Chapter 1 of Infected: Shift
Lost at Birth Roan was so bored he’d decided that Tanning Salon Pervert would be the perfect name for his biography. As he’d flipped through the TV channels last night, the information bar had been visible at the bottom of the screen, and as he surfed past one news magazine program, he saw their episode was titled “Tanning Salon Pervert.” He didn’t watch it—on general principle he refused to watch anything that called itself a news magazine—but the words intrigued him. They sounded wrong in a wonderfully obtuse way, like “peanut butter hut” or “purple elephant pedophile.” Now, he’d never been in a tanning salon, and whether he was a pervert or not was subjective and almost totally hinged on your personal interpretation of the Bible (if...
Read MoreInfected: Revolution, Part 2
2- Aegis Dee and Shep arrived about five minutes ahead of the cops, and eight ahead of the press. Since Roan had no idea who called an ambulance, he wondered who tipped them off. Probably Flores. Roan had to wave them away, he didn’t need medical attention, all he needed was a couple of Vicodin, which he washed down with a bottle of water from the car. Some people did need help, mostly mourners who got flustered and overwhelmed after the shooting. Nothing major beyond an asthma attack and heart palpitations, but at least it kept Dee from bugging him. Dylan sat with him in the car for a long moment of quiet, watching as cops, media, protestors, mourners, and his security team jostled and milled about in pseudo-Brownian motion. In a weird bit of irony, Richie...
Read MoreFirst chapter (for a while!) of Infected: Revolution
It was going to be a clusterfuck, of that there was no doubt. The only question was how big a clusterfuck. Roan wasn't going to bother the Kims with any of this,and although Randi requested to be kept in the loop, he spared her from this as well. Mainly he kept this between him, Holden, and Fiona, although even that wasn't strictly true. He told Dylan, and even though Scott had been called up to the Vancouver Canucks, Holden had obviously clued him in, as Richie had called Roan to offer his help (along with Jeff's, whom he was going to drag into things whether he wanted to be in it or not). Roan told him it might not be the best idea, as what if he was recognized, but that just made him laugh. Only hard core Falcons fans would know who he was on sight, and the day he was afraid of a bunch of god squad whackadoos (his words) was the day he quit hockey and started selling insurance. If he wasn't up against he would have turned him down, but he knew Richie and Jeff were intimidating looking (a nose broken several times and a scarred face had that effect), and were more than capable of taking care of themselves, so he agreed to let them help. It was weird enough that he was putting together a security detail for a funeral. But life these days was pretty fucking weird.
Read MoreRoan’s guide to Valentine’s day
I really wouldn’t follow it. Roan’s Guide to Valentine’s Day on SJD Peterson Blog
Read MoreThe Infected books, in order
I should have done this a while ago, but I didn’t, because I can be an idiot like that. So these are the published books, in order: Book 1: Infected: Prey Book 2: Infected: Bloodlines Book 3: Infected: Life After Death Book 4: Infected: Freefall Book 5: Infected: Shift (release May/June) And all releases are, of course, available here:
Read MorePreview of the next Infected story, Infected: Revolution
I’ll get to this one soon, but I still have some other work on the table. Still, just to prove I haven’t forgotten, a teaser. **** 1- Haunt You It was going to be a clusterfuck, of that there was no doubt. The only question was how big a clusterfuck. Roan wasn’t going to bother the Kims with any of this,and although Randi requested to be kept in the loop, he spared her from this as well. Mainly he kept this between him, Holden, and Fiona, although even that wasn’t strictly true. He told Dylan, and even though Scott had been called up to the Vancouver Canucks, Holden had obviously clued him in, as Richie had called Roan to offer his help (along with Jeff’s, whom he was going to drag into things whether he wanted to be in it or...
Read MoreAuthor’s note ….
Due to some contractual obligations – and the writing of the Infected: Paris prequel (oh yes, that’s happening), there will probably be a longer than average gap between Roan stories. But fear not! This is not the end. Just a brief hiatus until I can get ahead of my deadlines. Thank you for your patience, and for reading. (Infected: Freefall is out November 25th, in ebook and paperback form, in case you need a fix before I return.)
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 17
17 – All That Burns Is Burning In the car, Holden was treated to the story of Mandy and her internet boyfriend in a meandering, compulsive bout of verbal diarrhea that made him want to pull over and put her in the trunk. It turned out internet boyfriend was “like, fat and old” (thirty), and she was pretty disgusted by him, so she took off for the Church the first chance she got. Holden had to repress the urge to gasp dramatically, and proclaim, “Someone lied? On the internet? The police must be informed!” But he didn’t, because she might think he was serious. Anyways, she found some people at the Church who allowed her to crash at their place, and that brought them up to date. She didn’t know if she was infected or not, but she kind of “hoped...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 16
16 – Berlin Some people ducked instinctively, right along with Holden, while someone else asked, “Who’s shooting off fireworks?” They sounded similar, but once you were actually shot at, it was easy to tell the difference between sounds. Firecrackers had an open sound, while there was something muffled about gunshots, something flat. He could ask Roan why that was, he just might know, but honestly Holden didn’t care that much. People were fleeing into the kitchen as Holden was leaving, so he had to fight the tide, and once he made it to the living room all was chaos. At least the shots seemed confined to the outside, for the moment. “Out the back!” someone was shouting. “Out the kitchen door!” It took Holden a moment to recognize the voice,...
Read MoreVoting in the Rainbow Awards Cover Contest continues!
And if you want to continue to show me and Anne Cain a little love for Infected: Bloodlines or Infected: Life After Death, I’d be grateful. http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1427480.html
Read MoreTrick or Treat – The Roan & Paris Halloween short
Available as a download from Dreamspinner Press as part of their “Halloween Howl” promotion, it’s now here, in case you never found it or got a chance to read it. N.B.” For completists, this takes place just before Infected: Prey. **** ROAN looked at the articulated skeleton on his office door with a frown. “No.” Paris grinned, like he was making a joke. “You are such a stick in the mud. It’s cute!” “We’re a detective agency. We don’t put skeletons on our doors or have bowls of candy on our desks,” Roan exclaimed, aware he was sounding just like an uptight asshole. Gods, shoot him now. “What kind of demented child would go trick or treating at an office park anyway?” Paris plopped down behind...
Read MoreInfected: Freefall, out November 25th!
Yaay! A cover and a release date, all at once! What a Happy Halloween for me.
Read MoreThe cover for Infected: Freefall
No solid release day yet, but a cover exists! And here it is. (Also, note the wrist tattoo.)
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 15
15 – Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again Roan knew it was a bad sign when he regained consciousness to find himself standing on a hospital bed, looking down at a puddle of blood on the floor. Actually, just coming to looking at a puddle of blood was bad enough on its own; the rest of this was just weird, bad touches. He kind of knew what had happened even as his mind insisted on putting it together. His throat hurt, his mouth was tacky with blood, a thrown over IV stand with trailing tubes was on the other side of the room. His arm was hurting and bleeding from where the IV needles had been ripped out, muscles burning, joints aching like gravity was extra heavy today. His head was pounding like a kettle drum, and he was pretty sure he was about...
Read MoreFree Roan & Paris story!
Free lost Roan & Paris story! Dreamspinner Press has an October promotion, “Halloween Howl”, where free stories by many authors are hidden around their site. I contributed a small Roan & Paris story! Where? Well, get the details at Dreamspinner’s page: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php
Read MoreA new Infected playlist …
… up at Grooveshark. Because Spotify is a bit of poo. http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Andrea+Speed+s+Infected+Soundtrack+Playlist+number+1/60738645
Read MoreEpitaph, part 14
14 – Save It For Later It took a moment for Holden to figure out where he was when he woke up, mainly because he was in a hotel room bed. Did he meet up with a client and fall asleep? Then he heard a faint, familiar snore beside him, and realized he was with Scott. So how did they wind up in a hotel room? Then he remembered. They were at the hospital until very late, and Grey, for some reason, wanted to stay at Scott’s place, his old apartment. Scott thought he was crazy, because since he played for the Flyers he could afford to stay in a good hotel, but Grey claimed to be tired of hotels no matter how good they were. So Scott said they should trade and they did – Scott gave him his apartment key, and Grey gave him his hotel key card in return. Scott...
Read MoreSaturday Snark
This is an excerpt from Infected: Prey . Roan’s searching for a teenager who may have ran away from home, and seems to have been obsessed with infecteds, making him concerned he might have run off to the Church of the Divine Transformation. That’s where we are when this snark off begins: ***** As soon as he was done, Paris took his seat, cracked open his soda, and decided to play devil’s advocate. “This is all supposition, you know. Maybe he was a bit obsessed with infecteds, but ran off to join the Hare Krishnas.” “Or the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Roan replied, playing along. “The Evangelicals.” “The Mormons.” “The Shakers,” Paris insisted, raising his eyebrows in a comic manner. Oh no, he wasn’t laughing now. “The...
Read MoreEpitaph, part 13
13 – Suicide Policeman The cops seemed to interview them a very long time, and Holden wondered if they were harassing them in a passive aggressive way. But he couldn’t prove it, and he’d been treated worse by cops, so he just figured he was viewing things through his own warped prism. He had thought about bringing up Roan’s name, but that was a risky gambit. If Roan was here, the cops would probably be deferential, especially if they’d seen any footage of him acting like Batman or knew how the Chief felt about him. But without him here, they could be a bit more free with their disdain, and Holden knew Roan had as many enemies on the force as friends, maybe even more. So Holden held his tongue and let Grey take the lead in schmooze overdrive, as he...
