you going while we take on long hours of squeezing every last drop of imagination from our brains! 



Over the next few days, I'll be updating Tumblr with the new #writingfuel tags as well. I'll add some photos, songs and any other goodies I can find. If you don't follow me yet on Tumblr, click this text and you'll go straight to my profile. If you want to follow me other places, here's Facebook and Twitter. Don't forget, you can also look for updates on My Website.



Nite folks! I'm off to bed. Gotta work in the morning before coming home to write some more goodies!



xoxoxo

Wow it's been a while...

So I didn't realize until now just how long it has been since my last post. I've been super busy with a new position at my day job, the kiddos starting school, taking care of a new puppy and trying not to lose my mind! Ultimately, I've been letting life get in  the way of my writing responsibilities and I'm slowly bringing myself back in to the correct mindset. I hope you all can forgive me!




Anyway, I'm still hoping to have Fiery Secrets completed before Thanksgiving and I'm working out a plan to help with that. If it means writing every weekend for the next two months, then that's what I plan to do! Rest assured, I will come out of the dark and back into my writing universe very very soon.




Keep an eye out for more blogs and posts. I'll be setting up some stories and what not within the next few days. Until next time!







XOXOXO

Title says what?

So I've come to the conclusion that I need to get my ass in gear. I have set a deadline for my next book to come out in the Fall and I've been only writing here and there. It's not that I don't know what to write, it's that I've not felt up to writing. Does that ever happen to anyone? I watch and support my wonderful author friends in their careers as they inch closer to their dreams, which I sit and scroll thinking, "man, I should probably be doing that right now". Instead, I poke around online and let my mind wander elsewhere. So, here's what I'm going to do!



Throughout the month of August I'm going to set myself a word limit and workload that I will stick to come hell or high water. Deadline means money and I definitely don't want to lose any of that! So, anyone have any ideas on any neat apps or websites that can help me out? Share the love folks!





xoxoxo

Lisa

Lazy Sunday

I don't know if you're like me at all, but I hate doing much on Sundays. I prefer to use Sundays as a lazy day to help re-charge me for the rest of the week. Between work, school, kids and writing I tend to get a bit jaded. So, instead of doing anything other than laundry, I've been online most of the day poking around or playing games. It's now after 6pm and I've decided to do some writing. 



The problem is that lately I've been conflicted between writing more on the serial Chasers or jumping into Fiery Secrets . I tend to lean towards the latter, mostly because I have a fall deadline. Still, some of the story just hasn't struck me yet. I think part of that is because I've not fully immersed myself in the possibilities. As I ramble on about it, it seems that Fiery Secrets is the logical choice. 



Also, I will be releasing a box set of the current books in the series very soon. I've run a few giveaways on my Fanpage, but the edited version hasn't been revealed as of yet. So, I will be sure to post links once it goes live. Here's a picture of the cover so you know what to look out for. ;)

Fangirling

I may have mentioned a few times how much I love movies and books, but I'm not sure I've talked about my favorite TV shows much. I don't have many, but those I do are guilty pleasures and I am not afraid to admit it. Supernatural, Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, Being Human (US), True Blood and Game of Thrones are my current indulgences. I also started watching The Following with


On another note, has anyone written any fan-fiction type of stuff about their favorite show? Sort of similar to the LARPing episodes of Supernatural? I am normally not a huge fan of fan-fiction, but I can appreciate the creativity and encourage anyone to write what's inside their heads. Watching shows like these can do great things for a writer's imagination and I know I've been inspired several times. Well, that's my morsel for this evening. I'm off to talk about more shows on Facebook. Feel free to join in the conversation! 



xoxoxo

Chasers: The Warehouse (Issue #1)

Ben and Joey are called to an abandoned warehouse where shades, one of evil's many consorts, are presumed to be reeking havoc. They must find and destroy them, no matter the cost. What they find lurking scares them so badly, they aren't sure if it was actually real.

