Stop Being a Spoiled Brat by Chas Hathaway

Here is a great article on just writing. Just getting off your but and realizing that procrastinating till the "right" moment never works. Just do it.

It's from Chas Hathaway on the Author's Think Tank site. Give it a read.

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!”

 

------

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.

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.


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...

The 3rd Annual Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop!

Why hello there lads and lasses! I have the good fortune to welcome you t' the 3rd Annual Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop! This one is hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer, Books Complete Me and Author Cindy Thomas.

As I've done in a previous hop, I'm givin' away a fine book about creatures that have nothin' t' do with the wee folk. I'll be givin' away a free copy of NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK THREATS

Now b'fore ye be gettin' all up in me face and sayin' "Now that's got nuthin t'do with the magical wee folk of t' emerald isle!" I need t' be tellin' ye that in fact the vampire Annabelle and her good friend, Thomas (what a fine Irish name!) did in fact visit the wee people in the mid 1700s. Of course you won't be seeing that tale until her third book, Night Children: Dark Quest, gets published. But I will tell you that she's been very kind to the wee people.


So don't  get yer dander up and be causing any problems or you'll be answering t'me!

Ahem.

Now, all ye have t'do is follow this hear fine blog an' reply to this post that you'd like a copy. I'll be postin' the winner at the end of the hop time.

Now I must be off. I've got gold to hide an' fools to taunt.

An' don't ye be forgettin' t' visit the other fine lads and lasses in this hop or I'll hide your shoes!

Btw, the winner of last week's hop be CBarton! Congrads to ye and my lady lack always be at your side.

The Lunar Love Giveaway Winner is...

CBarton!  Congratulations! And a big THANK YOU to everyone who followed ands commented!

Tonight right after midnight the next hop begins. I'm taking part in the 3rd Annual Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop! The official  post will be at 12:01 and unless you're a night owl or bat like Annabelle and Roland, you'll probably catch it tomorrow morning.

I'll be giving away another copy of Dark Threats so if you missed your chance to get it, here's another opportunity.  Just like the one CBarton won, this will be a new paperback, straight off the presses.

I have added a few things to the paperback version and the proof copy will be arriving shortly. Once I review it, I'll give it the thumbs up and order a whole bunch. I'm also adding some extra things to Dark Birth as well.

Added to both books will be...

A new chapter list for Threats
A blurb on Birth (in Threats) and a blurb on Threats (in Birth).
Updated author picture and bio
A list of where to find both books
An altered scene (Birth only)

Keep in mind, these small changes are in the paperback copies for now, but later this month the eBook versions will get those changes, too, plus more stuff!

Bite of Story Thursday

I'm currently working on a short story called Night Children: Dark Loss. It's far from ready for even a sneek peek, so instead I thought I'd share a bit from Book Two in the Dark Beginings Saga. As always, this is from the rough draft so it does not reflect the final product. Enjoy!

-----

Night Children: Dark Changes
Chapter Five, A Peace Forever Shattered

Eliza saw it first.  The out of place shape caused her to stop her bat form short.  Lying in the middle of the main road, where anyone could stumble across it, was the body of a dead man.

“Who’s that?” She asked.

“I don’t... wait.  He looks familiar.”  Annabelle glided down to the ground.  Eliza followed.  They were in their human shapes when Eliza knelt down to examine the cadaver.

It was a young man in his early twenties.  His skin pale as a sheet, two small holes scared his neck.  “It’s Jonathan Jorgan.” Annabelle said.  “He’s one of Henry’s friends.  His grandfather settled the town.” 

The sound of many horses thundered through her ears.  Fear caused Annabelle’s legs to freeze in place.  Several angry men arrived in wagons and on horseback.  Henry Dunston, enraged like never before, leaped out of the first wagon and ran to his friend.  The men yelled and jeered as they surrounded the vampires.

Annabelle grabbed Eliza’s arm for safety.  She was scared out of her wits.  She chanced a look towards the forest behind the men.  Annabelle could not believe the hate and fear in their eyes. 

“Henry?  Why are you--”

He cut her off.  “They did this!”  Henry jumped to his feet and pointed at Annabelle and Eliza.  Spit flew from his red face as he shouted, “That’s Eliza Pratchet.  She’s a vampire.” 

