my favorite part of Eclipse

My favorite part of Eclipse: After the vampire battle, when the Volturi are coming through the woods, the TArdis lands right between the two groups of vampires, and Doctor Who comes out and reveals that they really aren't vampires, just a misunderstood alien race from another dimension, and then Amy Pond runs out of the Tardis and a newborn vampire bites her, and the Doctor had to find a way to cure her, but the only way to do that was for Edward to suck out the venom, but Edward was stuck in one of his awkward-pause speech loops and the Doctor realized that Edward is actually a robot, so the Doctor had to invent a machine that would do it. He saved Amy and offered to take the vampires back to their own planet, but they refused because they like ruling the world and enslaving humanity. The Cullens, being wimpy and all, decided they liked the idea, but when they tried to go inside the TARDIS, the Volturi shot lasers out of their eyes and blew them all up. They tried to shoot the Doctor and Amy, but he was able to reconfigure the sonic screwdriver to reflect back the eye-lasers and they blew themselves up.

oh...wait...that didn't really happen. I sort of blanked about about halfway through the movie and started making stuff up... LOL

Twilight: Eclipse, or why I nearly went insane last night

My sister in law took me as a present for my birthday, which was yesterday....despite the fact that I generally avoid anything and everything Twilight related. And I still stand by that...that Cullens looked more plastic than ever--seriously, if they can do natural-looking pale makeup in OLD movies (yes, that movie is old to me LOL) like INterview with the Vampire, then you'd think Hollywood could manage it in modern times. They also did it at the end of New Moon wehn we see Bella running after Edward in the woods, post-change, in Alice's vision (although that is a kick-buttingly-cool CG filter). The thick, grainy, nonconforming 'pale' pancake makeup and horrific brassy blonde dye jobs looked horrible and uncomfortable. They looked like zombies trying to cover up the decay with cosmetics. You could see the makeup caked up at their hairlines.

The 'seduction' scene was...creepy, and the characters all kissed like they were told to make fish-lips and pulse their faces together. And there was just way too much slooooooow, head-pulsing kissing. I'm sorry, I've never kissed anybody and moved my head back and forth that much, and if anybody ever tried to kiss me like that, I told them to stop.

The 'witty' dialogue was so not witty, and I come to realize that both Pattinson and Stewart possess the acting range of potatoes. They, much like Megan Fox, cycle through the same three angst-ridden facial expressions: "Angst" "A little more angsty" and "Oh God the Emo is Killing Me Angsty". Stewart has slack-jawed expression on her face that reminds me of someone who has stewed their minds on crack for way too long. I expected her to start drooling at any moment. And the sad thing is, she acts like that in real life, if her interviews on the various tv shows are any indictation. Gollee, girl, GET OFF THE CRACK. The bloodless shattering battle...yikes. I was extremely glad I loaded up on tequila before I went into the theater. LOL

BUt, all that being said, the production values in this chapter of the 'saga' were much better than the others, and the soundtrack is just as good as the previous two. And the girl that played Bree Tanner was so, so flippin' cute.

And I learned a valuable lesson. I hate teenage girls. I'm giving my girls away when they turn 13. LOL.

Back from Romantic Times!

It was lots of fun! I think it was one of the more productive conventions I've attended. I sat next to Karen Rose at the bookfair. I love her. She's so funny and nice. I pitched to an agent and turned into a babbling fool. Didn't help that one of the Mr. Romance competitors stood behind the agent making faces at me while I tried to pitch! But the agent asked for a partial and a synopsis, so maybe I wasn't too spastic and whacked out.

Cool thing- when I got home, I got a phone call from a graphic design place I applied to! Interview tomorrow!

I did it.

I got the spray tan. I'm slightly splotchy, have a big poop-colored stain on the outside edge of my right palm, and have a very dark patch that makes the shadow between my cleavage look dirty, but I'm tan. I have a tan butt. That's very interesting to me. I have never seen my ass anything but a white to bright and pristine it was virtually pearly. Bad news is it only lasts about 7 days, so I have to keep redoing it. So they say. I'm lazy and broke most of the time, so I'm only doing this for special occasions.

Romantic Times Booklovers Con will be one of those special times. You betcha I'll be there, and be tan!

I'm going to be pitching Winterborn with a passion. I hope to get there and be able to sign up for an appointment with MElissa Ann Singer of Tor, because she's looking for horror and her schedule for Friday is open. I think I'm going to fire off a query to her ahead of time.

I'm sitting at Panera BRead watching this woman cut up her salad. She's been cutting up this same salad for about ten minutes now. She has completely shredded it. I wonder why? Another woman just walked by on wedge heels so high she wobbled when she walked. Why? You KNOW it's uncomfortable.

I'm almost done with my research paper for english class. I'm doing it on modern feminism and the nbegative influence of gynocentric or militant feminism on the movement as a whole. Yeah, lemme tell ya, it's a lot harder than it seems!

Sunday night

Happy Easter, everybody. Did you eat as much caramel-filled candy as I did? Bet you didn't. And me supposedly trying to lose weight for Romantic Times BL Convention! (do you hear my derisive laughter?)

Nothing on TV to watch tonight except for old Futurama reruns. No big deal though. I love this show. I'd tattoo the cast on my ass, if I had the money. The Futurama cast on one side, LUR included, and the Simpson's on the other side. Yes. My ass is big enough to hold both casts.

