Doug Solter's Blog, page 2

We are Fully Funded!

Our Kickstarter campaign funded on its second day! This means that the paperback version of DR. YES will become a reality. There are only 20 more days left in the campaign, so if you want to get your hands on an exclusive paperback copy, then you must become a backer. You won’t be able to buy this online. Plus, you can get some sick Gems digital art too.

Go here to become a backer.

Learn more about Kickstarter and how to back projects.

My First Kickstarter is a Go!

My first Kickstarter has launched! This Kickstarter will help raise funds for a paperback version of Dr. Yes: A Gems Prequel Novel. This exclusive paperback will not be available anywhere else besides this Kickstarter campaign. There is also exclusive digital artwork of the Gems by Janenajla Arts available on some of the levels. Take a look around and consider becoming a backer.

Don’t know how Kickstarter works? No problem. You can read this and find out how you can get involved. The reason I’m doing this Kickstarter campaign is to not only attract new readers to my work, but also to build a following on the Kickstarter platform that will help fund more expensive projects such as professionally narrated audiobooks, special edition hardback novels, and other book-related projects.

If this particular campaign isn’t your thing, can you help me out and share it around internet-land? Maybe you know someone else who would be interested. That sure would be helpful. Thank you!

A New Anthology!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve joined a group of seven young adult spy thriller authors to create this motherload of an anthology called SPY LIKE A GIRL. The eBook contains SEVEN complete spy novels in one eBook! As I post this, the eBook is still only $0.99, but I know for a fact that we plan on raising it to its normal price of $2.99 within days…so you better buy it right now if you want to get the most bang for your buck! Click here to learn more about the anthology.

MY GIRLFRIEND BITES ME Paperback Update

Hello, everyone. I’ve been having some major issues with my distributor on this book. They have refused to distribute it to bookstores for some strange reason which hasn’t been explained to me well. So, if you don’t want to buy the paperback from Amazon, my sincere apologies. I’m trying to get my distributor to reverse their decision while also looking into ways of selling it online myself. This in no way affects the eBook version. You can even request the eBook through your local library using this link if you prefer.

Again, I apologize for this. I try to have my books available everywhere and that includes bookstores and libraries.

Hopefully, I can resolve this soon.

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to those who have bought the new book last week! I can’t tell you how much I love each and every one of you. Thanks to you, MY GIRLFRIEND BITES ME, is now sticking around in the top 50 new releases in Teen & Young Adult Horror eBooks.

MY GIRLFRIEND BITES ME IS OUT!

The final novel in the series is now out and available in eBook or Paperback from the following online retailers…

eBook

Apple Books, Nook (B&N), Google Play, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and Smashwords.

Paperback

Amazon right now. Other online book retailers should be available by the end of the week. You can also order the book through your local bookstore starting next week.

My GIRLFRIEND BITES ME (Sample #2)

Lark

The school cafeteria ebbs and flows like an ocean of humanity. Its noise level is high. Almost unbearable. A white noise that you can’t get out of your head. I do my best to focus on my old notebook. Its familiar edges are worn and bent. I put the finishing touches on my story. I changed Princess Lisa’s cat, Tabatha, into a Great Dane called Lane. He’s so big that she can ride on his back, and he’s this wise old dog who gives her advice. Tabatha the cat was cute, but she just purred and meowed compliments. On an adventure, she was useless. Princess Lisa needed someone helpful, not someone who only stroked her ego.

“Lark, are you going to finish that?” Bree asks.

Her question brings me back to our round lunch table and the half-eaten turkey and cheese sandwich on my tray. I didn’t even eat my dessert. I have no appetite today, unlike werewolves, who seem to eat anything they can get their paws on.

I take the shiny red apple off my tray for later. “Nope, it’s all yours.”

“Thanks.” Bree makes quick work of the sandwich and the dessert. No wonder her human body has curves, but in all the right places that complement her figure. She doesn’t have a body like mine, a bunch of sticks roped together with string.

