Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year All And......






Happy New Year




May you have a really good Year, including one with hope and Joy and Peace.  Whether you had a great '14, a bad one, one with both good and bad, or even a mediocre one without any Great joys nor Bad pains remember 15 can be a year of change or an even better life.  Jesus Christ said that He would leave us Peace that goes beyond understanding and He would not leave us alone in this world. The Holy Spirit can be with us while we face The Good, The Bad or the In-between. Hope is there for us too because God is with us--as we learned with Christmas-and He knows what He is doing. Nothing takes Him by surprise or by hook or crook. He can’t be conned either. 


I am talking about a relationship with that Jesus of the Bible, not just going to church, or not just reading the Bible. And the person of Jesus in our lives: with us as we live our lives. He loves you enough to make a difference in your live now and Heaven later on. 

He is more on Hope; a Billy Graham video


And a second one dealing with the Cross. Why it is important to us now. 


And a link how to contact my church if you would like more info on Jesus-hope-salvation, Juts put what info you need in the header,  or leave a comment here. 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Christmas sale price on my Novel and story sets.






A Christmas sale on my e-book “Above My Pay GradeX2”.




For those who do not know the novel is Urban Fantasy-The adventures of NA; a young woman, who is one of a small number of individuals with the ability to manipulate what might be the very smallest building block of all matter-vibrations. Even though weighed down with many emotional issues she has a desire to help, that gets her into many dangerous adventures and into a search to find out who is making Mages and Users sick, and why. Finding the answer puts her in a fight way beyond her pay grade.

This is a two part sale. I’m not sure if the second part will work right the way I am doing it, but it seems to the best way to do my idea. I will see how many people try it. It might not be that many-but the more the merrier. 

The first part for everyone: The E-book is $3.99 from now to Dec 26. My story sets have been discounted too. 

Here are its links for Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. 



It is also on iTunes, Kobo, Overdrive, Flipkart and other sites. 

The sale price is effective right now on smashwords, but may take a day or three to show up on the other sites. And Do Not Forget that smashwords has a “give as gift” button. Books-even e-novels-do make good gifts. This is truer now that a lot of people will be receiving tablets and e-readers for Christmas. 


The second part of the sale is: if you send me a copy of the receipt-with any card numbers blocked out-I will send you a coupon code to get a free copy of either my Science Fiction set-five stories, or my Fantasy set-seven stories. Good only on smashwords.com. You can, however, buy the novel anywhere. That includes if you buy the paper version of my book. It does not have a sale price even though both Barnes and Noble and Amazon discounts it. I already have it about as low they will allow me to sale it on B&N-or so I am told. 

Send the copy of your receipt to lethewriter@yahoo.com

Here are links to the paper version:



Paper createspace

E-book is now on Kindle Hopeffully it will reflect the sale price soon. 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Why of Christmas '14--Love and God with us.









                   A few days ago I posted a musing on Christmas, in it I mentioned that I usually do two posts on Christmas and that one, even though first, was the least important. It dealt with societal issues while important still isn’t on the same level as this one dealing with issues for the individual.  

If you haven’t read it yet and am interested it’s here--actually not that far down the list of my posts.


    Christmas is important because of what we celebrate on that day. It’s not toys, electronics, other gifts even an e-novel or a tree and lights. Those items are not bad so please don’t misinterpret what I mean, but we don’t worship those things and even though they will give us happiness and maybe a slight change in our lives they do not equal what God has done. He alone is to be worshipped and He alone can really make us new from the inside out. He is Hope as well as Joy-unspeakable, Peace-that passes all understanding; there is a reason Joy, Peace and Noel are Christmas words. Hope could be there too. 

    I have said this before in previous Christmas posts and I probably will again--at least as a part of Why Of Christmas. Now Christmas is about God coming down to our level. Jesus was born a baby so He could live as a human. One of His names is Emmanuel which means “God with us”.   A verse in Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.  That concept is one of two things Christmas is all about. God did a special miracle to allow Jesus to be installed in Mary’s womb all so He could be with us in a very special way. God is not a god who is a way up there too far above us to know what we go through, or one that is a Hard Judge ready and willing to punish us for wrong doing. He is a Judge and will deal with evil, but He made a way for us. Part of that way was Jesus being born. I am repeating certain points here, but I want to make sure they get across. This point, God with us, is one of the basic tenets of Christianity. The Creator of the universe, as wide and huge as it is, is with us, who live on a small corner of his creation. He did not leave us to do something else as some teach, neither did He leave us to find Him on our own, but He came down to teach us, to show us the way. 


     The second aspect of Christmas I want to discuss is that God Loves Us. His sending Jesus to be born as a baby shows that God the Creator loves us. All of us, each and every one. When it comes to love it matters not what we have done, not done, or what was done to us. Christmas is a time to realize that. Again there are reasons why the words Joy, Peace, Noel are part of the traditions of Christmas. He was prophesied to come for our salvation and it happened. In fact the whole Bible leads up to that event. And all he taught, experienced as a human, His actions as a man, and His death and Resurrection all happened because God loves us and didn’t want to leave us as is. Sin did more than just separate us from God individually, it placed us in a bad place. God set up what was needed to rescue us and to allow us to be made into His family. That all started with His birth which we celebrate on Christmas. Even those who ignore that aspect of Christmas do and use traditions that show that. Most of the older Christmas traditions started with something to do with Jesus. Many of the new traditions maybe not but as I said the older ones. Even many of the original songs of Christmas deal with Jesus and God’s love for us. 


Many of you may know John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” but how many know Romans 5:8? “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Or Romans 8:34? “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”  And lastly,  “Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Salvation and the Joy, peace and love that comes with it are because God is with us and loves us. 

There are many fine sermons this time of year dealing with one or both of these ideas. Here is a link to one. The one by Jenna Livingston on 12/8/14  .  My pastor, Bill Chaney, will have a couple between now and Christmas if you want to keep an eye out for them on the VCCPODCast page I just linked to.  But there are, as I said, many fine sermons and messages during this time of year. 

You want more info or to talk more about it you can send a note here to my church-Valley Christian Center  --or to me at LO1DOG@comcast.net or leave a comment here. 

Friday, December 5, 2014

A PC Christmas message story, wishing a Merry Christmas letter to the editor.


This year I thought I would get to this earlier than usual--I tend to be late with these messages and musings. 
Every year I post messages with two different directions for my musings on Christmas. This is the more political and less important one.


A story with a different message.

Enjoy:

Bill activated his cabin’s door allowing Dora to come in. She had just interrupted him by asking though the door’s intercom if she could come in for a moment. He should have turned the intercom off signifying that he didn’t want any company, but even though busy he still didn’t want to be rude. His cabin smelled of cinnamon and pine trees-that last was fake but it still smelled realistic he knew for his hometown had plenty of real pine trees. 

