Love Sucks! My Halloween Ghost Story...takes place in a little bar in Montmarte, Paris...

Hi everyone!

If you're looking for Joy Campbell's blog tour post, it's one down!!!!!

It's time for those Halloween creepy stories. Here's one of my stories I posted three years ago for RomanticFridayWriters. I've had a fresh look at it, revamped it, lol, and post for your reading pleasure. I really love these guys!

When you’ve lived on this earth for 400+ years you crave excitement. I was done with sleeping all day in a dark room with the velvet drapes drawn, hiding from the sun, waking up to microwaved blood. 

What’s a vamp to do all century?

Haunt the streets? 

That gets so old after awhile.

I slammed the hotel door and sashayed along Montmarte’s glitter strip, my current Parisian suburb of interest. Tourists gawking, homeless hawking, blackboard artist chalking. "ETERNITY". Cool. Same old, same old. Then right next door to Moulin Rouge, I saw it: ‘A VENDRE’. 

My synapses zapped. My planets aligned. A contract to sign.

I’d accumulated a tidy sum over the centuries, you know. Compound interest compounds, so before you could say ‘More blood and make it quick,’ the business belonged to moi.

The little bar was perfect -- vamp chic – blood-red carpet, black walls, red bar counter, black furniture. Suited my little black er, heart. The pictures clinched the deal – horror-movie posters proclaimed murder and mayhem on every wall. 

Now I no longer have to prowl the mean streets at night. I got me a hidey-hole. 

‘Ya not going to run this place all by yaself, are ya?’

I turned from admiring my Dracula poster which was a bit like looking in the mirror, black cloak and super handsome face, but like, wow! Look what's just promenaded down my little 15th Century wonky stairs! Flowing black tresses, lush curves poured into a little black dress, black fishnet stockings. Oh so tastee.

‘You offering to help, er, miss?’

“Ya, moi, who else d’ya see? I thought those black glasses were just for show.’

‘You know bar work? You look, like twelve. Show me some ID.’ 

I was only kidding but she whipped out the plastic.

‘Looks can be deceiving. You look, like, nineteen.’ 

She winked at me, cheeky minx.

I flipped the ID back to her. Fake as, who cared? 

I want this girl-child.

‘What d’ya think? I been working bars for many a year. Know some tricks.’

‘It’s not that kind of bar. It’ll be a clean operation.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Drink, tapas, music…’

‘Boring as. But I can be boring if ya want.’

 ‘What’s your name?’ I clasped her black-gloved hand. ‘I’m Drack Kulah.’

‘Really?’ 

‘Really.’

‘Well I’m Ruby Black, but go by -’

‘Snow White?’

‘Right on Drak. Hilaarrious. So, whatcha think?’

‘You’re hired. No funny business or you’ll be out on your pretty butt.’

‘My butt’s pretty?’ She twirled, black lacy dress flowing like waves, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of shapely snow-white leg and a flash of lacy black knickers. Pity about those ugly Doc Marten’s.

‘You want stilettos, you got stilettos,’ she smirked, ‘but that’s not all I got.’ She sidled up and grabbed me around the neck. Her gloved fingers stroked my black curls.

Who needs to go hunting? She was mine, right here, right now. A gift.

I took her in my steely arms, aiming for the jugular, then…wow! She's got no throbbing pulse! 

That was that then. Of course I knew the minute she walked in...

At least one female in the bar's out of temptation’s way.

Bring on the next one...

Click on the names in my sidebar for more Ghost Stories...or go to Write...Edit...Publish.

Thanks for reading!

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Murder, Madness and Love by Yolanda Renee re-released and One Bite Leads to Another, a paranormal by debut author Kelly Steel hits the shelves.

Hi my friends!

Thanks to all who visited Revising and Editing and commented on my post and added your input into the discussion.

Today I want to tell you a tale of two books. Both books will set your heart racing.