“What are you working on?” Aiden asks.

I close my notebook. “Just some witch stuff.”

Princess Lisa’s adventures are for my eyes only.

“Witch stuff?” he asks with an honest smile.

My cheeks warm up. My stomach tingles a little. What’s going on with me? We’re only friends.

“I’m working on some spells.”

“Do you know any spells that can help create a passport?” Bree asks.

“A passport?”

“They’re documents issued by a government that let you travel to other countries,” Aiden answers. “We need two of them if we want to fly to Amsterdam.”

“Sorry, I don’t know any government document spells. If I did, I’d give myself a driver’s license.”

“Bree, you shouldn’t get your hopes up like that.” Dylan pops a potato chip in his mouth. He’s talking to us today. “Your parents could be anywhere right now. The way your father acted…the look in his eyes that night…those witches scrambled his mind. The damage is probably already done. And now they have your mom—”

“Hey, shut up. You’re not helping.” Aiden scowls at Dylan.

Months ago, Dylan would’ve challenged Aiden to throw a punch if he talked to him like that. Now he only looks away.

“I’m not giving up on my parents,” Bree says. “Especially since I saw those photos. I know they’re alive. My parents are survivors. They’ll tough it out. But they need our help to rescue them.”

“How can you get there without a passport?” Dylan asks.

“I went on Doubleday’s old website forum. Some werewolves are still using it to communicate.” Aiden sips on his grape soda. “I put the word out about Bree’s parents. Maybe someone in Europe can help us find them.”

“If any wolves are still alive in Europe.”

“Dylan, you can grab your sour attitude and go sit alone at another table if you’re gonna act like this.”

Aiden and Dylan lock eyes.

Dylan breaks the contact first, focusing on his bag of chips.

The bell rings. Lunch is over.

I exchange my goodbyes before leaving the school cafeteria and running upstairs to the second floor. I head straight for my locker. That’s where I find Pamela and Issy waiting.

“What are you doing after school?” Pamela asks.

“I don’t know. Writing. Drawing. Contemplating the choices I’ve made in life.”

Pamela’s forehead squeezes together. She does this when I confuse her.

“I have no plans. Why?”

Pamela hesitates. “Can you show me how to cast a spell?”

“Sure, yeah. Do you wanna go to your mom’s house?”

“No, not there,” Pamela says a bit too quickly. “Issy says we can do it at his house. Is that okay? Because my mom—let’s just keep it between you and me.”

After school, I text Bree that I have a ride so they don’t wait on me. I find Issy’s car in the student parking lot and soon hook up with him and my cousin.

When we reach Issy’s house, I step through the front door, and Issy’s mom is home. She’s a doctor who works an early morning shift at the hospital. Even after a long day, she still managed to bake some homemade cookies for her beloved Ishmail. The woman hands him the plate and rubs his hair like he was still six.

Issy glares when he hears me giggle. I can’t help it. His mom is adorable. Besides, I heard Pamela giggling too.

With a plate of cookies in hand, we follow Issy into his bedroom as he shuts the door. I take a look around. There’s a lot of car posters on the wall. Most of these cars are like the one Issy has, but I have no idea what they’re called. Some funky long German word. There’s also a few video game posters hanging above his computer. Oh, and one large Batman poster. Big surprise there.

I pause. On Issy’s desk, there’s a standing picture of a smiling Pamela. Next to her, a framed picture of the both of them at Taco Pronto. The way her arm is stretched out in the picture, Pamela took it as a selfie.

“You mentioned something about a witch’s code. Is that written down somewhere?” Pamela makes herself comfortable on the edge of Issy’s bed. “I’d like to read it.”

“It’s been passed down only verbally and learned by saying it over and over again. But my mom gave me a kid’s picture book written by a witch who explained them all. It was called…Good Witch. Bad Witch. I think we still have it.”

“A little kid’s book?”

“Hey, it does a super job explaining the code.”

