Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Threats

Chapter Six

In her werewolf form, Grace appeared thin but healthy. The attacking werewolves all dwarfed her due to her smaller size. She was roughly the same height as Roland and possessed his defiant temper. Despite being two different creatures of the night, Roland and Grace seemed perfect for each other.


Her opponent smiled a toothy grin. “You would do well to join up. We’ll find your precious clan. And when we do, I’ll take your head to your brother Coinín as a trophy. He’s the king of your tribe now, correct?”

She grinned as well. It took a lot more than false bravado from one of Dominic’s trained mutts to get under her fur. “You’re welcome to try.”

The werewolf lunged. Grace dropped to the ground and darted between his legs. She flipped, grabbed the extra fur on his back, pulled herself up and slashed at his eyes and throat. He let out a dreadful gasp as she bounded off his shoulders and somersaulted in the air. Grace outstretched her feet, landing on a table. She picked up a silver knife with a napkin and crouched, ready for his attack.


-----

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.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Servo Guardante

SERVO GUARDANTE

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


Other names: Ol' Stinky, Smelly, Mr. Creepy


Name Origin: Watching Servant in Italian.

Physical characteristics:

Always hunched over, filthy, wild eyes, creepy smile, balding with pock marks and scars on skin and dressed in dirty rags.

Personality:
Creepy, back stabbing spy who only serves his master and himself. Clever enough to know the value of escaping to live another day. Completely devoted to Dominic and will betray or kill anyone if it means gaining his master's favor.

Abilities:
Servo is a ghoul. If a vampire bites a human twice in rapid succession their physical and mental being becomes corrupted. They become stronger and faster than most humans. Their reflexes and senses are sharper. In short, they gain a small fraction of the power of a vampire. They cannot mesmerize others, fly or chance shape. The sun weakens then a fraction but does not burn them. Ghouls have long life spans but it is unknown if they can achieve the full immortality that vampires have. Most die in the service of their dark masters.

Known History:
At some point in the past Dominic found Servo in Italy and made him a ghoul. Servo has served Dominic for centuries, spying on Dominic's enemies across two continents and within many nations. He always puts Dominic first and travels a lot to fulfill his master's wishes. He mortally wounded Thomas Dunston, forcing Annabelle Foresight to turn Tom into a vampire. Most of Servo's dark history is so far untold.

Merry Christmas!

 


Just a quick message to wish all my blog followers and those hidden in Lurky-ville a wonderful and merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Hope your holidays go great and bring you peace and joy.

Scott

Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Trials
Chapter Five

She caught a glimpse of Eliza. The men held her tight, pulling her to the center of town. Why didn’t she try to defend herself? Annabelle punched and scratched her way to Eliza. The angry shouts and constant attacks from her attackers made it impossible to concentrate. If she could think for long enough to change her form or mesmerize the mob, Annabelle might be able to rescue Eliza and escape.


Where are Roland and Thomas? she thought in panic.

Henry continued to shout over the mob, “Reginald Worthing told me they were killing Johnny. He said they lied to me and they’ve always served the devil.”

The crowd of hostile villagers tripled in size. Men were joined by their wives, fathers by their sons. Annabelle wondered if the entire town had gone insane. Other voices joined Henry: “We have to stop them before they kill everyone in town.” “Don’t let them murder our children.” “Let’s hang them at the town square.”

Henry shouted over the mob, “Hanging won’t work. We’ve got to burn them!”

Her body tired and her mind in panic, Annabelle couldn’t stop the mob from dragging her after Eliza. Bloodthirsty cheers roared in her ears while her voice was raw with all her screaming.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Grace Faolchú

GRACE FAOLCHÚ

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

Other names:  Graine, Grainné, Princess, Wolf Princess, Hot-headed mutt

Name Origin:
Graine : Irish name meaning "love."  Graine was translated into English Grace.
Grace: English name derived from the vocabulary word, meaning "grace."
Faolchú: Wolf.