Read MoreEpitaph, part 12
12 – Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves) Roan barely touched the ground before pouncing on the tiger. The cop had remembered his training and did the one thing that was hammered into every cat squad member: protect his throat at all costs. He’d thrown his arms around his neck, so the tiger’s fang sunk deep into his lightly armored arm. He was screaming in pain by the time Roan had jumped on the tiger’s back, and sunk his own teeth deep into the back of the cat’s neck. It squalled a noise of pain and tried to shake him off, but Roan had a death grip on the thing, still just human enough to realize that hands were probably better than claws in this circumstance. The tiger had to let go of the cop to squall, and as Roan was hanging on for dear life, blood...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 11
11 – Division Day Holden was only aware he’d been sleeping when he woke up, hearing voices in the next room. They were too close to be his neighbors, and he knew he was no longer asleep because he really had to piss, so Holden groped for his gun before recognizing Scott’s laugh. Had Scott brought a guy over? Why? He paid a visit to the bathroom before stepping into a pair of sweatpants he found on the floor and going out into the living room. There he found Scott and a large statue sitting on the couch, chuckling over beer. No, strike that, not a large statue, Grey. He looked much the same as he had the last time he’d seen him, like the son of Frankenstein’s monster and a Samoan linebacker, far too big and muscular to believe he could skate with any...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 10
10 – How To Be A Werewolf It turned out neither of the girls Ivan had were Mandy Pack, but they seemed happy to be released from bonded servitude anyways. Holden was more than happy to let the cops do the clean up; he even called them anonymously after he hacked Ivan’s ear off and freed the trapped girls. He lied to Ivan about keeping the ear, though. He threw it down the first sewer grate he found, along with his bloody gloves. Reattach that. Holden was aware he should feel bad, and if he was at all human he’d have a tinge of remorse, but the guy was a fucking pimp and sex trafficker. He’d probably murdered as well as raped, people were simply commodities to them. He knew he should feel bad about mutilating a guy and leaving him bleeding and sobbing...
Read MoreYou may notice Freefall and Bloodletting are gone from the archives …
… because I just signed a contract with Dreamspinner to publish them! More details as they arrive.
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 9
9 – This City Is Killing Me Although Roan braced himself, it wasn’t enough. He knew it was going to be an assault on the senses, a cacophony not just in the aural sense but in the physical, olfactory, and visual sense. But he still wasn’t prepared for the volume of noise that greeted him, the multiple levels of digital and arcade noises combined with people talking – sometimes cheering, sometimes yelling – music, and noises of various machines that made his eardrums want to implode. The flashing lights and the smells of people and snack food and coffee made him want to start snarling and biting like a rabid animal. He kind of was. The lion was just too close to the surface right now, his anger was too overwhelming, and Roan felt like he was...
Read MoreSix Sentence Sunday
More teasing of Infected: Paris. And still, it’s just a tease. Once outside, and looking around for security cameras that might have caught incidental footage of the incident, Roan caught a glimpse of the bumper of the car parked in the alley. It was an old car, a 60’s model at least (maybe ‘70’s – truth be told, he didn’t know his cars that well), and the windshield was blocked with cardboard inserts on the inside. Interesting. Usually such things indicated someone was living in a car, or just too cheap to buy a sunshade, but the age of the car and the rust on the bumper seemed to suggest it wasn’t being driven much. Was someone living in the car? If so, if they were here last night, they were in prime position to see someone screwing around...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 8
8 – Rumor Has It Doctor Rosenberg kept talking, but Roan wasn’t hearing her. She was just a voice, and she could have been in another room, speaking gibberish. Some bastards were out there, using Paris’s blood to turn others into tiger strains. It wouldn’t even take a lot of blood – just enough to coat the head of a needle would be enough to infect you if someone stabbed you with it. Now that begged the question, were they all willing participants? Or were some just unlucky bastards caught in someone’s else’s scheme? He tuned back into Rosenberg, saying, “ – half-cocked, okay? Without proper care, that blood’s unviable within twenty four hours -” “These people knew what they were doing,” Roan interrupted. “They staged a...
Read MoreSix Sentence Sunday
Participating again, and this time, it’s the first sentences in the Infected: Prey prequel, Infected: Paris. Roan is working a case, and it’s not exactly a glamorous one. **** It was times like these that Roan knew he’d made a big mistake becoming a private detective. Of course it was his fault. He lost his temper at that redneck shitbag, he was lucky he wasn’t sued and that the Seattle PD didn’t decide to make an example of him. Which was probably why he was back in the PD’s evidence room, looking at a road kill squirrel in a plastic bag. Even though the bag was sealed, Roan could still smell the blood, guts, and rot through the supposedly airtight seal. As he rubbed his nose, doing his best not to gag, Kevin Robinson...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 7
7 – Cities In Dust Roan was sitting on the edge of the curb, waiting for the painkillers to kick in so he could move without wincing, when Holden’s voice suddenly came out of nowhere. “Just ‘cause you’re gay doesn’t mean you always have to make a dramatic entrance.” Roan looked up, as the reason for the sense of location deja vu hit him. “Oh holy shit, how close is Howell?” Holden pointed around the corner before sitting down on the curb beside him. He handed him a plastic cup that looked like it was full of ice and tea. “A block over, dude. So much for studying the laptop, huh?” Roan slumped, trying to will the painkillers to hurry up and work. It felt like his joints were full of broken glass and rusty needles. “If I’d left a minute...
Read MoreSix Sentence Sunday ….
This is a nifty promotional thingy, so I thought I’d play. Find all the participants here: http://www.sixsunday.com/ My six sentences are from Infected: Life After Death, the latest book. ******* As Roan grasped his upper arm firmly, trying to staunch the flow of blood, he wondered how he‟d gotten himself into this mess. Maybe the problem was this was another male lion, one not inclined to fold, but also, he could smell illness coming off of it—it wasn‟t right in body or mind, and therefore it was not assessing threats correctly. The panicky people didn‟t help either; their fear was sharp in the air, and it was making Roan salivate just as much as the lion growling in the alley. “Roan—” Dylan asked pleadingly, visible in his peripheral...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 6
6 – Perfect Day Holden woke up with the knowledge that he was much older than he always thought he was. How did that happen? He really thought he’d moderated his alcohol intake well, but he still woke up with a pounding headache and a taste in his mouth like someone used it to rinse out some year old jockstraps. No more keg parties for him. He crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom, where he turned on the shower as hot as he could stand it. Soon it took his mind off how much his head hurt, mainly because he was worried about second degree burns. He popped some cold pills to help with the congestion, and he felt a little better, but not by much. After wiping the fog off the mirror, he saw that while he didn’t look as bad as he felt, he still...
Read MoreWin an e-book copy of Infected: Life After Death!
Check here for details. http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/1255144-e-book-giveaway
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 5
5 – Teenage FBI Roan decided he was done pushing his luck, and went straight home to do research. Also, he really wanted to avoid people, and since Dylan was at his artist loft, he had the house to himself. After having a pale ale and suffering through the rest of Mandy’s emails and IMs, he got out a legal notepad and split the page into three separate sections, one for each case he was working. In the Mandy section, he put nothing but a question mark. All he really knew about her after struggling through those messages was she hated school, hated her mother, thought Jason was a dick and Kayla was a bitch, and was pretty well bored with life. Roan tried to be sympathetic and remember what it was like to be a teenager, but he spent most of his teenage years...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 4
4 – This Fire Dee sighed, and Roan knew he was buying himself some time. “We didn’t get back together. We just hooked up. It wasn’t a serious thing. We were both just lonely and horny.” “How long did this happen before he killed himself?” “Uh, I dunno, maybe a couple weeks ago?” “Try again. I’d say a week at most.” Dee paused briefly, before angrily replying, “And how the fuck do you know that?” “You left your shirt here.” “And what, I left a dated receipt in the pocket?” “No. I’m judging by smell. You should know me better than that, Dee.” He made an impatient noise, and Roan heard the bed springs creak in the background as he sat up. “Goddamn it. Why did I ask you to do this again?” “I dunno. I’ll assume you...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 3
3 – Search Party Animal As soon as Roan got Liz to slow down and sit down, he got the whole story. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t have figured out for himself, but hey, you had to have a client tell you their story from their perspective. It gave you some idea about your client if nothing else. Liz’s husband, Patrick (Pat Pack? Holy shit, that guy’s parents had it in for him …) died when Mandy was twelve, and Liz said her relationship with her daughter hadn’t recovered since, mainly because puberty got Mandy shortly after that. Roan sympathized, because puberty seemed awful for both the person going through it and everyone next to them. Liz described Mandy as a “troubled child” but gave no examples. Then she said she started dating an older...
Read MoreNew soundtrack!
Because Infected: Life After Death finally has a release date, I decided to release the first part of the soundtrack. (You know how I love making these.) The second part will go up about May 16th, day of release of the book. This mix varies between mournful and angry, with a curveball or two thrown in. You know, a couple of stages of...
Read MoreRelease date!
Infected: Life After Death will be released May 16th! Blurb follows: In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds. But when your heart is gone, it’s easy to fall into a black hole and never crawl out. Roan has been lost and alone for more than a year, and his best friends think a new case might be just the motivation he needs. Roan forces himself back into the game and discovers a dead man who might not be all that dead, a street hustler that wants to hustle him, and a dominatrix who is well prepared to take Roan’s orders. As Roan claws his way out of the darkness by diving back into his work, he finds himself in a race against...
Read MoreEpitaph, Part 2
2 – Bigger Than Us Roan was worried that once he got home, it’d be time to resume the argument, but it seemed Dylan was tired of it as well. They had ice cream for dinner – why the fuck not? They were adults, and neither of them felt like cooking – and talked about why Roan was sleeping in a cage more often than not. They also came to an agreement: Roan would let a video camera monitor his sleep in the cage. If, after a week, it became clear to him the lion never came out, he’d stop the bullshit and come back and sleep upstairs like a regular human being. Roan still wasn’t sure about this, but Dylan effectively guilted him into it. Dylan had mastered that. Not that he held a grudge, It was nice to do nothing and enter a mild sugar coma...