Plus the cute black kitty who narrates the book is super adorable.

“That’ll be fine. I guess.” Pamela folds her hands on her lap, but her nervous thumbs are fidgeting something awful. She then sees me watching and folds them under her hands.

Issy bites into a cookie. “What…kind…rich graft are you booing?”

I have no clue what he just said.

Pamela reaches over to the desk, grabs a glass of milk, and offers it to her boyfriend.

Issy takes the hint and washes the cookie down. “What kind of witchcraft are you girls gonna do?”

Pamela glances at me. Her eyes are still unsure about all this.

“How about something fun? Like a simple levitation spell.”

Issy nods. “Cool.”

Pamela rubs her hands and hesitates again. “What—what do I do?”

“First we need something to levitate. How about…your picture on the desk. See it over there?”

Pamela angles herself towards it. “Yes.”

“Focus on the object you want to enchant.”

“Enchant?”

“To influence,” I say. “Focus on the object. Its edges. Its surface. Pretend there’s, like, a thin balloon forming around it.”

Pamela’s forehead squeezes together again. I don’t think she understands.

“Think of a balloon and put the picture inside it.”

“Okay,” Pamela says in a not-so-convincing voice.

“Then say these phrases: Space above. Space below. Lift this object from off its throne.”

Pamela blinks her eyes.

“Don’t look at me. Look at the picture.”

Pamela does what I say. She licks her lips. “Space above. Space below. Lift this object from its thorn.”

“It’s throne, baby girl.”

“Don’t talk to me right now,” Pamela says, her voice sounding stressed.

Issy lifts his hands in mock surrender.

Pamela shuts her eyes. Opens them. “Space above. Space below. Lift this object from its throne.”

The picture doesn’t move.

Pamela repeats the spell.

Nothing.

“What am I doing wrong?”

“You have to let go of your doubts,” I say. “You have to believe the words that you’re saying.”

“What if she’s not a witch?” Issy asks. “You say it’s a family trait, but if Pamela’s dad isn’t from a witch family, maybe she has more of his genes.”

Issy has a point. Sometimes a mixed marriage between a witch and a mortal will produce just another human being with no abilities. I hope he’s wrong. Otherwise, I don’t think my cousin will ever accept me.

“He’s right, isn’t he?” Pamela reads my face.

“We don’t know that yet.” I sit on the bed next to my cousin. “Hear me out, it’s important. You must totally believe that you can lift that picture. Your heart. Your mind. Your body. It all must work together. There can be no doubt. No hesitation. A witch must reach deep within herself to pull the magic out. Especially when she’s not used to doing it.”

Pamela takes in my advice. She closes her eyes. Allows her hands to drift apart and fall off her lap. Slows her breathing down. Pamela opens her eyes and sticks them to the book. Her arm then rises from the bed and reaches out for the picture. “Space above. Space below. Lift this object from its throne.”

The picture frame quivers on the desk.

Yes, my cousin has the gift!

“C’mon, Lark. Don’t mess with her,” Issy says.

“I’m not doing anything.” I touch her shoulder. “That’s it. Reach inside yourself. I know you can feel it. Pull it out and place it around the object.”

Pamela raises her arm. And the picture lifts off the desk.

“Damn,” Issy says.

“There you go,” I say. “Now, bring it over to us.”

Pamela retracts her hand toward her chest, and the picture moves over to us. My cousin then holds out her palm, and the picture lands on top of it.

“You did it!”

Pamela’s mouth hangs open. Her breathing grows faster and faster. She places the picture on my lap. Her face is turning pale.

What’s wrong with her?

Pamela runs out of the room and into the hallway bathroom. She squats in front of the toilet and throws up.

That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of a witch getting sick by using her powers before.

Issy goes over to the bathroom. He kneels and pulls Pamela’s long blond hair out of the way. She finishes up and flushes the toilet.

“Are you sick, baby girl?”

Pamela stands up on her own and returns to the bedroom. She’s holding her stomach.