The men gasped.  Every nerve in Annabelle’s body demanded escape, but the shock of Henry’s betrayal rooted her to the spot.  

Eliza’s strong look spoke volumes.  She wanted Annabelle to flee to safety.  Annabelle returned her look and squeezed her hand.  She’d never leave her adoptive mother. 

Henry continued, “Remember those Foresight children that were killed by wolves years ago?  She turned them into vampires.  That’s one of them.”  Angry shouts echoed through the night, running a shiver up Annabelle’s spine.  “She killed my brother Thomas and tricked me into keeping quiet.”  He pointed at Annabelle.

“No, Servo killed Tom.  I saved him by turning...” It was the worse thing she could say.  The ever growing crowd jeered her.  “Henry, please.  You promised.” 

“You tricked me.  You corrupted Thomas.”  Henry turned back towards the angry mob.  “She spent her first night as a vampire planning ways to change by brother and sister.  They snuck into our room and put a spell on Polly and Thomas.”

“That’s a lie.” Annabelle shouted it out as tears clouded her vision. 

“She mesmerized my brother, made him want to be... that.”  He gestured at them like they were diseased creatures.  “I don’t know how Polly and I escaped her notice, but she killed him.”

Furious jeers erupted from the crowd.  Eliza pulled at Annabelle’s arm but she held her ground.  There must be some way to convince them he was wrong.  She had to know why Henry was doing this.

“Now he’s a monster, just like them.”

“It’s not true,” she blinked away the tears.  “Tom wanted to be like us.”

“She admits it,” Henry roared and the mob shouted.  The deafening sound hurt her ears.  “Now look what they have done.”

“No, we didn’t do this.  We don’t know who--”

“Don’t listen to her lies.  Now they’ve killed Johnny.  This has to stop,” Henry roared from the top of his lungs as he grabbed tightly to her left arm.  “Get them.  Don’t let them escape.” 

By this time, the crowd had filled the street.  They moved as one, crushing into Eliza and Annabelle.  They pulled at the girls’ hair, bruised their bodies, kicked and hit them.

Savage pain raked her body from all sides at once.  Instinctively, she scratched and hit back and some men fell to the ground.  Others screamed as her sharp nails dug into their flesh.  It barely made a difference because more attackers replaced the fallen.

The Importance Of Keywords For MetaData And The Discoverability Of Your Book by Joanna Penn

Here's a great article on using keywords to get your book noticed. It's from Joanna Penn over at the Creative Penn.

I've applied this to Night Children : Dark Birth and hope to do it with Dark Threats as well.

More on this as things develop.

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

ANNABELLE FORESIGHT

By Adam Diller

Other names:
Ann, Night Child, bossy sister


Name Origin:

ANNABEL: "Beautiful grace." A compound name consisting of English Ann, "grace," and French Belle, "beautiful." Variants include Anabel, Anabella, Anabelle, Annabal, Annabelinda, Annabell, Annabella and Annabelle.


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


Age Chart:

She was turned at age 11. Every hundred years she ages one year. She actually experiences her 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.

Annabelle, however, is more mature for her age. How she handles immortality remains to be seen.

Advancement Chart:

b. October 13th 1681 d. 1692
born a vampire 1692-
Age 11 1692-1792
Age 12 = 1792-1892
Age 13 = 1892-1992
Age 14 = 1992-Present Day
No other ages available at the moment.

Abilities:
She gets dreams that show the near future (but presently in the books she is unaware of this. When she learned of this ability remains unknown). She has the standard vampire abilities. This means she’s faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly and turn into a bat. In later years she has shown the ability to transform into a wolf, rat and mist but how she learn these things has yet to be told. She can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

Known History:

In 1692 Annabelle Foresight moved with her family to the wilds of Massachusetts. The Vampire Lord Dominic Pratchet killed her parents and left her and her brother Roland 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, Annabelle has become a hero to many, constantly fighting Dominic's forces as a member of the Order of Righteous Vampires. She prefers to drink the blood of animals instead of humans. Annabelle is deeply concerned about the safety of mortal children.

She is determined, loyal to family, feels love for others and angry if someone hurts her family. Annabelle is outward friendly,book smart, a quick learner and sometimes acts too serious to make up for her reckless older brother. She tends to pretend to be brave and mock the bad guys.