***Includes adult language***












 THE WAREHOUSE




The old abandoned
warehouse stood like a shadow against the light of the dock. It creaked and
groaned with the blowing wind, warning those who dared to enter. But there were
a few who were chosen to walk with darkness. At first glance, they looked like
everyone else, but if you looked close enough the small tattoo-like marks would
glow a faint red, and that’s how you’d know. They are hunters of a sort. More
specifically, they are chasers.








“You’re sure the
coordinates are right?” Ben wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hated old
warehouses. Any other type of building and he was golden. Nothing good happened
in warehouses- ever.








Joey glanced at Ben from
the corner of his eye and smirked, “What’s the matter, cuz? I thought you liked
your job?”








Ben shook his head, “I
do like my job, cuz, but I hate warehouses. Remember the one we had in
Boston? We barely made it out of there alive. These things find holes within
holes to hide in. If we’re lucky enough, we’ll find them all and the place
won’t collapse with us inside.”








“That’s the general
idea,” Joey quipped as he strapped on the holster for his handgun. One of his
favorite parts of hunting was the prep; when they gathered their weapons and
supplies before going in balls-to-the-wall. The cool metal would press lightly
into his naturally hot skin, sending chills throughout his body. He could almost
compare it to sex; almost.








“What’s the story? Do we
know how many are in there?” Ben pulled his brother’s old leather riding gloves
over his hands, cracking his knuckles so they wouldn’t slip off. Ethan used to
wear them when they chased together, but Ethan was dead. All Ben could think
about was killing all of the slimy freaks he could get his hands on.








Joey pulled a roughly
drawn map from his vest pocket, “The radar pinged where each of the X’s are
drawn. With a place this big, there could be layers of these suckers underneath
each other. If all else fails, we blow the place. I don’t feel like repeating
Boston tonight, either.”








Ben and Joey are no
different from the other chasers except that they are blood related. Cousins by
blood, brothers by rite, they are inseparable. Years earlier, Ben’s older
brother Ethan made sure to bang it into their heads that it was rare for blood
to fight together and how important it was to stay together. The Guard didn’t
like pairing blood family together in case something happened, which usually
meant they didn’t want to kill the bloodline because of someone’s mistake. Ben
watched Ethan leave camp without him only one time in his entire life, and Ethan
never came back. That’s when Ben knew that he couldn’t let Joey make the same
mistake. Blood stuck together, end of story.








“Do we have a point of
entry? If the wind blows too hard this place is gonna cave. Fucking
warehouses,” Ben popped a piece of gum into his mouth.








Joey slipped the last
holster up his leg and synched it tight. He pulled the dip can from his back
pocket and stuffed the minty tobacco into his cheek. “Are you gonna bitch the
whole time? Jeez, anyone else would swear you were a Rook.”








“I might. Just remember
this conversation the next time we have to go to a mausoleum. Who’ll be the Rook
then?” Ben threw Joey his pack and shrugged into the rest of his gear. It was
almost time to go and they were both tense.








Ever since Ethan’s death,
Ben was more anxious than normal. He was a little too cautious for Joey’s
taste, but he couldn’t blame the kid. Joey might have been his cousin, but he
grew up with Ethan and Ben, spending so much time with them he considered
himself more of a brother. With Ethan gone, he couldn’t lose Ben, too. Then
he’d really be alone and there wouldn’t be anyone left. Chasers weren’t easy to
come by these days.








Joey eyed the map of the
warehouse, “It looks like we’ll go in through the south-side door, here, and
work our way around. There’s no tellin’ where these bastards are hiding. This
place is at least fifty years old. The walls have more holes than Swiss cheese.”








“Yeah, lots of places
for things to hide. You ready?” Ben checked the safety on his handgun before
holstering it. Joey sheathed his crossbow between his shoulders, “I’m good.
Let’s go get it before they realize we’re here.”








Chasers were supposed to
rely on stealth and the element of surprise, but Ben and Joey were the polar
opposite. Their weapons were loud, as were their mouths, and they didn’t care
if they blew up the place as long as everything evil inside was dead. They used
more human weapons than traditional chasing weapons. Ben was especially gifted
in adapting them to meet their needs.