Grace's father, Alastar, changed his last name after exile. He was exiled from his clan after being bitten by a werewolf in the first part of the 1600s. He roamed early Britain, found other exiled werewolves and formed his own clan.

Physical characteristics:


She's thin and short. She has long red hair that flows down to her butt. For awhile she cut it to a cropped short look. Thin facial features. When she transforms, she gains a thick red coat of fur. Her bright green eyes turn yellow.

Personality:
Aggressive, strongly opinionated, strong minded, like her father. She can also love fiercely. Everything she does, she does with passion.

Abilities:
Grace has the standard werewolf abilities. She can transform into a half-wolf half-human form or all wolf form. In both forms she's stronger, faster and has better agility and enhanced senses. She can access her enhanced abilities and sharp nails and teeth even in human form. As an Alpha Wolf, she's immortal. She seems to age slowly, perhaps a year per one-hundred human years.

Known History:

Like her little brother Coinín, Grace was born a werewolf to two werewolf parents, Alastar and Maureen Faolchú. She is a werewolf princess and a member of royalty among the clans. She is a Alpha Wolf, like her father and brother. This means she'll live forever and has the makings of a future pack leader like her father.

As of this writing, much of Grace's history has not been chronicled. She met Roland and Annabelle in the mid 1700s when the Clan Faolchú paid their yearly visit to the Mullo gypsy tribe. She has helped Roland multiple times and in 1941 was referenced as his "girlfriend" by Annabelle. It remains to be seen if Annabelle was speaking out of turn or if Grace and Roland ready did/do have that kind of relationship. It should be noted that it is taboo to romantically link a vampire with a werewolf.

Night Children: Dark Birth - the Proof is here!

The printed proof has arrived for Dark Birth. I actually hold in my hands a copy of my 1st novel, the one that I've been blogging about since '06 and working on since '04. It's so surreal to open it and see text I've tweaked and revised for so long. Originally it was called Annabelle & Roland: The Night Children. I like the new concept of titles I'm using.

As an actual novel, Dark Birth is thicker than Dark Threats. I compared it to several books on the shelf and found it to be about the same size.

I learned from my formatting errors on the proof of Dark Threats. There are very few things wrong with the Birth proof. I'm revising Book Two's title (sigh, again) so I need to change that bit on the last page. Other than that I think it turned out great.

Next step, order copies to give away at speaking engagements/book signings and also to loan out for reviews. Meanwhile it's set up so Amazon will soon have it available to order.

It's so exciting to finally hold it in my hand!

Bite of Story Thursday

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK BIRTH

Chapter Eighteen

She rushed deeper into the forest, sweat running down her brow and pooling behind her neck. Her undead body shouldn’t be having these reactions. Annabelle had no pulse yet it quickened. Terror caused her body to tremble. Her inhuman mind was demanding certain responses of her body and it was following suit.


She didn’t want to die and if this madman found her everything would be over. She wondered if all their training on how to kill vampires would be used on them. The man almost got Roland’s heart. He could have any weapon at his disposal. Deep fear rippled through her body as she continued to blur away from each arrow.

The stranger seemed to get closer by the minute. While he didn’t have her speed, he did have a certain skill with his weapon. Every time they would emerge from one set of trees, more arrows pierced the night. It took all her speed to avoid them.

He’s good, she thought, I can only stay a step ahead of him. If we keep running, he’ll get us. Where do we go? She looked through the trees and then glanced up. Annabelle leapt high into the branches while holding her brother. Once on a limb, she gently leaned him against the trunk and remained deathly quiet.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Penelope Chesterfield: Bride of Domi

THE THREE QUEENS / BRIDES OF DRACULA

This is the closest I have to a pic of them.

artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Who:
Elizabeth Báthory, Roxana Dawn and Penelope Chesterfield.

What:
Their mission is to watch over Domi's interests and keep an eye on the Seven Tyrant Lords.