First there is Murder, Madness and Love by Yolanda Renee, a much-beloved RFW member who will continue to write for Write...Edit...Publish. Her stories always sizzle and she's won prizes for her writing in the past. Her print book is re-released by Curiosity Quills Press TODAY!! 

Yolanda's novel is a suspenseful/romantic trilogy set in Anchorage, Alaska and Washington State. It features a detective who not only loves his job; he is determined to have the white picket fence—wife and kids. The only problem is that he keeps falling for the wrong woman, and when he meets the right one, she's accused of murder.

Buy it here

Tagline:

After a gritty detective becomes involved with a beautiful widow suspected of murder, rumor and obsession obstruct his quest for justice.

Blurb:

Sunlight blazes on an empty canvas.

Arctic winds gather snowflakes on a frosty window ledge as a statuesque form appears. She moves past a table littered with papers. Headlines splash news of murder, but it's the photo of another young woman with features mirroring her own that draws her attention.

A different headline peeks from underneath the Anchorage Times.

Wealthy Businessman Dies in Car Crash ... BLACK WIDOW SUSPECTED!

Graphic images swirl through her head and a tear rolls down her cheek. She drifts toward an easel and a trembling hand dips a sable brush into a palette of paint.

The Westminster doorbell chimes. The brush slips and blood-red paint stains the floor.

Detective Steven Quaid waits. His Tlingit, Indian features carved from granite, mask his Irish passion ...

Will he arrest her this time?

All fingers point to her guilt.

But, is she guilty of this cunning plot? Or, just a victim of circumstantial evidence?

The door opens ...

His eyes lock on hers ...

His heart races ...

Hers skips a beat.

I can't wait to read it! How about you? There are already 16 reviews up on Amazon.

Then I have a quick read for you, a paranormal novella by debut author Kelly Steel.  I've written a review on Amazon, so I will let it speak for itself.

This review is from: One Bite Leads To Another (Kindle Edition)

I haven't read a good paranormal for awhile, so loved this action-packed hot novella by debut author Kelly Steel.

The main characters are Leo and Eve -- Leo is a vampire who loved Eve's grandmother, Evelyn, in the past. The flashback scenes to the previous era work well and are seamlessly transitioned. But will Leo and Eve find a way to be together or will the past repeat itself? I loved that Eve is a witch with an ability to read minds and block others from reading hers.

Amazon.com 

What brings Leo and Eve together? Leo 
arrives on Eve's island (Lenuka Island in Fiji), on a rescue mission where he meets some nasty characters. Eve has a twin, Eva, who also appears in the story (and I want to hear more about her!)

One Bite Leads to Another has lust, suspense, adventure, and compelling characters you probably don't want to meet in real life. The author's descriptions are lush, and Eve and Leo's lovemaking scenes are intensely hot!

The novella length is perfect for my e-reader. I highly recommend this book to lovers of enduring love...and the paranormal.

Rochester and Edward - Part 3 of the Byronic heroes series. How are they similar?

Go here if you're looking for my post for the A-Z Challenge. Currently showing is Q for Queenlsand. Next is R for ...and you won't want to miss this personal anecdote...

And a warm welcome to all my new followers who have joined me here at L'Aussie Writing. I appreciate each one of you and have visited you if there was a link, or if you left a comment.

Now onto our Byronic Hero. Today we compare Rochester and Edward Cullen.

Edward Rochester, the hero of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847), feels no guilt for wooing Jane, even though he is already secretly married. When Jane learns of the existence of the mad Bertha Mason, kept imprisoned in the attic at Thornfield Hall, Rochester says: "I am little better than a devil at this moment." He wants to keep Jane as his mistress, but Jane refuses and flees.

At the end of the novel when Jane returns to find a blind and maimed Rochester, he finally expresses some guilt that he is no longer worthy of Jane: "I am no better than the old lightning-struck chesnut tree in Thornfield orchard...And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?"

Rochester's guilt feelings are remarkably short-lived and he and Jane marry immediately.