I'm debating if I want to get a tan the old-fashioned, dangerous way (the sun) or if I want to pony up the cash for a spray tan. My laziness dictates option B, but my wallet says option A.

I read Dahlia Roddy's (Dalia Rody?) latest Medallion Press book. I can't remember the title. It took a full half of the book to fully capture my interest. It wasn't a bad story, just a little complicated, and the reason for the 'black out' was hard to really grasp. The structure of the story was very 'The Stand'-like, although I thought Roddy had a good theory about post-apocalyptic society a few years in, economically. The ending was a little anticlimactic and it almost felt rushed, like things happened just because it was time to end the book rather than when the story dictated it should end.

Will have a review up at PRetty-Scary and SwampDweller at some point this week.

I'm plotting out a couple of horror novels. I need to write something that I can submit to an agent! Winterborn is with Sandy Lu of the L. Perkins Agency, so I'm hoping to hear back from her soon. It's getting close to the 12 weeks she said it would take. I have two story options-- one Rosemary's Baby-ish, but with aliens. I want to write about aliens, for some reason. Ideas been done, but I hope to have a unique spin on it. It's been a while since I've read a book with that theme. Another idea is sort of a sci-fi horror novel, in the vein of Total Recall (and other Philip K. Dick stories), but not quite. I have that one fleshed out pretty well, and the other I'm going to work on tomorrow while I'm ignoring my math teacher (and failing the class...LOL).

Wednesday

Finally wrote the ishy squishy love scene in Dark Consort. I've actually written about four of them so far. It has to happen in the book, but I'm having trouble PLACING it. It's a little frustrating.

I got a new eHarmony match today. One of his 'must haves' is his partner must be considered very attractive by society. Uh...why'd he want to get matched with me? I'm the epitome of NOT considered attractive by society! *laughs* But I have really awesome boobs, so it's not an issue.

The Romantic Times Booklover's convention is coming up. IN like four weeks. I had this goal of losing 15 pounds by then, but I think I'm going to settle for fitting into my size 14's comfortable. Yeah. Must easier. I'll save the major weight loss thing for post-RT, for Josh and Renee's wedding and the CONtext and AAD this summer.

I've got some new rules for art commissions now. I got stiffed, again, so there goes my natural good nature. From now on, for commissions under $100, I get paid up front. Over $100, pay half up front. I will not send watermark-free files until the second half of payment is in my account.

Wow.

I wish I wrote this book: And Falling, Fly by Skyler White

http://www.amazon.com/Falling-Fly-Skyler-White/dp/0425232344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269751456&sr=8-1

It has got to be the single most elegant, gorgeous, amazingly written book I've ever read.

Look for an official review of the book at www.pretty-scary.net soon!

Buy one get one frreeee! Who doesn't love free ebooks??

If you buy my latest novel, Winterborn, I'll send you a free e-copy of any of the my other novels!! You can purchase Winterborn HERE.

What else have I written?

Swamp Baby

Curse, crazies, and cannibals, oh my!!
Suwannee lives in mortal fear of the swamp that borders her home. Generations of her family have been lost in the depths. Every night it calls to her, beckons her. Although her best friend Derry promises he won’t let anything ever happen to her, she wonders if she’ll ever be free of the deadly swamp’s siren song.

Michael loves the swamp with a passion, one that rivals that for his ex-wife. While she cowers in the shadow of the wetlands, he embraces it. When a vicious entity offers him an unimaginable power, he
seizes it, despite the horrible sacrifice he must make.

Before Michael can help Spirit-Mother claim Suwannee, something else from the swamp does. Derry and Michael join forces to rescue Suwannee from the horrors of Hertley’s Swamp, but will Derry be strong enough to defy his brother and save the woman he’s come to love?

Spirit-Mother: Devotion (the sequel to Swamp Baby--readable as a standalone novel!)

Five years after the horrific events in Hertley's Swamp, Derry is about to sell the Swamp Baby. Suwannee is still crazy, locked up in an institution, and Michael is still dead. Supposedly...

SPirit-Mother isn't happy that her sacrifice was stolen, and she's out to reclaim her prize. When horror returns to Hertley's Swamp and spreads beyond, Derry and a group of ragtag new friends must work together to save the entire state of Florida--if not the world! Suwannee is the key to salvation, but can Derry make the sacrifice?

Muse

Too good to be true.
After ten years, Miguel rushes to Leah’s rescue. When she truly needed him, he wasn’t there for her and she can’t forgive him. Despite their deep, psychic connection, she can’t find it in herself to forget. Even as they begin their new lives together, she can’t shake the fear he’ll disappear again.

He calls La Mariposa his Muse.

The vengeful spirit is out for blood. After several violent attacks against Leah, both she and her brother-in-law are convinced there is more to Miguel’s ‘ghost’ than anyone knows. As they struggle to uncover the truth, past resentments flare to life. An old rivalry sparks, but will their mutual love for Miguel dampen the flames before it’s too late to save the man they both love?

When terrible, bloody secrets are revealed…

Will Leah be strong enough to save Miguel? To save him, she has to face herself and what lurks inside her heart is the worst enemy of all.

A Year of You

The con was supposed to be simple. Get in, get the money, and get out. But the family that rejected Mattie has dark secrets, and someone will kill to keep her silent!

Boomp ba-da-ba-da

I'm watching The Stand right now. It's the final part. I forgot how good (and corny) the movie is. And how incredibly ridiculous the floating Mother Abigail head is at the end. The montage of fallen survivors, though, I like. I LOVED Rob Lowe in this movie. I was in love with him for a long time (well, his character, more like it).

