Update & another excerpt

      I promised Crystal I'd blog tonight, but I wish I hadn't because I don't have anything to say. All I've been doing is writing on Darkness and working on the family newsletters. That and work make up my life lately. So I'll just hum a bit.
      Oh, there is this. Blogger moved this blog to the new system today. So far it seems to working other than some minor annoyances. I had attempted to change over a couple of times before, but Blogger couldn't do large blogs like this one yet. Now they have. We'll see how it works. It's not like I had a choice, anyway.
      As for the newsletters, I'm at a standstill. I'm waiting for columns from my older sister and my older brother. There are these huge empty white spaces on the pages where their writing is supposed to be. I have some minor editing to do and some formatting on the pages that are completed, and then they can be printed, but I need my sibs material to complete the issue.
      Tomorrow I'm going to write and do housework. What a jet-setter I am! It's an exciting life. Anyway, so that Crystal will have something to read, here's another excerpt. It's getting near the end of the book, and some of our heroes are trapped by revenants. Kate and Blanche are the elderly Blyman sisters. Arizona Tate and Muriel Merryman are members of their coven. Bridge is a young witch, part of another coven that raised the Bone Queen. That, of course, hasn't worked out for them. (Note: This excerpt is fairly raw and unedited. It hasn't had a polishing yet, but I thought you might enjoy it, anyway.)

Excerpt from Darkness, Oklahoma

      Kate looked at Muriel. "What was that commotion outdoors?"
      "Some people were running down the street," Muriel said. "I couldn't see anything."
      She heard Bridget scream.
      "What?"
      The four rushed out on the porch.
      "No!" Muriel gasped.
      "God have mercy," Arizona said.
      Horrors marched toward them. Twisted bodies walked up the street, leaving a trail of tattered clothes and rotting flesh. Skulls shone in the streetlights. A few newly killed people walked among them. Kate recognized their mailman, and wasn't that the new florist? She closed her eyes briefly, trying to find more courage in her tired heart.
      "The Bone Queen," Blanche said flatly. "Behold her power."
      "She raised the dead!" Bridget gasped. Her eyes shone greedily.
      "Don't be stupid, Bridget," Kate snapped. "She's not God. She can't raise the dead. But she can raise revenants. Re-animate their bones and put evil spirits into them."
      The revenants turned toward the Blyman house.
      "They've seen us!" Muriel said.
      "They already knew we were here," Kate said. "They can sense life. And they hate it." She felt faint, her heart hammering in her chest.
      "Do you have a gun?" Arizona asked urgently.
      "There's daddy's shotgun in the front closet," Blanche said. "The shells are on the shelf above them." Blanche looked at Kate. "We have to try to stop her, sister."
      Kate nodded, knowing how weak they still were. Kate reached out her right hand and took Blanche's left hand.
      Muriel shoved Bridget out of the way.
      The sisters stepped off the porch, hand in hand, and for a moment, Kate remembered them as children skipping hand in hand down the sidewalk.
      The revenants advanced on the house, moving slowly with terrible purpose.
      The sisters threw out their free hands. Fire answered their call, a sweep of flame that ignited rotting clothes and seared bone. The trees and shrubs burst into flames. But the revenants kept coming.
      Kate pushed herself until she began to feel herself tear inside. Blanche dropped to her knees. Kate couldn't sustain the flames by herself. The revenants came toward them, moving faster.
      "Sister, we're not enough," Kate said.
      Arizona stepped forward and started shooting.
      Muriel helped Blanche up.
      "In the house!" Kate yelled, clutching her side.
      "Help her!" Muriel snapped at Bridget. "They'll kill you, too!"
      Bridget helped Kate into the house.
      Arizona locked the front door. "That's not going to hold them."
      "The attic," Blanche said, still clinging to Muriel. "We can hold them off there."
      The five hurried up the stairs, Arizona bringing up the rear. The front door broke open as the revenants pressed against it. Arizona shot the first one, but the shotgun blast did nothing but knock it back. Silently the revenants began to climb the stairs.
      "In here!" Blanche opened the attic door.
      Muriel darted inside, followed by Blanche.
      Arizona shot again.
      "Come on," Kate said. "That's not stopping them."
      "I need explosive shells," he grunted. "That'd stop them."
      "I'll pick some up, dear, first chance I get," she said.
      She dashed into the attic, followed by the Cherokee. She locked the door behind them. "That door's solid oak, but it's not going to hold them long."
      "Help us!" Blanche said as she and Muriel pushed an old dresser toward the door.
      They all pushed it against the door.
      Kate began to pick up boxes and pass them to Arizona who put his shotgun aside to pile them onto the dresser.
      The door shook as something heavy hit it.
      Bridget screamed hysterically.
      Muriel grabbed the young witch and slapped her hard. Bridget stumbled back.
      "I wanted to do that," Kate said.
      "You can slap her next time," Muriel promised.
      "More!" Blanche said, pushing another box onto the barricade.
      The four grabbed items and piled them up.
      "Aren't you glad we don't throw anything away?" Blanche panted.
      Kate managed a short laugh.
      The door shuddered and creaked.
      The five backed further into the attic. Arizona pumped the shotgun, jacking another shell in the firing chamber. Muriel picked up a croquet mallet. Bridget ran to the far corner of the attic and pressed herself against a rafter. Blanche and Kate grasped hands. They exchanged a glance. Kate knew if they called fire again, the strain would kill them, and she knew Blanche knew that, too.
      She realized then that they could die. Would die unless some miracle took place. And there was still so much that she needed to do. Not enough time in this world, she thought. Not enough time.
      The door split open.

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

      And I guess that will be it for tonight. I'll be back tomorrow. Y'all have a good night.