Penelope Chesterfield

Name origin:

Latin form of Greek Penelopeia, meaning "weaver of cunning."

Physical characteristics:

Long, straight light-brown hair. Bright brown eyes with thin eye lashes. Likes to dress in long black robes with a long flowing cape.

Abilities:

Typical vampire abilities:

She possesses the abilities of all vampires. This means she is faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly and can mesmerize humans. It took her a long time to learn how turn into a bat and mist.

Special abilities:

She’s an expert witch. Penelope has mastered dark magic and loves to use it on Dominic’s enemies. There are very few warlocks and witches who have become vampires. Of their limited number, Penelope is the greatest. She’d rather focus on her spells than master her vampiric abilities.

Known History:

Insane, Penelope Chesterfield lost her parents to illness in Colonial America of the late 1600s. She was found by Dominic Pratchet, whom brought her to one of his witch covens in North America because she showed a penchant for witchcraft. She became part of the coven and lived with his senior witch, Gertrude. Penelope was always more comfortable with her cats (familiars). She has a familiar named Moonlight that she hexed into a werecat.

She is obsessed with Dominic. She continuously tried to prove herself to him until he finally turned her into a vampire. Her goal is to one day be one of his queens. Eventually she proved herself and became one of his Brides. She recruited the Invisible Man.

Met another fan!

I found out today that one of the copies at the Purple Cow bookstore sold yesterday. You can imagine how excited I got.

Well that excitement went into overdrive when I was at Wal-Mart. A boy came up to me, admitted he was the one who bought it, and told me he loved it!

I love meeting fans! THAT is what it's all about. Writing stories that entertain. Sharing characters who inspire and help others.

I LOVE THIS!

Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Threats
Chapter Two:


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.”

“That’s not going to work,” Penelope said. Sixteen years old and completely devoted to evil, the younger of the two witches stepped onto the path with the much older Gertrude beside her. “Time to die.”

I GOT PAID!

Monday I had a surprise in the mail. My first royalty check from Amazon.com! I couldn't believe it. It was for the ebook sales for August, September and October.

I made more money in October than the other two months, probably due to the Blog Hop and speaking engagements. I need to schedule more of those, along with some book signings.

Anyway, this is exciting!

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Thomas Dunston

THOMAS DUNSTON

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

Other names: Silly Boy


Name Origin:

English form of Greek Thōmas, meaning "twin."

Physical characteristics:

Curly blond hair. Red eyes. Small white fangs.

Age Chart:

He was turned at age 11. 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. June 6th 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.

Personality:

Tom is fun loving. He likes to joke around and always tries to bring some humor to a otherwise stressful situation. When things are really tough, he'll be serious as well. He's fiercely loyal to Annabelle and Roland.

Abilities:

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. He can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

In later years he has shown the ability to transform into any kind of animal but how he learned this has yet to be told. Most vampires that have mastered transformation abilities can only become nocturnal creatures like bats and wolves. Thomas mastered the ability to transform into any animal. While in these forms he is still subject to all vampire weaknesses such as wooden stakes and sunlight.

Known History:

Thomas grew up in Jorgantown, Massachusetts along with his older brother Henry and his kid sister Polly. He loved adventure and often pretended to be a pirate or explorer. He decided to apprentice at the general store because he enjoys being around people. Tom likes to make others laugh and always finds humor in any situation.

In 1692 Annabelle and Roland Foresight arrived in Jorgantown from London. Tom became a close friend and was deeply hurt when he thought they’d been killed by wolves.

When he found out they were actually vampires he became very excited. Maybe due to his crush on Annabelle, but Thomas desperately wanted to become a vampire just like her. She swore to never turn him but thanks to unforeseen circumstances, she had to change him in order to save his life.

Thomas has been a faithful companion to Annabelle throughout the centuries. There have been troubles and challengers over the last three-hundred years. He has mastered some unique talents and tried to bring a smile to his friends during their darkest times.