He rolled his chair back to his desk and started working on his computer again. She came in and the door closed. The louder vibrations of the engines quieted; it ha dtaken him weeks to get used that hum, and vibration the drives produced but now he wondered if he would miss when he went ome.

Surprise filled his thoughts that Dora would come here. After all he kept his cabin three degrees hotter than hers and she didn’t like it. It must be important. After the moment it took her walk to him, Dora started speaking about a certain project him, her and few others were working on together. It was an after hours project that the Freighter-liner company they worked for encouraged its interns to do. If they finished it before the New Year-ship time-they would provided with a praty, and if it worked as it should, the finish report would be a good mark on their files. They didn’t get paid as interns, but everything, which included food and a party or two, was provided. 

He was listening with one ear however since he was trying to finish a private project. He suddenly raised his head knowing she had just said something different in a different tone of voice. He had not caught what she had said.

She repeated herself in a louder voice, “I said, What is that?”

He somewhat confused said, “It is a series of e-cards I’m working on.”

She said, “Not that! I mean that in your corner?”

He turned to look at what she was pointing at. Her accusing finger was aimed at something that sat in the opposite corner from the entertaining-work desk. The object was four feet three inches tall and was two and a half feet wide at its widest. That widest part was about one-fourth of the way up from the bottom. The wide part looked like a skirt and was made up of branches that came out from the center pole. All of the branches, from the skirt to the top were green, while the center pole was brown. Below the bottom of the skirt one could see the skinny pole that made up the center. The skirt narrowed as it went up until very near the top it was one and a half feet wide. From that point it sloped inward finally forming a thick needle three inches long. He had decorated it with two multicolored light cables and various round globe looking items as well as what looked like upside down Js painted alternately red and white.

He turned back to his work and off handily said, “That is my Christmas tree. I had Jorge in engineering, fix it up for me. Its not as nice looking as a real one, but its not that bad. You must have seen some before.”

She said, “Yes, I have seen Christmas trees, but I never expected to see one here. If someone who is of another religion, or an atheist sees that they might be offended. This is a public place with people from diverse backgrounds.”

He turned to face her and said, “Huh? What are talking about?”

She said, “This is a place of diversity. You know people from many diverse backgrounds work here and are passengers on this ship. They could very well be offended that you are displaying items from for a religious observance from one religion.”

He blinked and looked confused and said, “Christmas is still the largest event on the earth and most colonies, and even a couple of space habitats celebrate it to some degree or another. People would know what holiday that tree represents, even if it is fake.”

She said, "Yes, but some people will be offended so you should take it down. This is a public place, as I said. If you don’t, I will place a complaint. They will force you to take it down.”

He somewhat angrily replied, “Hey. This is not a public hallway. People have to be allowed though that door to come in here. Now if this was out in the passageway, that would be different. Even though this would still be about Christmas; a harmless celebration that even many non-Christians celebrate. You can place a complaint if you want to, but they will most probably not be able to do any thing about even if they wanted to.  Time after time, the courts have declared that these living cabins are not public ground. They are the same as a private house, or even an apartment. So that means that I can do most anything in here in the way of decorations and celebrations. If someone is that offended they do not have to come in here. They are the ones that should be put out not me. Besides if they are that offended they should go to a sensitivity training seminar so they can learn not to be offended by the expression of someone’s private beliefs”

She blinked at his use of the term “sensitivity training seminar”, but after a second she said, “That may be so, but you should still not offend someone of a minority religion. If you do not take that down I will boycott this cabin until you do. Many internet and brick stores have stopped wishing people a Merry Christmas.” 

He again said, “Huh?” Thinking he was being very intelligent with his responses this evening--not. But this had taken him by surprise. Maybe if he ate some of the Christmas fudge his blood sugar would rise and help him to think faster. If he offered her some, it might make her feel less antagonistic but he doubted it since she had a rad-gas pressure building and while good, it wasn’t the best fudge.

She answered by saying, “I’ll leave and not enter this room as long as you have that thing up”

He looked at her for a while before he suddenly turned and started typing again.

He said, “If that is what you feel, you must do what you feel like is right,” 

After a moment he reached over and pressed the door button then continued, “The door is activated. You can leave and we can discuss our project though the door, or at your room. Christmas is a diverse celebration, it is made up of traditions from various cultures and people of many backgrounds celebrate it. Perhaps you should go a sensitivity training seminar. I can get you in one over the intergalactic net. And any stores that reject the term Merry Christmas is in danger of offending a lot more people by not doing it. More money is spent at Christmas time for Christmas presents and decorations then any other time of the year. People buy Christmas presents not Holiday presents.

“One last statement, only a small handful or people do not celebrate some form of Christmas, of those it’s only a small share that would be offended...more people are offended by businesses not doing it for that reason.”

She said something that sounded like hmmfff, and started toward the door.

He said as she did, “Or we could go too your cabin and study the rainbow symbols you have on display, but don’t forget they are a Christian symbol also. Rainbows are in the Old and New Testaments.”

She went out the door and he went back to work on the new computer game he was fine tuning.

He said to himself, “And that tree isn’t even a real one. Maybe I should have called it a Holiday tree but it isn’t, there’s no such thing as a holiday tree...with a shake of his head he added, “boy what some people will choose to be offended over. ” 


The end


Here is my letter to the editor published by my local paper a couple of years ago along with some comments:


Wishing people a Merry Christmas and how there is no harm in it even if someone doesn’t appreciate it. I also discuss Christmas being more inclusive than Politically Correct liberals want to believe. We as a society have celebrated Christmas as our largest holiday for at the ver least 175 years most probably way over 200 without real harm to individuals and to society. 

The letter:
Wishing someone Merry Christmas, rather by voice, on a window or by song, is not forcing a religion on anyone. It’s a wish for happiness during a certain holiday season. Some who don’t practice it recognize this. 
    Christmas is less exclusive than some people think. Americans have incorporated elements from various cultures to make our own celebration. On top of that people from other religions and even some atheists celebrate the secular version of Christmas. After all Christmas is by far the largest celebration in the USA and perhaps in the world.
    Stores who, to be politically correct, change Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays are biting the hand that feeds them. They will offend significantly more people by not saying it than the small handful who are really take offense by it. Since stores are going to offend no matter what they do they should do the right thing and say Merry Christmas. After all Christmas, not  the Holidays, is the reason we buy so much this time of year. The combined sales for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, winter and the Muslim holy day do not come close to equaling what is bought for Christmas.



