Begging!!

21 years ago, Preditors & Editors Poll was born.  The site began as Critters, an on-line workshop/critique group for serious Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror writers, then grew into a set of workshops for every other kind of artistic endeavor and the now-famous Polls.

I have interest in three divisions of this year’s polls and would VERY much appreciate your vote if you have a minute to follow the following links:

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelr.shtml   – Her General in Gray – a Ghost & Mrs Muir type romance that is now also available in audio!!

http://critters.org/predpoll/artist.shtml – Simon – my dear son is nominated in the Artist Category.  He did this cover for an anthology published by Class Act Books.

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelsf.shtml – Gylded Wings  – Forgiven or forsaken? An angel’s quest to soar once more on golden wings…a dark fantasy.

Please take a moment to vote.   It’s quick, easy & painless.

The Farther, Forbidden Paths

My first published novel was Gemini Rising, winner of the Mainstream Category in the 2012 Preditors & Editors Poll.  That year, it was also 2nd in the Paranormal Romance Guild's Reviewer's Choice Awards.  However,

Gemini Rising is a controversial dark fantasy.  I didn't expect it to be published at all, but Canadian Publisher Double Dragon Publishing released it in 2012.  This year, I took my rights back and Class Act Books accepted the novel for reissue under the new title Anointing: The Gemini Factor.  I'm currently updating the manuscript for republication.

The story is told in a 'frame', starting in the present, the majority told in flashback, then returning to the present for the end.  This excerpt is from the present and is a celebration of Alina's husband's birthday.  The hero and heroine, Alain and Alina, are identical twins.  Male/female mono-zygotic twins are a scientific impossibility, but not in the suspension of disbelief, right?

From Chapter 26 - Another Homecoming

An army of servants trooped across the lawn, their arms laden with brightly wrapped packages.  Mum motioned Rory to a chair center stage on the dais.  Alina stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders.  A young king, he smiled as they stacked the gifts around him [her husband].

With paper and ribbon littering the platform and the ground, Alain slipped into the shadows.  She’d give him ten minutes then signal the orchestra.  Her heart raced, but she mustn’t betray her excitement to Rory.  She kissed his cheek, stroked his hair.  At the soft thud of hooves on grass, she nodded at the conductor.

To Trumpet Voluntary, Alain strode the gamut of wicker torches.  Light gleamed on living gold.  Red ribbons fluttered on the stallion’s halter.  The palomino snorted, tossed his noble head.  His snowy mane flagged in the breeze.  A collective gasp rose from the crowd.

Every eye was on the dazzling pair—every eye but Rory’s.

She clasped his hand to her breast.  “Isn’t he beautiful?”

Her husband’s voice was ice.  “The man or the horse?”

Alina frowned a reprimand.  “Your birthday gift.”

A smile brightened Rory’s handsome face.  “Trust Alain to make a grand entrance.”

With a flick of his wrist, her brother halted the Lusitano stallion at the platform’s edge.  He bowed low, his hair sweeping the grass.  How regal the man and the horse were.  Alain in his tuxedo, the stallion’s golden palomino coat glistening in the torchlight.  Focused on Alain, the horse stood four-square, his ears flickering, nostrils flared.

Her brother straightened, shook his hair back from his face.  “Happy Birthday, Rory, from Lina and me.”

Her husband brushed a kiss to her lips, shot to his feet and bounced down the two stairs.

Alain smiled at her and handed Rory the lead.  “His name is Prospero.”

Rory wound his arms around the arched neck.  The stallion curled his head over the man’s shoulder, pressing him close to the warm scent of horseflesh.

Alina laughed.  “An equine hug.  See, he loves his master already.”

Rory turned, embraced Alain.  “Brother, you have outdone yourself.”

Alain beckoned, offering his hand.  “He was your wife’s idea.  Come, Lina, you must be first to mount him.”

Applause erupted.  The stallion danced to the end of the lead.  An anxious expression swept over Rory’s face.  Alain whispered to Prospero, and the horse stilled.  Alina stepped down into her brother’s arms.  A quick embrace, then she hoisted her skirt and Alain eased her astride the golden stallion.  Rory beamed up at her.

She smiled down at him and blew a kiss.  “I love you.”

Rory fisted the sky, the other hand clutching the horse’s lead.  “I love my wife,” he proclaimed to cheers.  With the same flamboyance, he spun on a heel and paraded his birthday present before his audience.

Alain walked beside Rory.  “Hold the lead tight and cluck.  He’ll piaffe.”

Alina stretched her arms beside her, threw her head back and laughed with joy as the stallion danced in place, his bare back swinging between her legs.

“Wow,” Rory breathed.

“Prospero is the reason I’ve been in Portugal for six months.  It took a long time to persuade the breeder to sell him.”  Alain stroked the muscles rippling under the stallion’s sleek hide.  “Good boy.”

“He’s magnificent.”  Rory clucked his tongue.  “But what will I do with a horse like this?”

Alain squeezed his shoulder.  “Learn to ride.  I’ll teach you, my friend.”

