First pages of my next book!
Not Sidhe, the final book in The Incubus Saga (though I am hard at work completing the final section), but the first few pages of the book I'll be working on after Incubus ends, a YA/Gay Paranormal Romance about vampires, my first love.
Here's the sneak peek of the first few pages.
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We watched in anticipation, expecting the teddy bear to explode, but it didn’t rise up into the air so much as hop slightly and then fizzle as it caught on fire.
“Shit!” Connor cried.
I scrambled for the hose. “I thought you got the recipe from your dad!”
“I did! Do you know how many things he’s set on fire?”
Connor ran to turn the hose on as I aimed it, holding steady once the first burst of pressure poured through. At least we’d been prepared—mostly.
“What are you two doing out there?” Connor’s mom called from inside the house. “You’re going to be late for school!”
“Coming, Mom!” Connor turned panicked eyes on me but soon choked out a laugh. He turned the hose off again. “That bear never looked better. Maybe if you’d blown it up before giving it to Liz, she wouldn’t have had to dump you.”
I rolled my eyes as I let the hose drop back to the grass. The overlarge teddy bear’s now blackened fur was only slightly smoldering. Plus it looked like rain soon. We’d just finished Easter Break, so having no snow on the ground was a blessing in rural Minnesota.
“I think Liz did me a favor,” I said. “Why am I always the target for the crazy ones?”
“Ah, so blowing up the bear finally made you realize that, huh? I’m a genius.” Connor came over and gave my shoulder a firm smack with his left hand. He was wearing his dark teal prosthetic today, one of the lighter designs he’d come up with recently, so it didn’t hurt as much as some of the metal ones.
“I’ll never doubt your methods again, man,” I muttered.
We shared a meaningful grin.
Connor always knew how to make me feel better after a break up. Usually it involved building something, like a new prototype for his robotics course, or a new design for his left arm that his mom would never actually let him wear to school, but today had been chemistry. Connor wasn’t nearly as adept in chemistry.
It wasn’t as if Liz had been anything special though, I was just tired of starting over—especially with only a few months left of senior year.
“What are we going to do with that?” I pointed at the charred bear.
Connor thought for a moment then grabbed the empty recycling bin from next to their garbage can and carefully set it on top of the bear. It didn’t completely cover it—it was a large bear. I’d won it at the spring indoor carnival for Liz only a few weeks back, but she’d told me to hang onto it for her. I should have taken the hint then.
“It’ll be fine ‘til after school,” Connor said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks. I have work right after.”
“Mr. Leonard is making you go?” Connor gaped at me as we grabbed our bags and headed out the back gate to his car. His mom waved at us as she pulled out of the driveway in her Subaru.
“Arm?” she called out her open window.
Connor held up his prosthetic.
She nodded and headed off down the street.
“Geesh, they raise me on Japanese video games and wonder why I want a gun arm someday. She keeps threatening to homeschool me if I wear the Rocket-Punch one out of the house.”
I laughed. We climbed into Connor’s white Thunderbird that had been passed down to him, which was in pretty good shape for its age despite the one headlight that didn’t pop up. He was a better driver than me even when he wasn’t wearing his arm.
Connor was born without his left arm from just below the elbow. He and his dad had been building their own prosthetics for years, though Connor had surpassed his dad’s skill level at about age twelve.
“Anyway, Mom said I should go. Maybe some company and distraction will be good for Mr. Leonard. He’s a good guy; I want to go. I can’t imagine staying in that big house alone.”
“Especially after someone was murdered in it,” Connor added.
We both shuddered.
Mrs. Leonard’s murder had been big news for such a small town. I’d worked for the Leonards since I was fifteen. They were both good people, and paid me way too much for the little yard work and landscaping I did. It was still hard to believe that Mr. Leonard had found his wife with a hole in her chest only a week ago. Not even a bullet hole—bigger.