She takes life too seriously and can be bossy. She takes over when she should sit back. She can often make decisions before consulting others. She's afraid deep inside if she doesn’t just make things happen, they will fall apart right away.

Before vampirism she loved animals and winced when they got hurt. After becoming a vampire she now sees them as something to eat. In some ways she has lost touch with who she was. She has a deep fear of two men, Hawke the vampire hunter and Dominic, the vampire who killed her parents.

Update!

Hello gentle followers. It’s been crazy lately. Work has been insanely busy and so has my home life. Also I had a touch of the flu last week. Because of all this I haven’t been able to do this week’s Who’s Who so we’ll be skipping a week. Don’t fret though; we’ll be back next week. There are a few posts that will pop up so the blog won’t be completely boring.




I’ve watched three movies for the first time (Wreck It Ralph, Beautiful Creatures and Oz the Great and Powerful) and re-watched Breaking Dawn II. I should do some kind of review post for them so later this week or next weekend I’ll bang something out for you.



I’m trying to make the time to work on another Annabelle short story called Dark Loss. I figure if I get a short one finished, checked and edited I can get it online this year for those few Annabelle fans. Then it’ll be back to Myths. Still waiting to hear back from the bata readers on Book 2 AKA Dark Changes.



Also I’m in the process of doing a few tweaks on Dark Threats and Dark Birth before I order more paperbacks from Create Space.



I will announce the winner of the Lunar Hop real soon!



So lots of stuff going on. Watch this space

Author Sarra Cannon: MILESTONE: 100,000 Sales. The numbers.

I found this great post from Author Sarra Cannon. She's an independent young adult author and has reached 100,000 sales. On her site she does a breakdown on her sales and explains how she's been able to do so well.

Check it out here.

For me the biggest lesson is the amount of material she has brought out. Her sales are strong because she has a lot of books that the readers can enjoy. Sure, marketing is important, but sales come from plenty of product. And that translates to lots of adventures for the readers to enjoy.

I've got some history on producing lots of little stories. I can do this. So watch this space. I've got some plans.

The 2nd Annual Lunar Love Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the The 2nd Annual Lunar Love Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Bookworm Lisa.

As anyone knows who has read my Night Children books, I love the moon. When I'm prowling the night with my three wolves I see that glowing orb and smile, but on those special nights when the moon glows richly, dominating the night with it's illuminating presence, I can't help but stop and stare at it.

This hop allows me to share with you a sample of adventures featuring one, like I, who feels empowered by that lunar orb.

I'm talking of course about vampire child Annabelle Foresight. The prize for my participation in this Hop? Why NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK THREATS.

All you have to do is follow this blog and post a comment if you're interested in taking home this book.

Also enjoy these other Blogs in this wonderful hop...

---
Click here for the winner!

Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Birth

Chapter Two: Rumors

Henry looked around as if to check that no one was eavesdropping.  He gestured for the others to follow him further into the shadowed space behind a stack of crates.  Away from prying eyes, he seemed confident enough to continue his story. 

“Her name is Eliza Pratchet.  She and her husband moved here years ago.  Legend says they were never normal folk.  Their cabin’s always been boarded up.  The curtains are drawn and no one ever comes to the door.  Several people tried to visit them when they first arrived, but no one ever answered.” 

“They moved in, but you could never see them?” Roland asked. “Are you sure they actually lived there?” 

“Well, that’s the thing.  As time went on, people weren’t sure what was going on.  They said maybe the Pratchets never settled in.  Maybe they died before they could move in.  No one knew.  The town had a meeting and the people decided they were going to take down the cabin, but the night before they were to do it, she appeared, white as a ghost and...well, different than normal folk.  She said she and her husband still lived there and demanded they be left alone.  Now she comes to town once in awhile to buy goods but everyone stays clear of her.” 

“That’s spooky,” Roland said. 

Annabelle’s curiosity was piqued again.  “How does that make her a witch?  I mean, just because they only see her at night, and she wanted to be left alone doesn’t give her supernatural powers.  And what about her husband?” 

“They say she killed him because no one has seen him in--” 

Annabelle interrupted him. “That’s what they say but that doesn’t mean it’s true.” 

Henry stumbled for answer.  “Her husband disappeared and no one’s seen him.  People don’t vanish.  She had to have done something.” 

“Well that’s not entirely true, Henry.  His ghost walks the woods,” Tom said.