As of this writing, his future is still a mystery.

synchronicity

Do you ever have one of those random moments of synchronicity where something happens that strangely links to a past event of your life? I did recently.

Last month my wife and I attended the annual Tooele Writer's Holiday Dinner.

Keep in mind, I've been with this local collection of talented authors since the first meeting at the local library. I showed up for that meeting because I wanted to meet local authors. After all those years of feeling like I was alone, it was nice to find others crazy like myself.

So I'm following the directions to the dinner when I stumble upon a shock. The author who is hosting the party just happens to live at Jeff Russon's house.

Who's Jeff Russon you may ask? Jeff was a 6th grade teacher for West Elementary ( a local elementary school).

After finishing my rough draft of what is now Dark Birth, I called the school librarian (an old family friend) and asked her if she knew any 6th grade teachers who would read it and give me advice. Jeff's name came up.

So with a belly full of nerves, I jumped into the deep in for the first time with this author job and called Jeff. He was thrilled to hear from me and we set up a meeting. It was in his kitchen I discussed my novel with the first stranger (not a friend, co-worker or family member). He read it, loved it but found oh so many things that needed improvement.

I eventually spoke to two of his classes. Jeff's an old friend now. He moved to Washington (the state) some time ago.

So imagine my surprise when I re-entered his house and even stepped into the same kitchen that started so much for me so long ago. I walked in there a self-published author, amidst other authors, for the purpose of a writer's dinner.

And the strangest thing of all? Dark Threats was on her shelf. In the same house where I swallowed my fear and took a chance at having someone look at Annabelle's story, her first published story sat on the shelf years later.

So weird. Cool. Awesome as all heck. But weird.

Night Children: Dark Threats NOW at the Purple Cow Bookstore!

My novella, Night Children: Dark Threats, is now at the Purple Cow children's bookstore! Come one, come all to grab a copy.

It'll be at the bookstore, located in Tooele Utah, for a 90 day trial period. If it sells, they'll want more.

Please, if you're able, come grab it and help a local author out.











You read that right, Night Children Dark Threats will be on thier shelves!

Book Review: The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2)

I absolutely loved it! As always, I find Rick Riordan’s writing refreshing, exciting and inspirational. I couldn’t put it down and found myself flipping pages way too quickly.


Its fun seeing Percy, Tyson and Mrs. O’Leary again. It’s also great being in Percy’s head. I could always relate with him. Frank and Hazel are also very strong, well-written characters, too. Darn you Riordan! All seven half-bloods are wonderful. Who could we possibly sacrifice?

It was nice seeing a brief glimpse of Jason, Piper and Leo. This book performed an amazing job of following the last and leading to the next tale. Can’t wait to see SPOILER again.

Adding to my personal list of “Things That Prove Riordan is a Fellow Comic Geek”, we have a super-speed horse that uses the Flash’s run-on-water technique, questions about amazons that would make one think of Wonder Woman (i.e. talk of what powers they do and don’t have), animal shape-shifting abilities and a possible mention of Beast Boy, more talking to aquatic animals like Aquaman, and more trick arrows like Green Arrow and Hawkeye (as seen before with the Party Ponies). Yes, I keep a mental list. I think it’s cool that he draws inspiration from one of the places I do.

Anyway, I loved this book and cannot wait till the next!

Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: (Book Three) Dark Quest

Chapter Three


Annabelle and Thomas hurried outside to find the entire camp gazing into the forest, their eyes searched for the source of the terrible sounds.


The eerie howling took her back decades ago, to a single night when she, Thomas and Eliza looked for her brother on a dirt road through the wilds of Massachusetts. It was the first time she’d heard a werewolf. The strange mix of human and wolf calls made her hairs stand up on end.

This time it was far worse. A large choir of wolf creatures sang to the bright full moon. Their song grew louder from three sides around the camp and oddly enough, the vampires and humans didn’t seem concerned. In fact, a small glow of excitement crossed their features.