Read MoreInfected: Epitaph, part 1
1 – Obsesionao While it wasn’t the first time that Roan had been at Gracie’s diner at one in the morning, it was the first time he’d been here with Dee. Roan had been at Panic, trying to make up with Dylan over a fight they’d had earlier (over Roan sleeping in the cage, of course, a common thing to fight about nowadays), when Dee called him and asked to meet at the all night diner. He sounded so oddly subdued and distracted that Roan agreed. He wondered if Dee and Luke had finally broken up for good. When he arrived, Dee had a back corner table all by himself, where he was sitting with a cup of diesel grade coffee and a picked at slice of apple pie. On closer inspection, Dee hadn’t eaten any of it, simply autopsied it with his fork, leaving a...
Read MoreNon spoiler tease for Infected: Life After Death
No release date yet, beyond May, but here’s a snippet from the upcoming book. No spoilers, so even if you haven’t read Infected: Prey and Infected: Bloodlines, you can read this, no harm, no foul. Well, there’s some bad language, but you should be used to that from me by now. **** Roan was shaking and feeling both edgy and slightly ill when there was a knock at the door. He was sure he couldn’t do this, but the drugs cast a comforting pall on his panic. He had nothing to worry about. She‟d take one look at the crazy, homeless guy look he currently had going on and run away screaming. Problem solved. Roan opened the door on a short woman wearing a blue, floral-patterned dress and thick, black-rimmed glasses that were endearing in their...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 17
17 – The Last One Standing Two Weeks Later Roan sat at his desk, wondering if he should get it moved to the house. He could put it in his unfinished office, sit behind it, and pretend to take phone calls from suspicious wives and jealous husbands. He could fritter away the remainder of his sanity reenacting the bad old days. He knew realistically he should just shut the office down, go web only, work more or less exclusively with Dennis, just cut it all off. But it was one more piece of Paris he’d be giving away, and he couldn’t do that yet. He might not ever be able to do that. So this place would have to become a dust gatherer, the most expensive paperweight ever. While he was sitting there, trying to pretend he wasn’t some miserable nostalgic...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 16
16 – Black Sheep Just looking at her from across the desk, Roan knew what she was going to say. “You don’t know.” Rosenberg sighed in that way of hers that said as much as words ever could. “Kiddo, what I don’t know about you could fill a library. This is no different.” “So it could come out whenever it wants.” She shook her head, and not a single hair moved. He didn’t smell hairspray or any kind of product, so he had no idea how she achieved that. Sorcery? “It hasn’t in the three days you’ve been here.” “That we know of.” She scowled at him, her little gold glasses perched primly on the end of her nose. It was the only prim thing about her. “If it happened while you were sleeping there’d have been some proof, even if it was...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 15
15 – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out It was funny how you could be sleeping with a guy for a while and not really know him. Scott wasn’t cleared to even skate, but there was a game that night and he wanted to talk to the guys before it, so Scott headed to the dressing room pre-game, and Holden ended up sitting in the section where players families, girlfriends/wives, and friends stayed. He ended up sitting next to a wiry white haired old dude who turned about to be Zach’s grandfather, and a former hockey player himself. The old guy ended up raving about Scott as a team captain, saying he had all the makings of a great military leader, because he made sure all “his boys” felt like he liked them and trusted them, and would defend them in spite...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 14
14 – The Tide Pulls From The Moon Leave it to Roan to pull the rug out from under him before they even had a fight. Dylan knew he shouldn’t stew, but he was frustrated. It was like they weren’t married, it was like they were roommates, almost perennially missing each other, ships passing in the night. It was happening too much lately, and he was getting fed up. They had so much scheduled! He had a gallery showing this weekend, and then Kevin had invited them over for dinner on Sunday night. Dylan was already planning to make a vegan Moroccan couscous to bring over, he had half the ingredients already, and he wasn’t sure if they should bring over a bottle of wine or not. Was Kevin still seeing that hustler guy? He wished he could ask, but he was...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 13
13 – Remember Me Lover “Get the fuck outta my house,” Harvey said, anger starting to crack his neutral façade. “How dare you accuse me of killing Melly!” The rage seemed genuine enough, but there was something off about it. “You know, I found a stolen item in your garage. One call, and the police will be down here, sifting through it themselves. Do you really want me to bring them into this?” Harvey’s eyes glittered in the inconsistent light of the television, like a hunted animal peering out of a dark burrow. “If you’re so convinced I’m evil, why didn’t you bring the cops?” “Because cops make people clam up. I’d rather you talk.” “Clam up?” He chuckled derisively. “How noir of you. Is this how you make your living?...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 12
12 – Rum To Whiskey Roan woke up to daylight streaming through the windows, birds chirping in the eaves, and Dylan snuggled up against him. It did seem better today, which was a nice surprise. Until he found a Post-It note on the bathroom mirror, that simply read, “What the fuck happened?” So Dylan had seen his arms. There was no escaping that. He didn’t think there would be, but he was hoping he had a head start. No such luck. Roan wasn’t surprised it was afternoon already. He was surprised he hadn’t slept another day away considering how bad yesterday was. Still, he took a bath and did his best to wash the antiseptic hospital smell off of him, letting the warm water soak the ragged edges of his freshly scarred arms. Just one partial change could...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 11
11- Last Call By the time he got out of the hospital, dusk had set in, but Roan was relieved, because that meant Dyl most likely wouldn’t see any injuries on him until tomorrow. Assuming he kept them, that he didn’t trigger another partial change and heal up the skin faster than surgical glue ever could. But was he in any shape for that? His heart was still beating too fast, and even Luke commented on it, suggesting maybe he wanted to stay at the E.R. and rest a bit (because hospitals were so restful) or take a beta blocker, but he turned down both offers, blaming it on all the caffeine he’d had today. Luke was too busy not to believe it, which was a relief. He was too tired to even partially change, though. As soon as he was home he flopped on the couch,...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 10
10 – Day Late and A Dollar Short Roan was glad he had taken the bike, in spite of the downpour and the fact that people drove like assholes when it rained. Yeah, rain in Seattle? Whoever heard of such a thing? It must have been a sign of the apocalypse. Anyways, he did many illegal things and was able to get to County in what he hoped was record time. Except it must not have been, because he was off his bike and putting his helmet on the seat when an unmarked cop car came screaming up into the unloading zone, and Seb hopped out. ”After what happened earlier, I wasn’t gonna call you,” Seb shouted over the roof of the car. Oh, so he’d heard already. He wasn’t surprised, but he wished he could have been. The cop grapevine was going to kill him one way...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 9
9 – Diamond Eyes Back home, Roan washed another Percocet down with a beer, to take the lingering edge off, and changed into some clean clothes before digging out the cheap ornamental knife he’d taken from Harvey’s garage. It was cheap crap, nothing significant, but he had to confirm it. Convincing a skeptical Dylan he was fine, he took the bike out in the rain, and went back into the city. When he took off his helmet, the misty rain was cool on his hot face, and it helped banish some of the logy feeling of the pills and beer. The unusual thing about the Three Brothers Pawn Shop was that it was an actual independent pawn shop, and there were no brothers to speak of. It was just a “catchy’ name according to Jack, owner and proprietor of the shop. He...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 8
8 – Afgamistam As he was being dragged away, Dylan looked him in the eye, and said, “Roan, don’t. Don’t!” There was enough of Roan left to wonder what he was saying. Don’t? Don’t what? His human side struggled with the question, not quite understanding it, but it was enough to make the lion pause. It was almost like a question in another language, something unfathomable, and he felt thrown off his game. What was he doing here again? “What the fuck are you people doing?” A somewhat familiar male voice exclaimed, somewhere beyond the clot of police. “Oh my fucking god, let his boyfriend go. Do you wanna die?” The cop who had Dylan released him, and Dylan gave him a surprisingly evil look in return. “Whoever is the last to holster their...
Read MoreWelcome newcomers!
If you are new to my page, hello! Feel free to look around. Most of it is writing. Speaking of which (what a segue), I have two out in print which you might want to check out if you haven’t already. Infected: Prey, out through Dreamspinner Press (available there and at Amazon, as well as other book retailers), is the beginning of the story for Roan McKichan, a private detective who is a rare “virus child”, someone born infected with the lion strain of a cat virus. He exists in a world much like our own, only with these werecat infecteds, who are hated, feared, and occasionally worshiped, depending on people and circumstances. With his partner, Paris Lehane, and even more rare tiger strain, he tries to get the bottom of a case where it seems...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 7
7 – It’s Getting Boring By The Sea Roan’s mini-vacation from life ended before noon, when Seb called and told him he was needed at a shooting gallery downtown, near the waterfront. Someone had transformed inside it, sending the conscious junkies running. Or at least stumbling, possibly shambling. He hurried to throw on some clothes and get down there, taking the motorcycle for speed, but it turned out he needn’t have hurried. Roan knew from the smell inside the shooting gallery that the cat was dying. Not that it was easy to tell, as the stench of unwashed bodies, unflushed toilets, and general human misery – that also included a hint of blood that made him want to growl – was overwhelming. So did the cat, a compact female panther that...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 6
6 – Tired Climb The trip back to Seattle was uneventful, and by the time they were back at Sea-Tac, they were tired and just wanted to go home and sleep. It was kind of a shame, because it was their first night home. Their home. As in not a place they were borrowing, but the place Roan actually owned. The fence was done, slightly ahead of schedule, and surely Grey was responsible for that. Not only did he have money to throw at the job, but personally he was so intimidating he could make a whole team of guys want to appease him. Not a lot of channels showed hockey, so Roan tried to keep up with Tank and Grey through online highlights. What he had learned was Tank was becoming a fan favorite (no shock there), while Grey had been in the NHL a short time, but...
Read MoreNew music mix!