Annabelle and Roland looked at each other. She saw disbelief in her brother’s eyes and wondered if this was all a game.  She hoped with all her heart that it was. 

Henry continued, “The story is she killed him and burned his body for firewood.” 

Annabelle’s stomach turned. 

“What’s worse...” Henry continued. 

“There’s worse?”  Roland said. 

“Yes.  There are the bodies.” 

“Bodies?” 

“The townspeople figure she’s been making sacrifices.” 

A shiver prickled down Annabelle’s spine despite her intention not to believe any of this.

“We can’t prove the bodies were from her,” Thomas interrupted. 

“Each of them, animal or human, was found in the woods drained of all their blood.” 

Annabelle couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  A frightening thought crossed her mind, but she dismissed it.  She had been reading her book of monsters too often.  There was no way such a thing could be true. 

---------------

For more check out Dark Birth at your local online store. Links to Dark Birth on the web can be found on the Store Page on this blog or you could just go here, Dark Birth on Amazon.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Christopher

CHRISTOPHER

No picture at this time. Hopefully that will change someday.

Physical characteristics:
Christopher is tall with long black hair. He wears elegant clothing but it's worn lose, as if he has lost the desire to keep up appearances.

Personality:
His countenance is one of regret, self loathing and a general resignation to his fate.  He keeps himself amused by talking with his victims before he kills them or manipulating anyone who interests him into spending time at his side, telling him stories about their past. He has a great deal of pent up frustration against Vanessa Kimball, Reginald Worthing and the Rakes. He has no love for his subjects, the Destitute.

Known History:
Christopher was of royal birth. His last name was lost in history and it's doubtful even he remembers it. At one point in his life he was a young nobleman. He'd run through the farms and towns of England with other young nobles, causing mischief and spoiling lives along with his best friend, Reginald Worthing. Once he met noblewoman Vanessa Kimball everything changed. She turned Christopher into a vampire along with the other noblemen and called them the Rakes. She did it so she wouldn't be alone.

For many years the Rakes ran through London and the surrounding countryside.  They'd make sport of killing and terrorized anyone they wanted. One night Christopher decided to feast in Whitechaple, one of the more poorer sections of London. He found a lady of ill repute and used her for a meal. Unfortunately he bit her three times, unaware of the Three Bite Rule. He left her for dead but she transformed and in turn fed on some of the homeless of London.  Instead of turning into regular vampires, the homeless vampires became shadowy creatures with no sustenance.

Once Lady Vanessa found out, she exiled Christopher to a warehouse where he would rule the many new vampires, now called the Destitute. It became his job to make sure these shadowy creatures didn't give away the existence of vampires in London. Christopher accepted his penance and ruled the Destitute with a bitter heart. He discovered soon after his exile that his former best friend, Reginald Worthing , told Vanessa about Christopher's mistake. The lady of the evening, known as Abigail, met Reginald, told him what happened and the two of them ran away for America to start new lives.

Christopher had a cat named Azmodel. It's actually a male vampire whom turned into a cat. Christopher mesmerized Azmodel into thinking he is a cat. Azmodel stayed with Christopher for many years until he decided to follow Annabelle Foresight.

The 6 Most Badass Robots (Invented Before Electricity)

I found a cool article from Cracked.com and I wanted to share it with you all. See I like a good robot/artificial life story. In fact I have my share of favorite artificial beings.

The Vision from Avengers...

Red Tornado from the Justice League...

DC Comics' Metal Men...

One of my favorite bits what the Avengers saga where roughly 30 members of the team were sucked into a reshaped reality where they serve Morgan Le Fay (yes, the villain from Merlin).

Robotic Avengers Vision and Machine Man were reshaped as Medieval automatons.

I thought the idea of an early living robot that predated electricity was cool. Now I find out there really were some!

Check out this cool article, The 6 Most Badass Robots (Invented Before Electricity) by Christian Ames  It's pretty cool except the minor swearing. I'd share more of their articles but their vulgarity turns me off.

Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Threats

Chapter Two: 1692 Witch Attack

On a warm night when crickets echoed and fireflies danced along the dirt path, Annabelle and her brother Roland walked their human friends Thomas and Polly Dunston home.

Annabelle loved these quiet nights.  Most evenings she would hunt the forest for animals, searching for blood to quench her eternal thirst. 

