Excerpt from REVELATION

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Was the creature standing over her waiting to…what? What did a Bigfoot do with the people it caught? The only stories she’d heard were about people seeing just a glimpse of it. Motionless, she held her breath and waited. Chest burning. Head throbbing, dizzy. She dared not open her eyes, but finally, she had to breathe. Michelle gulped the fresh air greedily, fully expecting it would be her last breath.

Nothing.

With her eyes opened to slits, she looked out through the bushes. The creature wasn’t anywhere in her narrow slice of vision.

What if it was standing just a few feet away behind her but hadn’t seen her yet?

  

Even though her mind screamed “Run,” her arms refused to push her body up, and her legs were like lead weights bolted to the ground.

    The creature could probably hear her ragged breathing. But it hadn’t snatched her up.Yet.

    Michelle closed her eyes and willed her mind, and her breathing, to quiet down. She listened. The wind moaned in the trees. A crow’s caw-caw bounced into the distance. The water cascaded down the creek bed. Cautiously, she opened her eyes again. This time, even though she still couldn’t bring herself to move, she dared to turn her head to look around.

When she looked over her shoulder, she glimpsed a massive brown hulk only a foot behind her. She squealed and scrambled away. With some distance between her and it, she spun around to face the beast, tripped, and fell backward into a blackberry bramble. Thorns tore through her shirt and dug into her back and shoulders. Tears fogged her vision. Stuck in the bramble, there was no further escape. She was as far away from the creature as she could get in the small clearing.

Michelle was cornered.

Survival instinct took over. She clenched her fists, braced her legs, and growled. The creature might take her down, but it would have a fight on its hands. 

She hadn’t yet dared to look directly at the creature. But now she raised her eyes and glared defiantly...     

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Be sure and click on over to Goodreads and enter the drawing for your chance to win one of ten signed copies of REVELATION.

Excerpt from REVELATION

“Simeon to H.S. dispatch.”

After a second of squelch the dispatcher replied, “This is H.S.”

The car lurched as the road changed from dirt to asphalt. Simeon shot a menacing look at the driver, then said into the microphone, “We are returning to base with Mister Burroughs.”

“Were you able to arrive at a peaceful solution?”

Simeon smirked at his partner and shrugged. He keyed the mike and said, “Negative on the peaceful resolution. Circumstances beyond our control made it necessary to take definitive action. Burroughs is a fatality. Sorry, after all, we’re only human.” He released the talk button and started laughing. 

The driver laughed so hard he lost control of the car. It ran off the pavement, onto the dirt shoulder and kicked up a cloud of dust and rocks before he regained control and returned it to the asphalt. Through his laughter, the driver said, “I love it, we’re only human. You’re a riot.”

Simeon continued shaking with laughter. “You gotta enjoy your work or you might as well be stuffed in a trunk.”

The car swerved from side to side as the driver struggled to maintain control through another laughing fit. “You kill me…well, not me actually,” he said, setting them both off on another bout of laughter.

When the car reached the highway the driver turned to head south in traffic. The two men settled down, assumed a more somber façade, and the driver kept the car under better control.

“We’re only human,” the driver chuckled. 

-- Excerpt from REVELATION, Book 1 in the Almost Human series.

Revelation Giveaway on Good reads

Starting at midnight on Friday Sept. 16, Goodreads will be running a giveaway for ten of my REVELATION books. Here is the link to head over and put your name in the drawing. But remember, it doesn't start until midnight on 9/16.

Thank you for visiting by blog. Hope to see you on Goodreads.

Excerpt from Deliciously Dark Tales

Halloween is coming. To help you prepare, I thought I would share excerpts from Deliciously Dark Tales. Here is the first installment. I hope you enjoy reading it, if you do, please come back and visit for more.



This can't be real, Paul thought. It's just a dream. It has to be a dream.

His first reaction was, Run! He always ran from even a hint of danger. He'd spent his life avoiding larger aggressors, and at his size, they were all larger. But this time he struggled between running, and facing his attacker.

"This ain't no dream squirt, it's your worst nightmare." The muggers blade whistled in an arc so close to Paul's chest the tip snagged the material on the front of his shirt. Without encountering the expected resistance of his flesh, the slash threw the attacker off-balance, but he recovered quickly, and crouched, prepared to thrust the blade into Paul's midsection.

Though he couldn't fathom how, Paul knew by the manner and angle that the mugger now poised the katana blade for a lethal plunge. Part of Paul's mind froze in terror. Another, stronger part, stood waiting phlegmatically for the mugger's next move.

The man lunged, shooting his arm forward, and drove the razor-sharp weapon toward Paul's solar plexus. Without conscious thought, he sidestepped the attack. The knife whispered past, missing its deadly mark.

"Wake up!" Paul yelled.

The attacker's arm followed behind the thrusting knife.

Paul reached out and clamped onto the attacker's wrist with his right hand, twisted, and drove his left hand against the man's elbow. The joint snapped under the blow with a dull crack he felt more than heard...

BZZZZ--BZZZZ--BZZZZ. Complete darkness.

"It was a dream." He reached out from under the warm covers and plucked the cell phone from his nightstand. "Paul here."
 

-- Excerpt from Bigger, story 1 in Deliciously Dark Tales.

Humorous signs

Before having dinner at a Red Robin restaurant I stopped in at the men's room. The sign on the back of the door made me laugh.

"Employees must wash hands.

If no employee is available, feel free to wash your own hands."

Yep, that tickled my funny bone.

It's a blessing to be able to see the humorous in the world around us.

Excerpt from Retaliation, Book 2 in the Almost Human series

Reporters packed the White House press room. As Press Secretary Tillson approached the lectern, they jumped out of their seats and started firing questions. He waved at them, like a rock star to his adoring fans.

When he reached the lectern, he motioned for everyone to sit. Several continued shouting questions. Tillson didn’t answer, and waved again for silence. Once the room quieted, he leaned toward the microphones and said, “I will read a prepared statement today, after which I will respond to five questions of my choosing.”

A murmur rolled through the crowd. A female reporter from the back of the pack leaped up and shouted, “Melinda Martinez, Today’s Truth Magazine. Is it true President Asir knew about these Newvers before the attacks against Homeland Security?”

Tillson tilted his head. Two plain-clothed Secret Service agents muscled their way through the crowd toward Melinda. One on either side, they latched onto her arms and with a practiced sweep, gathered her up along with her purse and briefcase, and all three disappeared through a side door.

“As long as there are no further interruptions, I will read the prepared statement.” -- Excerpt from Retaliation

Retaliation is available for pre order

9/7/16 - The Kindle edition of Retaliation, the second book in the Almost Human series is now available for pre-order through Amazon. For a limited time, I am pricing Retaliation at $2.99 for readers who are first in line, then it will go to its regular $4.99 price. A big thank you to all my readers.