New soundtrack. And here’s the sad thing about this “love theme” (with few love songs) mix – I can break them down to specific characters. And if you’d like to know which songs are for which characters, read on. By character: Roan’s songs: Blackest Eyes, Weak and Powerless, 18 Wheels, I Lived My life To Stand In The Shadow of Your Heart, Thugs, Honeythief Paris’s songs: You Were The Last High, Plans, Between The Bars Dylan’s songs: Airport Surroundings, Special, You and Me, Holden’s songs: D Is For Dangerous (although, to be fair, this could apply to Paris as well), Criminal Matt’s song: Prisoner (poor Matt) The starting and ending songs – Julius and Infected, respectively – are general songs...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 5
5 – Frozen Zoo Although he hated to do it, Roan forced himself to call Gambol, and ask about men who may have gone missing with a ten mile radius of the Hall household, within a week on either side of her disappearance. Gambol, the smug bastard, knew he was fishing, and while he taunted him, he supposedly looked up the info. It was a big goose egg. So Roan expanded the parameters by twenty miles and an extra week, but that only called up an elderly, senile man who wandered away from his nursing home. So if Melinda did run off with a lover, he wasn’t missing. He was a man who could pick up stakes and move on. Single then, without a family he was also escaping from, a man who was able to start fresh whenever he wanted. Impossible to find, especially over...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 4
4 – Moth’s Wings Holden was just going to ignore the pounding on his door, even when Scott said, “C’mon, I know you’re in there.” He couldn’t know that. So what if his car was in the parking lot? Maybe he got a lift somewhere. But he gave in to a certain amount of guilt based inertia, and levered himself off the couch to open the door. Scott was standing there in an old Molson t-shirt and gray sweatpants, indicating he’d come here from the rink or the gym. They were un-sexy clothes that he still managed to make look sexy, just in the way they clung to him. At least Holden felt this was all a learning experience. Hockey players may have had messed up faces, but all that hard skating did a body great. “Should I feel left out?” Scott asked,...
Read MoreA new reader story primer
If you’ve read Infected: Prey and/or Infected: Bloodlines and found my blog, thank you for visiting. Infected started as serial fiction here, and I still continue to write it here. The world is just too much fun to play in, and besides, I’ve expanded it with all these weird characters who are effortless to write. But for those wondering where the fiction here relates to the book, I thought it was about damn time I put up a “primer”. I number the stories as “books”, so Infected and Prey were book #1 & 2, and Infected: Bloodlines is #3. The upcoming Infected: Life After Death will contain books 4 & 5 (Life After Death and Hysteria, respectively). The stories available in the Infected fiction archive start with #6, Freefall. You probably could...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 3
3 – Pretty Nettles Roan left the North Yakima PD disgusted, but not all that surprised. The cops didn’t give a shit. It was probably easier to write it off than to devote manpower, money, and time to a frustrating missing persons case. Did Jessica know this? He had to assume not, because she probably would have been a hell of a lot angrier if she had. Since Dylan wasn’t back yet, he sat on the hot curb and read the Melinda Hall file. It didn’t have much in it that Jessica hadn’t already told him. The case notes did shade in a few things, however. The cop writing the initial report, Crenshaw, found Harvey “hysterical and hostile”. Melinda worked part time as a secretary for an accountant named Carl Pearson, but according to Carl she’d taken a...
Read MoreUndertow, Part 2
2 – Tiny Violin Here was a problem that had dodged investigators since the beginning of time: where did you look for clues when you had absolutely none? As soon as Jessica had gone, he hopped on his computer and confirmed that the local library had a checked in copy of “A Fearsome Rage: The Hunt For The North Hill Rapist”, a true crime biography by a local writer who’d made a career out of writing true crime books. At least they weren’t nearly as salacious or lurid as they could have been. There might even be some facts he didn’t know in it. He hoped so, or why waste an afternoon reading a true crime book? Then he got on the phone and called Gordo. Connie answered the phone, though, and as soon as she realized it was him, she let out a sigh of...
Read MoreYou may notice Infected: Hysteria missing …
… from the back catalog. That’s because it’s paired up with Infected: Life After Death in the soon to be published book! Well, soon is relative, because I just signed the contract. But I have a trilogy! So thank you, readers, take a bow. I’m indebted to you.
Read MoreUndertow (Infected series), Part 1
1 – Staring At The Sun Roan hadn’t been to too many parties in his life, but this was a fact he was proud of, especially tonight. It reaffirmed his probably bitter belief that most parties were just a waste of time. Of course, that probably wasn’t fair. After all, a retirement party for a cop at a cop friendly bar wasn’t a typical party by any means. It was a Friday night, which should have meant a festive time, but O’Doyles had set itself aside for a “private party”, Gordo’s retirement soiree, and in spite of an attempt to be cheerful, it seemed kind of sad. There were numerous things working against this party. For one, the median age of the crowd, as far as Roan’s math skills told him, was forty five, which didn’t make for a rowdy time....
Read MoreWant an autographed copy of Infected: Bloodlines?
On December 17th, the day of release, I will be at Dreamspinner’s blog – http://dreamspinnerpress.com/blog/ – hanging around, posting nonsense, probably running a contest for a free e-book or two. But if you buy a paperback copy of Infected: Bloodlines from their store that day, the first 25 people will get an autographed copy. So please stop by, and I will do my best to be entertaining.
Read MoreMeantime, Part 20
20 – Homosapien Roan went home in a fog, not sure what time it was, and not really caring either. The drugs helped a little, but mostly he just felt bereft. Dylan was home, and was startled by his clothes, but he assured him the blood was not his. Somehow, that didn’t help. He knew he should take a shower, get the scent of blood and death off him, but he was just too much of a zombie. He took off his clothes, shoved the bloodier ones in the trash can, and collapsed into bed. Dylan followed him, mainly because he was concerned about him. Was it too early to be concerned about him, or too late? Dylan held him as Roan admitted how much the lion had come out and how helpless he felt, and Dylan just tried to comfort him, but cuddling him seemed to help the...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 19
19 – We Die Young It had been a while since Roan took a bunch of pills without looking at any of them, but this time he did. Just a few from random bottles, until he stopped crying and felt calmer. So was he changed since he came out of his coma? Was it worse? Doctor Rosenberg thought removing some of the tumors would help with his control of the lion, but it hadn’t helped at all. Perhaps the tumors were a convenient excuse for what was actually happening: the lion was taking over. As Rosenberg always told him, there was no precedent for the later stage of the virus. Most people didn’t live with it long enough, and computer models were highly flawed. He’d always worried that eventually he’d transform into a lion and never transform back, but this...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 18
18 – Timebomb It was always weird to sit back and watch a sting operation, especially when it was one of the sordid variety. Listening to Holden over an occasionally crackling cell phone just made it worse. It seemed like watching a bad porno film through someone else’s window. Once Holden got into the truck, the discussion continued, but now it was over a place to go. The guy said his place wasn’t far, and Holden said, in his slow, stony voice (good acting) that he wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but the driver – a guy with a voice that sounded smoke deepened and gravelly – said he had beer and pot back at his place, and Holden seemed to agree a drink would be good. Kevin let the guy get to the intersection before starting his car, and...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 17
17 – Crash Tactics It turned out twenty hours of sleep and a saline drip was what Roan needed, because when he finally woke up, he felt almost Human again. Well, as Human as he ever felt. The news awaiting him was interesting. Forbes committed suicide, leaving no note, but investigators and the media were already speculating on a connection between his sudden suicide and the still missing Campanelli. Meaning none of the survivors at Rattlesnake Ridge had gone to the cops. Which was as he expected, as he doubted that they’d be falling all over themselves to report they were at an illegal gambling site, and if they were infected there’d be even more incentive for them to avoid the cops. Roan spent his first half hour awake trying to remember what he’d...
Read MoreA “lost” chapter from Infected: Prey …
N.B.: This short story is a “lost” chapter of Infected: Prey, which takes place within that story’s time frame, after the episode with Matt Skouris and his stalker (called by him “Rambo”), within the story Prey. So there’s some warning – if you haven’t read it or read that far, there’s a very mild spoiler. ***** Gold For Bread It was after Hipster Doofus’s latest visit to the coffee shop that Matt realized he didn’t want to be a barista anymore. It wasn’t the Hipster’s fault. It was probably a revelation he’d had before and simply forgotten. He wanted to blame the history of drug abuse for his hummingbird attention, but the truth was he’d always had...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 16
16 – Cardinal Rules Dylan didn’t feel right about leaving Roan, but Dee was looking after him, as he’d had the rest of the night off, and as he noted with bitter sarcasm, “I have nothing better to do than make sure that asshole doesn’t die.” Roan was asleep anyways. But not the nearly dead sleep he’d been in when Dylan tried to wake him up earlier. Dylan had even slapped him, aware he might be waking up the lion first, but even that had had no effect. His was barely breathing, and all but comatose. He almost called 9-1-1 before calling Dee instead, because he knew Roan would probably hate winding up in the hospital again. Dylan already knew that Roan had done something last night, something related to the change, as he had dried blood on his chin...
Read MoreThe cover to Infected: Bloodlines …
It releases in December. I’ll let you know the exact date when I know it.
Read MoreMeantime, Part 15
15 – Saint Matthew Returns To The Womb Roan didn’t know exactly what made him come back to himself, beyond the blinding electrical pain that seemed to be setting his neck and jaw on fire. The taste of blood was thick in his mouth, and it felt like all the bones in his upper body had been broken and hastily reset, which was probably more true than not. That was when his leg hummed. Oh, wait, it was his phone vibrating in his pocket. That’s what brought him back to himself. He moved his hand and touched it, and that was when he discovered the vibration made the ache in his hand worse. He thought it was going to shake the fine bones loose under his skin, pulverize them, turn his knuckles inside out. Muscles still twitched in his fingers, making them jitter...
Read MoreWin an e-book copy of Infected: Prey!
Go here for details: http://www.ebookaddictreviews.com/2010/09/26/potluck-sunday-win-a-book/ Good luck!
Read MoreMeantime, Part 14
14- Subterranean Homesick Alien Forbes’s hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t exactly get the case off the hard drive stack. The noise of Roan’s roar coupled with a squall from another cat made him pause and look at the door like he could see through it. “What was that?” “The ice cream man,” Holden responded sourly. This fuck was stalling. “Will you get on with it?” He glanced towards the threadbare desk, then after a moment went straight for it. “Jim has a security monitor -” “Hey, I told you to get me the drives,” Holden said, jumping up to his feet and heading to the desk. Holden kept the gun aimed at his chest as Forbes pulled a laptop out of a drawer and booted it up. Holden sidled up behind the desk to look at the screen, but...