He could take a normal
handgun and modify the ammunition to radiate light before exploding and
eradicating the shades or other demons. The crossbow he made was Joey’s
favorite by far. The arrows were blessed and dipped in holy water before being
run through black fire, thus making black arrows. No matter what Joey shoots,
they disintegrate and so does everything else in the vicinity. There was
something about exploding force fields and black arrows that could make a guy
go weak in the knees. No doubt, Ben was a bad-ass at forging.








Joey took the lead,
following the lines he memorized from the map. Ben followed closely, keeping an
eye on the dark spots the night created around them. The knot in his stomach
tightened with each step. He swallowed down the anxiety before Joey could
notice how bad it really was. Ethan’s death haunted him more when they were
working.








Once they reached the
dilapidated doors, Ben took the grenade from his vest and pulled the pin before
tossing it into the pitch black room. It took mere seconds for the flash-bang
to go off and that was their queue.








Joey kicked the door in,
shooting any and every thing that moved with the black arrows. Ben aimed for
the larger masses as they began to retreat into the darker parts of the
warehouse. He launched another flash-bang into the air above them, shooting as
many lighted bullets into the giant coagulation of darkness as it writhed in
pain. The room exploded in light, causing the shrieking demons and black souls
to explode to dust.








Joey wiped the ash from
his face and looked at Ben. He was standing in the middle of the room as the
light faded, ash raining down on him from above and glowing red with the sigils
of a true chaser. Ethan would have been proud, he thought. As Joey pivoted his
foot on the worn wood, something grabbed his ankle and pulled hard. “Ben!” He
yelped before falling into pitch blackness.








“Joey!” Ben ran to the edge
of the hole and looked down. His stomach hit the floor. All he could see was
black with no sign of Joey at all. He snapped a few flares and chucked them
into the hole. The hissing and shrieking began immediately as the most
terrifyingly large shade he’d ever laid eyes on moved beneath the opening like
a massive wave.








That’s exactly what it
was; an ocean of darkness. “Joey!” Ben yelled again, praying for some type of
response. It was hard to hear anything above the hissing and popping of the
shades and demons around him, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Reaching into
his pack, he found the grappling gun and searched for a steady place to anchor
it. The warehouse was barely standing on its own, especially after the grenades
and gunfire, but the cross-beams would have to do.








“I’m coming, Joey. Just
hang on,” Ben said. He shot the inky mass full of lighted bullets before taking
the plunge into the hole. He probably should have been afraid, but he wasn’t.
All he could think of what saving Joey; how he couldn’t save Ethan. That was
his job. Joey was somewhere in the basement and, with any luck, he was still
alive.








The hissing noises
filled the room and Joey pulled himself up slowly from the damp floor. He had
no idea where he’d falled, but the room was much too dark. The hair on the back
of his neck stood up as the cloud of evil scaled the walls around him. He’d
never seen a shade so big. Light flashed above him like a heat storm and he
knew it was Ben. The crazy son of a bitch was actually trying to rescue him. A
low growl from the shade was all the warning Joey needed to realize what was
about to happen; it was about to take the warehouse down with them inside.








“Joey! Where are you?
Joey!” Ben dangled from the rope, suspended above the floor, and scanned the
room. The knot in his gut grew at the sight of the basement. The shade took up
the entire room, even spilling over as it hugged the ceiling. Most shades were
the size of humans; this one could fill almost the entire building. “Joey!” Ben
called again, hoping he wasn’t too late.








“Ben, over here! Hurry
up, this sucker’s about to take this place down,” Ben turned to his left and
saw Joey’s gloved hand sticking up above the misty darkness. “Alright, hang
on,” Ben swung himself over and dropped down a few inches to meet Joey’s
outstretched hand.








Ben’s fingers formed a
death grip around Joey’s wrist and he hit the automatic reel, pulling them both
out of the hole with lightening fast quickness. Joey was scratched up and
bruised, but was already healing. They looked at each other for a brief moment,
silently thanking God that they were still alive. Ben unlatched the grappling
hook and set about unpacking the grenades.








