May, 2016

Happy Spring, bitches!

Spring just isn’t spring if I can’t have a garden.

For the past couple years, one of the most immediate and painful casualties of the drought has been my spring/summer garden- selfish, I know, but there it is. This winter brought with it more rain than we’ve seen since my son was born, and with the slow, halting return of green things to the Bay Area, my gardening impulse has reared its head in full-force.

All this is to explain why I’ve been a little scarce around these parts.

Since publishing The Devil’s Disease at the end of March (you can find it here, by the way), I’ve spent nearly every spare hour either in the newly lush mountains or at my favorite local garden shop, admiring all the pretty plants and plotting, planning, and dreaming the perfect garden. With a little luck, a little persistence, and a little more rain, I’m hoping to make it a reality.

In the meantime, I’ve been getting reacquainted with Emil and Puzzle.

You may remember the Minister/Peer odd couple from A World Apart and Ptolemy’s Tablet. Well, they’re back. Thicker Than Water is a companion novella to The Devil’s Disease. Like Ptolemy’s Tablet, it will be possible to read it as a standalone, although I do suggest starting the adventure with Ptolemy’s Tablet.

This time, Rev. Emil Stone and Misha “Puzzle” Kaslov are called upon to deal with -what else?- a vampire problem. Thicker Than Water is told from Puzzle’s POV, so you can expect a different perspective on their partnership, their unique job…and their murky relationship.

I’m super excited to reconnect with these guys, and I hope you are, too!

Without further ado, here’s where things stand right now:

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Current Word Count

5,795

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Song Of The Moment

Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) – Concrete Blonde

There’s a crack in the mirror
And a bloodstain on the bed
There’s a crack in the mirror
And a bloodstain on the bed

Oh, you were a vampire and baby
I’m a walkin’ dead
Oh, you were a vampire and baby
I’m a walkin’ dead

I got the ways and means
To New Orleans
I’m goin’ down by the river
Where it’s warm and green
I’m gonna have drink and walk around
I got a lot to think about, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

There’s a rockin’ chair by the window
Down the hall
I hear somethin’ there in the shadow
Down the hall

Oh, you were a vampire and now I am
Nothin’ at all
Oh, you were a vampire and now I am
Nothin’ at all

I got the ways and means
To New Orleans
I’m goin’ down by the river
Where it’s warm and green
I’m gonna have drink and walk around
I got a lot to think about, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

They used to dance in the garden in the
Middle of the night
Dancin’ out in the garden in the
Middle of the night

Oh, you were a vampire
And I may never see the light
Oh, you were a vampire
And I may never see the light

I got the ways and means
To New Orleans
I’m going down by the river
Where it’s warm and green
I’m gonna have drink and walk around
I got a lot to think about

I got the ways and means
To New Orleans
I’m going down by the river
Where it’s warm and green
I’m gonna have drink and walk around
I got a lot to think about, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah

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Recent Research

Of all the research that goes into Shades Below, settings research is where I spend the most time.

It’s critically important to me that anyone reading one of my books be able to imagine themselves in the thick of the action. I want you to feel the hum of street car lines under your feet, smell the spicy brine of the Bay, see the flashes of yellow and green against a fog-softened sky as the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill fly home to roost.

Most of my recent research has revolved around the setting for my upcoming Shades Below Short, Thicker Than Water. See if you can guess where Emil and Puzzle are headed next…

• Frenchmen Street: Where The Locals Go
• St. Gabriel Roman Catholic Church
• Marigny Manor House Bed & Breakfast
• Lagniappe
• Beyond Bourbon St. Podcast

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Pleasure-Reading Recommendations

Here are a few of the books I’ve enjoyed since my last post:

• Dark Notes, by Pam Godwin
• Shadowshaper, by Daniel José Older
• Blood Rites (The Dresden Files), by Jim Butcher
• Dead Beat (The Dresden Files), by Jim Butcher
• Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files), by Jim Butcher

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WIP Excerpt

Misha fought off a shiver. He stepped up to the sink and turned on the water, splashed his face once, twice, three times.

He shut off the faucet with a sigh and reached for a towel. He dragged it over his face, in the process caught his own eyes in the mirror. The man staring back at him looked younger than he felt. Misha’s lip curled. Most people would count that as a blessing. Not him. His reflection only served as a cruel reminder of the life he’d been thrust into. No one had asked him if he wanted to fight monsters. No one had asked him if he wanted to live forever.

No one had asked him if he wanted to spend eternity alone.

Misha hurled the towel into the sink and rubbed his face with both hands. A groan rumbled in his chest. This. This was why he hated having his own room. It was just him and his own fucked up thoughts.

Emil always seemed to know when his mind was wandering. He always had something to say, some way of distracting him. Misha closed his eyes and tried to conjure Emil’s face, Emil’s voice.

No use. All he could think of was Emil laughing with Kidwell.

Misha’s eyes shot open again. The burn in his chest grew hotter. Bozhe, what was that? Not jealousy. He didn’t have anything to be jealous over. Emil was his partner. His job. They might have crossed a line before-more than once, if he was being honest-but it had been nearly a month. He’d redrawn that line. He’d stopped wanting what he shouldn’t. Whatever had happened before, it was never going to happen again.

The thought should have made him feel better. Instead, he felt crushingly alone.

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Thanks again for reading!  Look for my next update at the end of June.  Stay posted!

XO,

Laura