I read Shaun Jeffrey's DeadFall today. Took me all of an hour. It's amazing how easy it is to zone out while you're tramping away on a treadmill at a +10 incline. I love my ebook reader because I don't have to hold it open while trying to hang on to the top of blasted treadmill so I don't bounce off backwards at a steep incline.

Anyway, the book is awesome. It's a little heavy on the Resident Evil similarities, but it's good nonetheless. Since writing an original zombie novel is impossible, the true test of merit is in retelling the same old story, and how a writer can make it their own. Shaun definitely succeeded, even if Amber Redgrave reminded me quite a bit of Claire Redfield. I definitely recommend it. Shaun's writing voice is very engaging and you'll be captivated by the story very quickly. It's an easy, fun read. Go buy it! I don't have a buy-now link, so go to his website and check him out. http://www.shaunjeffrey.com/

I also finished Jill Marie Landis's novel, Heart of Stone. It's an inspirational historical romance. Pretty good. I enjoyed it. It's about a former prostitute who has turned her life around and made something of herself. She's content until the local preacher-man starts sniffing around. She's terrified of her past catching up with her and she's determined not to let her past tarnish his future. Landis's writing is beautiful--very flowing and smooth. She has a talent for description and characterization. I especially liked Laura's (the heroine) attitude toward Brand's (the hero) kids. She wasn't all motherly and mushy-gushy.

The book stalled for a little while in the middle. I felt like Laura just needed to suck it up and get over her hard-heartedness a little quicker. It got old after a while and I was getting antsy for some interaction between the hero and heroine that wasn't Laura completely rebuffing Brand's attentions. Other than that, it's a GREAT book and I recommend it! Her website is http://jillmarielandis.com/

If you're a fan of dark speculative fiction, horror movies, music, art, and books, check out www.pretty-scary.net. It's a place for women in horror, run by women in horror. We're there to support and encourage women in a genre that's dominated by our male counterparts. We rock, basically. YOu'll love us! Stop by and hang out on the forums for a while. You'll find some new friends, I promise! MEN are welcome--but if we get a whiff of excess testosterone, we won't hesitate to go feminist on your ass! Love us, support us, enjoy us, but RESPECT us!

WOO! Great review for Winterborn!

It's from Novel Musings Book Reviews!

With every book, you get reviews. Some are good, some are not so good. For me, personally, there's always just one that stands out above the others. So far, this one is it!



Winterborn
A.D. Roland
Winterborn is one of those novels that upon reading the first couple of pages you begin to wonder to yourself “hmm, I hope this story isn’t going to be the same as all the other horror/thriller stories I’ve read in the last few years”. Don’t worry with every passing page A.D. Roland pulls in details and elements common in other stories in the genre and creates an a verifiable nightmare that is unique in and of itself. A story that is sure to leave you spell bound well past the last turn of the page.

The story begins 18 years prior to the main story arc where a group of 4 teenage friends have decided to sneak into the old Wraithborne Estate. Local legend has the mansion being haunted and is the #1 make out spot for young lovers. Their visit starts off bad and goes down hill fast as they find that the police officer keeping on eye on the house has been brutally killed, followed by a strange creature that scares them into the mansion and comes in after them. The terror only ends when an ancient wasted woman attacks Sharla causing her to lose consciousness.

This dark tale picks up with Tamsyn, an artist her husband Sean and his bastard child Kevin having recently moved back into his family’s home which just happens to be the original house of the caretakers of the Wraithborne Estate. The family dynamics quickly turn dark as you learn that Kevin’s mother is Sharla, the young lady attacked those many years ago, and that Sean was having an affair with her for most of his marriage with Tamsyn. Tamsyn only recently learning this information has resorted to drugs to cope with her feelings and marriage issues.

What follows is a psychological nightmare of monsters, demons, and magic that at first appear to the be the hallucinations of a deranged, drug addicted mind that slowly reveals itself to be a dark and horrifying reality. This story will continue to surprise you as each twist and turn in the plot unravels leaving you doubting what you know and just what evil lerks at the Wraithborne Estate.

A.D. Roland captivates your attention by spinning realistic characters rich in emotion and history. One of the most refreshing aspect of her writing is that both Sean and Tamsyn have very complex personalities and both play a major role in the plot. Due to this there are a few events that leave you doubting who the actual lead character is making it very difficult for the reader to know what is going to happen. In some cases A.D. Roland flipped the outcome of events to be the complete opposite of my expectations making the story all the more enjoyable.

Throughout the story we are introduced to many supporting characters, however their part in the story is restricted to when they interact with the lead characters. This enables some very central characters do not make there initial appearance until the end of the novel, leaving the reader to learn the underlying plot only when the character themselves learn it.

Winterborn will drag you along a dark and haunting road through the live of a psychologically damaged mind. You will enjoy every jarring minute as the line between reality, the supernatural, and hallucinations blur leaving you lost as to what demons A.D. Roland will unleash next.


You can buy Winterborn at www.allromanceebooks.com, and you can find excerpts in older blogposts!

AAAAAArrrttt

Art. Love it. Love seeing it, love making it. I have spent the last few years working on digital techniques, photoshop and all that jazz. It's fun and I love, it but somethign Billy Tackett said to me at a convention has stuck with me. "The computer is a tool."

