October 26, 2015

October 25, 2015

Witches Shadow

[Posted by Ted H]

Happy Halloween. Now, enjoy the triumphant return of James Blake and John Praque! This time next week I'll embark on my quest for 50,000 as I begin the 2nd Blake novel. Enjoy this short that if anything, shows that Blake is no longer just an average guy trying to make sense of the supernatural.

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[Witches Shadow]

"I am so mad at you now," Blake said as the car drove passed the dark and empty gas station. "Christ, my bad," John complained from the driver side "I'll never hear the end of this, will I?" Blake shook his head as he looked to his pack of cigarettes, only three remained inside to last him through the night. He'd smoke one before bed, and had a hard craving to smoke one right now, meaning he had only one left for some unknown point in the night, and he felt it was going to be a long night.
            "Next time you think you know of an 24-hour gas station on Bear..." Blake began as he lit up his cigarette "...Make sure you know which one; Bear Road? Or Bear Street? Because the difference is paramount!"
            "I stand by my choice," John defended himself "I wasn't driving out of the way just so you could pick up a pack. Next time remember to pick your cancer sticks up during normal business hours." Blake rolled his eyes as he returned his lighter to his trench coat and took a drag. They were on a case. More specifically, Blake was on a case. John was around because he owned a car and a former cop can find other ways to be useful.
            "Which house is it?" John asked as Blake flicked ash out the open window. "Towards the end of the street. Red cedar house. Should be the only one without lights on." Blake then looked to his cigarette and frowned at how much had already burned away. "Remind me why we're here?" John asked.
            "Our client, Kaylyn, wants us to find her older sister, preferably before their parents come home in two nights."
            "Sounds like a job for the police and Missing Persons."
            "Kaylyn says her sister had been dabbling in certain things."
            "What kind of things?"
            "She didn't know. Probably Wiccan."
            "Damn sluts."
            "I know, right?"
            "Where's the younger sister now?"
            "Friends house."
            "Dare I ask why it's us and not her searching the home?"
            "Because the last thing Kaylyn remembers before running from the house was her sister screaming followed by something demonic crying out."
            "Wiccans can summon?"
            "Occasionally."
            "So the job is to find the sister and figure what happened?"
            "Pretty much. So you'll understand why I'm so miffed over not having an adequate supply of smokes for this evenings activities."
            "You could have a carton of those things and still not think you have an adequate supply for an evening."
            "...Touché....But c'mon, just three?"
            "Those things will kill ya anyway."
            "No. Dealing with another crazy Wiccan girl in my life will kill me."
            Both men continued to quip back and forth until John spotted the right house and slowed to a stop in front of it. "So what's the plan?" John asked as he killed the engine. Blake laughed as he got out, amused at the notion that he would deviate from his usual MO of figuring things out as the situation happens. "First we need to see what we're up against," he said as he flicked his spent cigarette away and walked towards the house.

October 18, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015

[Posted by Ted H]

We're so freakin close! I changed my mind about what I was gonna write about about 876564678 times in the last month. For a stretch of time, I was sure it was gonna be a story involving vampires (you know, REAL vampires, not the faggot Twilight vampires) but I never felt 100% sure about it. Naturally it would be a James Blake sequel where the universe he inhabits gets expanded, but would it be interesting? Sure, I got the supernatural shit all squared away with this guy, but usually supernatural and horror go hand in hand. There are some weird shit out there than can truly terrify, and vampires don't really do that right now.
Then one night, an idea struck me for a completely different story, one that would actually be scary and uncomfortable if done right. Once it struck me, it didn't let go, and I knew I just HAD to run with it in November. The vampire story still exists in my head, but right now James Blake needs to do something closer to horror than supernatural.

So, for 2015 I will be writing another James Blake novel, getting a much needed break from Safe Haven. SH has become something of an on again off again romance. When we're clicking, it's magical...when we're not, I gotta hear from her bitch mother.

The Blake story will be titled "Pure Human" and of course I'm not giving any hints as to what the story is about. Part of the fun of reading/writing these is starting off normal and slowly cranking up the crazy.