By contrast, Thomas, Roland, Eric and Mary stood as ridged as Ann. Charlotte clung to Mary for protection while Selina and Samuel perked up, curious about the coming threat.

Fear gripped her as eerie yellow eyes dotted the darkened wood. They were surrounded by too many rapid heart beats. Things that smelled of musky fur hungered, obscured by the thick trees.

A large red beast pushed out of the foliage, followed by five more of similar build. Each werewolf stood on two hairy legs and were adorned in patterned kilts with bright sashes across their chest.

The large red one sniffed the air as Yoska stepped forward. His bright red eyes locked with the werewolf’s yellow pupils. Each stood firmly, as if daring each other to attack first. Annabelle’s breath caught in her chest.

----

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Roxana Dawn: Bride of Domi

THE THREE QUEENS / BRIDES OF DRACULA

This is the closest I have to a pic of them.

artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).

Who:

Elizabeth Báthory, Roxana Dawn and Penelope Chesterfield.

What:
Their mission is to watch over Domi's interests and keep an eye on the Seven Tyrant Lords.

Roxana Dawn:

Other names:
Roxie, Lady in White,

Name origin:
Latin form of Persian Roušanak, meaning "dawn” or "break of day." 

Physical characteristics:
Pale complexion, short black hair mostly bobbed Ala a 20's "Flapper" girl. Thin, small body. Girlish round face. Small dimple on her left cheek. Likes to wear "Flapper" girl styles such as long dresses and plenty of long necklaces. Used to dress like a western show girl back in the mid-nineteenth century. Used to wear gobs of make up like her sister but gave it up. Loves to wear white lace. She always wears lace gloves.

She has a sweet disposition but is actually a terrible back biter.
Abilities:

Typical vampire abilities:

She possesses the abilities of all vampires. This means she is faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly, turn into a bat, wolf, rat and she can mesmerize humans.

Special abilities:
She can control almost anyone, human or creature, with her voice. As soft and high pitched like the tinkling of a bell, Roxana's voice can control a person's body, allowing her to make her victim do anything she wants. Has no affect on Dominic or Elizabeth Báthory. She also carries a small silver blade with a leather handle.

Known History:

Roxana lived in ancient Rome with her older sister Lucretia. While Lucretia was more obsessed with her looks, Roxie developed a passion for Dominus.  She became very loyal to him and jumped at the offer of vampirism. Trained by Dominus’ chief General, Adad, to be great fighter. Along with her older sister, she has always dreamed of being on of Dominus' Three Queens.

Domi commanded Lucretia and Roxana to hide during the Exodus War. They rejoined him one he escaped his prison in the Dark Place. She has been an active follower ever since.

There is much left to discover about Roxana's long, evil life.

What I'm thankful for

Everything! I'm thankful for everything!

As I sit here, Thanksgiving morning, the intoxicating aroma of turkey flowing through the air, I realise how grateful I am for my family, my home, my job, my ability to write and the opportunities I have in both writing and drafting (my day job). I'm grateful for my material blessing and even more grateful for my eternal blessings like my wife and kids.

I just thought I'd mention these things. Now I'm going to go back to what I was doing, sitting here smelling the turkey that has been cooking all night, it's annual aroma of insane goodness is driving me loopy. I swear the moment will come this morning when I "check" the bird, my sharp fork clutched in my trembling hand. Come, bird. Come and know death!

Sorry. Got carried away.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Roland Foresight

ROLAND FORESIGHT

artist: Adam Diller

Other names:
Night Child, Island Keeper, 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.

FAN ART!

Years ago I searched online for Harry Potter fan art. We only had three movies but more books and I was dying to see images of those great book scenes that had not yet been captured on film. As I saved tons of drawings for my collection a silly thought crossed my mind.

What if someday aspiring artists created masterpieces of my books? I knew it was far off because after all, I was still massively editing book 1.

Guess what? That day has arrived! The following are two great pieces from Elizabeth Hansen.

 

Thank you so much Elizabeth!