Hot Air Balloons

(Picture by Celeste Drake)

“What does he look like? What was he wearing? Where did you see him?”

“I don’t remember what he was wearing. It had a collar. It was dark colored. Maybe a vest, too, but I don’t know. He has dark hair, almost black. He had a shadow of beard, like always. Monroe don’t be running around this fair punching out anyone with a dark shirt and dark hair!”

“How old does he look?”

“Your age.”

“How tall?”

“Shorter than you.”

“Is he white, Mexican, black?” I guess with a description of “black hair” it really leaves you hanging.

“White. White as a ghost.”

“Bruce, get Ash and anyone else you see on the way there, tell him. I’m going to take Morgan to the trailer. Or,” He turned to me, “You think you might be up to looking around with me and seeing if you can find him again?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, Bruce, we’re going in the balloons. I’ll call you on the cell.” The balloons? The hot air balloons?!

Suicide

“Every man must do two things alone;
he must do his own believing and his own dying.”
Martin Luther

Alden returned in the early hours of the morning, when the sky is tan and the sunrise isn’t quite over the horizon. He put his horse in the barn, and when he was midway between that and us, the Pennington brothers met him in the lawn. They told him I was crazy. At least Ashley used that word. Alden made no attempt at conversation, he let Bruce and Ash tell him all they learned about me, and then he made his way to the apartment. I went away from the window and to my favorite corner, the one where I could see all five doors and all places that the cowboys sat. Alden came in and they all stood. Alden looked like a wreck. He looked like he had just been on a pilgrimage to hell and back. He sought for me then came over.

“I got him,” Alden said, displaced, only searching for my reaction, he continued, “Several times. Point blank,” he searched my face for a flinch or an eye dash, “Then, before I could have realized I just killed a boy, he got up and ran away. I didn’t chase him,” He waited further for my reaction, then said, with a booming voice, “Why aren’t you shocked?”

I had to show him. And myself. Cody Drake’s pistol was sitting in its holster on the coffee table. I darted and grabbed it before Cody Drake could realize what I had just done.

“What’re you doing?!” They all yelled in their own way. I took the gun out, and searched for the safety, unlocked the safety, put the gun to my ribs, said the tiniest prayer, and shot. Monroe and Cody Drake were practically on top of me by this time. But the deed was done.

I screamed and screamed. They were all climbing all over each other like ants on a hill. Ash was screaming commands “Get a towel!” “Mr. Berry, call 911!” “Put pressure to the wound!” “Dad, what did you say to her?!” “Can we get her to Afton in time!”

My body shook blue. It shook hot red. My eyes fell into the back of my head, and my ribs felt like they were rising and crashing like the ocean waves. All the blood in my body seemed to have stopped dead in its flow. Monroe had grabbed me, wrapped his whole body around me, and had a towel pushed into the wound. I felt my intestines wiggle from within me. Wes, Marco, and Pete were all cursing loud and indecently.

Blush

“What are your intentions?” I asked casually and sarcastically.

“To marry you one day.”

Blood, all that I have inside of me I’m pretty sure, rushed to my cheeks.

A lion can sleep on average 20 hours a day

Fear hit my heart before my brain even could digest what I saw.  My body constricted, sweat appeared on my palms, my forehead, and underarms quickly, and my hands and face went numb and cold. I realize why, and backed up right into Aengus’s chest. He grabbed my waist to stop me from continuing forcing my way back. I threw my arms up over my face and spun around into Aengus. “What is it?” He asked me with a laugh in his voice, “Is it the lion?”

Variations of the cover

I just love this picture and can’t stop messing with it.

The cover

My brother, David Hurst, is an artist. I commissioned him to draw me up the book cover.

I think it is unsettling, frightening, and altogether perfect.

Thank you, Davey!

Monroe – Kings

If anyone besides Ben Mckenzie were to portray Monroe, it’d be Chris Egan who plays David Shepard on Kings. And he also, unfortunately, played in that sad sad movie Eragon.

The guy looks and sounds like a young Val Kilmer. He’s got that same lip curl and flirty eyes.

Star Valley

I went on vacation to Star Valley. Don’t worry, my husband knew of my ulterior motive for going. Let me just say it was perfect.

Foreboding

“The wind was on fire. It was like a hurricane in the middle of the desert. The sky was tan with orange and red glowing from the edge horizon in the sunset that managed to show through the dust, though dull, it was gorgeous. My hair whipped around like nobody’s business, and dust accumulated on my lashes. The smell was exactly like that of a fire, but there was none to beheld. It was August so it was hot outside, but with a storm like this I instinctively thought to wrap my arms around myself. This was a bad day for a rodeo.”

“Are you afraid?”