One last musing here:
A few years ago liberals acted like they liked Christmas; after all it was about God's Love for us all--very inclusive and I believe they felt it was nonjudgemental when it came to our actions as well as something good--that God loves us. Easter-or Resurrection Day-was different for it at least implied that Jesus was the only way to God. 

However somewhere along the way Christmas turned politically incorrect, it seemed be very sudden, but it could have been below the surface for a while. It is still about God's Love for us and about God being with us. If someone is offended by a God that loves them enough to be born as a human to do all that Jesus did, I believe they choose to be and it is not God's fault, nor the fault of the one saying Merry Christmas. 

The letter to the editor and the story I posted on part one pretty much explained my feelings, thoughts and logic, so I won't go back over it. 


I don't want to go into greater length right now, these three sections say what I want to say. 

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Cyber Monday sale and last update to my '14 NaNoWriMo novel.








First of all:

For those who may read this before Monday I decided to go ahead and make my Black Friday sale price of 1.99 for “Above My Pay GradeX2”, a story with lots of adventure, danger, and real inner emotional fights, last through Cyber Monday.  It is the day you are suppose to buy online after all. Doesn’t have to be Indie Published, but that part would be good too. A lot of indies out there who do good writing. I hope mine is but so far only one person has said it is. Some do not like Indie published because you never know what you get-that includes editing-but as I said some Indie writers are very good and do better jobs on the editing process. Again I hope mine is one of the better ones but again no one has said.  I may well be listing some of the better ones later on. 


Second of all:

For those who may have read my Black Friday and NaNo update (150 did). 

Done,  and all those other words in Spanish, French, etc, that mean the same. 
55,700 and some words. With "the end" being the last two words.
My MC took a shower-the hard way-then a mud bath and almost got crushed by more of her emotional baggage, finally beat the bad guy with a lightning storm he created, made friends with a unicorn, then limped back to her friends--Yeah limped well, you aren't suppose to be too easy on your MCs. 
And many things also happened that were not included in my posts or even hinted at.   :)
Now to get it ready for e-publishing which includes adding scenes, editing and getting it into the right format. I am not sure when it will be Indie Published. I will let it sit for a month at least-could be two monthsPlus-before I start the revising process, then finding someone to help me edit it to get all those pesky nitpicks I leave in and commas I leave out. So at the very last three months, but more likely six Plus. I have seven of eight scenes to put in, three or four will be rather short. A new character, expand the final battle since I was a bit skimpy with it--yes just a bit. And do better on a couple of set ups for later use. So I estimate another twenty thousand words give or take. Which would be up to 75,000 words. Since the first book is around 94 to 95 thousand this might be a bit short but that would be okay since it is still a good story with lots of danger and adventure and little rest for my MC NA. 



And now back to my India published novel:
Here’s the blurb on smashwords

Hi, my name is NA, I found myself in the middle of a situation worse than anything I have been involved in before. I was born with a special ability, but in this case will it be enough save my friends---and me?

There is a flu going around making Users and Mages sick, and killing some. It is NA’s job—she has the special geas to prove it—to find the cause and to stop it, before something terrible happens.

She just has to get around her emotional baggage, a grizzly, a griffin, ghosts, an AI Trick, and an angry abuser who wants revenge on NA. At the same time, she has to figure out what a friend is.

She is out of her pay grade, has no plan to find, or defeat the cause, and is caught in a wave of anger at her friends. Yet, somehow she is the only one who can stop this flu.

The geas and the Power behind it, must have made a mistake and sent it to the wrong person. However, since she has it, it’s her job to stop a horrible event from happening. To make it worse she has a deadline: one she doesn’t know even exists. A large job for a Freak with a lot of emotional baggage, and doubts.


And I checked the sale price of 1.99 is on Barnes and Noble too and probably other locations. Read the one review at B& N and Amazon were you can buy the paper version. Other readers will like it also.     At Barnes and Noble

Monday, November 24, 2014

Black Friday sale and Nano update Part 2



I thought of this after I posted my last post, but by that time I had a number of views so decided to do a part 2.

smashwords has "Give as a Gift" button. Which means you can buy my book, or the story sets, and give them away. If you know anyone who loves Urban Fantasy or just adventure where the Main Character is in and out of danger, think about giving "Above My Pay GradeX2" to them. Still on sale this week.



And for those who like the paper versions of books, I do have it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  It is a a bit pricey, but the book is larger than pocket size and both places have already discounted it so you still get a deal even though not as large a price drop for this week as the E-novel.



The previous note has excerpts on the next book in the series. As I said there I am working on it for NaNoWriMo even though it won't be revised and edited for a five or so months. The NaNo goal is 50,000 words for Nov. I am at 43,000 and some which means I will be going over at least a couple of hundred words which is okay. Later though I will be adding to the word count; with new scenes and expanding on some of the scenes I have. I am aiming for 85,000 to 100,000 words.

Just now I wrote in a scene where NA finds out that the sword she made is actually real and very old. Somehow she called it to her. And her puppy is all but full grown which means she needs a new name.
NA just found out that her best friend will going to a dangerous part of the planet for three months to help people there. NA did not take it very well.

That is all I will say about the plot. There are still plenty of action, danger, surprises and events I haven't mentioned or excerpted.

 Please remember the "Give as a Gift" button at smahwords and buy one for yourself too.  It is on sale this week after all. :)   $1.99 for "Above My Pay GradeX2" and $.99 cents for five science fiction tales plus a short bonus or seven Fantasy tales with a short bonus story. The smashwords link at the beginning takes you to a page with all three.



Saturday, November 22, 2014

Black Friday sale on E-books and NaNo Novel update.







Should have done this last week but here are some excerpts from the NaNoWriMo novel I am working on. It is book two in my Vibrations series. Book one is “Above My Pay GradeX2” Which just happens to be on sale this week of Thanksgiving-Black Friday, 2014. $1.99  at smashwords.com and hopefully other sites in a day or three. And My two story sets are $.99 each for this week. My Books on smashwords and this blog. While I am at it try Rod's Tales a UF continual adventure. And a few of my stories

More on NaNoWriMo here. I am at 38,600 and some words, which is ahead of the schedule. It will be around 51,000 to 56,000 at the end of the month, but I will be revising it and adding words, so it will be around 80,000 to 95,000 word by the time I get done. There will be one more, maybe two, excerpts. 

Here is the blurb on the NaNo site. 
Learning CurveX2 is the continuing adventures of NA who can manipulate matter and energy by changing the very vibrations that are the basic building blocks of everything. She also has even more extreme emotional baggage she has to tame, learn how to handle more power and to become a friend. On her spare time she has to handle ghouls, fairies, a birthday party for her and an angry Adept who thinks he's a demigod. Plus various other dangers. “

So here are the excerpts; They have been shortened somewhat so they are not too long. And they have been just spellchecked, no other revising or editing. So these are very rough drafts. 


