Wednesday, May 30, 2012

New bio available - Elizabeth

Wrote up the background for Elizabeth Pierce and now I'm wishing I had time to write her story in its entirety. I kinda liked it. lol As for There's a Fine Line, I've finalized chapter five, I believe, so I'm still on track to start posting sometime in June unless I run into some major writer's block. I'm not sure there's a desire for previews or teasers, so let me know if that's something anyone would want to see.

Also, Blake, Alicia, and Malphas will be getting their own spot in the bio pages but not until the story is posted. Their backgrounds might give too much away at the moment and I don't want to post spoilers before the first chapter goes live.

As for now, enjoy learning more about the other people in the story!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Holidays will kill you

So...hubby, child and I go from BFE, AL, up to Indiana to meet up with the in-laws for the extended holiday weekend. It's the first long trip in the new Saturn and I'm hoping we get good gas mileage and a safe trip. Needless to say, the first was pretty good...the second, not so much.

Before we ever left the state, I got to see my life flash before my eyes. For anyone who's ever driven in Birmingham, AL, first off, I apologize on behalf of my state. Secondly, where I-65 crosses over I-20 (I believe it was) is a totally messed up area. I65 acquires traffic from two on-ramps - one on each side - so traffic is merging from both the left and the right. Also, there is an exit about a mile from these ramps. Well, we're driving along on I-65 when a semi carrying cinder blocks merges from our left. He, of course, needs that first exit. So, without looking to ensure he's not the only creature on the interstate at that particular moment, he crosses four lanes of traffic in order to get into his turn lane. I'm nearly standing my poor car up on its nose to keep from losing it to that obliviot. [Obliviot - contraction of the words 'oblivious' and 'idiot', it is a noun used to denote people who do stupid things while seeming to notice their environment] 

Then we get to Nashville. Again, for those who've driven north on I-65 through Nashville, I deeply sympathize. That route was designed by a brain-dead monkey engineer on crack-laced meth. The roads split about four times as you go through the city and, each time, I65 splits from a different direction. The first time, you have to be in the left two lanes; the next time, the right two. And don't get me started on lanes that simply disappear without warning! Of course, this is the same state that, four years ago, told us for three miles worth of construction that the right lane was going to end but, when it finally did, it was the LEFT that went away. Talk about a clusterfuck!

Kentucky merely had stealthy cops on the prowl. One was in the high median grass looking like a tiger stalking his prey. Being that the car was mostly black, perhaps that should have been a panther? Whatever it was, it did give me a bit of a giggle (especially since I was doing 80 and didn't get stopped by his prowly self). We were kinda bummed to realize that GeoWoodstock was going on the day we were driving through Louisville. If we hadn't been on such a schedule, we would have stopped. As it was, we met and talked to some cachers at a Cracker Barrel near Georgetown and I got to sign someone's jeep! Yes, their jeep. They had it set up like a cache and the driver kept Sharpies so you could sign it. I got a front fender. Too cool.

Our second brush with death was just inside Indiana. Again, it involved a semi. What is up with you guys? You used to be the best drivers on the road and then it all went to hell somehow. Anyway, Mr. Semi had gotten caught up behind a 1000 year old woman who shouldn't be driving a Hover-Round much less a car and was doing 50 on the interstate. Where are those cops when you need them, hmmm? Stalking the prairies, I suppose. Well, there was a gap in front of this Chevy Blazer in front of us about the size of a Smart car. The trucker decided to use it and zipped over...nearly claiming the Blazer's bumper as a souvenir. The Blazer nearly took to the grass, I'm standing on my brakes again while praying I don't get rear-ended, and the granny is cheerfully oblivious to the chaos around her.

It would take far more words than I want to use to describe my disgust with Illinois drivers so I won't even start. Needless to say...you folks need help. 'Nuff said.

Gas wasn't the problem I'd thought it'd be until we reached Indiana. In our town, we gassed up at $3.21 on Friday morning. In TN/KY, we cringed at the $3.45 for the second fill. Indiana made us want to cry. The lowest we found was $3.76, a full 55cents higher per gallon than at home. We learned that it'd been outrageous for some time and not just the holidays. We also learned that the Indy 500 was running that weekend and they were whining about how HOT it was going to be. *snort* It was barely 95F in areas of concrete/asphalt - definitely not HOT. They whined; we sniggered. It wasn't nice of us, but there you have it. lol

On the way home, there were fewer moments of hair-raising terror. Tennessee has learned their right from their left. Stalker cops were stalking...but thankfully had prey other than my little Ion on their minds and in their sights. The only really bad thing that happened as we headed back south was a nasty nasty looking wreck on I65 northbound just south of Silver Hills, TN. From what we could deduce, a semi had wrecked in a spectacular fashion and was causing all three lanes to be blocked. Traffic was at a dead stop. The trailer was being doused by the fire department. Cops and ambulances were on hand. Not pretty.

We made it home in one piece - no wrecks, no tickets. Today, I unpack, wash, and pray I don't have to get in my car any more than necessary.

But Illinois drivers...yeah, get classes.

Friday, May 18, 2012

New Bio for There's a Fine Line - Augustin Calmet

Another character in the sequel to The Other Half, Augustin Calmet is a member of the local Vampire Council that hired Blake to investigate the Colonel's other activities during the Summit. Augustin has a rather unique blend of true, real life history and vampire fantasy as well as a connection to the handsome Blake Simons.

In other news, I've completed the first draft of Chapter Three of the story so it is coming along slowly but surely. If I can maintain this speed of writing, I may begin posting sometime in June (but don't hold your breath...June is looking rather crowded with real life stuff).

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Updates and a new project!

If you check the tabs, you'll see that a new story has joined the others - Laelah's Folly. This one will, for now, solely be the product of the blog and may take some time to update as it's being worked around my main focus - There's a Fine Line. Mainly, it's been bouncing around in my head for a while so I have to put it somewhere!

Also, there have been two character bios posted for Fine Line - Uruvion and Lysavar. Eventually, I hope to post one for each of the most important tertiary characters as well as the main ones. The plan is to provide additional background that may or may not make it into the story itself.

As for the actual story, I have been working on it but research and my determination to make this one slightly more coherent than Other Half means the work is slow. I've wrapped up the second chapter and will be beginning the third shortly. I plan to post on Lit when I have a good buffer of chapters under my belt (at least 5 or 6, if not more) so, just because some are done doesn't mean you'll see them up just yet.

Please be patient, I promise I'm working on it.

Thanks!