-----
Stay tuned! As soon as I'm finished with Incubus, I am diving right into this new story. I'm so excited. A lot of it is going to be based off of real high school events that I and others I know experienced, so should be a fun ride.
Here's the sneak peek of the first few pages.
-----
We watched in anticipation, expecting the teddy bear to explode, but it didn’t rise up into the air so much as hop slightly and then fizzle as it caught on fire.
“Shit!” Connor cried.
I scrambled for the hose. “I thought you got the recipe from your dad!”
“I did! Do you know how many things he’s set on fire?”
Connor ran to turn the hose on as I aimed it, holding steady once the first burst of pressure poured through. At least we’d been prepared—mostly.
“What are you two doing out there?” Connor’s mom called from inside the house. “You’re going to be late for school!”
“Coming, Mom!” Connor turned panicked eyes on me but soon choked out a laugh. He turned the hose off again. “That bear never looked better. Maybe if you’d blown it up before giving it to Liz, she wouldn’t have had to dump you.”
I rolled my eyes as I let the hose drop back to the grass. The overlarge teddy bear’s now blackened fur was only slightly smoldering. Plus it looked like rain soon. We’d just finished Easter Break, so having no snow on the ground was a blessing in rural Minnesota.
“I think Liz did me a favor,” I said. “Why am I always the target for the crazy ones?”
“Ah, so blowing up the bear finally made you realize that, huh? I’m a genius.” Connor came over and gave my shoulder a firm smack with his left hand. He was wearing his dark teal prosthetic today, one of the lighter designs he’d come up with recently, so it didn’t hurt as much as some of the metal ones.
“I’ll never doubt your methods again, man,” I muttered.
We shared a meaningful grin.
Connor always knew how to make me feel better after a break up. Usually it involved building something, like a new prototype for his robotics course, or a new design for his left arm that his mom would never actually let him wear to school, but today had been chemistry. Connor wasn’t nearly as adept in chemistry.
It wasn’t as if Liz had been anything special though, I was just tired of starting over—especially with only a few months left of senior year.
“What are we going to do with that?” I pointed at the charred bear.
Connor thought for a moment then grabbed the empty recycling bin from next to their garbage can and carefully set it on top of the bear. It didn’t completely cover it—it was a large bear. I’d won it at the spring indoor carnival for Liz only a few weeks back, but she’d told me to hang onto it for her. I should have taken the hint then.
“It’ll be fine ‘til after school,” Connor said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks. I have work right after.”
“Mr. Leonard is making you go?” Connor gaped at me as we grabbed our bags and headed out the back gate to his car. His mom waved at us as she pulled out of the driveway in her Subaru.
“Arm?” she called out her open window.
Connor held up his prosthetic.
She nodded and headed off down the street.
“Geesh, they raise me on Japanese video games and wonder why I want a gun arm someday. She keeps threatening to homeschool me if I wear the Rocket-Punch one out of the house.”
I laughed. We climbed into Connor’s white Thunderbird that had been passed down to him, which was in pretty good shape for its age despite the one headlight that didn’t pop up. He was a better driver than me even when he wasn’t wearing his arm.
Connor was born without his left arm from just below the elbow. He and his dad had been building their own prosthetics for years, though Connor had surpassed his dad’s skill level at about age twelve.
“Anyway, Mom said I should go. Maybe some company and distraction will be good for Mr. Leonard. He’s a good guy; I want to go. I can’t imagine staying in that big house alone.”
“Especially after someone was murdered in it,” Connor added.
We both shuddered.
Mrs. Leonard’s murder had been big news for such a small town. I’d worked for the Leonards since I was fifteen. They were both good people, and paid me way too much for the little yard work and landscaping I did. It was still hard to believe that Mr. Leonard had found his wife with a hole in her chest only a week ago. Not even a bullet hole—bigger.
-----
Stay tuned! As soon as I'm finished with Incubus, I am diving right into this new story. I'm so excited. A lot of it is going to be based off of real high school events that I and others I know experienced, so should be a fun ride.
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