So Over the last couple of years, I've tried to balance the digital art with traditional mediums. I am never far from a drawing pad (better texture, vs a sketch pad) and graphite or charcoal. I prefer woodless graphite. A little messier, but you can get such a variation in line and shade! When I started school again, I made sure to register for as many art classes as possible. You can see my work in my deviantart account. www.asharceneaux.deviantart.com.

I still love digital art. After spending three years working solely on book covers, I'm doing my own digital art now. I've done some horror themed stuff, and I'm about to start a gothic-cover-art-themed series. Check it out! Again, the link is www.asharceneaux.deviantart.com.

Hey everybody!

How's it going? Good here. Sorry about the no posting...I started school and things have been innssssaaannneee! I'm only taking three classes, but one of those is an art class that takes up six hours a week. Doesn't seem like a lot until you're sitting on an art donkey with an artboard on your thighs for three hours a day, twice a week! It's a lot of fun, though. I've been posting my assignments to my deviantart account, so you can see my progress.

Winterborn came out in December, and literally the day after it went live, I got an email from an agent I forgot I'd queried, wanting to see a partial! So while it's for sale, the print release is on hold until I hear back from the agent. As much as I love WB and want to see it in print, having a chance to get my work in front of an agent is worth delaying the print, even if that means I won't have a new release with me at Romantic Times this year.

I just found out I'm going to be FEATURED in The Horror Zine in their May issue! I'm so excited. They've featured some kick-ass artists, and it's an honor to be up there with them! I have a new loosely-connected series that they'll post in their ezine-- you can get a sneak peak at it by checking out my dA gallery. www.asharceneaux.deviantart.com.

On the writing front. Wow. I had a short story I was fleshing out a little bit for TEase Publishing's Unseelie anthology. Laugh with me, now. The story began as an 8k word short. Now, it's stretched waaaaaay out to this 62k word and growing epic fantasy. *facepalm*

BUt I LOVE this story. It features two of my favorite characters, half-Seelie Kaeda, a feisty healer mage, and Ceron, the cold-hearted half-Unseelie king of a damned nation who manipulates her into coming to his castle. He claims her as his consort, and even though he's a total ass, she sees the beauty hidden behind the beast. Cast out by her own people--who change their mind when they realize she's nearly fae royalty, Kaeda searches for a purpose in life and finds it when she learns she can break the curse that binds Ceron and his dying lands.

I'm hoping to wrap that story up in time to pitch at RT this year. In addition to Dark Consort, I have another book, a contemporary inspirational women's fiction novel called 'Something Beautiful', about a quarter finished.

I keep telling myself I should write just one genre. I don't know though...I have so many stories to tell!!

All right, kids are home from their 'sperm donor's' house, so I'm out.

Check out www.rorreviews.wordpress.com and www.swampdweller.wordpress.com for new book reviews!

Ash

Winterborn is available now!

Winterborn is available now in eformat at http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winterborn-401248-140.html !

Here's the blurb!

Plagued by vivid, violent hallucinations, a recovering drug addict desperately seeks the truth. Are her waking nightmares a product of her self-medicating, or dire supernatural warnings?

Tamsyn Hallert, an artist, exists in a vicious circle of addiction and recovery, fueled by her husband Sean’s long-time secret affair. The affair ended in his lover's bizarre suicide, but not before she left a surprise on Tam and Sean’s doorstep—Kevin, the son Sean never knew he had.

Sean moves them to the country, to his familial home near the crumbling Wraithborne Estate, the massive old house with a terrible mythos. The twisted attempt to save their marriage only makes matters worse as Sean’s obsession with his dead lover deepens, and Tam’s grip on reality grows more tenuous. A horrific plot to summon the dark spirits that possess the Estate comes to light, with Tam, Sean, and Kevin in the center of it all. Will Tam be able to save her family, or will the lure of the spirits’ promises be too strong to resist?

******

Read my older posts for more excerpts!

"Carriers" movie review

This movie gets 5 stars for Chris Pine alone!

Carriers is about a group of friends struggling to survive in a world stricken by a deadly plague. As they travel cross-county to seek refuge at an old, isolated beachside hotel, they have to figure what is the biggest enemy--the flu or themselves?

Carriers takes some hints from a lot of post-apocalyptic films. There's no stealing or ripping off; this movie applied the 'lessons' learned regarding battling viruses that have no cure and keeping one's loved ones safe from the rotten part of humanity.

There's a little bit of social commentary regarding the way we isolate ourselves from one another, and the more blatant avian/swine flu references, but it's negligible, and the viewer can easily get lost in Chris Pine's eyes once more...

The movie starts with Brian, his girlfriend Bobby, Brian's brother Danny, and his platonic friend Kate, cruising along, musing about the rhetoric of breaking rules when there's no one to enforce them. They come across a stranded father (Yum-tastic Christopher Meloni from Law and Order: SVU) and his infected daughter. Confrontation ensues, and they all end up traveling toward a supposed safe haven, with the infected kid and her dad in the back of the SUV behind plastic.

Bobby breaks one of Chris's rules. Rather than own up, she hides it, and tension erupts between all four when they begin to contemplate loss and love and being completely alone in a dying world.All through the first half of the movie, Kate barely speaks, barely responds. At a makeshift memorial, something visibly clicks inside her head. There's a shift in action when wall-flower, mousy Kate suddenly usurps the alpha-bitch position.