Rather than being tormented by guilt, like many Byronic heroes, Rochester primarily suffers from the effects of his dark secret which renders him mysterious and frightening. Jane describes him as proud, sardonic, moody, imperious, morose. Just as Edward tends to brood, most often about how his vampirism will affect Bella, so too is Rochester melancholy, though he does not blame himself for his dark secret.

Rochester's isolation is reminiscent of Edward's ninety years without a mate: they both feel doomed to solitude. In Twilight, Alice tells Bella, "It's been almost a century that Edward's been alone. Now he's found you. You can't see the changes that we see, we who have been with him for so long. Do you think any of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you?" (Twilight, 410-411.)

 Have you given any thought to the equation between the mad Bertha and Edward's vampirism?  When Jane tells Rochester about her vision of the woman with the "fiery eye", "lurid visage" and "gaunt head" who tears her wedding veil, she says it reminded her "of the foul German spectre - the Vampyre." Jane's descriptions of Rochester bear a strong resemblance to Edward - his "flaming and flashing eyes,: his "pale, firm, massive front: like "quarried marble," his face like "colourless rock," and "His eye...was a black eye: it had now a tawny, nay a bloody light in its gloom." Remind you of anyone?

Rochester tries to control the woman he loves, as does Edward. Citing their advanced ages, both Edward and Rochester often take charge of Bella and Jane. While Edward has ninety years on Bella (helped along by a bit of mental telepathy), Rochester says, "I claim only such superiority as must result from twenty years' difference in age and a century's advance in experience." Edward says: "I'm going to be a little...overbearingly protective...I wouldn't want you to think I'm naturally a tyrant." (Twilight, 328.)

Edward and Rochester feel compelled to confide in their love objects. Rochester: "Strange that I should choose you for the confidant in all this...(you) were made to be the recipient of secrets." Edward says: "Having you know about everythng, not needing to keep secrets from you. It makes me...happy." (Twilight, 344.)

There is relief for the Byronic hero as he unburdens his soul of terrible secrets: the absolute honesty that he shares with his love forges their unbreakable connection.

Here is a great blog post on the same topic. And here is another, specifically on Rochester.

With thanks to Nancy R Regin, "Twilight and History."

The Perfect Silence of the Night - Episode 4 #fridayflash

To those lovelies who have been following my vampire series, the story of Vipunin and Chuchulain, the next episode is up .here...In this episode, the mystery is building...

The Perfect Silence of the Night - #fridayflash - the Vampires Vipunin and Cuchulain

Click on the image to read episode 3 of the story of the vampires Vipunin and Cuchulain as they haunt the forests of Tuscany. Read this and the previous episodes on my new flash fiction blog here.

Blogfeast AND #fridayflash - The Perfect Silence of the Night

I'm combining #fridayflash and Blogfeast so as not to confuse readers with two entries.

Thanks to Angela at JadedLoveJunkie for hosting the blogfeast.

I have experimented with a genre I have never tried to write before. It is a bit different from my usual odes to food and drink and all things delish, but I enjoyed dipping my toes into this idea. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed playing with words.

The Perfect Silence of the Night

The hazy moon hovered in the inky sky, asking the stars to dance.

The milky brightness shone upon the earth, lighting the way for two cloud-shadows who swiftly passed by the trees.

The cloud-shadows drifted through the forest in the perfect silence of the night, onto the bright green carpet of the upland grasses.

Vipunin and Cuchulain, strolling through the trees from the opposite direction, paused, alert. Camouflaged by foliage, they watched, their pale, stony faces rapt, eyes starry bright.

‘Something delicious this way comes,’ murmured Vipunin to his companion.

‘Hmm, delectable...oh, Vipunin, the journey has been tedious thus far. May we feast?’

‘No, Cuchulain, you are too impatient. Let’s watch awhile. Humans are endlessly fascinating. It takes me back...’