“Should I be afraid?” I asked. He swallowed. “Aengus, where are you taking me?” He eased back in his comfortable leather car seat and stared at the back of his driver’s head in silence. Only the rain pitter pattering on the car roof could be heard as it teared up the windows.

Your eyes reveal much about you

“We locked eyes. His half-closed eyes were deep black pools, like the La Brea Tar Pits. I saw nothing in them, so imagined dinosaurs and giant prehistoric creatures struggling from the blackness. If eyes were the window to the soul, then his were tinted to an illegally dark shade, preventing common people from seeing the infamous celebrity inside.”

Vampires

I need to clarify. Though I have used this word many times in this blog, my monsters are more closely related to zombies. I take the astral projection theory of Robert Monroe (my dad’s excuse for a bedtime story), the idea of a new kind of Monster (in ode to Mary Shelly), combine the sexy draw of the new age vampire (in homage to the current craze), fold in love (because that is all we are here for), and poof out comes—- The Wake.

“There is this theory,” He began, “That I think might make precedence in this reality. You say you felt your spirit and body fuse together, like a great heat. That you cannot sleep, and in this perversion you see when things sleep. You see, like when someone has an out-of-body experience, the spirit corded to the body and the spirit roams?”

“Yes.”

“The theory is that we are created of a body and a spirit, and when together it is called the soul. Now in order the sleep the spirit must rise out of the body, but they are still connected. When someone has an out-of-body experience it is when they are conscience of this happening. Even within this theory it explains the sensation of falling when we wake up suddenly. When we die, our spirit and body permanently separate and the cord is broken connecting the two entities. You, my dear, cannot leave your body. Your spirit and body are permanently fused. You are immortal. You are ageless. Which sounds like hell. How do you sleep? Can you sleep with your soul together?”

“No, I cannot. I feel rested only when…” I didn’t want to say.

“When?” He pressed.

“If I tell you will you still count me among you? Will you still love me like you love me now?”

“I cannot guarantee, all I can say is that I will take that into consideration as you tell the truth.”

“When I drink the blood of something asleep. Right of their body as they slumber.”

There is the parallel with vampires. Just the blood part. I am not denying they are similar, but boy are the different. In addition there are not very many of them. There are the Lockes (Cornelius, Janette, Aengus, Sarah, and Lovewill) and people they wish to extort, rule, imprison, and dominate. It is like a little kingdom created out of thin air using a curse, creating creatures of the damned. The have no aversion to sunlight, garlic, crosses, silver. They don’t need to sleep in the dirt of their home, they dont’ sleep. There bodies don’t rot.

There are sub-creatures to the Wake. If the Wake curses someone incorrectly, they do create a zombie, where the spirit is still trapped inside (incapable of death and sleep) but the body decays, and rapidly, so much so that they mind is lost and you got yourself the living dead.

That so far, is my monster story. Unrest.

I Heart Vampires

I am just astounded how many shows are playing with the relationship of a vampire and a human. I love them all, but why? Is it the forbidden aspect? The good within evils veil that is enticing? The immortality? The wealth? Is it possibly that next to a vampire we look weak, fragile and that is luring? Is it that we feel that if a vampire could love us, we’d have to be very special? Do we all want to have a bloodsucking, murderer lurking for us in the shadows?

I don’t know.

But here are the ones I actually watch, or will watch:

Moonlight

I thought Moonlight was fabulous when it came out. I watched every episode. It is more cheesey than France, but it was entertaining. The love was the only interesting part. Mick and Beth. Wow.

Forever Knight

Forever Knight is a little different. It is a Cop/Vampire show. They form a teaser relationship with Nick and the coroner human, but it is only that. I have a feeling season 3 goes itno their relationship more. You know, I actually own Seasons 1 and 2 of Forever Knight. I know. You can start laughing now.

Vampire Diaries

Oh, I know, it look STUpid. But I am going to watch it, and most likely can’t get enough of it. Truly, I just like Bad TV.

True Blood

Now this is quality television. It’s on HBO for goodness sake. I LOVE LOVE LOVE True Blood. I even read the books they are based on. This, by far, has the best relationship between a vampire and a human, while also entertaining me with the meriad of character, vibrant plot, holy crap setting, and amazing actors. I give this one 2 thumbs up.

Now I know this isn’t a tv show, but let’s face it, one day they might just make it into one:

And Twilight takes the cake on best Vampire/Human relationship, well, and True Blood . . . man, I can’t decide.

Red Dress

Star Valley, Wyoming

Star Valley is the decided setting. It is a beautiful strip of land on the far western side of Wyoming, bordering Idaho. One of my college roommates was from Star Valley, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I knew I wanted it in a place like home, but I wasn’t going to set it in Utah. I was playing with the idea of Idaho, but it didn’t fit. Star Valley is perfect.