I loved the subtly of that ease into power. Granted, I hated what Kate's character became by the end of the movie, but the way her passive-aggressive tendencies came out and influenced everything that happened. She wanted to survive. It wasn't until the worst happened that she realized that. She acknowledged her losses, finally, and grabbed ahold of what was left. Control and Danny. While Danny didn't let her control him directly, sweet, quiet Kate turned into a manipulative hootch.

Chris Pine took Brian's character--the requisite brute of average intelligence that plows through everything with a bottle of beer in one hand and a smart-ass remark in the other--and did a remarkable job in this movie. Piper Perabo played Bobby, and the chemistry between the two of them felt natural and made the group dynamics so much deeper. There's a moment during the movie when you just groan, Oh no, not that!

Carriers will stick with you. It's not scary, not much of a thriller, although it's got some tense scenes and a really gross dog scene, this movie is a great example of character development, and of a character-driven story.

Chris Pine did an awesome job as Captain Kirk, and with this movie, he's gained another sturdy foothold.

"Deadline" movie review

Everyone who had a role in this movie was obviously instructed to do everything in 1/2 time. Walking, talking, moving, breathing... The director, producers, and anyone involved in the making of this film need to back AWAY from the Shamalayan project reject pile. The movie had potential. That potential died about 45 seconds in. I appreciate a slow, artsy thriller. This? This was a waste of film, time, and money. And collagen (good grief, at the height at which Britney Murphy's lips are swollen! She went straight from the doctor to the set!). Murphy picked a stinker this time. She played her character well--the nutjob stressed out by a domestic violence incident, deadlines, and hiding her lesbian tendencies, but that was about the only decent thing about this movie. SPOILER ALERT! (not that it matters!) I love movies with a good twist. Those of you who swear there's a twist, you people got it all wrong. there IS no twist. Perhaps there MIGHT be, but it's a lack of good screenwriting that destroys the twist before it has time to even curve.

Obviously, ALice is nuts. She's concocted this entire story--which is obvious when the other girl reads the script at the end. It's a word for word play of what has 'happened' to Alice--all in her head. Then, at the very end, with parts lost somewhere in another plothole, you see that Alice has been obsessing over the ambiguous lesbian friend--filming her while she sleeps and saying creepy things.

The director wants you to THINK it's a supernatural thriller, that there are ghosts, etc, but it's just a movie about a schizoid chick. It's completely botched by the lack of a good writer/s. This could have been pulled off, ala Secret Window, but...as I said, BAD WRITING. It's not the ending that's slapped on or badly written, it's the bulk of the story that isn't fleshed out. They focused on cinematography and atmosphere, rather than in storytelling.

Could have been a good movie. Even for a Murphy flick! (dear Lord, we haven't forgotten the abomination that is "Ramen Girl", have we?)

Book trailer for Winterborn finally ready!

Check this out...I'm pretty proud of it! It's not perfect, but it's the results of playing with Photoshop and Flash for nearly seven hours. Check it out!

Excerpt from Winterborn- Chapter 1

Blue lights flashed once, twice, in Tamsyn’s rearview mirror. She froze, every muscle in her body going tight and hard from fear. The static grinding forth from the radio speakers was as gray as the sky overhead. She flicked the dial and silenced the radio. One hand fumbled for her wallet. Her fingers touched the cold brass box that held her salvation, her chemical normality-inducer. She pushed it deeper into her purse.

She chomped down on her bottom lip hard enough to hurt and pulled over. The patrol car pulled up behind her, angled slightly on the shoulder of the road. The deputy shifted behind the wheel, barely visible through a particularly bright reflection of the sun opened the door.

I’m so frickin’ high, he’ll know the second he looks at me. She ate pills to stay normal, most days, but today, she took more than ever. Some days, existing just hurt too much. Twelve years of lies cut pretty deep, left too many wounds. Way more than time could ever heal.

I’m high and he’ll know.

The deputy adjusted his aviator glasses—corny idiot, she thought—and sauntered to her door. She rolled the window down. The crank took all her strength to force around, down.

The tall, lean cop braced one hand on the roof of the car and stared at her. She couldn’t see his eyes through the dark glasses, but she felt his glare.

He knows he knows he knows!

“You know how fast you were going, ma’am?” He spoke with the stereotypical ominous drawl all movie bad-guy cops adopted.

“Few miles over the limit, I think.” She spoke carefully, even though she knew exactly how fake it sounded. The cop’s eyebrows twitched, lowered. She still couldn’t see his eyes, and that freaked her out more than anything. His thin lips tightened into a white slash.

“Step out of the car, ma’am.”

Tam’s stomach dropped to her feet. The cop backed away from the car so she could push it open. She rose from her seat and stepped out, to the side. The cop slammed the car door.

He flicked his glasses up so they sat on the top of his head. Bright blue eyes pierced through the haze of Tam’s thoughts. “Do you have any weapons on your person?”

“Why don’t you check and see?” she challenged. The cop’s right eyebrow perked up. He gripped her shoulder and spun her around, pushing her against the side of the car. He stepped up close, his body heat biting through the nipping cold. His hands started at her shoulders and moved down, squeezing, kneading, taking way too many liberties. Over her hips, down her legs, between her legs—

He pressed against her, wrapping his arms around her chest and slid his hands underneath her shirt. His hot, moist hands against her cool skin triggered a shiver she couldn’t suppress. Close, he chuckled, a low sound that vibrated in her ear. Electric sensations shot through her body, heart to groin, bringing layers of goosebumps to her skin.

“Sean, somebody could see us—” she gasped, breaking the rules by using his name. His lips, hot and damp and busy kissing the back of her neck, paused.