Number One; NA fights a mother ghoul after its babies were killed. 

Something stood in the shadow. It looked man height, but wider. It stepped forward and stared at the bodies as if in shock. Another move and I could make out more. Its face had jowls even though smaller and more streamlined. I looked down and it’s whole body was narrower than the one I fought. And I thought I saw boobs: two bulges at chest high with skin that looked almost like armor plating. 
    Of course; ghouls had to be able to reproduce, even though I had never heard of a nest or little ones before. It looked up, first at Daisy. Two drops of blood choose that moment to drop from the sword and to join the rest of them. My mouth trembled, my skin turned cold.
     It then looked at me. Somehow it seemed to know I had killed its mate. That could be my imagination though. Or maybe I had some of his blood on me. Maybe it just knew the fact that we were alive meant he was dead. A strong female musk odor drifted my way. Was it in heat or did it always smell that way? In either case we were in trouble. I hurt-a lot-was low on V-nergy and Daisy held the sword. She stood on the other side of the pile of little bodies.    
     With a sudden move, the female ghoul lifted her head and let out a roar scream of rage and pain. Part of my mind wanted to say it was surprised that ghouls would care that much for their young. Another part answered, they had to for no one else would love a baby ghoul; they didn’t even look cute. Even baby grizzles looked cute and I knew from personal experience how a mother bear would react if it thought you had killed its young. 
     Without warning this mother lowered her head and charged. While it screamed its loose I had time to think. I flung my hand toward it. The same three stars formed in mid air on their way to it. I took a second to be amazed how well they did that. 
     All three zipped their way. She didn’t even try to dodge. All three cut into her chest, blood sprayed outward with each star, but she ignored them. They came out her back and all she did was increase her speed. I willed them back. They all flipped around and hit her again. She staggered a step but again ignored the injury. This time spread the fingers of each hand outward. She grunted so I knew the stars heated up enough to burn her insides. This at least slowed her, but not by much. I moved; fear and despair grew, but she reached Daisy before I could block her. I couldn’t stop the short scream that came out of my mouth. A tear may have dropped from one eye. My inner garden felt like it shattered, even my inner self screamed. 
     Daisy did something unexpected, again, she lifted the sword with both hands as the female ghoul closed in to hugging distance. With a jerk that included a sickening wet crunch the ghoul stopped. Daisy fell back a step, her arms bounced inward then back out. Both the blood stink and the musk oder increased. I couldn’t understand why the ghoul had halted like that. Something reflected light behind her. 
     My mind worked again. The female ghoul stood there impaled on the blade, it stuck all the way through her. I started to mover toward her, but she reached for Daisy, even pulled herself along the blade to get inches closer. Daisy had to drop the sword to step back out of reach. When the hilt dropped, it dragged the ghoul’s upper body foreword and downward, which slowed it. 
     I said, “Run.”
     She did.  
    The ghoul tried to straighten and to reach for Daisy, but Daisy moved fast. I came around and wondered how to finish off the creature. I called the stars to me, maybe another attempt at her heart. Two came to me. They erupted out of her in a burst of blood and grey flesh. Something wet hit me. When I looked down at my front I saw two red drops. Interesting that they had the same color blood as we did. I held out my hands; both stars landed with a gentle touch. I almost dropped them though. They felt warm, wet and sticky. Yecch, ghoul blood and bits of flesh from her insides. I blinked where was the third one? I sent out another V-nergy strand and called for it again. Nothing. It had hit her near where the sword lay in her. Maybe the blade blocked the star, I sent another strand. Nothing, I stared at the ghoul or the sword I wasn’t sure which one I blamed. The star didn’t exist anymore.
    I would take care of the problem later, the ghoul had gripped the sword hilt and was trying to pull it out. I decided it would be better if I had it. That meant I needed to get close to those sharp, dirty, very long fingernails. I was surprised they missed Daisy. 
    With my bracelet I could form a shield without using what little V-nergy I still stored. One idea though. I reached out all around me and pulled in the V-nergy stored in all matter. If I took too much I would cause damage to the object or person I drew it from. Maybe. Supposedly you could not take enough to do any real harm to the object. I did it once though. I drew in so much from two Users-minor mages-I knocked them unconscious. They survived without any lasting harm, but I could have killed them. That was still a sore spot on my conscience. In a panic situation I accidentally used a necklace I didn’t know would allow me to take that much V-nergy. I vowed never to do that again, even if I couldn’t without the necklace. 
     This time though I could control what I took. The female ghoul jerked my way, like she knew what I did. Maybe I picked some of her V-nergy-which I didn’t want-or she could sense when I used it. 
     I formed body armor made from V-nergy. That was a new Trick I had taught myself. Most who use it to produce a shield, make a wall or a knight in shining armor type of shield. I usually form a combination of both of those. This time it encased my body, except for a mouth hole. My third attempt at this trick, scared me badly when I realized air couldn’t get in. It took me seconds to concentrate enough to un-form it. 
     Now covered with an outfit she couldn’t slash through--or so I hoped--I walked toward her. She saw me and growled. Her voice sounded lighter with a very slight musical tone; which I found incredulous. 
    She said, “I will kill you and feed on your insides, while you are alive. I know how to keep you living.”
     I couldn’t help it I said, “Maybe you want to, but I say only in your dreams. You’re a has been. Your mate was judged and you are too.”
     She blinked in surprise at that last. I didn’t know why I added it. 
     Like her mate, her response was anger. She snarled and tried to reach me. I ducked around her hand and knocked away the hand that remained on the sword hilt. I gripped and pulled, while I did, I lifted the blade a bit so it would cut into her torso more, I also gave it a slight twist. This was to help it come off of any organ, muscle or bone it might be stuck on. It also did more damage.
     She reacted faster and with more force than I expected. In the space of half an hour I found myself flying through the air after some force hit me. This time I landed no better than the previous two times. I bruised a large bruise and rolled once. With an effort, I stood. It took me only a second to realize two things. First, the female ghoul staggered my way, blood leaked everywhere, from the gaping wound at the bottom of where I assumed her stomach lay and from two small holes in her chest. One just below one boob and the other at the top of her rib cage. 
     The second thing I noticed cheered me. I held the sword. I lifted it to an en garde position. I hoped this would not take long. My arm muscles ached already. I fought with my body to keep from gagging from the stink of her blood as she neared me. A second later I tasted blood. My own I thought; I hoped it was only from that cut on my upper lip or my nose. Bile flavored the blood since as weak as I felt I wondered if I could win this even as hurt as she was. 
     She lounged at me, out of instinct I swung the sword. The finger nail claws on her right hand popped off. Her hand jerked slightly to that side. She glanced at her hand in amazement, but only for a second. She kicked out with one foot. It took me by surprise and I scooted backward. I wanted to rub the spot on my leg her foot had connected, but didn’t have the time. She swung her other hand, I leaned back, she grabbed the sword, two of her fingernail nubs dug into the back of my hand. She leaned forward to take a bite of my face. 