Once a week she and Roland would wake their friends and run in the forest and play.  It reminded her of when she was human, before her parents died and she became a vampire.

She watched Thomas laugh with Roland.  The blood pumped through Tom’s veins, an invitation she swore to never take.

Vampire life wasn’t the best.  Annabelle could handle never seeing the light of a beautiful day again but her meals were awful. 

While most eleven-year old girls slept peacefully at night, she stalked the woods near their colonial town, hunting for blood among the wildlife. 

She couldn’t believe that only a few months ago she played in the streets of London, a human girl without a care in the world. 

Little Polly shivered a bit as she chanced several frightened looks into the imposing forest that surrounded them.  “Are you sure it’s safe out here?  You said there were lots of monsters in the woods.”

Before Annabelle could respond, Thomas puffed out his chest and said, “You’re fine.  We’ll protect you.  No monster would dare hurt you with your big brother around.  What?  Why is everyone laughing?”

Roland shook his head.  “Yeah, big brave Thomas Dunston.  Monster killer.  I suppose you’ll throw rocks at them?”

“It could happen.”  Tom’s face flushed pink. 

“Actually I don’t think it will.  With the magic barrier up, all Dominic’s servants are trapped outside.” Annabelle explained as they continued down the path.

“Not all of them.”  Roland corrected.  “What about those two witches?  Their cabin is inside the barrier.  They’ve already caused us problems.  They could be hiding just beyond those trees.” 

He pointed ahead into the thick forest.  Polly and Thomas’ eyes grew wide.

Annabelle threw her brother a sharp look.  It didn’t stop him from laughing.  “Stop scaring them.  With all the trouble going on in Salem, those witches wouldn’t dare show their faces.”

She put her arm around Polly and gave her a squeeze.  “You’ll be fine.  If they did try to get us, Roland and I will protect you.”

Thomas threw a stone into the glowing bugs, scattering them.  He turned to Roland, “I still don’t think it was very fair to float above the trees when we’re playing hide and seek.” 

Roland shrugged. “It’s what I do.” 

“You mean cheat?” 

“I wasn’t cheating.  I’m a vampire.  Why can’t I use my abilities to work for me in the game?  It’s the same as you and Polly running or climbing a tree.” 

“No, it’s not.  When you fly, you can look down and see us.  That gives you an unfair advantage.” 

“I can’t believe this.  Annabelle, what do you think?” 

She shared a smile with Polly while they walked behind the boys.  “You were cheating.” 

“What?”  Roland spun around, holding a stick to his chest while rolling his glowing eyes.  “Ouch!  By my own sister, betrayed.” 

Polly giggled.  “I wish Ma and Pa could join us on nights like this.” 

“You know we can’t reveal ourselves to anybody else.” Annabelle reminded her.

“But they’re different.  They’d keep your secret.” 

“Maybe so, but what if Dominic captured them to get to us?” 

Roland tossed his stick at another batch of fireflies, “He’d do that anyway.  I don’t know if anyone is safe.” 

“People have started to notice the strange shapes in the forest beyond where you said the barrier is,” Tom added.  “They hear the noises Dominic’s monsters are making.  They don’t know what it is, but we know they’re out there, waiting.”

Polly slumped her shoulders, scuffing her feet as she walked.  “I understand.” 

A twig snapped ahead in the darkened wood.  Annabelle and Roland stopped in their tracks and stiffened.  Two heartbeats pounded nearby and Annabelle silently chastised herself for not listening closer to the surrounding woods.

“Smell that?” she whispered to her brother.

“Yeah,” Roland agreed.  “The breeze was blowing the other way before, hiding their scent.  It’s them.”

Two familiar women hid just ahead.  Menace oozed off of them.

“Who?” Tom peered into the dark wood fearfully.

“The witches, Tom,” Ann explained.  “I need you two to run as fast as you can.”

------

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.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Mary Stilton

MARY STILTON

No picture at this time. Hopefully that will change someday.

Physical characteristics:
Mary has black hair and a thin build. Her eyes used to be green before she became a vampire. After her transformation they take on the normal red color.

Personality:
Mary is very quiet and thoughtful. She is studious and loyal. She cares deeply for her fellow orphans. She behaves as a big sister to the others and follows her guardian, Molly O' Connell, without question.