Read MoreGreat review! And the Rainbow Cover Awards continues …
I got a very nice review from Lambda Literary, which you can check out here: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/09/18/infected-prey-by-andrea-speed/comment-page-1/#comment-11012 And the Rainbow Cover Awards contest continues, and yes, Infected: Prey is still in it. Go and vote for it if you’re so inclined. http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1123729.html
Read MoreMeantime, Part 13
13- We Want War It was a long drive, so right away Roan figured out they were headed for the mountains. Shortly after that, he figured out they were headed towards Snoqualmie. That made sense, as there was a lot of areas up there where you could get lost, as long as you stayed away from Snoqualmie Falls and Snoqualmie Ridge. I-90 wasn’t so bad this time of night, so in no time at all they were away from the city and getting lost in the trees. It was still too early for the snowfall to be lower down, but you could see glimmers of white through the trees, a mirage that glowed faintly in the dusk. It looked like Campanelli was headed towards North Bend, but then turned off and made straight for Rattlesnake Ridge. The mountain was a dark hump on the horizon, and he...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 12
12- Mojo Salome was just as cold and stupid as Roan had pretty much surmised she was after her confession. She refused to say who infected her, claiming she didn’t know, and adamantly insisted she didn’t meet them at the Church, both of which were lies. Roan knew this, told her this, and she refused to budge. Well, at first. Eventually he got her to give him first names: John, Tony, and Matt, which was probably true. She claimed she met them through a Craigslist ad, which he knew was a lie, and he told her so, but she refused to budge. He decided he couldn’t hold his temper back any longer and left the room. He went to the break room to get some water and see if he could recover enough to continue, and Seb came after him a minute later. “She’s a piece of...
Read MoreRainbow Awards Cover Contest Continues …
Yaay! Infected: Prey made it to Round two. Go show me and Anne Cain some love and go vote: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1116735.html (You’ll find the book in slot four.) Thanks!
Read MoreMeantime, Part 11
11 – 46 & 2 Roan’s first night tailing Campanelli was as boring as hell. He followed him to the QFC, where he spent twenty minutes before emerging with a single plastic bag. He then followed Campanelli to his condo, where he went inside and stayed for the night. Roan made sure of that by watching his condo until an hour after the light went off in his unit. After he didn’t sneak out by then, Roan figured he wasn’t going to. It was late, but Panic was still open, and Dylan was probably finishing up his shift, so he drove to the club. For a weekday night, it was relatively busy, but he imagined that meant it’d be good for tips. Mighty Mouse just welcomed him back and waved him in, and he braced himself to be overwhelmed by the noise, scents, and...
Read MoreIf I were casting Infected as a movie …
.. or TV show. (Really, I think this was made for the serial format, but what do I know?) I was talking with a friend, and we decided to “cast” this imaginary project. So I thought just for fun I’d share my idea of what it would look like, if I were the god and could make this happen. For whatever reason, I had the hardest time casting the leads. The secondary characters were damn easy, but Roan and Paris? In fact, I haven’t cast Paris at all – my friend suggested a name, so I’ve included him. She didn’t like my idea for Roan, feeling he isn’t big enough, but had no suggestion of her own. So that’s all noted. Here’s my idea (and one of hers): Roan: Holy shit, was this a hard one. I’m still not one...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 10
10 – Sink Your Teeth In The cat was panicked beyond reason, and roared back at him, and its haunches tensed as it prepared to pounce, but he roared once more and lowered his head, growling until the noise filled his world. Finally the cat wavered, cowered, and reluctantly submitted. It was hurt, angry, and confused, but it wasn’t so gone that it thought it could win a fight with him. Roan pulled out the drug gun and shot the cat before he lost control and pounced on it. He was grinding his teeth together, tasting blood, and the pain in his jaw was radiant, angry, filling his vision with red. The lion really wanted to come out and play, but he couldn’t let it, not now. His jaw felt hot and swollen, like it was three times the size of his head, and he...
Read MoreWelcome new readers!
Hello! If you’ve reade Infected: Prey and found my blog, thank you for visiting. Infected started as serial fiction here, and I still continue to write it here. The world is just too much fun to play in, and besides, I’ve expanded it with all these weird characters who are effortless to write. But for those wondering where the fiction here relates to the book, I thought it was about damn time I put up a “primer”. I number the stories as “books”, so Infected and Prey were book #1 & 2. The ones coming up in Infected: Bloodlines are #3 & 4 (Life After Death). The stories available in the Infected fiction archive start with #5, Hysteria. You probably could read it with little confusion, although there is a spoiler of sorts...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 9
9 – I Don’t Bite Roan and Randi went to a near by coffee shop to talk, which was convenient since it was only down that street. Probably because she was feeling guilty, she treated, buying him a fancy tea drink (some kind of latte equivalent, too sweet but very good) and an overly fancy ham and cheese sandwich which they split. They sat in a table by the window, so they’d have something else to look at in the awkward pauses in the conversation. Roan kind of didn’t want to hear her apology. He knew that all the weirdness was due to what happened with her brother, how that whole case was resolved. She probably thought he could keep him from going to jail, which just wasn’t possible, not under those circumstances. He did what he could for Grant, got him...
Read MoreBook news!
Dreamspinner Press will be publishing the sequel to Infected: Prey, presumably titled Infected: Bloodlines, by the end of the year. Which is why you will find the stories Bloodlines and Life After Death gone from the archives. (Sorry.) But hopefully you’ll be willing to check out the book. I’ll be posting more details as they become available. How cool is this? (I’ll go ahead and answer – very cool.)
Read MoreMeantime, Part 8
8 – I Became A Prostitute Holden figured his trip to the Church was timely, as the Rico case hit a dead end. The old number he had for Jewel was no longer in service, and the first mutual friend they had also had a disconnected number. There was someone else he could call, and did, but all he got was their machine. He left a message, but he had no idea if they would ever call back. If he couldn’t find Jewel, his investigation ended here. Hell, even if he did find her, she might not have seen a damn thing, and the investigation ended anyways. Roan had told him once that sometimes there wasn’t even an ending, good or bad, just a series of questions that could never be answered. Perhaps Rico’s life would boil down to that. Maybe his would too. Grey made...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 7
7 – The Common Plague Doctor Rosenberg burst in without knocking, when Roan was getting dressed. He’d only just gotten his underwear on, and he was kind of relieved, but then it occurred to him how many times she had seen him naked, and realized it was a stupid thing to be embarrassed about. Still, it was an attempt at dignity. “Look, asshole, how many times are we gonna have this conversation?” She began, as exasperated as she usually was him. “You can’t just wake up from a coma and walk out of the hospital.” “I told him,” Dylan said helplessly. Roan pulled up his jeans, which were looser than before (funny, but that was the whole metabolism thing again), and said, “I’m fine. If I was a normal person, I’d agree, but I’m not. I’m...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 6
6 – Blackest Eyes Roan woke up with a start, sitting up, ready to pounce. On what he wasn’t sure, but he was sure there was something requiring his attention. But only when he was crouched on the bed did he realize he was in a hospital room, and he had no less than three IVs in his arm. Also, his brain was fuzzy like he’d had way too much Vicodin, and he was mildly achy. It all started clicking, especially when he saw Dylan asleep in a cot not too far away. And he was just asleep, he was out but still breathing, which was a relief. He hadn’t hurt him … physically … yet. God, that was a thought he hadn’t wanted to have. But for some reason he was afraid he had hurt him. Realizing he looked like an idiot, he sat back down, tucking his bare legs...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 5
5 – This Love “Rico was picked up by a john last time you saw him?” Holden asked, not sure if he should believe him. Newt nodded, taking a deep drag off his cigarette. “He wanted some rock. I didn’t, I mean, what the fuck would I want rock for? Last time I used it I thought my skin was gonna fall off, you know? Besides, I was fine with coke and X, which pretty much does the same thing when you use ‘em together, ‘cept your skin doesn’t feel like it’s gonna fall off.” Holden nodded, like that made perfect sense. He actually wanted to get up and punch him, but how would that do any good? Besides, he wasn’t sure why he was losing his temper with him now. Had the pot finally wore off? “Where does the john come into this?” “Well, we were...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 4
4 – Ego Death Roan found himself standing in a hospital hallway, sure he should be somewhere, but not one hundred percent certain where that place was. He turned to find a lion waiting at one end of the hall, its face framed by a huge fluffy fall of mane. It was growling at him, and he shook his head and gave it the finger while turning away. “Like I’d be scared of you. “ At the other end of the hall, there was a man standing there. It took Roan a minute to recognize him, but he looked like a younger version of himself. He didn’t really look like that, did he? His face was leaner than he thought, although his hair was a slightly lighter shade of red, lighter than it had ever been. But this was a dream, he knew that, and things didn’t always make...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 3
3 – Never Let Me Down Again By the way people were scrambling about in the otherwise sedate lobby, Dylan knew something had gone horribly wrong. He just bet Roan had something to do with it. He was right. He took the elevator up to Roan’s floor, and was almost immediately greeted by a metal security door, where Rosenberg and several butch orderlies, some with drug guns that looked distressingly like sniper rifles, were waiting as if preparing for a siege. Rosenberg looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, only to be silenced by an angry roar, loud enough that she winced and most of the orderlies cringed. The two biggest orderlies were peering through bulletproof glass windows into the IU – also known as the “infected unit” – and one of...
Read MoreBook day!!!!!
The book is out today! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!! If the frightening cat didn’t scare you off, it’s available here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_274 The book, not the cat.