The two hungry vampires tugged their cloaks around their tall, slim bodies, blending into the cobalt night.

They watched, bodies twitching, eyes burning, thirst raging within their breasts.

Vipunin and Cuchulain looked at each other and nodded, knowing each other’s thoughts. Yes, the two humans were uncommonly beautiful as they stepped from the shadows into the Verdant Valley, a male and a female.

The male was strikingly handsome, so much so that Vipunin, who considered himself the most arresting representation of the male form on this earth and the next, was instantly awash with jealousy. He clamped his teeth, his jaw fixed in a scowl. This human could be his double, with his thick black curly hair falling to his shoulders and his features etched with pride and strength.

This male pretender will not live, Vipunin mused. He continued his incantation inside his head:

Oh proud one

The darkness awaits

It will claim your soul

then the darkness will eat you whole

Beware Vipunin…

‘The male’s mine,’ Vipunin spat.

Cuchulain gazed at the humans, enraptured. Vipunin was welcome to the male. The female was enchanting. Her long tresses glinted in the starlight, a shimmering curtain of silk. Her face was as sweet as an angel’s, her lips luscious and red. Cuchulain tugged his cloak tighter, his hands spasming at such an extravagance of beauty laid before his feasting eyes.

The humans spread a blanket that looked as soft as fairies’ wings. The female fussed, smoothing the creases, then turned, soft and slow, to recline on the silken cloth. Cuchulain glimpsed a shapely elbow where the sleeve of her peacock-blue tunic slipped away. The male, outfitted superbly in peacock-green from his aristocratic shoulder to his leathered toe, produced an old-fashioned wicker basket. He placed it reverently in the centre of the blanket, then lay beside the female, taking hold of her glorious face and kissing her again and again.

Cuchulain scowled, a deep growl forming in his throat.

With a rapturous sigh, the female sat up, smoothed her skirts, excitement written on her cherub’s face. With her delicate white hands, she daintily lifted the lid of the basket and gazed inside its hidden depths.

Vipunin and Cuchulain heard the humans gurgle with pleasure. The male lifted a flagon of red wine aloft. Vipunin saw it was an ancient, dusty bottle, probably a vintage from the nearby vines. He gritted his teeth. He remembered how he used to drink such wine. He thought of his vines, not an hour’s journey from this very spot, where his life had revolved around the pleasures of the harvest, the wine-making and the celebrations that attended a bountiful bottling.

He remembered with a terrible remembering the night when his human heart ceased to beat and his existence as one of the living dead began...

As he watched the humans sip from silver goblets filled with the rich red nectar, he was smitten by a thirst more powerful than his thirst for human blood.

He ground his teeth in frustration, tempted to rush in and snatch the precious bottle from those frail human hands and taste every delicious drop. He felt Cuchulain's constraint.

‘Not now Vipunin. Not now. Soon, brother.’

Vipunin watched as the female reached into the basket and drew out a loaf. Ah, freshly baked bread. Vipunin could smell its yeasty freshness, but it held little appeal. The male drew his knife and began hacking chunks of the doughy stuff. The female reached inside the basket for a second time, this time withdrawing a chunk of cheese. The rancid smell drifted across the clearing, assailing the vampires’ twitching nostrils.

‘Always hated the stuff,’ Cuchulain sniffed, 'where's the appeal?'

‘You'd wonder at that,’ Vipunin allowed, ‘but it is a good choice to accompany that vintage they’re drinking. Ah,' he laughed softly, 'let them have their stinky cheese. They’re only human, after all. And this is their last feast, remember. Indulge them.’

Cuchulain snickered, his thoughts racing. When was their feast to be? Why was Vipunin standing and staring instead of sinking his teeth into that tasty, tender flesh? Did he wonder, like Cuchulain did, if this was some sort of trap?

There was something a little off about these humans.

Was that why the great immortal Vipunin bided his time?

***

The cloud-shadows played in the cobalt night as the stars danced overhead.