“Damn, are the cookies bad?” Issy asks. “I just ate two of them.”

“It’s not the cookies.” Pamela finds my eyes. “It’s me. I have the devil inside. I’m filled with evil.”

Is she serious? After everything I’ve told her about our rules and—I’m about to scream.

“Pamela, you’re not evil. You have the gift too. You can do good things with it. You can help people.”

Tears trickle down Pamela’s cheeks. “I’m cursed.”

“Oh my God, you need to chill out.”

“I’m the enemy of God.”

“You lifted a picture off a desk. Oh no, look out, World, my evil cousin’s gonna hide all your family pictures!”

“Lark, that’s not helping.”

“I’m sorry, Issy, but she’s overreacting.”

“I have to talk to my pastor about this,” Pamela says.

“Baby girl, remember how he acted when you told him about a girl in your school being a werewolf?”

Pamela frowns. “I need to talk to my mom. Please take me home.”

“You sure?”

“Please?”

“No, wait. Talk to my mom instead.”

“Can we go?” Pamela’s lips are quivering. Her face is trying to hold it all together.

Issy puts his hand around her waist and guides her out of his room. “You can hang out here, Lark. I’ll be back to take you home in a minute.”

They leave me alone inside Issy’s room. I’m so pissed off that I eat all the cookies.

Release Day is Tuesday, July 11.

MY GIRLFRIEND BITES ME SAMPLE #1

The release of the final book in the series is just around the corner. So, here’s a sample from the new book! I’ll post a second sample on Monday. Enjoy!

Aiden

I brace for the most insane thing that I’ve ever attempted…allowing a werewolf to hunt me down inside a dark forest in the middle of the night. I mean, it’s pitch black out here. And I’m hiding under a fallen tree trunk with only enough room to sandwich myself between the dead wood and the cold hard ground.

Why am I doing this?

Because my girlfriend needs the distraction. She needs to feel like herself again. She needs to experience a little joy in her otherwise horrible life. First, an army of reanimated dead soldiers killed almost everyone she loved inside her Colorado wolf pack. Then she lost her house and most of her new wolf pack in a second attack. Now, her mother and father were kidnapped by a secret society of humans who wear porcelain baby masks.

My thumb strokes the soft eagle feather in my palm. Using her witchcraft, Lark enchanted the feather and gave it to me. When I hold it in my palm, the feather hides my scent from animals. I wanted to give my girlfriend a challenge. Tonight, she’ll have to use more than her nose to find me.

The sound of leaves brushing against something catches my attention. Could it be her?

I hold my breath.

And listen.

A thud. Something jumped on top of my fallen tree trunk.

I hold perfectly still.

A low grumble comes from the animal’s mouth.

It must be her. I recognize that grumble.

Why hasn’t she pounced? Can she still not smell me?

Maybe she’s frustrated. It’s been an hour since we started the hunt, and I didn’t tell her about the magic feather.

The grumbling fades off to my right as if she’s still hunting.

You know what? It’s been long enough. Besides, lying on the ground for an hour is kinda boring.

I scramble to my feet and yell, “Got ya!”

The dark, four-legged figure jumps back in alarm, then takes a few steps back.

“I know, you couldn’t smell me, could you? Well, I have a confession to make—”

A lightning flash from an incoming storm lights up the forest. It’s brief enough to make me stop in my tracks. The animal I saw was not a werewolf.

I hit the flashlight app on my phone and light up the forest to reveal a large mountain lion. Its bright blue eyes take me in.

As a snack.

Its paws move forward.

“Get away from me, you stupid cat.”

The large cat ignores my suggestion and licks its lips as it quietly approaches.

I back up. “I’m not tasty at all. You’ll hate eating me. Dude, I’m filled with grape soda and chicken and cheese nachos.”

I shouldn’t have said chicken.

The lion pauses, licks its lips again, then leaps in the air.