Read MoreMeantime, Part 2
2 – Stay Human Holden wasn’t surprised Rico was dead. If anything, he was surprised he had lived this long. Rico was one of those stereotypical hustlers. Meaning he had a drug habit that could keep Columbia solvent for a year, and would make Amy Winehouse say, “Enough for you.” He was also neurotic as hell, and probably bisexual, although he said he was straight. While Holden knew him, he was one hot mess, and not in a good way. Did they fuck once? Yeah, maybe, but they’d been wasted at the time. Rare for Holden, pretty much constant for poor Rico. (Whose real name was David.) Rico and Tika (yes, it kind of rhymed) were a couple on and off for what seemed like forever. Yes, they were both hookers, but that was a job, and if you were gonna have a...
Read MoreMeantime, Part 1 (Infected series)
1 – This Boy Things could be weirder, but Holden was kind of glad they weren’t, because he thought his head might explode. When he arrived at the hospital with Scott, they found Dylan looking like he hadn’t slept for days (possible), and so weary he didn’t even comment on the fact that they had arrived together. When he told them the lion had woken up but Roan hadn’t yet, Holden understood why he looked so tired and frazzled. What did that mean, exactly? Dylan was afraid it meant something went wrong during the surgery, but Holden had another idea, one that made him angry enough to want to go into the room and punch Roan. Roan was hiding. The fucker had just given up. He decided he didn’t like what he was anymore and shut down, letting the lion run...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 18
18 – Cavity Carousel Dylan waited until Doctor Rosenberg showed up before telling anyone what happened, mainly because he didn’t want anyone busting in with guns blazing. Not that that was likely to happen, but even a small possibility was too much of a possibility. Once she arrived, he told her in confidence what happened. For a moment, she stared at him over her glasses, perched on the end of her nose. “The lion woke up in his body?” “Yes.” “How is that possible?” “I was hoping you could tell me.” She huffed a sigh through her nose before rubbing her eyes like she was in pain. “Goddamn that little pisher, he’s always thinking up new ways to complicate my life.” Once she stopped pinching the bridge of her nose, she reset her...
Read MoreThe book cover! And other stuff.
So Infected: Prey has a June 25th release date, and here is the cover: Yes, that’s Roan, as imagined by the cover artist. He’s kind of hot. Love the tight shirt (okay, that’s more Paris than him, but I won’t quibble.) Also, I have a short story in Dreamspinner’s upcoming “Making Contact” science fiction anthology. I think that’s got an August release, but don’t quote me. And, in recognition of all of this, I have another mix collection. Because why...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 17
17 – Crazy Woman Dirty Train The good thing about being at the university hospital was Rosenberg was the queen bee, so whatever she wanted, she got. This was good for Dylan, because as soon as she dubbed Roan stable enough, she had a cot put in his hospital room, so Dylan could stay with him if he wanted. Since he found himself up at night since Roan ended up in the hospital, unable to sleep and watching more cable television than was probably healthy, he’d ended up staying here ever since. The cot wasn’t comfortable, and Roan’s machines bleeped loudly, but he slept better here than at home in the house that wasn’t even his home. Rosenberg encouraged him to bring stuff in, to make it more like home, and while she didn’t say it was for Roan, it was....
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 16
16 – Idaho Somehow Holden hadn’t imagined he’d be spending the afternoon laying in bed with a hockey player, smoking a joint and watching a Mythbusters marathon, but things had been so weird lately, in retrospect it was inevitable. The Falcons didn’t have a game until Thursday night, which was good timing, as it allowed Grey to fly home for the wedding of “brother number two” (Grey was one of several, which may have explained a lot), and it meant Scott had their apartment all to himself. He invited Holden over for lunch – lunch! Seriously!- and it was such an odd thing that Holden agreed, just to see what he had in mind. As it turned out, Scott really meant lunch. He made them grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with apple (he said a...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 15
15 – Seven Curtains Even outside, Holden heard the thud. It was funny how much noise a body could make at times. He went inside, mainly because he knew it wasn’t Roan (like that asshole could take him down), and started up the stairs, pausing only when he heard a sickly, angry growl that couldn’t have come from a human. “Roan, if you’re still in there, it’s just me,” he said, keeping his voice and his tone low and even. Just treat him like any other big scary cat that wanted to rip his head off and chew on his neck stump, but don’t be scared, as they could smell fear and it was a big old aphrodisiac for them. On the second floor landing, he found a guy in a desert camo clad coat in a neat collapsed heap, like a homeless man sleeping in a...
Read MoreNew mix, for your listening pleasure …
This is the Panic mix. You’ll have to supply your own shirtless bartenders, though.
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 14
14 – Horse Girl Roan carefully unfolded himself from his hiding place and sniffed the air, closing his eyes so he could concentrate on the neon thread of his own blood, the scent cutting through the miasma of neglect that made the air seem like a thick sludge. He gauged distance by its strength, opened his eyes, and followed it. He stuck to the shadows – not as easy as you would think, as it was night and the existence of shadows themselves was disputable – and it wasn’t too long before he found him, a shambling figure in a desert style camo jacket (tan on brown – exactly who did he think he was fooling?) with a worn backpack slung across his shoulders. He could have passed for any of Seattle’s homeless, except he smelled of expensive...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 13
13 – Prince Squid Lee’s apartment building wasn’t as shitty as Franco’s, but it wasn’t the million dollar condos you could find in some of the areas downtown. This was middle of the road squalor, as opposed to full on depressing squalor, and many of the apartment buildings looked alike, while a few small shops at street level added visual interest. Roan felt weird doing this in broad daylight, mainly because it felt like something that should be done in the dark of night – skulking in dark alleyways, hunting a fellow hunter. But he was no longer sure he had that kind of time. The way Holden had looked at him, he was sure he was worse off than he initially thought. Holden was the master of the poker face, he only let you see what he wanted most...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 12
12 – Riding The Grape Dragon Holden could still taste peppermint gum on his lips when there was a knock at the door, and he almost didn’t answer it. Scott did two things before he left. First, he wrote his private cell number on a Post-It Note and stuck it to his fridge, weighing it down with one of his dick shaped magnets (this was a running joke, with many of his friends buying him either dick shaped or naked man magnets for his birthday or Christmas, cheapo gifts that were either meant as campy or lascivious, depending on who gave it to him), all while chewing a piece of gum like cud. Holden already knew that trick, which was simple enough – if you didn’t have time to brush your teeth, you just chewed some gum (ideally one of those kind that...
Read MoreNew mix ….
This is Dylan’s mix, and it’s a bit more mellow than most of the previous mixes, reflecting his personality:
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 11
11 – Angela’s Secret In retrospect, he would have preferred the Chief chew him a new one. Chief Matthews always had a surprisingly orderly office, like she felt she should set a good example for the troops, and maybe that was the case. She had a new photo on her desk of her soldier nephew who was off in Afghanistan, and he idly wondered if she sacrificed any hope of a personal life in aid of a career, but then he mentally dismissed it, mainly because it wasn’t any of his business if she had, or if she was keeping any relationship she might have had a secret. For all its vaunted “diversity”, the police department was still a man’s world. Shaking off the old (white) boy’s club just wasn’t as easy as the PR office wanted it to be. She offered him...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 10
10 – Run It Through The Dog The night turned into a mini-fiasco, as it was bound to. It started when a drunk Zack started chatting up a woman dressed like a Halloween version of a dominatrix (black vinyl looking bra top, matching tight skirt, heels high enough to stake a vampire with), with a fairly realistic Chinese dragon tattoo running from her stomach to the base of her throat, curving around like an apostrophe, peeking out of her bra like it was taking a measured gaze at the crowd. She didn’t look that into him, but humored him because he bought her a drink, and then an angry boyfriend showed up, a muscle bound behemoth who looked like he just walked out of the Road Warrior, with a brand (not a tattoo; an actual brand, burned into his upper arm...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 9
9 – Perpetual Bris It was probably awful of him to hope that the guys got lost on the way to the club, but he still hoped anyways. It didn’t matter, because it never happened. Ultimately, only Grey, Scott, Tank, Zack, and Ethan came, as Richie was a married man (really? He seemed too young for that) and his wife apparently wasn’t happy with his after game carousing, and Jeff was too wary of a fetish night. (He said he used to live near the meatpacking district in New York City, as if that explained why he didn’t want to go to a fetish club. Maybe it did.) Still, Roan wasn’t looking forward to this. He told Dylan about the cat killer case, and lied, saying he was looking into it for the police since no one in the Heights was going to talk to a cop,...
Read MoreAnnouncement!
You may notice that Infected and Prey are no longer available in the archives. This is because it’s going to be published! WOOHOO! I’ll give you more details on the published version of Infected: Prey when they become available. But I’d like to thank all my fabulous readers, as you made this possible. Thank you all so very much.
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 8
8 – The Blue Rose Roan considered visiting Oliver at the hospital, but if he was unconscious, there was no point. He’d save it for later, when it was likely he was actually awake. From what Luke had gathered from the EMTs who brought Oliver in, he was found collapsed in a bloody heap outside the parking garage of the Marriott on Pike Street. Which was curious, as he lived in the dorms. But maybe he wasn’t at the hotel, maybe he was just walking by, got jumped there, and collapsed. It was unlikely, but possible. Still, he wasn’t going to speculate on that until he could talk to Oliver about the incident. What he decided to do was see if he missed anything. Oliver turned up nothing, he was clean as clean could be, so he decided to go deeper. He’d...
Read MoreMore noise ….
Roan made a mix CD for the Falcons to listen to, so here it is: It’s noisy, yes, but also surprisingly funny. This probably represents Roan’s sense of humor better than any other mix....
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 7
7 – Diggers of Ditches Everywhere Considering the day he was having, the phone call from Holden wasn’t really surprising. Dylan had already intercepted a phone call from Seb, who said Roan wasn’t answering his cell, and he figured Roan was pissed off at him. He didn’t say what had gone on, but he asked him to pass on a message, that the Chief wanted to see him as soon as humanly possible. As soon as Dylan hung up, he asked the air, “What did you do now, Ro?” He might as well ask the air, as he was just as likely to get an answer. He’d come home – well, their temporary home – to change and catch a quick shower before reporting early for work. Alex had a sick kid and couldn’t work her shift, so he agreed to cover it. It was to be nice...