End of excerpt One”

This one is part of a flashback to when NA first fought someone stronger than her to protect someone. In this case young fairies. 

Start Two
I caught a whiff of something. I looked some of them over to see if any of the really small ones wore diapers-Not that I could tell. I played with the ball, I threw it up and caught it. Next I changed the colors as it spun in a throw. I went through the whole rainbow and added brown and a bright grey to the mix. They seemed to like it.
     A new smell made me look up. They didn’t act like anything had changed, but I knew something was up. The hair on the back of my neck raised for one thing. That had happened only twice before. I was attacked by someone my age. He was a mage, but obviously only on my level of training. I still don’t know if he was just being a bully, Patricia would jerk the slack out of him of that was the case or. a dark lord in training. I managed to chase him away before he could do something serious. I had had other fights, but they were pretty much just scuffles, this was serious. I ended up finding and pulling in a patch of V-nergy near by and used that to shock him. We were wrestling at the time, he backed off, I formed a shield like a big Roman shield. He threw some Tricks my way, I managed to send one back. And punched him when he was distracted. He took off running, I threw a slap Trick at him because he had touched me some place he shouldn’t have. 
     This time I looked around. Nothing, I used my V sight. Something was there, but I couldn’t tell exactly what or where. I didn’t know how that worked with fairies. They might be angry at me, or think I was trying to harm their children. ................

With a growing unease I faced the trees behind me. Something wasn’t right. I looked at the trees and shadows, even swept the grass with my eyes. I saw what could only be stringers or bits of V-nergy that leaked from someone. Some came my way. I knew that was me drawing in V-nergy. I practiced doing it without thinking and I had been pulling some in since I sat down. That was one reason I liked this park, there always was some extra V-nergy here.  
     Not sure what to do, I sent out gentle probes to see if I could pick up anything, I jerked forward. Yikes, someone had caught the probe and used its connection to me to pull me toward them. A bad taste formed in my mouth, bile I later learned, for he must be powerful.
     I looked around at the fairies, none of them looked old enough to be of much help.  They are very tough, and can fly like a helicopter-UFO fusion. I pulled in more V-nergy, a bit more than I can usually handle, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t be there for long. With that thought I also pictured how to do shields, fire and to use real objects as weapons and for defense.............

  He looked dead. Not a zombie Mage. What did he want us for?  I had heard how dark Mage make zombies as cheap servants and to terrorize people, but how could one be a Mage? He would have to be under the control of someone else, unless him being a powerful Mage enabled him to break free.
      As he walked closer I studied him more. He looked pale, with shrunken cheeks, and hair like straw. One ear had three earrings in it and the other two. He wore all black, with tears and stains here and there. When he reached a certain point he lifted one hand, moved it like he shook out something, a net appeared strung along his fingers. It looked like an odd fishing net, but I knew from a surge from him creating it, that it wasn’t. I looked at the fairies. Did he want to eat fairy brains? Or mine? 
     My feet spread out into a better fighting stance and I readied a shield. This one would be like the Roman shield I made weeks ago, but wider with wings on each side. I would make it thicker and more sturdy too. I had practice and read up on V-nergy shields. 
      By my posture he probably guessed I planned to fight him, something high pitched buzzed next to me ear. I automatically waved my hand there to shoo away whatever flew there. It took me a second to realize it was him. The sound adjusted and I heard, “I have no beef with you. I don’t care what you do, just leave me alone. I have an experiment to do.”
       I goggled at him; a necromancy not a zombie. Even though I have never meant, or even seen one, I should have known. A zombie Mage wouldn’t work, even though that description fit what I saw-and smelled. From what I heard and read this guy was not unusual in his outfit and body odor even though many dress and act ordinary. They also can be very powerful and dangerous when crossed. And I was about to cross one.....  

I placed both hands behind me like the at ease position I’ve seen in military movies. I thought it might do two things: make him think I was relaxed and wasn’t going to attack him, and it would hide the ball of energy I wanted to form very slowly. 
      He glanced at me, but also eyed the fairies. They flew around, making various musical noises. I almost giggled when I thought about them tooting and what that term meant for humans. A giggle would not be appropriate right now, even though one might make him think I was crazy and unpredictable. I stood there with what I hoped was a half smile. Some of my favorite singers could do that. Jimmy Dean did and Elvis Presley. People are surprised that I some times listened to dead early rockers, but they had something that attracted me. Thrash and Techno were still my favorites though.
     My mind did it to me again, I needed to concentrate on the upcoming fight, not side issues on what type of music I liked. I hoped this wouldn’t become a habit. He kept one eye on my as he stalked the fairies. The oldest ones now knew they were in danger. One squeaked at me flew by one ear and chimed, she zipped to the other one and chimed louder. I don’t if she asked for help or warned me to run, but I ignored her without even a glance. Through the corner of my eye I saw her pout and it looked like she wanted to hop up and down, but you can’t do that effectively when you are flying. 
     The necromancy had the net ready he swung, at the moment he slung it out toward a group of five to eight fairies, I threw my energy ball along its path. I was off a bit, it touched the far edge. The net closed in around it. After a moment the net sizzled and started to be consumed by an expanding ball of energy that rolled and pitched in bright colors. I turned his head at me with a disappointed expression. He threw three fat disk shapes at me. They all expanded and burst fourth in fire and smoke. The bench got charred. I no longer stood by it. As soon as my ball left my hand, I dove to one side, rolled, got up and ran as hard and fast as I could move. It wasn’t very fast though. I huffed and puffed my way to a stop. I had ran in a curve so that I now stood-and panted-behind him. I formed the shield in front of me and formed a thunder cloud that would rain fire on him. I had heard of that in a Sunday School Class a friend of mine talked me into going three years ago. 
     He spun around and threw a arm in my direction. Something impacted the shield, hard. I almost fell backwards, but it held. Two more quick throws, each one harder. The last one hurt, but my shield protected me. It had weakened though. I figured it would, but I hoped to distract him while the fairies ran for home. Once they left I could run, but they didn’t. I mumbled under my breath that they were stupid. I wanted to shout, “RUN”, but figured he would hear and chase them down if they did. And where were their adults? 
     Meanwhile my cloud reached him and started to rain large fiery hail stones. The first two hit his head and one shoulder. He looked up, I thought that idiotic since that is where they came from, but I soon saw he formed a shield of his own. A few missed the shield and landed on the grass. Two rolled toward his feet. I helped four more along. He didn’t notice until one burned through his shoe. He yelped and hopped up and down three times. This time I let the laugh out even if only for a second........... 