I drop to the ground and try to protect my neck and head from his jaws. But something jumps over me and crashes into the mountain lion. A series of angry barks and growls echo across the forest as the two animals fight each other. I scramble to find my phone. Once I do, I shine it in the direction of the fight.

The mountain lion hisses at the large gray werewolf. Bree shows her long fangs that barely fit inside her mouth. A string of saliva falls off her massive teeth. The wolf’s eyes burn red, like two twinkling rubies.

The mountain lion moves backward, trying to retreat.

A loud howl bellows from the werewolf. She barks and growls again at the lion, daring it to make a move against her.

The lion has second thoughts. It breaks into a run and disappears.

I suck in oxygen, discovering that I’ve been holding my breath this entire time. “That was close. Thanks.”

The werewolf turns her attention to me, sniffing me all over.

“Oh, it was this.” I hold up the eagle feather. “Lark and I wanted to give you a challenge.”

The werewolf tilts her head. She doesn’t understand.

“Why don’t you meet me at the car, and I’ll explain.”

Ten minutes later, Bree Mayflower emerges from the forest inside the Buffalo Mountain Wilderness Area, wearing some shorts and a sports bra. She glistens in sweat as she walks over to the only car in the lit parking lot.

“Do you want a towel?” I ask.

Bree nods. I drape the towel over her shoulders and pull her into a hug. Her face lurches in pain.

“What’s wrong?” I remove the towel, and there’s blood staining the cotton. Bree has a few red slashes going down her back.

“She got in a scratch or two. You’re lucky. She was a hungry little mountain lion.”

“It was my fault. I thought she was you.”

“If I hadn’t heard your voice, she would’ve chewed off your leg.” Bree rubs the towel over her wet hair. “So, what’s with that feather? Was that the reason I couldn’t pick up your scent?”

“Lark enchanted it. I just wanted to give you a challenge.”

Bree finishes drying herself off. “I was getting worried. I thought you might have ditched me in the forest.” She puts on her T-shirt.

“I did that once. And never again.”

Bree leans against me. “You’d better not.”

I kiss her on the lips. She wraps her arms around me, and we kiss some more. Her hair smells like honeysuckle and lilacs. Her skin is so soft to the touch.

Bree opens the door of her big, black 1967 Oldsmobile and drags me inside, making our way to the back-seat.

“Don’t hurt the kids,” she says.

I lift my butt and pull out two stuffed animals. I place Rocky and Bullwinkle in the rear window so they can watch. I turn my attention back to Bree’s cherry-red lips.

She stops and turns Rocky and Bullwinkle around so they’re not looking at us.

“Are you serious?”

“Don’t talk. Just kiss me,” Bree says.

I do as she commands.

We kiss and kiss.

Soon, I have her T-shirt back off again…and that’s when Bree shoots back up in the seat.

“What?”

Bree puts her T-shirt back on. “We’re about to get some company.”

A white spotlight floods the interior.

I jump up.

A vehicle moves behind our car and flicks on its red and blue lights.

* * *

The next morning, I wake up to the smell of fried bacon. I roll off the plastic air mattress that takes up most of the apartment’s living room. Dylan stirs on the couch, still gripping his fluffy pillow and blanket. His eyes are open, but his mind is somewhere else.

I’ll take a wild guess. He’s still thinking about Pennsylvania. A month ago, he basically led all of us into another Demon Skin trap that almost wiped us all out. I remember Dylan sitting there in a daze while his fellow werewolves were dying all over the place. If Bree and I hadn’t dragged him out of there, he’d be dead too.

Most of the time Dylan just keeps to himself. That’s fine with me. I wasn’t a fan of his anyway.

“How do you like your eggs, Aiden?” Mrs. Thornton asks. “I forgot.”

In the apartment’s tiny kitchen, Lark’s mom stands next to the stove, wearing a long robe that looks like a Japanese kimono, but it’s not that.

“Scrambled is fine.” I move over to the small table that barely fits into the apartment’s dining “area.”