Read MoreAnother soundtrack!
This is the Holden mix, which is a bit different from the others. Not just because Holden likes himself a bit of emo, but because many of these songs seem to capture specific attitudes and philosophies of the character. Trying to figure out what applies and what doesn’t may make your head hurt, but that’s Holden in a...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 6
6 – Hell’s Bank Notes Roan knew that the cops would do this differently for murdered cats than murdered people, he knew it. But he had really underestimated both the bullshit and the contempt. It started with sniggering references to a cat house, and how many ways you can skin a dead cat, and while Seb didn’t take part and tried to shut everyone up, most ignored him. Roan knew it was macho cop shit as well as graveyard humor, the kind that eased the horror of ugly situations, but it was just too gleeful. He snapped when one obnoxious little rookie shit made a comment about what cat tasted like, and maybe the Greek restaurant down the street was responsible. People had said worse things, but he had had enough. He grabbed the rookie by the throat and...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 5
5 – Long And Lonely Step Considering the time of day, Roan wasn’t surprised to find that The Eagle wasn’t very crowded, with only a few men who’d come in on their lunch break and lingered still hanging around. The bartender was a reasonably good looking bear in a maroon t-shirt, with a tattoo of barbed wire encircling his left wrist. He showed him the picture of the supposed Adam Jephson, and fed him the story about him coming into an inheritance despite having been estranged from his family. (Because it was a gay bar, and Adam was trusted to be gay, the bartender just assumed he was estranged from the family due to his gayness. Roan didn’t discourage this belief.) The bartender, whose name was Tanner, admitted that he wasn’t sure...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 4
4 – Abracadabra Rosenberg objected to the idea of an outpatient biopsy, although didn’t HMO’s do shit like that all the time? Besides, Roan being who he was, being opened up wouldn’t hurt him; he’d heal faster than a normal, get on with his life. But she still objected. So they set aside the biopsy for another day. He did agree to get the brain scan though, if only to appease her, and he hoped she knew what a sacrifice that was. There was something awful about being squashed in a narrow metal tube, which echoed with strange noises (clanks, hums, sinister science fiction type sounds), and made you feel like you had been shoved into a torpedo and were about to be fired at an enemy vessel. That wouldn’t have been a bad way to die,...
Read MoreNew mix, for your listening pleasure …
By request, here’s the Paris version of the Infected soundtrack. For everyone who likes to dance, and some who like a little Brit rock....
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 3
3 – Washburn “Do you have any idea what it was like?” Oliver continued, tears welling in his eyes. “We thought he was murdered, and we’d never know how he died or who killed him. They’d get away scot free, and we’d never know what happened to our dad or why. And now, after all that agony, this. That fucker is still alive? So he just walked away, is that it? Can people do that?” “People do it all the time; men more than women, but they do it too.” He got out the box of tissue he kept on hand for crying clients – he had a lot of clients who cried, which made sense, as he was usually the last resort for these people – and put it on the edge of his desk, close to him. “Do you have a photo of your father from before?” He took a...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 2
2 – Greetings From The Great North Woods Holden was correct about him knowing Jessie, only when he knew Jessie, Jessie was still on the street – and still a man. Now Jessie was a social worker of some kind, and a very hippie-ish woman who favored granny glasses, long skirts, and peasant blouses, very much someone he’d describe as a crunchy granola type. Her transition was an impressive one; you barely noticed her Adam’s apple. He pulled her aside and told her he was worried about the girl because she was so quiet, acquiescent, and never scared. Some people took silence or meekness for fear, but he could smell the difference. As he told Jessie this, she canted her head like a parakeet, looking at him curiously, and when he was done, she said simply,...
Read MoreLesser Evils, Part 1 (Infected series)
Dedicated to These Arms Are Snakes. Rest in peace, you crazy loud motherfuckers. **** 1 – Trix Roan wondered if there was any way not to feel like a total dick in this situation. Since he had nothing but time to think, he contemplated this for a while, and he had finally decided no, there was no way not to feel like a dick. The fruity drinks probably helped. He didn’t like fruity drinks as a rule, but the art gallery’s bar only served drinks in primary colors, with shaved ice in them. Whatever it was he was currently sipping, it tasted of alcohol and a berry juice that might as well have been cough syrup the unnatural color of Windex, and was probably something he shouldn’t have been mixing with Percocets. But did he care? No. He was out of his...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 24
24 – Time To Pretend Roan felt an odd sensation, like warmth and pressure on his mouth (and a taste not unlike mint toothpaste), and opened his eyes to find Holden looking down at him. “Oh look, sleeping beauty’s awake. Or is that sleeping scary? Which do you prefer?” Roan stared up at his slightly unsettling, smiling face for a moment, trying to process what he thought he felt. “Did you kiss me?” “What? Why would you think that?” His smirking face seemed to give nothing away. “You bastard! Who cops a feel on an unconscious man?” “Not me. I like my feelies conscious.” He sat in the plastic chair beside his bed, still smiling suspiciously, while Roan found himself wondering if he was just having an odd moment. He didn’t seem to...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 23
23 – Atlantis To Interzone Darinda Murphy found herself wondering what kind of idiot would start trouble at a hospital full of cops. It seemed like you needed to be a special kind of stupid to do it. So after they brought in the four yahoos they arrested, she used the excuse of being at the police station to look into the records Seb had been gathering. Yes, this was his case, and she had nothing to do with it, but she was curious, and he was fine with letting her have a peek. She was backlogged on her own cases, there was never a let up on homicides, but she got what Dubois called “a burr under her saddle”. For a suburban guy from Pomona, California, he did have a love of corn pone sayings. The site that Roan had given them had been like turning over a rock...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 22
22 – Last Dance Dylan wanted to be left alone, curled up in his own private bubble of pain, so Dee left him be. When he got the heads up Roan was out of surgery, he’d take him to see him, and he’d probably be in more of a mood to open up then. Diego found himself sitting next to jock boy, Scott, the hockey player that Ro had inexplicably befriended. Well, maybe not so inexplicably – he had a hell of a profile, a long lashed boy with delicate features that could have been pretty if it wasn’t for his strong jaw and a few pale scars that gave him a more rugged appearance. He was a little flushed, but that was typical of the heavy anti-viral he gave him at the scene. There was an emergency anti-viral you could give in case of suspected exposure...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 21
21 – Die Slow The strange thing was, it was very peaceful. Roan sort of felt distant, removed from the scene, as he heard Grey in his hockey goon voice, shouting, “You shot a cop! He was one of you!” It was a voice of pure homicide, and he could just imagine that poor cop shitting his pants or worse, aiming his weapon at Grey. And he was factually incorrect! He wasn’t a cop, just a “special investigator”, and he was never one of anyone. But he couldn’t articulate any of this. He felt like he was turning to ice, freezing in place, becoming gum on the sidewalk. His vision was fading, slowing going out like someone had a dimmer switch, and a shadow fell over him, came beside him. “Hold on, Roan,” Scott said, taking off his belt. It struck...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 20
20 – Shot By Both Sides Roan watched Kevin’s TV for a bit, just to see what the local news had to say about the bombing. Not a lot, or at least not much that was substantive. Two pipe bombs went off, one didn’t, and the amount of injuries ascribed to the attack ranged from fourteen, twenty two, and twelve, depending on whether you were watching channel five, seven, or four. That one person was critical was the single constant. If there was one or two particular suspects, they weren’t named. Perhaps because there was a plethora of suspects to choose from. It would be easier to name those not involved, or at least take less time. Kevin told him not to go to the crime scene, that he’d ask around and see what he could find out. Was it that...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 19
19 – Short Bursts Roan knew he had to go home, but he put it off, mainly because his thoughts had turned very dark. No matter that his thoughts had been dark before; now they were deep black, abysmal. Was it over? Was this it? The tainted drugs would spread, infecteds would die, normals would blame the infecteds for their freak outs, and even more infecteds would die. It was an endless cycle – this was only the beginning. And he could do nothing, he could only stand on the sidelines and watch. He considered what Scott had told him about being first, about being a trailblazer, and wondered what a trailblazer would do at this moment. He was blazing a trail for the dead, for people who couldn’t possibly follow him. Not all infecteds would do the drugs, not...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 18
18 – Fathom It was the start of a wonderful day. It always was when you spent an hour at a crime scene in handcuffs. The Federal Way cops didn’t seem to like him. The lead detective on the scene, a guy named Guldbrandsen, the one who had the cuffs slapped on him out of what seemed to be pure malice, kept giving him the stink eye, and kept asking him for the full story of what he found and why he’d come here, clearly thinking he was lying. As he sat in the back of a squad car, the door open so he could sit half in and half out of the car, waiting for this idiocy to end, an Asian beat cop so young he barely looked old enough to be served in a bar came over to lean on the car. “You’re McKichan, aren’t you? I read that article about...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 17
17 – Blood Roan woke up, stuffed up, headachy, and feeling like a complete dick. Did anyone know how to make an ass of himself like he did? He wished they gave a medal for that, as he’d have a shelf full of them, which at least he could melt down for scrap. The room he was in didn’t look or smell familiar, but Dylan was sleeping beside him, so he wasn’t too worried. He was unlikely to transform and go on a rampage and bring Dylan with him. He remembered everything as he walked to the bathroom. Kevin’s place, right. Did they ever settle that? No, probably not. Hard to settle things when you’re out cold. He took way too many fucking pills. But the worst part? He needed more. His head really hurt. He washed his face in the hottest...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 16
16 – Fame > Infamy Honestly, Holden felt sorry Dylan. Not that he’d ever admit that, it would probably piss him off (well, as much as a dedicated Buddhist could be pissed off at anyone). But he seemed too peace loving to be in Roan’s violent life, too dedicated to harmony to be attached to the bucket of chaos and crazy that was Roan. And he meant that as a compliment – good crazy was hard to find. Although sometimes you still needed a vacation from it. And oh boy, did Dylan need a vacation. So did Roan, probably, but he couldn’t take a vacation from himself no matter how many pills he took, although that didn’t stop him from trying. Opposites did seem to attract sometimes, that was true, so that’s probably how he and Roan ended...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 15
15 – Everything Always Goes Wrong Leaning over, Roan whispered, “Do you want to go?” A hotel was sounding great right now. It took Dylan a moment to answer, but finally he said, “No.” Roan heard the unspoken “not yet”. As they came inside, Kevin, who was in the kitchen, stirring something inside a large pot on the stove, looked back at them and smiled. He gestured Parker over, and handed him a wooden spoon, telling him, “Keep stirring, don’t let them stick to the pot.” Parker nodded and did what he was told, as Kevin wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and came into the living room to join them. “Good to have you here. Wish it could have been under better circumstances.” “Um, can I talk to you for a moment, Kev? In...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 14
14 – In Our Talons He had to wait until the drugs kicked in before he could move, and while the numbing of the pain was bliss, he realized once he started the car that he honestly took too many pills. He felt like he was soft and fuzzy inside, made of foam filling. He still hurt, he was aware of bright and radiant pain in his joints and other spots throughout his body, but he didn’t care. Sometimes that’s how they worked – they didn’t take away the pain more than they made you stop caring about it. He managed to get home, he was hyper-aware of his driving, but he was also aware of how spacey and out of sorts he felt. Next time, no driving for him. He thought this especially true when he drove up and saw some guys playing baseball in the...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 13
13 – Stiff Kittens Bolt immediately ducked down under his desk, and for a moment Roan wondered if he’d been shot. But he hadn’t heard the bullet, smelled it, or smelled blood – all he smelled was fear. By the time Roan had turned and headed for the door, he heard what sounded like shouting and return fire. “What kind of guns are your security packing?” Bolt peered cautiously over his desk, just the top of his head appearing over the edge.“ I don’t know. Guns. Aren’t you scared?” “No.” He opened the door and looked out into the corridor, and he couldn’t actually see anything, but he could hear voices outside, and from the sound of it, the shooting was over. Good. “How many men do you have?” “It depends. Today I...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 12
12 – You’re A Target As weapons went, sleep was an odd one, but Roan embraced it anyways. After stuffing his face with fast food, Dylan took him home, and he almost instantly crashed, sleeping for about twelve hours straight. When he woke up, after an unsettling dream where someone (he didn’t know who – dreams could be frustrating like that) was shot and fell on him, pinning him to the floor, blood seeping down on him like warm rain, it woke him up, mainly because he really had to pee. He had just done so, and was getting ready to take a shower, when there was a brief knock on the door and Dylan peered inside. “Good. I thought I was gonna have to get you up before the cops arrived.” See? This was why not sleeping was such a risk. Dylan led him...
