This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Maria DeBlassie will be awarding a free ecopy of Hungry Business to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
It’s a chilly and cloudy Saturday morning in the Land of Enchantment. The promise of rain is in the air. The wind has swept away the last of the fall leaves and the kettle whistles gently on my kitchen stove, urging me to leave my cozy writing space and brew a pot of tea. Just one more word—okay, sentence—and I will take my tea break. For now, the story has me in its grip and needs to find a natural stop.
My familiar, a black cat named Smoke, lounges on the windowsill above my writing desk, overseeing my creative work and the work of the busy birds outside in equal measure, until he is lulled to sleep by the tattoo of my fingers against my laptop’s keyboard. His long tail curls luxuriously around my lamp. The crystals scattered about my desk look particularly haphazard today as if strewn about by his paws. This desk is as much his as it is mine, and his feline soul loves shiny things as much as I do, which is why he often has them between his paws or pushed into piles—his jeweled hoard. They now lie scattered across my desk, abandoned by him for the moment.
The story finds its perfect pause.
I drink deeply from my ceramic tea mug and take in the flowers and stash of books—bodice rippers, Gothic romances, witchy how-to books, sword and sorcery—their pulpy covers inspire me to let my stories flow, to be fearless and passionate about the worlds I create. We find ourselves in stories, just as we craft our own life story from those we’ve read.
My eyes settle on my stack of tarot cards. Perhaps a little wisdom from this divine deck is needed before I continue writing. Smoke’s ears perk up when he hears the familiar shuffle of the cards, but he doesn’t open his eyes. He’s busy traveling the spirit realms beyond the veil. There will be much to discuss when he returns. I clear my mind and draw a card.
The Ace of Pentacles.
A manifestation of abundance. The fruition of dreams. The promise that you will manifest what you desire. So, the story is on the right track. You prop the card against one of your paperbacks and return to your laptop.
Today is a good writing day.
From the multi-award-winning author of Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic and Daily Conjurings comes a cozy Gothic short story about searching for connection in a world that's forgotten the power of everyday magic.
Looking for love can be deadly...
You know how it goes. You go out, hoping to meet someone. You wade through your fair share of brainless automatons, lifeless bodies, and ravenous undead good at passing as human.
The more you go out, the less hope you feel and the colder your body gets. But you keep at it. All you need is one beating heart to match your own before yours stops pumping altogether. How hard can it be to find one living, breathing human in a city full of bodies?
Dating.
It's hungry business.
Enjoy an Excerpt
The things you do for love.
Like talking yourself into thinking that the lifeless body across the table from you has his own kind of charm. Surely his gray pallor is only a trick of the light. His skeletal frame might even be considered athletic. You try not to look at his chipped and bloodied fingernails as you force down your mediocre steak tartar. Sadly, that room temperature appetizer will be the hottest thing on the menu tonight.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for featuring me on your blog! Here's to everyday magic!
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