“Have you ever seen
anything that big?” Joey asked over his shoulder, shooting anything that was
left floating around them.








Ben shook his head, “No.
I don’t think that’s a regular shade. It’s not acting like one. It should have
disintegrated when I used the lighted bullets and it’s still down there like I
never touched the damned thing. Fucking warehouses.”








Ben dropped the charges
into the hole and he and Joey took off for the exit. Their increased speed was
always a plus, especially when blowing things up. The only thing lighting the
way through the increasingly darkening warehouse was the faint glow of red from
their skin as they jumped through the doors and rolled down the hill to their
truck.








They didn’t stop. The
grenades exploded and the green flames were so bright it hurt their eyes in the
rearview mirrors while they sped away. Ben had deep gashes on his cheek where
the brush cut into him during the downhill roll. Joey popped his left shoulder
back into place and pulled a nail out of the back of his hand. Normally, they
would celebrate their victory, but they were still unsure of what they actually
witnessed.








Ben spoke first, “Do we
tell them? What if others are walking into this and have no idea. How many are
going to die? Or have already?” What he didn’t say out loud was that Ethan
could have suffered at the hands of whatever type of shade they just saw. Of
course, Joey was already thinking it.








“I honestly don’t know.
Do we have any proof? You know we can’t just waltz in there without something
to show for it or they’ll think we’re nuts. I’m surprised they’ve let us go so
soon after Ethan. Are we one hundred percent sure we saw what we think we saw?”
Joey spit out the old dip and stuffed his cheek with another.








“I know what I saw and I
know what it looked like. The best we can hope is that it was picked up on our
energy drives. Next time we’ll need to bring some thermals just in case.
Something feels off about this, doesn’t it? Why would that thing have just been
hanging out in an empty basement?” They shrugged, both fighting the same gut
feeling that something big was stirring right under their noses. The truth was,
they had no idea what it was, just that it was even more abnormal than normal
and it scared the hell out of them.








The truck raced down the
highway, putting as much distance between them and the warehouse as possible.
The green flames eventually turned to the normal orangish-yellow color and the
structure collapsed in on itself. It took a long time for firemen and rescue
teams to get there, not leaving much for them to do except churn the ashes in an
attempt to figure out how the fire started. Lucky for the boys, Ben’s grenades
left no traces so there wasn’t anything linking them to the fire.








Eventually, the
authorities left and the fire turned to low smoldering embers. The embers
eventually began to bubble. Thick tar-like blobs formed and grew, clinging to
each other like hot glue. The gooey mass poured from the wreckage and down the
hill, following the trail the boys had made during their escape. As it reached
the road, the massive goo began to mold itself into something else.








A face appeared in the
center. It was that of a woman. Her eyes were almost black and her lips red as
blood. She emerged from the mass, standing naked near the shoulder of the
highway. The skin she wore was lightly tanned and everything about her was
petite. Even her face resembled a teenager’s, sweet and innocent. If not for
her imposing glare and jet black hair, one might even think she was a normal
human girl.








A car skidded to a stop
as its headlights spotted the naked woman. The man behind the wheel jumped out,
blanket in tow, and urged the strange girl out of the cold and into the warmth
of his SUV. She smiled and nodded, making herself comfortable on the seat
beside the human man. She could smell his reluctance and fear, but she wouldn’t
kill him yet. She needed information first and he was going to be easy to
manipulate.








“What’s your name,
sweetie?” He asked in a hushed voice. She guessed he was afraid of scaring her.
If only he knew what he had ushered into his car.








“Name?” She answered
quizzically. She didn’t have a human name that she knew of. She hadn’t walked
on the surface for thousands of years. Her true name wasn’t one even
pronounceable in the human tongue.








The man gave her a
strange look, “Sure. My name is Hank. I don’t want you to be afraid of me, I
won’t hurt you.”








She smiled again, “Not
afraid.” Clearly, her human tongue was not yet available to her. Still, she had
a start. The human Hank was going to be very helpful. “Mara. My name is Mara.”