Read MoreLand of The Blind, Part 11
11 – How We Exit There were many bad things about relationships, such as your partner using guilt as a weapon, which is how Roan ended up back in the emergency room. He could heal at home, but the EMT’s didn’t know that, and he wasn’t inclined to tell them. Dylan was insistent he should go, and along with the heavy guilt trip Dyl was laying on him, he was tired, achy, and felt like he’d been vivisected and stapled back together by a carpenter with a severe case of the DTs. In the ambulance they gave him fluids and a painkiller that had no effect on him whatsoever, so they dialed it up a notch, and the rest of the night slid by in a candy coated blur. He noted the media circus in front of the building, a glare of spotlights and news...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 10
10 – Cosmonaut If his adrenaline wasn’t surging before, it was now, as Roan plunged into the front room, a beehive of panicked activity as people ran, hid, fought, or just desperately tried to escape. The place smelled of fear and blood, and the lion was dying to burst out of his skin and join the party. The leopard was long but scrawny, suggesting he’d been a thin male, but not so thin that he couldn’t throw around two hundred pound men like beanbags. Roan had to fight his way through the throng and roared, as much a challenge as the cat version of “Get out of the fucking way”, and he made some women scream while the panic ratcheted upwards. He was aware the bathroom door was hanging by a single hinge, and right in front of it the...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 9
9 – The Blind House Roan knew he had to act. The problem was, what could he do? Seb was definitely not at work now, he was off shift, and if he called him at home he’d just wake him up. There probably wasn’t anything he could do until daylight. Too late. Dylan noted his restlessness, and said, “You might want to get dressed first.” Somehow he’d forgotten he wasn’t wearing anything except for a towel. “Oh. But a naked man ranting gets a lot of attention.” “Okay, I’ll give you that. But probably not the kind of attention that would be helpful.” He then turned towards the opposite nightstand and grabbed a magazine he hadn’t noticed there before. “Speaking of which, the article’s out.” He held it towards him...
Read MoreLand Of the Blind, Part 8
8 – I Drive The Hearse Roan stopped by his office and sat there for an unmeasured amount of time – maybe thirty minutes, maybe three hours. He took a handful of pills, uncounted as well and also unknown, and when he didn’t fall into a coma, he figured he ought to go before Fiona showed up. If she showed up. He had no idea if she was coming in today, mainly because he wasn’t sure what day it was. He should have headed home, but he couldn’t face Dylan. He had no clear plan where he was going, but time and place seemed to slide by like an unconvincing dream, and when he was more aware of things, he was in the hospital lobby, wondering why he was here. “Roan?” The voice was somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place it. He looked at the...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 7
7 - The Buzz Kill Since he had an “emergency key” to Holden’s apartment, he went there and used it, finding the place to be in general order. (Should it bother him that Holden was a better housekeeper than he was? He wasn’t sure …) Figuring Holden was beyond caring at this point, he used his computer, and found Judge Garver’s address in minutes. (Lloyd Garver, to be precise.) He thought so called “activist judges” needed to protect their addresses, but then he remembered that only applied to judges who made any decision that could be considered left wing. The right leaning activist judges never had to worry about harassment, even if they made a ruling that made Sharia law seem far too lenient. Thanks to Google street view, he was...
Read MoreLand Of the Blind, Part 6
6 – Transitions From Persona To Object By the time Roan wandered home, Dylan was asleep upstairs, and Roan watched him for a while, wondering if he should just sleep downstairs on the couch. It was almost morning, and exhaustion had finally gotten the best of him, along with the pills. The upside of the fact that he was on the verge of near collapse, the lion was too. Even the beast needed to sleep from time to time. Figuring he was being stupid, he crawled into bed beside him and braced himself for bad dreams, but of course since he was ready for them, none came. But he did have a really bizarre one, full of the smells of color and the roar of blood, and it made him wake up, a sense of doom pressing down on him and smothering him. It was just the blanket, which...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 5
5 – Pretty Visitors Roan stayed on the scene until the ambulance took her away, strapping the virtually comatose cat down to a reinforced stretcher with so many ties Roan found it hard not to laugh. She’d be lucky to wake up ever, so why not put a few more plastic ties on her? It was absurd, and yet he knew it was regulations, and they were just doing their jobs. Just like putting on what looked like HazMat suits was just part of the regs. He got Rosenberg on Seb’s phone and left him to talk to her as he wandered off, finding both his bike and a stray Percocet in his pants pocket. He dry swallowed it before putting on his helmet and taking off. He decided to stop by Silver since it was on the way, but he pulled off into a Starbucks on the neighboring...
Read MoreLand of the Blind, Part 4
4 – Eyes Spliced Open Roan wondered if he fell asleep before Holden did. Holden had just gone back to his bedroom when Roan stared up at his ceiling and yawned, wondering if the upstairs neighbor really was rollerblading (that’s what it sounded like), and it seemed like no time at all passed when he suddenly woke up in the chair where he had dozed off. Holy shit – he’d taken too many pills. He checked his watch, and was relieved to see he’d only lost an hour. He ventured into Holden’s bedroom, to make sure he was asleep. He was, laying on his side (good – it wasn’t likely he’d vomit in his sleep, but still it was a good idea), half his blanket pooling on the floor. Roan picked it up and draped it over his torso, and on...
Read MoreThe Land of The Blind, Part 3
3 – Camera Shy If this jackass wasn’t taking the piss – and it really seemed like he wasn’t – then the world had gone from simply insane to bugfuck insane. “You are aware I loathe everything you stand for?” “I’m aware there’s been a problem in communication,” Bolt replied blandly. “Are you also aware I’m an atheist?” “Our Church is open to all of our infected brethren, no matter their belief system. Or lack thereof.” Roan shook his head. He knew he was incredibly drugged up, so he looked at Fiona, who seemed just as startled as he was, and asked, “Is this actually happening, or am I hallucinating?” “If you’re hallucinating, so am I,” she replied. Okay, that settled that. “I’ll give you...
Read MoreThe Land of the Blind, Part 2
2 – Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise Roan was prepared to be arrested. Perhaps that’s why it didn’t happen. He didn’t know either of the cops that arrived, but they seemed to know who he was, and as he told them what happened, Nadia came out and verified his story, agreeing that Roan only hit him with his fist, and he’d only punched him after Mike tried to hit him with the crowbar. This was a lie, as Nadia wasn’t out in time to see it, but they believed her, and he wasn’t about to point out his client was lying. When the EMTs arrived, he recognized the female one as Nicole Corbett, one of Dee’s friends. As such, she gave him an out. When he said he punched him and fractured his skull, she shook her head and said,...
Read MoreThe Land of the Blind, Part 1
Please keep in mind my Amazon e-book, and the fact that I need reviewers! So if you want to review the first four books in the Infected series there, I’d consider that a personal favor. Thank you. **** The Land of the Blind **** 1 – Gimme Shelter Roan knew he never should have taken Nadia Rubin’s case the moment he took it. She couldn’t afford him, she’d know he was taking pity on her and would probably resent it, and it wasn’t his usual thing anyways. She was asking him to be a bodyguard as much as a detective, and that really wasn’t his thing. Still, how did you turn down a fellow infected? Especially when they were being threatened by another infected. It almost felt like a duty. What she was was a waitress who...
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