The vampires watched as the hazy moon shone its milky brightness onto the bright green grasses..

...waiting for the perfect silence of the night.

©DeniseCovey 2010

THE END

Please leave me a comment, then click on Angela's link at the top to read some more foody stories.

I Swear I'm Telling the Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth...

Well, it's time for me to 'fess up and let you know the answers to the seven questions from the Creative Writer Blogger Award. Some bright sparks did guess the ONE true thing I posted.

Around the World in 80 Days

1. I really love to travel as Francine knows, so that may have been behind her guessing #1 as a truth. Sure, I'd love to go around the world in 80 days, but not like those krazy klutzes from the movie did - oversized goggles, biggles hats, balloons etc. Sorry Francine! 

2. Laura and Jules played along with #2, but Clarissa was really hopeful...ha de ha.

Good... Morning Vietnam!

3.L Diane Wolfe and Jai Joshi and Terry Stonecrop thought #3 might be the truth and I'd like to go to Vietnam to shout 'Good morning Vietnam!' and why not? Trouble is I have my baby daughter trekking Vietnam from North to South and I'm worried witless, so Vietnam was kinda on my mind. No, I'll leave the shout out to Robin Williams. Hmm, maybe I will do that one day, kinda the truth...let's get Candice home safely first!

My daughter's doing this...

While I am doing this...

4. Absolutely no-one was fazed by #4. North Pole/South Pole - too much of a stretch, or a mush or what!

5. Summer and Secret Writer went for #5 - why not? It's one of the coolest! Sadly, all my research on Antarctica comes from books/internet. But it would be very cool to go one day. Maybe one really hot summer in Australia - oh, that's every summer.

This is where most of the action takes place in Twilight - or so it seems...

6. Funny, not even a whiff of a suggestion that Twilight is my favourite series. For those who have friended me on goodreads, you may have noticed me saying I've started reading them. Hey, I've got through the first two, now I'm heading for Eclipse! I thought seeing as I'm a writer/teacher/mother I should see what all the fuss is about and try to work out why Stephanie Meyer has been uber successful. I think part of the secret is heaps of dialogue and Bella's POV, which keeps the action going at a cracking pace. I'm totally sick of her whining, getting cut, looking for danger etc etc, but I totally get why this series has been a money spinner. Hey, but you're right, I don't even like reading about vampires/werewolves/zombies and whatever other monsters are lurking out there, so Twilight can never be my favourite series.

7. The Words Crafter, Helen Ginger and Francine (yes, you did!) really thought this movie segment from Apocolypse Now was the truth. I must confess - YOU ARE RIGHT! Must be, as I'm at #7! I know it's cruel, and American POV, but it does show beauty juxtaposed with the humour and cruelty and I just LOVE the images of the helicopters with Wagner's soaring music. I don't think the movie glorifies the Americans, just the opposite, and remember, the Aussies fought in this beastly war too. Thanks, Francine, for thinking this couldn't possibly be true, but IT IS! I'll say no more, but I hope I don't get a bundle of hate mail, or I'll be saying:

'I love the smell of disillusionment in the morning!

'Heck, this post took longer than the original. Thank you for playing along. I hope I got all the names/choices right!

Oh, and while we're on the American theme, Nick Thomas, thank you for the list of Bill Clinton lies/truths. Woh, he's such a role model! As I'm a tad political, I'll reprint them so others who missed this jewel of a list can have a crack at guessing which of Bill's quotes are the truth according to the Gospel of Bill:

1. I have never lied in my life.
2. I did not have sex with that woman.
3. Hillary makes my toes curl.
4. Hillary makes my toenails drop off.
5. Chelsea is honest, beautiful, faithful, and adopted.
6. I have no regrets, and sleep well at night - on the couch.
7. Obama is the greatest president since Nixon.

Geesh, I must admit I'm flummoxed. None of them could possibly be true, could they?

Pop down and replay #7! Da, da, da, da....