Hank smiled, “Nice to
meet you Mara. Is there somewhere I can take you? Do you have family nearby?
What on Earth were you doing out here by yourself?” He asked many questions,
but Mara reined in her impatience.








“No family. I cannot
remember why, just that I am. Can you help?” Mara struggled with the words.
Hank smiled again and patted her shoulder, “Sure, Mara. We’ll figure it out.
You can stay at my house for now until we figure out what happened. Will that
be alright? I have a guest room over my garage. You will have privacy there.”








Mara nodded and a
sinister smile spread across her face. Yes, the human Hank would be very
useful. Stupid humans. It was no wonder they had to be protected by the angel
bile who called themselves chasers. Soon,
she thought, soon.







© 2013 Lisa Logue

All Rights Reserved.

Chasers: In the beginning...

Ben and Joey are among the chosen. They seek to defeat darkness, protecting the world from its infectious evil. They are chasers, the children of angels and the warriors of light, and they are itching for a fight.





 
IN THE BEGINNING

 




As a child, you might have been afraid of the dark. It might have
stemmed from that weird creepy-crawly feeling skidding over your skin while you
sat in a room alone. Or it could have been from seeing what looked like shadows
dance across the walls and ceiling, filling your chest with a suffocating
feeling of fear. Your parents would come in and check all of the normal places-
under the bed or in the closet- just to prove that nothing was there. You
believed them and felt a little better, but you still felt that icky tingle on
the back of your neck.






For the most part, your parents were right. There wasn't anything
under the bed or in the closet and they couldn't see anything lurking around
when they flipped on the light. Sometimes you would even wave off the fear as
childish and, eventually, you'd forget why you were afraid in the first place.
All would be well and you'd snuggle under your covers and drift off to sleep.
 






The truth, however, isn't quite as easy to forget. Some of those
children, and maybe even you, were lucky enough to be afraid of the dark for a
short time, only to realize there really wasn't anything there. But there were
some who weren't so lucky. The darkness wasn't as innocent and the sickening
feeling of dread never left them. No, the truth is much more than a childhood
fear. The truth is that there are things lurking, watching and waiting.
Those things feed off of the fear of their victims and they have been waiting
for the right time to attack. If they catch your scent, they won't stop until
they've consumed your soul.






The most heinous of soul-eaters are shades. They look like shadows
and naturally shy away from the light. Shades are drawn to places of great
despair or broken souls, but it is not unheard of for them to attach to a structure
or person for a long time, even after death or demolition. Where darkness is
the blackest, Shades are lurking.






Other ghost-like creatures dwell among the shades, picking off the
souls left untouched. rogues, apparitions, demons, and countless others flood
anywhere the shades have yet to go, waiting for their chance. For centuries,
the beings of darkness threatened the lives of all humans and non-humans alike.
The night was full of terror and no one went to bed without at least a lantern
by their heads.






From this terror, warriors emerged. They were the bringers of
light, wielding weapons made to purify darkness and repel the evil it left
behind. The warriors had many names over time, but they preferred to be called
chasers. That was their job- to chase away the darkness. Centuries evolved chasers
into something else entirely. Not only are they the warriors of light, they are
the children of angels set to live among the humans to protect them from the
evils they don’t even see. They’re the only hope humanity has left in the war
against evil.






In the past, chasers were born and raised separate from humans.
They were trained in combat and abilities that would have raised much suspicion
should a human eye see them. There was an almost equal population of chasers
and humans, just as there was equal darkness. Slowly, as the darkness retreated
back into Hell, the chasers were created less and less until barely any were
left. It was thought that the angels deserted what was left of their children,
leaving a thousand or so to procreate and teach their hunting ways.


 
Present day chasers are few
in numbers. Without a true sense of belonging, they live by the strict code of
brotherhood. The evil now exists in secret and it is their job to keep it that
way, no matter the cost. Humans aren’t as aware as they once were and should
they encounter the evil, it changes them irrevocably.







© 2013 Lisa Logue

All Rights Reserved.