“Babe, we’re on a semi-private road in the middle of nowhere, that only leads to two places. Our house, and the Estate.”

She twisted around in his arms and braced her forearms on his chest. She squeezed his shoulders lightly, tugging him closer so she could whisper in his ear.

“The dashboard camera, doofus.”

He dodged away from her, cursing. “Damn it. You know what, it’s fine. It’s all right.”

Tam crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip. “Yeah, it’ll be fine when you get written up again. You’ve had your probation extended how many times now?” She licked her lips, tasted him. “Come here, Sean.” She held out her arms. “They know we’re married and they know we’re having…trouble. If anything, you can play the psychological distress card and ask for counseling. Or whatever.”

Sean shook his head and stalked back to his cruiser. “Just make sure you’re waiting for Kev. I don’t want him walking home.”

Tam heaved a sigh. A numbing slosh of medicinal calmness dampened her irritation. Love those Oxys. Time-release, yeah baby! “Yeah, yeah, I know. Some boogeyman from the Estate might get him.”

“It’s a long walk for a ten-year old.”

“He’s almost eleven.”

“Once again, it’s a long walk.”

“Don’t worry, Sean. I’ll be right there waiting for your—” She clamped her lips shut on the word bastard and said instead, saccharine-sweetly, “son when he gets off the bus.”

He gazed at her suspiciously. He opened his mouth to say something, but his radio interrupted him. “I have to go. Just be there, okay?”

“Dude, I’m there every day. I’ve never missed in the however-flippin’-many months we’ve been here.” She flounced back into her car and gunned the engine, pulled back on the road. All around the car, the wind gusted hard enough to make it shudder. With clenched teeth, Tamsyn worked the brake pedal. The wind made her nervous.

She flicked the radio knob. “...with wind chill around twenty-five degrees, it’s going to be a coooold night!” The DJ rambled on about the low chance for rain. “Don’t pack the shorts away yet, folks, it’s going to warm up with highs in the low seventies.”

After almost a year in Railley, she still found the DJs and newscasters unfamiliar. The same with the layout of the local Wal-Mart, the way grocery stores always seemed backwards. Sean shrugged off her homesickness and told her she would get used to it. And she knew she would, eventually, but that didn't stop her from missing the little town where she grew up, on Florida's West Coast. The worst part of it was the not-so-subtle, slow, withdrawal of the man she had loved for the last twelve years.

Tam sighed and glanced at the dashboard clock. She had spent longer than she intended to in the art supply store. In twenty minutes, Kevin would be getting off the bus at the foot of the private road that wound past the massive old Wraithborne Estate to their house, the renovated overseer's house.

Maybe it wasn't nutso. His fears were well-founded. When he was sixteen, some psycho had viciously murdered his uncle, three teenagers, and nearly killed his best friend. Sharla, who grew up as twisted as they could come, ended up seducing Sean into an eleven-year-plus affair. She offed herself a year earlier, but not until she'd dropped a lil' present on their doorstep.

Kevin. Nearly eleven. Holding folded, rumpled, waterstained paternity tests results that confirmed Sean was his father.

Her buzz began to wear off. A good high from the Oxycontin would last a good six or eight hours. Should last more, but taking twelve or so a day upped her tolerance. Wouldn’t hurt to pop another.

“Wait for Kevin.” Tam rolled her eyes. “Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.” Her fingers slipped into the open mouth of her purse and touched the cool, textured surface of the pillbox. Thinking about Kevin just made her sick.

She pulled out the little metal box and flipped it open. Seven pills lay in the bottom, vibrating slightly from the movement of the car and the subtle pulse in her leg.

She picked one out and held it at her lips. Sean hated the pills and she'd sworn to him she was off of them. So she lied...it was his fault she was on them, anyway. Not that he believed her, when she said she was off. He knew what she acted like when she detoxed, and then when she was off.

She rolled her eyes. Deputy Hawkeye there didn’t even notice how blitzed I am!

At home, she crushed and snorted the powder. The high hit quicker, though it didn’t last as long. But she saved that for the days when the mess of her life seemed too tangled to sort out.

Tam opened her mouth, ready to let the narcotic drop to her tongue, when a figure in a bright red jacket caught her eye, standing just inside the rusted remains of the cast iron fence that separated the Wraithborne Estate from the rest of the world.

She slammed on brakes. The pillbox flew off her lap and the contents scattered all over the driver's side floorboards. Cursing under her breath, she tucked the pill she still clutched between her thumb and index finger into the pocket of her jacket, and drove the car onto the shoulder of the road. The wind threatened to tear the car door from her hand as she stepped out.

“Kevin!” she screamed over the roar of the wind. The kid in the red jacket took off away from the fence, lacing his way through the sparse woods. “No, Kevin! Get back here!” She hit the fence with her palm and ran a few steps down, hands fluttering over the ornate iron rods, seeking a way in. Whip-thin weeds slapped at her ankles. Brambly growths snagged her capri tights. What the hell is the kid doing in the woods, on the main Estate grounds?

If the bus let him off early, he knew to head down the road to the renovated cottage. He knew Sean didn't want him out here. Even talking about coming out to the main house started trouble.

A big brick pillar protruded from the overgrown woods and brush. Tam tore away the biggest branch, relieved to see enough broken bricks in the pillar to allow her to scale it. She wedged the toes of her foot into the crevice of some broken bricks and hauled herself up. The old, grainy bricks dug into her fingers. Her knee scraped against the surface. The skin ripped and blood ran down her leg, cooling in the chilly air. The wind whipped, demon-driven, around her, catching in her jacket and hair like icy hands.

