Kate and Dana and the Book of Shadows - A Free Read

Where were we? Oh yes, the glowing book of shadows in the library...

Kate leafed through the pages. The letters seemed to move and dance under her fingertips, more texture than a printed page should have. Each page held spells for different situations. There were love spells, spells to repel an enemy, or to do worse to them, spells to heal ailments. She glanced as she turned the pages, watching the letters glitter under the flourescent library lights. The drawings were so three dimensional, the colors so rich and vibrant, she expected one of the little figures to leap out of the book and plop down on the couch with her and Dana.

"Anything there, Kate?"

"Anything? Everything." Kate drew a breath as she reached a page with an illustration of a sorcerer and his wand. In the picture, the gowned magician wielded a long wand to turn a base metal - maybe iron, she wasn't sure- to gold. "Look at this, Dana."

"Alchemy?" Dana asked, leaning closer to see better.

"Sort of, but I never heard of it being attempted by pointing a wand at it."

Dana gasped. "Look, the wand is sparking, right into the air." There were indeed live sparks in the air over the little drawing.

It was hard to turn away from the sorcerer, who seemed to be aware of them, staring out of his page with blazing black eyes, but the book had ideas of its own. As soon as Kate lifted her hand from the page, it turned of its own volition to another section, about halfway through the large volume.

On this page the letters were no longer merely gold but a glowing rose gold. And nearly half the page was taken up by another living illustration, this one a woman with long, white blonde hair that reached nearly to her waist. She wore a girdled dress that looked like something from the middle ages, and she was holding a sword in her left hand.

In the background was a castle, on a steep cliff overlooking a stormy sea. And in the air, above the castle, flying toward the lady, was...

"Oh shit," Dana said, earning a shush from a nearby librarian, "There goes my vacation.

Kate and Dana and the Book of Shadows - A Free Read

Dana slipped into the library to find Kate sitting in a big chair with the sunlight streaming over her shoulder. Kate had a big book open on her lap and the light was illuminating the words in a way that made Dana think it was not an ordinary book.

"Hey," Dana said. "What's up?"

Kate jumped a little. It seems she had been so intent on her reading she hadn't heard Dana approach. Which was saying somethin, because when Dana Dragonslayer approaches, she clanks a little from the weapons she carries everywhere for her work.

Dana laughed. Kate always makes her giggle, even when she is at her most serious. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. What are you reading?"

Kate looked up at her friend. "A very old Book of Shadows. I actually came her for a quick read, maybe a nice Steph Beck, something with a bit of fantasy, but when I went to the back shelves this book lit up."

"Lit up? You mean it looked interesting?"

"No," Kate said. "Lit up, golden, rays of light illuminating the dust motes. Like in the fairy tales."

"And what did you say it was again?"

"A Book of Shadows. A witch's spell book. But I come here all the time, and I swear it was never there before. So why is it there now?"

"Oh good, a mystery," Dana said, plopping down next to Dana and looking over her shoulder at the text. "It really is glowing, isn't it?"

"Oh, Dana, can you see it too?"

"Can't everyone?" She looked around the room, but it was obvious that nobody else was staring at the gleaming book. "I guess not."

"If you can see it, and you're not even a witch, then it must mean you are supposed to be helping me."

"Helping you do what?"

"I have no idea." Kate grinned. "Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"I guess," Dana narrowed her eyes. "As long as it doesn't involve dragons. I came in here today to pick up a book to read, because I am on vacation!"

(to be continued)

Erotica or Not-Erotica

As I learn to be a writer of erotica I have found out something disturbing about myself. While my mind has no trouble envisioning scenes of passionate lovemaking, while I love reading other authors stories of wild menages, my Catholic school fingers have trouble typing the words it takes to tell the stories as clearly as they should. Having left that religion long behind for earth based pagan religions (read Witch), my fingers have apparently lagged behind and want me to use words that, well, don't exactly express my scenes in the way I want them to. But I have had a long talk with them, and they have agreed to try! So we shall see.... I don't want to have to get out the yardstick~!

Why writing is like knitting

I sit here surrounded by wip's. I have more stories in progress than I like to admit to, one rewrite requested, two contest entries and an anthology submission, a young adult requested by my nephews that I think will be a really great story (I have to think of a pen name for my ya work) AND about six of my in progress knitting projects. I know life is a wip, but why is it that the beginning and ending of a project are so much more fun than the middles. Life is Not like an Oreo cookie!

More on Series Romance

I have been wondering lately if every author has the same experience I have. We are told to keep our secondary characters in the background and pay attention to the main storyline. And as an editor I can see how important that is. But I find my secondary characters, the best friend, cousin, acquaintance from work...all have such strong personalities fighting to come through that all I can do is promise their own story to keep them in line. And often they turn out to be so interesting that I'm thrilled with the result.

Barbara, who will star in my second Carnivore Club, had a very minor role in the last book, but as I started to write the second one, I said to my husband, Barbara is a dominatrix! Who knew? (He thinks I'm nuts, but he's happy it makes me happy to do this lol) Anyway, I'm loving writing Barbara's story, and I can't wait to see what character will be the next hero or heroine in this ongoing tale of small town folks who get together to celebrate their uniqueness on Tuesdays at the Carnivore Club

Writing Series Romance

I never set out to write serial stories, but it seems as though each one leads to the next. For example, once I told the story of Finally, My Love, I realized that the internet is a place where so many people meet that there must be a million stories in the naked www. So that led to PerfectPartners.com followed by Internet Romance Three, Who is that Woman? That one is not quite done.

Next I wrote Confessions from the Carnivore Club: Dave and Nancy's Story. Once I walked into the story, I knew that everyone I encountered had their own story. Barbara's story is coming next.

I think the advantage to short or novella length stories is that they lend themselves easily to this sort of serial. After all, I often want to hear more about the secondary characters in books I read. And this way, I get to hear all about them.

Release Day is Coming

Release Day is coming for Finally, My Love and I will be sharing the day at GRR with multi-pubbed author Olivia Starke who is also having a release the same day! We will party all day and give away prizes!