“How about with some cheese mixed in?”

I give her a thumbs-up.

Mrs. Thornton grins, then notices her daughter’s plate. “Is that all you’re going to eat?”

Lark brushes back her black and purple strands of hair. She’s trying out a new goth-like makeup look, and it kinda makes her face more scary than awesome. “Huh?”

“You just have toast there. Do you want some eggs and bacon?”

“The toast is fine.” Lark bites off the end of some dark-looking toast.

“Is that burnt?” I ask.

Lark nods with satisfaction. “It’s delicious.”

“Put your notebook up. It’s people time. Your spells can wait.”

“I’m writing a story, Mom. It’s about a dead superhero…who’s a ghost.”

“Like Batman?” I ask.

Lark shuts her notebook. “Nah, more like Aquaman. He haunts, like, ships that cross the sea, and he can summon up dead sea monsters. Stuff like that.”

I pour myself a glass of orange juice from the carton on the table. “Sounds awesome.”

Lark flashes a smile as her eyes soften. “I’ll let you read it when I’m done.”

Mrs. Thornton dishes up some fresh scrambled eggs, bacon, and burnt toast. She puts the plate in front of me. I thank her and examine the burned toast. Well, at least she put butter on it.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mrs. Thornton says, reading my face. “I’m so used to the way Lark likes hers—give me a second.” The woman pops two more pieces of bread in the toaster.

“Since you’re not eating it.” Lark snatches my toast and bites into it. “Still hot and fresh.”

A girl’s hand slides across my chest as her soft black hair brushes against my cheek. I turn around and see Bree’s natural face. Even without makeup, she looks hot.

Bree gives me a squeeze before sitting down.

“Bacon?” Mrs. Thornton asks.

“Ten slices, please.”

“That’s all we have left.”

“Dylan, you want any bacon?” Bree calls out.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You sure?”

Dylan doesn’t answer again.

Bree shrugs as she nibbles on some of my bacon.

“Didn’t you go hunting last night?” Lark asks. “I’m surprised you’re not stuffed.”

“I didn’t catch anything. Well, I could’ve eaten a mountain lion, but they’re not that tasty. Oh, did you tell them?”

“Tell them what?” I ask.

“About what happened?”

My morning brain is still not running at full capacity.

Bree blows me off. “A sheriff’s deputy caught us making out in the back-seat of my car.”

“Oh shit.”

Mrs. Thornton fires her daughter a look.

“Sorry, Mom.” Lark leans forward. “What did you do?”

“The area is closed at dusk, so we were technically trespassing,” I say. “But since we were…in our car…at the time, he just gave us a warning.”

Mrs. Thornton places two pieces of lightly toasted bread on my plate. “You two were lucky. What if they detained you and tried to call your parents?”

“My dad would’ve come to pick me up. No problem.” As soon as I say it, my stomach drops.

Bree’s happiness evaporates. She has no mom and dad.

Actually, they’re still alive, but no one knows where. No one knows if they’re okay. And no one knows if they’ll ever be back again.

Why did I have to answer that question?

“There’s still some sausage left from yesterday,” Mrs. Thornton says. “I’ll fry some of that up along with the bacon. Will that work?”

Bree’s frown cracks a little as she nods her approval.

* * *

Wiley Post High School is covered in fog this morning. A gray abyss that swallows up the school buses, the teacher’s cars, and most of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The glass windows inside our building draw in that gray light, making the hallways dim and depressing.

Bree leans against the metal locker next to mine. Her mind just as occupied as Dylan’s was this morning. And I know who she’s thinking about too.

“We’ll find them. Don’t worry.”

“It’s been four weeks,” Bree says. “They could be dead.”

I squeeze her hand. “Hey, don’t talk like that. Your dad is the toughest person I’ve ever met. And your mom loves you so much. That love for you will keep them both alive.”

Bree stares at the floor tiles.

“Something will turn up. We just have to stay positive.”

Bree checks my eyes.