When I glanced down I saw little-very little fairies milling around my feet. Something sparkled, more of the wee creatures flew around my head, then my body, more glitter. My eyes flew wide--fairy dust. For a second I wondered if they produced it as poop as one person said. But I saw it flow from their bodies. I imagined it coming out of their pores. Maybe it just appeared when they willed it. 
     His hand glowed black; I knew he would launch another attack in a second. I threw my hand up and sent a blast of my own. His zipped out again met mine just about past half to him. They exploded, black smoke and bits of fire reigned through the sky. Pain shot through me, I almost doubled over, but managed to stumble sideways. I knew my shield had failed. Even though it stopped the part of his blast that hadn’t been stopped my mine, I still hurt. With a desperate search I tried to find more V-nergy. I found some, but not enough to fill me up. There should be more, but wasn’t, I had to get more. But nothing. I ran toward some trees, that female fairy flew to my face and chimed, in eight tones. Oh, the fairy dust. How did they use it to fly? Oh, yes. I wished for flight. Harder, I believed-it happened. I saw the upper parts of the trees. I smiled, but with a sudden surge my feet shot upward. I ended up floating through the air at a slant, with my head down. Yikes, not what I wished for or believed. I concentrated on my flight, got some control. Something zipped past, a tree exploded in black fire and smoke..........
      My feet still wanted to go upward. I willed myself to move and I did straight up, fast. I willed myself down, this time I went straight down. Stopped just before I hit the ground. My bare arms hurt, and seemed red, like air burns or something. Air met my face as I pushed upward but slower. The ground under me exploded, bits of dirt and rock peppered me. What? I hadn’t seen a flash of black fire.  My up and down and sideways course confused him for he missed twice more. It confused me as in dizziness........  
     Somehow I found myself near him. Maybe I could zoom at him and hit his stomach with my head. Hard enough, it would injury him. Hopefully I would survive okay, since it was a softer part of his body. Unless of course he lifted weights in his spare time.  At the same time, it took more concentration to get me  back higher. Oh oh, the dust must be wearing out. I tried to form a hard V-nergy helmet on my head and to flip over aimed head first toward him. Somehow while I tried to flip and to form the helmet at the same time I lost control of my feet. I flipped, rolled as my feet went up. Sky, trees moved, I saw ground for a second, flipped again. Something hard hit the ends of my heels and backs of my lower shins. I looked down, saw a sight that scared me. His face between my legs. My eyes went wide as thoughts of rape came to mind. By his expression I could tell he hadn’t done it. Somehow I landed with my lower legs on either side of his head. Before I could decide what to do my inner self acted. I squeezed my feet together. Once I realized what I was doing, I pressed them together harder. I wanted to pinch his head off. He started to turn blue. I tried harder. His eyes flashed fear and his lips narrowed. Between one eye blink and another I saw sky, trees and ground go by very fast. Something hard hit my side and back. I groaned and looked up. I lay next to a tree, many feet away from him. The tree hadn’t hit me, I smashed into it. Somehow he had sent me spinning away from him.”


end excerpt Two


Last excerpt She and her new puppy she doesn’t want, fight a Troll to protect a girl in a city park. Puppy broke loose and ran to the park,