Known History:
A resident of London England, Mary lived with her parents. They were well to do and wanted their daughter to be taught the finer things so they sent her to boarding school. Molly O' Connell was Mary's teacher. When Molly rejected her boyfriend (whom turned out to be a vampire), he kidnapped Mary and four other children and turned them all into vampires.

Molly rejected her boyfriend and took the children into the dark heart of London where she set up the Palmer Orphanage. Mary was sixteen years old when she was turned to a vampire. She dedicated her undead life to helping take care of her new brothers and sisters by protecting them from the cruel monsters and fiends that exist in the dark world. 

 

5 Big Things People Should Know About Self-Published Authors by Jessica Bell

Jessica Bell from the Alliterative Allomorph blog posted an interesting article on self publishing. I wanted to share it with you.

For me personally my reason to self publish would be BIG THING No. TWO:
"This book is self-published because I spent years and years querying it, was told that the writing was great, but no agent believed they could sell it. So ... here's my book. I don't need to sell a million copies, a few hundred is enough for me. Plus it's been through so many edits after all the agent feedback, I doubt you'll be able to find one thing wrong with it."

Now I should insert here that I believe a work is never finished. There is always something that could be improved upon. Heck, maybe someday an agent or publisher will want to exclusively want to represent it but there are a few things that will need tweaking. Maybe.

But I can't hold back writing the overall saga just in case that happens. I have to know what happens. Those few whom have bought it and enjoyed it have to know what happens. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to make them wait. And after all, I'm not getting any younger.

So I self publish Annabelle's NIGHT CHILDREN adventures. I'll keep it up, too. :)

Amazing idea

In-betweens!

The best eBook authors get their names out there by one thing first: lots of stories! Well I used to do lots of short stories for the Parodyverse. The only thing different is that these ones must be edited and given to beta readers and such. Fine tuned. But they can still be short, a blast to write and fill in spots in-between the bigger books.

I can do it! This will be exciting! The fate of characters, never before scenes, characters from late in the series showing up earlier, hidden events, all sorts of cool stuff! And all of it only 99 cents!

Watch this space!

Bite of Story Thursday

Here's another look into what I'm currently working on. This is from the rough draft so it does not reflect the final product. Enjoy!

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Myths
Chapter Seven: Ogres

Eli let an arrow fly.  The shaft tore into an ogre’s left shoulder, which caused it to bellow out in rage.  “Forget the powder and find something useful!”  He dodged the beast’s massive club, adorned with five inch spikes for better effect, and fired two more arrows at the ogre’s back.

“But it is useful.  If I could just find it...”  Mark knelt on the rough ground with his pouch open and both his arms inside up to his elbows.  “Maybe it’s in the bookcase behind the Inner-Outer spell book?”

Another ogre almost clobbered Mark with her club but Frunz knocked it aside with his quarterstaff.  “Mark, get up and help!” Frunz pleaded.  He used the staff as a third leg and leaped upward.  He kicked the attacking ogre in the chest with his hooves.  “I’m the coward, remember?  I’m not supposed to be the one fighting.”

“You’re doing a fine job,” Flitty remarked.  She zipped around the third ogre which caused the she-beast to follow the fairy with her head.  Dizzy, the ogre stopped to hold her head in place.  Flitty fired a pixie-bolt in the beast’s face.

Eli managed to scramble up various broken statues, and then spring onto the top of a broken wall.  He fired a net arrow.  Strong spikes unfolded from four corners of the expanding net.  Each one bore into the wall, trapping the ogre.  “One down.”

After a shout of inhuman rage, the ogre ripped the net open and charged the wall that Eli stood on. 

Eli somersaulted over the creature as it shattered the free standing wall.  “Guess not.” Eli said as he landed on a smaller stone wall.

Lyndi’s mouth formed a thin smile.  She pushed against one of the she-ogres, her hands clasped with the beast.  Each one tried to push the other to the ground.

“Fall,” the ogre demanded.  “Why won’t food fall?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Lyndi replied through gritted teeth.

Flitty buzzed around them and suggested, “You could beat her in an instant if you simply did you know what.”

“Quiet,” Lyndi hissed.  “I’m as strong enough in this form.  I won’t do ‘you know what’ because of a stupid ogre.”

“Food calls Untha stupid?” the ogre growled.  “Untha not stupid.  Food stupid.”