“Didn’t you tell me once that werewolves are optimists by nature?”

Bree’s mouth twitches to the side.

“Yeah, you did, didn’t you?”

Bree sighs.

I shut my locker. “Love you.”

Bree cracks a smile. “Love you more.”

She backs away and heads off to first hour.

I check the time and run into the nearest bathroom to pinch off a loaf in a hurry. By the time I’m done and safe for humanity again, the bell for first hour rings. It’s not the first time I’ve been late, but I might have to see Principal Echohawk again.

I blow off my concern and head for my first class. As I reach for the door handle…the door swings open by itself, allowing Issy to step into the hallway.

“What’s going—?”

Issy cuts me off with a finger over his lips. He motions me over to the other side of the hallway. “Glad I caught ya, A-man. Mrs. Pickford is sick, and the substitute forgot to call roll. You know what that means, right? Forty-five minutes of skip time.”

Saved by the substitute. Maybe this day won’t suck after all.

“Where can we go?” I ask. “They’ll check all the bathrooms.”

Ten minutes later, we use our ninja stealth skills to slip out of the main school building and into the thick fog outside.

We become instantly lost.

“The student parking lot is this way,” Issy says. “The Force is guiding me, young Padawan.”

Issy walks ahead, his arm extended with his palm facing forward as if he’s Iron Man leading us to a glorious victory. But the glory turns to failure as Issy rams his hand into a metal sign. He shakes his arm and lets out a stream of cuss words in Punjabi, his native language.

I take a closer look at the sign.

BUS LANE ONLY.

“The Force sucks,” I say. “This is the bus loop.”

Issy tries to make a fist but grimaces. “I think I broke my hand.”

“If you did, I doubt you could move your fingers like that.”

Issy sighs. “The Force does not suck. However, I’m not yet an experienced Jedi.”

“Or an experienced junior.”

“We’re wasting precious skip time. Which way should we go?”

I point towards school. “That’s where we came from. If this is the bus loop, then we should be able to head in the general direction of the student parking lot.”

“To Moogle maps, Batman!” Issy breaks out his phone. He blows up the Wiley Post High School campus on the map and uses his phone’s location to verify where we are. “Yup, we’re near the bus loop.”

“Why didn’t you just use that to start with?”

“Wait, we’re two amigos here. Why didn’t you think of it first?”

The two of us follow the Moogle map and eventually find the student parking lot. It takes some time to listen for Issy’s car to chirp at us using its automatic locks, but we find his tricked-out Volkswagen Jetta and climb inside. The fog is so thick that you can barely see the car next to us.

“This is sweet,” I say.

“Yeah, Echohawk won’t go out in this crap to look for students skipping class.” Issy reaches for something in his back-seat. He pulls out his lime-green plastic Halo Xbox lunch box. I haven’t seen it since elementary school.

“You still have that?”

Issy grins and pops it open. It’s filled with bags of nuts, cookies, and snack cakes.

“Nice.”

“It’s for emergencies. I’ve got some water back here too, but it’s not cold. Take what you want.”

I rip open a package of chocolate donuts. “Water is fine. Thanks, Issy.”

“Having a girlfriend means you need to have snacks. That way, when she talks too much…you give her something to keep her mouth busy.”

I laugh. “Is that your secret to happiness with Pamela?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love talking to her. But…she sometimes wants to talk about clothes and cosmetics and celebrity gossip and her sewing crafts.” Issy closes his eyes. “I can’t handle sewing crafts, A-man.”

“And that’s when you break out the snacks?”

“Those Twix bars are Pamela’s kryptonite. All that caramel and chocolate keeps her mouth busy for a long time.”

We sit back and enjoy the fog. It’s like we’re parked inside a cloud.

“You two are still good, right? Even through all that craziness with Lark and her mom?” I ask.