 I prepared what I wanted to say to Puppy, for some type of animal must be in the trees. A scream however, made me increase my speed. In the shadows of the trees a preteen stood. Something stalked her. It ignored Puppy’s barks, I rushed past her. The something turned. I slowed, almost stopped. It had short horns  hooded eyes, a double slit for a nose, bony cheek bones, a long, narrow mouth and very thick hair. It had wide shoulders, grey-green skin with splotches, long ape-like arms, short legs. It was short.
     It fit the description of a bridge troll, not a larger desert Troll. Most trolls live in deserts. Some liked to live on rivers under something. They liked bridges. There were no bridges around here, the closest one was an overpass. She looked exhausted maybe it had chased her from it. I’m not sure why that thought crossed my mind, maybe the Geas. Last time it seemed to feed me ideas like that.
     Even while I thought that I had drown in as much V-nergy from the area as I could. It came both faster and took longer than usual. 
     It must have sensed my gathering of V-nergy, for it turned and said, “Sheee issst miine Human Maage.”
     My eyes went wide, so they could really communicate. It had a what I could only think of as a heavy nasal tone, and an accent. 
     “Du caaan’t haaave her. Goo Fiind anootheer victim.”
    Why did he think I wanted to harm her? Maybe it thought I was a dark Mage. My black clothes and frown?
     For some reason that made me upset, “Dark one, I. Am. Not. Evil. Jetst gehen!”
     I almost startled when I said that last. I don’t know German, but at the same time it hit me. His accent was German. A bridge troll from Germany? How in hell did it get here? Why? It picked up a stone in one hand. It threw it at me. I barely leapt to one side as it whistled past me. Yes, it made a sound as it burned through the air. Puppy growled and moved to the other side. As I rolled and leapt back up, I saw the troll stare at Puppy like it hadn’t seen one before. I shook out my bracelet, decided an illusion of me would not fool it, and I wasn’t time for the shield-yet. 
      The Troll turned back to me, “Weee haaave noo quarrel Fraulein Mage. Ich can see Du aaareee miiightyyy, but sooo am Ich. Ich would nooot fight ooone as hiiigh aaaas du, but Ich aaam hungry.”
      Now that took me by surprise. A mytho who thought I was mighty? Me? Maybe I looked like someone it had fought in the past. It was about to find out I wasn’t mighty.  
      I would try, probably get hurt in the process, but I wasn’t going to let that girl be eaten, probably alive if those stories were true. That meant I would have to kill it. I killed ghouls without feeling bad, but somehow this one was different.     
     I said, “I don’t want to fight and kill you. I’ve killed two ghouls, a werewolf, a boogyman-plus a very mighty Mage,” I shrugged, “but tonight all I want is to walk my dog and practice my drumming.”
     Some of that was stretching the truth of course. I had had help.This Troll didn’t need to know all that. It reached for the girl in a very sudden movement. I had expected something even though not that, I reacted with a Trick.
     Five throwing stars large sized. The first two missed, but the third hit the Troll in the arm she held the girl’s arm with. A fourth sliced into the side of the Troll. I’m not sure what happened to the last one. It seemed to disappear in a cloud. The creature let go of the girl. She backed off and screamed loud enough for the Troll to wince. I would have thought it was used to screaming.
      It turned to me again, dug out the star in its side. I sent three clouds. As each reached two feet from it, each cloud spread out and turned into a net. The nets dropped one at a time over the creature and wrapped themselves around it. The Troll spun around four times. 
     They secured the Troll; a heartbeat later it pulled its arms from where they were tired to its sides.  The nets reattached themselves and tightened. It growled then let out a yell of effort. It ripped apart all three nets in one outward swing. I let out a loud yip of my own as the Tricks were destroyed. I spun to one side and fell from the backlash. That hurt. I lay there and breathed in for a heartbeat. The ground smelled of grass and tree mulch. With a speed that surprised me it went after the girl, I sat up, sent a hurried Trick that spun like a Frisbee. It turned into hooks and sharp points. None penetrated far into its skin, but it slowed. Puppy ran to it, jumped up and down while she barked very loud. The Troll tried to go around. By then the girl had ran by two close trees. It couldn’t squeeze between them. 
     It spun around tried to stomp Puppy. She leapt backwards and the foot missed. I took another deep breath in preparation of standing. Something hit me hard though and shattered. Pieces pricked my skin and my lip. Another one landed near me, I was showered with broken pieces. I rolled over twice and jumped up with a quick movement. Something hit my knee, I felt it break apart. I looked down and saw pieces of pinecones. I looked at it, and backed up. It stood half way to me as it pulled back its hand for another throw. I managed to duck that pinecone. A bruise already formed where the first one had hit. I snarled at it, and waved my hand as I sent a command out. The ground opened under it. The Troll leapt over the opening before it could form all the way. I did it three more times. The last time the Troll’s foot fell down into the opening. I closed it quickly.  
     It pulled itself out with an effort. I tried to keep the dirt together, but it broke though my will. A second time I fell down. I lay dazed, heard a dog bark. I spat dirt and grass out of my mouth, still don’t like that taste, rolled sideways, stood. Puppy ran back and forth around the Troll. force hit my right shoulder spun me around, almost knocked me down again. Owww, that one was a rock. I shook out my bracelet to make a shield when Puppy ran around the Troll almost as quick as the Troll could move. Puppy closed in, bit the left leg of the Troll. The creature screamed, reached, picked Puppy up and tossed her away. My eyes went wide, no Puppy! went through my head. She spun around in the air, landed on her feet, ready for another round. I readied and lunched what could best be described as a small hardheaded missile. It impacted the Troll in its stomach with a loud smack. The Troll bent over in pain, but recovered very fast.
     A thought came to my mind that I needed the sword. I didn’t have it though. The Geas said, “Call for it, it will come.”
     “I can’t translock like that.”
     “Call it, it will come-now!”
     The Troll advanced on Puppy and me. An engine caught my attention through the trees I saw a minivan full of children about to park. They couldn’t see our fight. I tried to send a sunburst to scare the driver, but the Troll reached up and grabbed my Trick. My V-nergy level felt low after our battle and the destruction of now, three Tricks. 
     The Troll stumped my way, I could see it was hurt, but far from being even close to being out of it. I sent my consciousness to my place, I found the sword, pulled at it.
      “Call it!”
      Call it? How? Hey sword come to me. Nothing. I willed the command again. I put out my hand. Something hard smacked into my palm. The Troll kicked at Puppy who barely avoided it. I placed both hands on the sword, yelled, ran to the Troll. It looked up at me with shock. I let go of one hand, sent a blast. It zipped past the Troll too fast for me to see, ripped into a tree. I hadn’t commanded it to do that. The Troll took two very fast steps and swung with the back of its hand. It connected with the sword, knocked it out of my hand, sent me tumbling. My side hit something hard; maybe its foot. I cried out. Not broken, nor I thought cracked; two ribs hurt bad. I hit the ground and flipped. I tasted blood, I thought-hoped-it came from my busted lip. Car doors shut. Something rumbled. It’s stomach?
     I called for that sword. It came to me, I managed to surpass the pain, ran toward the Troll. Somehow I executed a leap upward, spun, came down with the blade. I felt a moment of resistance. Blood spouted from the end of the arm. I swung again, lifted my arms as high as I could. The Troll put up its arm to block it, but the sword through where the hand had been. The blade hit its neck, cut through skin, blood vessels. The head fell away with a shocked look on its face. Blood pumped out. It stunk. 

End last excerpt. 

Don’t Forget the Thanksgiving-Black Friday 2014 sale. $1.99 for “Above My Pay GradeX2”  and $.99 for the Science Fiction story set and $.99 for the Fantasy story Set.

Monday, October 6, 2014

The next Rod tale plus three science Fiction stories this time.


Okay, I finally got to my Rod’s tales. One new 749 word tale this time.  A somewhat different adventure this time and I hope we learn a tiny bit more of who Rod is. I may have said this before. If it is a repeat, pardon me, I want to make sure I get it said. If I remembered my takes correctly I have over 21 already. The thing is at least six are on paper and I need to type them onto my computer. So when I do that I will print up the tales-22 to 25 of them-in an E-book as I said I would. That day is probably closer than I originally thought. Last time, or the time before, I also stated that I would be doing only a section of the next story because it would over 3,000 words long, but as it turns out I haven’t reached that point yet. Maybe next time.  

This time around though I also added three Science Fiction stories to my story page. I had been thinking of adding a new one and it just sort of worked out for these three. 

Two of them--the first and last of this batch--are older tales which I wrote five to six years ago. Over the years I learned more about writing and revised them once and two or three times in the other case. Before posting them, I went over them again to add what I hope make them read better. However, even with the revisions they are not my best. At the same time I think they are solid stories you might enjoy. Each of these three are Science Fiction. I must add though, that even though I tried, more than likely they could use some help with nitpicks and commas. I worked on those two problems, but I assume I didn't catch everything--which I apologize for. All together they are around 6,000 words. 

Story Two is a special one--I wrote it for a very recent “Talk Like A Pirate Day.” And to add to the unique nature of it, on a whim I decided to add some halfway hidden references to other stories in published worlds. I have noticed that even pros will do that, so I thought I would give it a try. They name no names, but at times it easy to figure out what is meant. That is why I decided to place the story here instead of sending it to any markets. If you can figure out all the references, I will name you in a blog post and if it is before Oct 29-2014 I will give you a coupon code for half my E-book at smashwords.com. Of course that code has been placed in two blog posts, but just in case you missed those I will give it to you.

So Enjoy all the tales and please tell me if you do....or if you find something totally off kilter about them. 

I have thought about going on Twitter to announce the new Rod tales and other writing news--new novels and additions to my story page-but I would appreciate you saying something along the lines of do it so you can know when a Rod tale is added--or any other writing News. 