“Kevin!” She could still see him, dodging through the trees, running even deeper into the woods. The wind blew harder, slapping branches into her face and tangling in her hair. Just as Kevin disappeared from her sight, the bricks she clutched with her left hand crumbled and gave way, dumping her to the ground. Shards of brick rained down on her. Before she could raise her arms to shield her face, a chunk of red brick sliced her cheek.

The wind tasted her blood and died away after one last, sharp gust left her gasping. Shivering, she pushed herself upright.

“Kevin,” she puffed. “Kevin!”

Sean would hate her if something happened to him. She would hate herself if she hurt Sean by not taking care of his child. Before she could dwell on that new can of worms, she forced herself back to the present. Past hurts were past hurts. What did she have the drugs for, if not to dull everything, to make her forget?

She levered herself to her feet and ran back to her car. With the pedal to the metal, she hauled ass for the main gate. Although Sean had made her swear she wouldn't ever go onto the main property--

As if he actually cares!

--she didn't hesitate to park outside the gate and squeeze through the narrow gap between the two sides. Although someone had tried to fix the gates a few times, they couldn't get the two wings to meet perfectly. An off-duty cop guarded the place on Halloween and certain pagan holidays. A reputation for being some great spot to contact spirits clung to the Estate like a parasite.

Skeletal shadows thrown by long-dead oaks fell over the long driveway beyond the main gate. Patchwork pieces of pale sand and black dirt surrounded crunchy dry grass. A tiny brown bird swooped down out of the dead trees and snatched a worm from the grass. The sudden burst of movement startled Tam.

“Kevin! Where are you?” Her voice echoed back to her. “Come on, kid! Your dad is going to kill us!”

“You have no idea...”

Stifling a short shriek, Tam whipped around. The unfamiliar voice sounded right over her shoulder. She stared into the thin shadows formed by the wide boles of the trees and the dense, overgrown shrubbery. Crows cawed from the bare treetops.

Chills raced up and down her spine. Overhead, thunder rumbled. Two cold drops of rain splattered on her left cheek. She touched the moisture with her fingertips. The wind gusted, cold and sharp. Shivering, she wrapped her jacket tighter around her body. Stupid, wearing the knee-length skirt and my thinnest jacket in this weather! As cold as the air felt on her exposed skin, she figured no way the temp rise to high-sixties tomorrow, like the forecaster promised. This is Florida. I don't know crap about cold weather.

“Kevin, I swear, I will ground you for the rest of the year if you don't answer me!” She stomped her foot. “I mean it!”

The kid's usual answer floated up out of her memory. “You're not my mother!”

“Thank God,” she said aloud, even though she only said the shameful mantra it in the sanctity of her mind before now.

Something big crashed around in the woods to her right. She jerked sideways, staring into the trees. Adrenaline shot through her body like a wave of ice water. Her muscles tingled and went numb from fear. Cold sweat broke out on her body, chilling her even further.

“K-Kevin?”

On the left side of the driveway, a branch fell from the top of a tree and a murder of crows took flight, swirling and dipping around her head in a frenzy. Crying out, Tam covered her head and ran back toward the gate.

“Mine.” The voice stopped her dead in her tracks. The crows vanished, dissolved into a lazy drift of leaves that fluttered to the ground around her. “They're both mine.”

With her heart nearly flatlining from the adrenaline flooding her system, she turned around. In the middle of the path, just a few yards away, a woman stared at her with huge, bloodshot blue eyes. Long blond hair parted in the middle fell around her face, all the way to her ribs. Red streaks glimmered vibrant in the gray afternoon. Bright crimson droplets fell from the ends of her hair and soaked into the fraying fabric of her vest.

Tam caught her breath when she realized the stuff on the girl’s short denim skirt and faded pink tights was blood. Handprints, splotches, splatters, streaks. So much blood! Tam stared, morbidly fascinated. The neon-pink vest's white insulation, grayed from exposure and age, hung out in matted clumps.

“A-are you okay?” Tam asked, backing up a step. The girl, a teenager, sixteen, eighteen at the most, looked like death. Ice blue lips stood out against skin the same gray color as the sky. Tam couldn’t look away from the dull, dry eyes. She aged as Tam watched. The lines around her mouth deepened, just like the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes.

Tam took another step back. “My husband's a cop. He's just down the road. I-I'm going to get him and be right back. Just stay here.”

This is a hallucination, Tam. Turn around and it'll be gone. Blink, breathe. Just your head, screwing with you.

The girl took a step forward. “I already had him,” she said with a voice like velvet on sandpaper. This was no hallucination. Tam knew hallucinations. She'd been plagued with them since her first trip down the rabbit hole. The girl standing in front of her aged in a split second. The lines around her mouth deepened. The crows' feet at the corners of her eyes darkened. In seconds, she transformed into the woman Tam despised most, the woman Tam blamed for everything wrong in the last twelve years.

Sharla.

Tam turned and ran, forgetting about Kevin, thinking only of getting away from a woman who had been dead for a year.

Orphan

I went and saw it last night. It's definitely more a thriller than a horror movie. One thing people keep thinking as they go in to see it is that it's a movie about an evil kid. By the end of the movie, you will realize it's not that kind of movie at all.