Alina closed her eyes, her body swaying to the two-beat rhythm.  Finally, they were together again, and she’d never allow anything to separate them.

_____________________

If you're not wary to venture into a story with a thread similar to Flowers in the Attic, look for Anointing: The Gemini Factor, a dark fantasy, coming from Class Act Books in October 2017.

The picture is a mock-up of a cover that is simply for example purposes.  The images behind the smoke will be different in the final cover.  The smoke image is from Fotolia.

Happy 14th of August!  Linda

Vampires Anyone?

The word vampire conjures images from Bela Lugosi, the most famous Dracula, to Tom Cruise as the Vampire Lestat or the monstrous Nosferatu of the silent film era.  The vampire legend exists in most cultures around the world.

Everyone knows that vampires fear the cross, cannot abide garlic (too much and I can't either), do not have reflections in mirrors, turn into bats or steam and sleep in coffins.  Of course, they must be invited in.  Anne Rice's novels revolutionized the traditional vampire, opening the door for authors to create their own vampire mythos.  In my books, vampires are mutations.  A blood-borne pathogen transforms mortals into immortals with superhuman strength and arcane powers.

Below is the first part of a free read on my website.  If you enjoy the sample, please visit http://www.lindanightingale.com for the continuing vampire story.  Now, without further ado, I introduce Morgan, the hero of Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody, now available from The Wild Rose Press.

*~*

I am Morgan Gabriel D’Arcy, an English lord, a concert pianist…and a vampire

VAMPYRE INTERLUDE

I studied my reflection in a golden mirror.  Long hair, blond.  Eyes blue. A handsome countenance, I’d been told.

“’od’s Teeth, I’m pale as a vampire.”

As I shrugged into a black sweater and jeans, a quiet knock at the door announced my manservant. I pulled on black boots of soft Italian leather. “Come.”

Always the perfect gentleman in his black suit and bow tie, Avery stepped into the treasure chest of art and antiques that was my bedroom. “Good evening, Sir.”

“Good evening, Avery. I’m going out.”

Last week on the telly, a talk show, Vampires Among Us, had peaked my curiosity. Five attractive young mortals circled the show host and claimed to be vampires. These real vampires plunged hypodermic needles into their veins, extracted a thimble of blood and squirted cardinal sin into their mouths directly from the syringe. Not my idea of pleasure.

“Imagine, instead,” I wanted to inform them, “pressing your lips to the throat. Open your mouth, run your tongue along the throbbing artery. Sink your teeth into that river of sheer delight. Your whole body vibrates with satisfaction more acute than sex. That’s what it means to be a vampire.”

The very prospect of telling these vampire children chased away the Hounds of Hell named Boredom nipping at my heels.

“Excellent. I hope you’re going hunting.” He folded his hands in front of him. “Sir, you should have waited for my assistance.”

I laughed. “Avery, at three hundred plus years, I think I’m old enough to dress myself.”

It had been an easy matter to run the little coven to ground. The five TV vampires shared a three-room flat in Maida Vale near an Underground station. Several evenings, I’d stalked the children at play. Among them was a flower of a girl—wild auburn curls free as the spirit that flashed in her blue eyes. Her long legs drew my gaze each time she pranced out of the flat in very short skirts. I imagined those legs in all sorts of erotic postures. Jaime was tonight’s entertainment.

Avery interrupted a vision of sinking my fangs and another part of my anatomy into Jaime. “Shall I fetch your coat, Milord? It’s another rainy night in London Town.”

I smiled at the old gentleman who’d served me for over twenty years. “Yes, I’m off on my vampire hunt. Don’t wait up.”

“Vampire hunt?” He chuckled. “Shouldn’t you wear a cross?”

My fingers in a cross, I bared my fangs, hissing like a horror flick fiend.

~*~

This is my initial post.  I hope you enjoyed Morgan's snippet.  Have a Fab Friday and a Wonderful Weekend. And an early Happy Halloween!

Linda

Dark Dealings out now!

DARK DEALINGS released from Carina Press yesterday. It had been so long since I'd played with magic...and this story has it in spades. Oh, and a hero that makes my knees weak ;-)

There are monsters in the city. And one of them is her…

Ava Kalle's empty soul devours magic. And her hunger is deadly. She's sharp, quick and can live in shadow, making her work as a spy for the Mages a natural choice. She lives on the fringes of society and likes it that way.

When the man she loves takes another woman for his mate, the darkness in her heart unravels and she'll do anything to get him back. She makes a dangerous deal with a fire elemental, Heyerdar, who has a vested interest in agreeing: together they'll use forbidden magic, harnessing their sexual energy to drive the couple apart.

But soon their pact pushes them both into a dark sexual obsession. One that Ava may not be able to control…

Carina Press || Amazon US || Amazon UK

Amazon de || Barnes and Noble || ARe

Here's a naughty excerpt:

Ava’s mouth dried and the slick heat of her need pulsed heavily within her. “Your first time, Heyerdar.” She swallowed as his mouth brushed over her nightgown, his tongue curling against the thin linen and wetting a line to the curve of her breast. “I only...”