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Almost Concert Time, Yay.


In the blog's blurb (Hmm, "A Bundle of Blog's Blurbs" how's that for a story title?)  Anyway, in mine basically I said that I would talk about other things besides writing and and a few political comments. Well, this is one of the other things.  I get to go see my favorite band that is still together--Yes, that implies I have a favorite band that isn't still together.  The concert is on the 23 third of this month Sept.

As far as I can recall they have never been here before, even though it might be once years ago. I haven't been to any concert for a couple of years, and before that it was a few years. Even though it will make for a late Tuesday night I want to see them live.

I have mentioned them once or twice before in my blogs and probably will again some time.


The band has been around for years, Mark the lead singer and song writer, has an excellent voice and knows how to get in where we live. Not every song deals with "Everyman" but many do. He knows how to hit us where we live. In ways that bring Joy but also in ways that make us think.

Here is a series of four videos that are examples of their music.


This one is the second song of theirs that caught my attention and the first one I really picked up on their name.

Here #1

Not sure if this next song is the next one in line but I decided it goes here anyway.

Here #2

This next one might be not as well known as some of theirs but it's great: how they do it and what it says.

Here #3 

Last one in this list. It's off of their latest album and might be my favorite on it.

Here #4


Friday, September 12, 2014

Another Rod's Tale



For those who don't know yet. I placed another Rod's Tale--this one 794 words--on that section of my blog.  The button for that section is up above.





I don't mind if you tell me what you think....:)  

Friday, August 22, 2014

Second Above Pay GradeX2 excerpt and coupon code


With everything else going on--including new Above Pay files and working on my WotF story--I had forgotten I was going to post another excerpt. So finally here it is. In this one NA is fighting supernatural creatures who act like ghosts. 

 This time there is a half price code for Smashwords.com after it.   Remember this code is for smashwords only.   


------I managed to get far enough ahead to turn back toward them for a moment. I formed a wall out of ice; moved to a corner of whatever room I was in and panted thinking the wall might keep them out for a few seconds. I tasted salt when sweat dripped into my mouth, my hair felt soaked, my heart pounded like a bass drum played by someone on speed.
     As to the wall stopping them, nope. The large one hit the ice full on----and burst through it. I forgot they could be corporeal. The crash was amazingly loud. I crouched and covered my head with my hands as ice splinters flew everywhere. Tiny pricks peppered my exposed skin as small splinters rained on me. I looked up and saw ice sticking out of the floor-I make very hard ice-the ceiling and a chair near me. 
     That didn’t work very well I thought as I did the only
thing I could think of. I formed a doppelgänger. More than one image goes by that name; in this case it was like 3D image of me. Like the one I used on the guy with the witch hazel suit but you could touch this one. It takes a lot of energy but it’s usually only needs to last for a few seconds and I was desperate. I could control it like a computer image. I made it sputtered with V-nergy which should attract the ghost as long as it lasted which would be no more then thirty-seconds in this case.
     I ran out the door as the creatures flew to where my doppelgänger stood giving them the finger. They wouldn’t know what that meant but it was emotionally satisfying, even if it
was just my image doing it.  
     When I looked over my shoulder, I thought Oops maybe they did know. They seemed to have become even angrier. All three hit the image hard. As I ran down the hallway I felt them come after me. That copy of myself didn’t last any thirty-seconds-I would have to demand my money back. If I survived to sue myself that is. 
     I’m not sure why but I found myself near the library. Just going around in a circle-sort of-I guess. I noticed a door in one wall and guessed it to be the way downstairs. I had no other choice but to head down there and see if I could get lost in all V noise the other ghosts were making. Or just start blasting them, that sometimes works also.
     Half way down the stairs it hit me. Damn, they produce cold, put out lights especially the type that produced heat, they won’t go near Brittany who was running a high fever, they felt cold, the ice had no affect on them. 
     I nodded in the dark of the stairs, now I had a weapon-I hoped. I was close enough to the bottom so I could sense them moving around-and there were young ones here. Good god, this was a breeding ground for them. No wonder the ones chasing me acted more aggressive than what was reported as normal. 
     As I moved toward them I could taste something in the air. It tasted cold and vibrant with V-nergy. I ducked as I felt something coming up fast. A ghost flew by me and joined the others. I thought I felt something similar to the scream but quieter. Another step--it felt much colder and the step gave in a bit like it was half rotten, I raised my foot for another step when I stopped. Everything went quiet-I knew they attention was now on me.
     I hoped my idea would work, if it didn’t I would be frozen and slimed to death...yuck.
     With my power levels low and since I hadn’t done something like this on this level before I needed all the help I could get. 
        “To make a pyre
        I need some fire
        So to help me
        Let flame be.”
     Yes, I know it was a rotten rhyme. I’ve known mages who could come up with a rave rhyme in a heartbeat-Patricia could-but I’m not one of them. Fortunately it doesn’t have to be good it doesn’t always have to rhyme even though that gets best results. Christopher tried to explain why that was so, but I’m still not sure about it. It had something to do with rhythm and our inner-self.  
     I raised my hands, palm out, sent V-nergy to my hands and concentrated on flame. It answered my call immediately. Just the type of fire I needed; hot and wide spread. It burst forth from my hands like water out of a fire hose, which was probably appropriate.
     Heat came back at me but I knew I could stand it. I felt and heard a very level sound I took to be screams. The large one came through the hole in the ceiling I had made earlier but he was caught in the flame, another one tried to zoom past me but it fell to the floor, skidded across it before it shriveled up. I saw a third one fly upward but it didn’t make it; the ghost crashed back to the floor. I stepped to one side and turned to get one, it turned into three, that came from behind. I don’t know how long I stood there hosing down the basement with fire but it seemed a very long time. My V-nergy levels were going down and I hadn’t seen one for a few seconds so I called the fire to quit---it kept spewing forth. I concentrated harder and sent a burst of V-nergy into my hands but it still flamed. I must have been in too much of a hurry when I called up the flame. Now my hands were starting to feel hot. I had automatically placed a shield around them to protect them and me from the backlash but it seemed to be slipping. With my levels down it would.
     Oh god, I was going to burn the house down on top of us, and I would go first. Could Kyle get Brittany out of the house in time? Would it keep going when I died? I didn’t know but I wasn’t going to die by my own fire. Neither would I let myself die by going with a spell of my own making; going wild and using up all of my life energy. 
     With a thought about that last happening I drew back all the V-nergy from my hands. That seemed to help but the fire was still  going. I could smell wood burning so I knew the house was on fire. I tasted ash when I breathed in. I sneezed twice.------



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