Follow along or even go so far as to join me this November by following the link below. Next week is my Halloween story (which is also a James Blake tale, just to pregame)and then we're off to the races!

http://nanowrimo.org/participants/reted

October 11, 2015

The 2015 MLB Turtle-Wax Awards

[Posted by Ted H]

And now for the yearly digression of writing into the completely unrelated world of sports.

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[The 2015 MLB Turtle-Wax Awards]

These are the awards you DON'T want to win.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The following award has been retired:

The "Joe West Level Of Incompetence" Award
Awarded to the umpire who made the biggest BS call(s) of the year
[Previous winners: 2011 Jerry Meals, 2012 Sam Holbrook, 2013 Fieldin Culbreth, 2014 Joe West]

I figure with instant replay, the worst of the worst replay decisions are moot, and thus singling out the remaining blown calls seems not as fun. And even if a blown call gets upheld by instant replay, then it's more than just the umpire at fault. So, away goes another award, and I figure it's fitting that Joe West, the worst umpire who ever lived, should go out as his own award namesakes champion.
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...And now onto the awards that still exist...

October 4, 2015

Race for Safe Haven - Two Bullets

[Posted by Ted H]

End of act 1....not too thrilled at how it turned out, but this was me just trying to wrap it all up, long ago losing all my momentum I had through last years NaNoWriMo...one day I'll probably go back and fix it, like many things I've written here...

Anyway, October means we begin our final countdown to NaNoWriMo 2015!

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[Race for Save Haven - Two Bullets]

            "Holy shit, that might be them," Jason said as the sounds of an approaching truck grew louder. "Great," Laura said "Now we can get out of this dump." Williams was in back, looking over Jenny when he emerged to see what the sudden commotion was about. "They made it," he said aloud with a relieving sigh, recognizing the sound of that truck that he listened to so many times before, always as an annoyance, but this time a welcoming sound.
            "Now you kids can head to Safe Haven and possibly make it through this apocalypse," he said as Jason looked back to him and nodded. Williams then gazed up, apparently lost in thought. Jason looked at him and wondered what he was thinking about. Laura paid no heed and made for the stairs to greet the group on their return.
            "No sense in putting it off," Williams said finally. "What do you mean?" Jason asked as Williams reached for a handgun and ejected the bullets one at a time onto a table. "Your friend is very sick now, near the end. It's quite painful, I've seen it firsthand more times than my soul can bare." He picked up two individual bullets and left the rest on the table. "It would be torturous to try and move her at this point. She made a request," he said as he reinserted the two bullets into the gun.
            "You can't..." Jason started, but couldn't place any words after that.
            "Can't what? End a terminal suffering. I have no drugs to treat her with. No way of lessening the pain. All she wants is for the nightmare to end, and for her to not be able to rise again."
            "Why two bullets?"
            Williams closed his eyes. "No one should have to face death alone," he said "And I'm not that far behind her anyway. Why not now myself? I have no interest in cataloguing my own demise to this infection."
            "But before-"
            "Reality is a cruel wakeup."
            "You're a doctor, a scientist," Jason pleaded "We could use someone like you."
            "I've caused nothing but suffering since this all began," Williams said "Brandon seems to be able to live with what we did...What we did so others can survive...But my conscience can't bear the weight. Maybe it's because I'm dying, I don't know. But just like that poor girl inside, I just want it to end.
            "What do I tell the others?"
            "Tell them the truth. Tell them also to never lose hope, to not be weak like me. I've done terrible things I've rationalized away. And now that I've reached the end of my usefulness in this world, in this apocalypse, it's time I answered for my sins. I'm locking the door behind me. My last act on this earth will be of mercy, before I turn the gun around and prevent my own turning."
            Jason said nothing as Williams nodded and made for the back room where Jenny was. The door closed and the lock made a loud click sound. Jason closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable sound of a gunshot. Then another shot soon rang out, followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground like a ragdoll would, and there was silence.