Thursday, March 21, 2013

Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Threats

Chapter Four: 1899
How To Catch An Invisible Man



The new-fallen snow glittered under the bright moon like the unseen stars above.  The Foresight Coven House had a large front yard, showcasing the snow’s white beauty 

The white blanket seemed magical.  It almost felt to Annabelle like the snow wasn’t normal.

She ignored the silly thought and relaxed on the porch swing.  A new book rested on her lap while Charlotte snuggled under her arm. 

“Next year I’ll finally turn nine.”  The child vampire said with glee.  “I’ve been eight for a hundred years and I can’t wait to be older.”  She tried to make her voice deeper when she said ‘older’ but failed.  Ann suppressed a smile.

Memories flooded Annabelle’s head.  She remembered the night she woke after living a hundred years as an eleven-year-old.  Her body hurt and she had to relearn some abilities, but it was glorious to finally age.  Sure, others would still treat her as a child, but she was slowly catching up.

As long as Annabelle could remember, people were amazed at how mature she behaved.  Working with her father in his bookbinding business at a young age helped her mature a little faster. 

People assumed she was ignorant, so she simply worked around that obstacle.  Now, after two hundred years of people looking down on her, she couldn’t imagine anything else.  It simply meant more opportunities to prove them wrong.

She watched Charlotte beam with enough excitement to light the world.  This little one will have the same life as Annabelle, resetting expectations with everyone she meets.

Charlotte continued, “Selina said she’ll start letting me help with their pranks but Samuel said I’ll still be too young.”

Her soft voice began to whine, “I don’t want to wait another hundred years Annabelle.  Can’t you tell them I’m old enough?”

“I’m sorry but the last thing I want is another vampire prankster sneaking around.” 

Charlotte’s pale face scrunched up into a frown.  Her cherub cheeks dropped a little, her tiny mouth curled up and her big eyes pooled like a forlorn puppy.  With her blonde hair in ringlets framing her angelic face, Charlotte resembled a sad porcelain doll.  “Aw but I’d be good.  I promise not to nail your coffin shut like they did to Roland.”

Annabelle couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping.  “That was pretty funny.  Listen, I’ll consider it, all right?”

The child’s eyes lit up like the moon.  “Hurray!  I can’t wait to tell the others.”  She flew out of Ann’s arms and five feet into the air.  A light giggle escaped her lips as she sped through the front door, almost clipping Roland’s ear.

“Hey!  Why’s she in such a hurry?”  He crossed to the wooden banister and leaned back against it.

“She wants to start pranking once she Advances.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Oh no.  Not another one.  The twins have been tricking me for two hundred years.  I can’t take another one of them.”

She laughed.  “The big bad vampire pirate is afraid of a couple of children?”

“Evil children.  Last week they filled my cape with molasses.  Molasses, Annabelle!”
 
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For more check out Dark Threats at your local online store. Links to Dark Threats on the web can be found on the Store Page on this blog or you could just go here, Dark Threats on Amazon.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Special Repost: Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Roland Foresight

ROLAND FORESIGHT
 
 
artist: Adam Diller
 
 
Other names:
Night Child, annoying brother, Bloody-Buccaneer

Name Origin:
Old German name meaning "renowned land."

Physical characteristics:
Straight red hair. Red eyes. Small white fangs. Wears a variety of clothing but likes to wear combinations of red and black.


Age Chart:
He was turned at age 13. Every hundred years he ages one year. He actually experiences his years longer than normal humans. Vampire children remain that age emotionally and mentally, perhaps for self preservation so they do not go insane living as an adult trapped in a child body.

How he handles immortality remains to be seen.

Advancement Chart:
b. October 13th 1679 d. 1692

born a vampire 1692-
Age 13= 1692-1792
Age 14 = 1792-1892
Age 15 = 1892-1992
Age 16 = 1992-Present Day

No other ages available at the moment.


Abilities:
Roland tends to have dreams of the far future, although he isn't aware of this at the beginning of the series. When he learns of this talent remains to be seen. He has the standard vampire abilities. This means he’s faster and stronger than humans, his senses are extremely acute as are his reflexes. He can fly and turn into a bat. In later years He has shown the ability to transform into a wolf, rat and mist but how he learned these things has yet to be told. He can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.
He became an expert sword fighter thanks to his years as a Bloody Buccaneer.


Known History:
In 1692 Roland Foresight moved with his family to the wilds of Massachusetts. The Vampire Lord Dominic Pratchet killed his parents and left him and his sister Annabelle for dead. Dominic's wife Eliza turned them into vampires, taught them the things they needed to know and became a surrogate mother to them.

As the centuries have passed, Roland became a hero to many, constantly fighting Dominic's forces as a member of the Order of Righteous Vampires. He prefers to drink the blood of animals instead of humans. Roland is possessed with an overwhelming desire to finish Dominic off once and for all.

He's rebellious, acts before thinking, hot-headed and gets overly excited about new things without thinking about the consequences. He isn't afraid of much in life and is filled with a wanderlust for adventure and travel.

He learned to sword fight when he became a Bloody Buccaneer. Those years were both some of the best and worst of his life. Two men have filled him with a passion for revenge; the vampire hunter Hawke and Dominic, the monster lord who killed his parents. He has also had a few loves in his long life.

Any more information would be spoilers at this time.


Monday, March 18, 2013

Great Ideas for promoting a Book from Rachelle Gardner

Author Rachelle Gardner posted an interesting article on her blog about building an author platform vs. promoting you book.  You can find it here.

It's a short article and sometimes in this busy world that's a good thing, but it gives great ideas on how to promote your book. I want to share this and also have it here so I can return to it when Book Two and other things are ready to publish.

Now here's an unrelated pic...