I absolutely loved the makeup job on the 'kid' at the end of the movie. They really managed to do it very convincingly. You'll see, when you see the movie. The acting is pretty good. The characters were perfect for the movie. The asshole, former cheater husband, the mother who has had some psychological issues, the suspicious older son, and the adorable little daughter. And, of course, the psycho adoptee.

It was well shot and well written. Some things seemed to go off on a tangent, and while nothing was left unexplained, occasionally the explanation was a little weak.

I think the worst part of the movie was the theater experience. The theater was FRIGID. The seat had this wierd, damp sensation, and three teenage girls who sat in front of me giggled and whispered the whole time, and of course shrieked and giggled at what they imagined were jump scenes. It was rather annoying.

Book video trailer for "The Haunting of Sam Cabot"

Check out this trailer I made for MArk Edward HAll's newest book, The Haunting of Sam Cabot.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=60651318

Excerpt from my new novel, Winterborn

A cool breeze chilled the sweat on Tam's brow. Slowly, she opened her eyes to a bright blue sky, white clouds, and winter-faded trees. The day glowed bright and crisp, unmarred. Tam breathed in slowly and spat in the dirt a few times to clear her mouth of bitter bile. The taste remained. She had water bottles in the fridge. Her throat burned, and the just-vomited feeling coated her teeth and tongue.

But the car was just a few yards away, and she didn't feel like dragging Kevin back in the house and then back out. If she remembered correctly, there was a water bottle in the floorboard of the car, an unopened one.

She marched Kevin to the car and ordered him to get in. After a short protest, he got in and slammed the door. Tam hit the button on her keychain that made the doors lock. At ten years old, the car's electronic entry system shorted out in the passenger door and only opened from the outside after anyone pushed the lock button.

“Strap in.”

He glared at her from under his too-long bangs.

“Quick being a brat and strap in.”

Kevin turned his head and stared out the window, arms crossed over his chest.

With a weary sigh, Tam reached over and grabbed the seat belt. Before she could pull it across his narrow body, he leaned forward and grabbed her arm with both hands. He chomped down on the fleshy part of her forearm, grinding his teeth through her flesh as he tore away a mouthful. He growled and went for seconds. His teeth pierced muscle like razors.

Tam screamed and punched him in the side of the head. He growled like an animal and just dug in deeper. She had a terrifying though; if she jerked her arm away, she would rip another hunk of her arm away. If she didn't he would eat her alive. Blood pulsed around his mouth and ran down his chin, where it dripped into his lap.

She heard someone screaming. Why wouldn't they shut up?

Oh, it's me. He had the strength of two grown men. Nothing she did even loosened his grip in the slightest.

Kevin's fingers dug into her arm like talons. The pain was unbearable! She stopped trying to pry his mouth away from her arm and slugged him in the side of the head again. And again.

With the third blow his grip loosened enough for the snatch her arm away.

She couldn't stop screaming. Her voice grated, cracked, until the only sound coming out of her mouth were harsh, painful grunts. Kevin bared his teeth at her, bloody lips peeled back like a mad dog's. Blood—her blood—ran down his chin and soaked into his shirt.

His teeth narrowed, sharpened. His eyes widened and his pupils turned into slits of black. Reptilian. Evil. The tiny veins in the whites of his eyes pulsed visibly, thickening. Blood welled up like tears and ran down his face. His skin paled, cracked.

Tam cried out and flung herself against the door. Locked, it held.

Something on the outside flung itself against the other side of the door.

She opened her eyes and saw the monstrous thing that had stalked her the night before, staring in, snarling. Drool ran down long, yellowed fangs. Bits of past meals hung in the gaps between the teeth, brown and rotting.

It's not real!

Tam smacked her head against the window. Once. Twice. Hard, then harder, eyes clenched shut. She forced her eyes open.

The monster was still there, staring at her. A big crystalline drop of saliva ran down one long, sharp fang. The thing didn't move. Just that drop of drool, that spiraled down its fang. Tam's breathing hitched in her chest with every breath. Fear left her frozen. Her blood sang through her veins, pricking and tingling like electricity.

She turned her head. Her neck creaked. Kevin--

He looked normal. Bloody, grinning, but normal. No fangs, no vampire-eyes. Smooth, pre-adolescent skin.

“Even if I'm not here,” he said. “It is. And it's going to get you.”

“Shut up.”

The monster remained. The gaping, dinosaur-like mouth closed slowly. It leaned closer to the window, where its hot breath fogged up the glass in rhythmic puffs.

“It'll eat you slow. One part at a time. Then it'll lick up your blood.” Kevin demonstrated by swirling his own tongue around his lips.

Tam took a deep breath. He had to shut up. She couldn't take any more of his violent threats. Couldn't deal with the fear anymore. Enough was enough was enough. “Shut up. Now.”

“My mom's going to watch it eat you. Maybe it won't eat you all up. Maybe it'll eat out your insides and then use your body to hold its baby. You killed Jake-O, so it needs to have another one.”

Tam lashed out and hit him, sending his head crashing against the window.

He didn't move.

Oh God, had she killed him?

“Kevin?”

She nudged his shoulder. He didn't move. But he was breathing, she saw, she her concern faded somewhat. As long as he was breathing. His eyeballs twitched back and forth behind his eyelids. That was good, right?

Ignoring the thing outside her window, she cranked the car and jammed it into gear. The drive to town was one she hated, dreaded. It would be ten minutes or more, even going sixty, before she saw another house.

God forbid they ever need help out there.