Issy rips open some peanut butter crackers. “She and I are still solid. Can’t say the same for Pamela and her family though. I hate going over there sometimes. Pamela’s been stressing out ever since her mom kicked her aunt and Lark out of the house.” Issy munches on a cracker. “Pamela’s mom says that her sister and niece are, quote, ‘whores of Satan’ because they practice witchcraft. And when Pamela brings up the fact that her mom’s family are all witches, her mom freaks out and tells her to go read her Bible again.”

“Sounds like a mess.” I pop another mini-donut in my mouth.

Issy swallows some water. “How’s the new apartment?”

“It’s crowded, but we’re making it work.”

“How many bedrooms does it have?”

“Only two. Lark and Bree share one, and her mom uses the other one.”

“Where do you sleep?”

“The living room. Dylan and I rotate. One gets the couch while the other sleeps on an air mattress that barely fits. Like I said, it’s crowded.” I wash down my donut with some water.

“I thought Lark’s mom was broke. That’s why they first moved in with Pamela’s mom, right? I mean, how is she paying rent and electric and stuff?”

“Bree still has her mom’s passwords to all the Mayflowers’ bank accounts. She still uses the ATM card and gives the cash to Lark’s mom so she can pay rent and all that.”

“Bree’s parents must have been loaded. That mini-mansion they had. The Range Rover her dad drove. Will Bree get all that money now since they’re—”

“Dude, they’re not dead. They were kidnapped. Someday we’re going to find them.”

Issy puts up his hands. “Easy, A-man. We’re just talking.”

I stop myself. My heart is racing. My body all worked up. I guess I’m worried about Bree’s parents too.

“Sorry.” I toss a donut in my mouth and let the chocolate calm me down. “My girlfriend is stressing out too.” I wash down my donut with water. “Wish I could do something to help her.”

“We should join forces.”

“What do you mean?”

“We both have stressed-out girlfriends. So we both aren’t getting any love tugs, French kisses, or even a boobie show. That means we should join forces and make our girls happy again.” Issy grabs another cracker. “I’ll help you find the Mayflowers. There has to be information out there somewhere that might help tell you what happened to them.”

“Good luck with that. Bree and I have been searching the internet for weeks.”

“Send me all the info you’ve got. Let me work on it, A-man.”

My Girlfriend Bites Me Release Date

The release day for the final book in the trilogy is Tuesday, July 11th. My cover designer Travis Miles is working on the paperback artwork and my proofreader will be doing her final edits next week. This book will be the longest I’ve ever written at close to 100,000 words. But there were a lot of story items that needed to be tied up, so I hope you’ll enjoy the final product.

My Girlfriend Bites Me Update

Here’s a quick update on book number three of the series. Currently, I’m finished with the main draft and doing some tweaks before my trusted Beta reader has a look. Depending on her schedule and my editor’s, the novel should be out this summer. I’ll nail down a precise July release date when the above questions are answered. If you’re subscribed to my email list, I’ll be sending out another sample from the book this week. Meanwhile, here’s the new blurb describing the novel…

Bree continues to search for her parents kidnapped by the mysterious and powerful group of humans known as Tetra. While Bree and Aiden recruit allies to help, their friend Lark discovers a magical way to transform Aiden into a werewolf, but only under a full moon. Bree loves the idea, while Aiden sees it as a way to create a deeper connection with his werewolf girlfriend.

Will becoming a werewolf bring Aiden and Bree closer together?

Or will it kill one of them?

Bree receives a clue that takes them straight into the heart of Tetra’s lair, forcing them to confront the Demon Skins with a new allied army of witches, werewolves, and vampires. In an epic battle, Bree and her allies must not only defeat their soulless enemy and their evil masters, but also a squad of special werewolf soldiers modified by witchcraft and science.

​Will Bree, her family, and her friends survive the impending battle that will change their lives forever?

My Girlfriend Bites Me is the final book in the My Girlfriend Bites young adult paranormal werewolf romance series that features unique characters, shocking surprises, powerful battles of witchcraft, and a young love that matures to a deeper level.

Coming This Summer.