Six Sentence Sunday: "Fixed"

This Six Sentence Sunday I'm super excited to share an excerpt from "Fixed", my story in The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity, coming from DAW Books to a bookstore near you on March 6. Yes, you read that right: DAW Books. It's my very first appearance in a mass market paperback. You'll be able to go to the SF and fantasy section of your local mall bookstore and find it on the shelves. And you want to find it, because the table of contents features people like Seanan Mcguire, Elizabeth Bear and Jim C. Hines--to say nothing about my little story about a teenaged cat shifter who absolutely, positively does NOT want to get "Fixed". It opens:

There were lots of advantages to being a part-time cat. Being chased by a Rottweiler named Bitsy through Holcomb Creek Park wasn’t one of them.
Heart pounding, chest heaving, Jack Tibbert raced down the bike path, insensible to the late November cold, the people on the path, or anything except escape. Bitsy’s heavy grunts grew louder as she closed the gap between them. His imagination added the heat of the dog’s breath on his neck as her massive jaws closed in for the kill. He had to take cover—high where her crushing teeth couldn’t reach—but where?

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Six Sentence Sunday: "Hoodoo Cupid" Three

This will be my last Six Sentence Sunday excerpt from "Hoodoo Cupid"--at least until next year. I hope you've enjoyed reading the excerpts as much as I've enjoyed revisiting the story.

No matter how hard or how loud her inner paranoid told her he couldn’t be trusted, the rest of her wasn’t listening. Her respiration slowed, lulled by hints of scents which had no place in a sickroom—sandalwood and ginger and the faintest trace of sweat. The longer she stood there and watched him breathe, waiting for her to act, accepting it…

Something fluttered, soft as feathered wings, inside her belly.

“Maggie?” he whispered.

Why did he have to say her name like it mattered?

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Six Sentence Sunday: "Hoodoo Cupid" Two

As promised, February's first three Six Sentence Sunday entries are all from my short contemporary romance, "Hoodoo Cupid", available wherever fine ebooks are sold.

Today's scene takes place in the ER after Maggie Scanlan's hoodoo has done it's work on her professional rival and new boss, Dan Constantine:

When [Dan's] eyes focused on a person—the way they focused on her now—it was like being targeted by a pair of lasers. The fan of creases deepening at the corners of his eyes and his slowly widening smile only made it worse.

“My ride.” His voice had a husky quality—a subtle roughness like vintage mohair upholstery, which inspired almost as much thigh wriggling and skirt palming among the agency power groupies as his eyes. “Talk about answered prayers. Please tell me it’s going to be a long one.”

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Bad Girl Blogging

This month's theme at Beyond the Veil is the changing face of the romance industry. I tried to be good. I really did. But nothing says blog to me like organizations behaving badly. ;-)

The More Things in the Romance Industry Change...

Six Sentence Sunday: "Hoodoo Cupid"

In honor of February's big day, I plan three Six Sentence Sunday excerpts from my Valentine's Day romance, "Hoodoo Cupid", a short romance published by Red Rose and available wherever fine ebooks are sold.  As the blurb says:

Maggie Scanlan’s voodoo was a bust until she took her scissors to a poppet on Valentine’s Day. She never expected professional rival—and voodoo victim—Dan Constantine to break his leg, much less sweep the rug out from under her in an Emergency Room. Her brain says, “Run!” Her heart…

"Hoodoo Cupid"

The tattered rag doll flopped on the brushed metal table as Maggie Scanlan wrapped a thread thrice around its stubby legs.

“Let’s see how you like being cut off at the knees, Daniel Curtiss Constantine!” she shouted into the doll’s expressionless face.

A raw, exhaust-scented wind skittered under her hair, raising goose bumps across the back of her neck. She paid the goose bumps no mind. She wasn’t scared. It was just the cold.

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More next week!

The Faster I Run...

The behinder I get. At least, it sure seems that way.

It's taken me way too long to update JeanMarieWard.com with the cover and jacket copy for Hellfire Lounge 2: Rat Pack Redux. If you like your horror served sardonic--and occasionally laugh out loud funny--this is the anthology for you. It features stories by my old friends C. J. Henderson, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, R. Allen Leider and Robert Waters, as well as new colleagues James Chambers, John L. French, KT Pinto, Patrick Thomas and Paul Kupperberg, and amazing art by Ben Fogletto (check out that cover!), Ed Coutts, Ben Fogletto, Denny Fincke, Jason Whitley and Paul London. Yeah, I'm in there, too, with a little story called "Billy's Monster". And when I say little, you know I mean it.

Also criminal is my failure to blog more about my interview at Carma Spence's Genre Traveller. Carma did a great job with the interview, but the thing that knocks me out is the interactive content. It's worth it to check out the page just to see her linky goodness. Trust me, you won't regret it.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Say, "Cheese"

The Pentagon Row Harris Teeter, the one across I-395 from the Pentagon has a 1280-pound sculpture celebrating the Wounded Warrior Program.
In cheese.
I saw it today. All unsuspecting, I went into the store to pick up a few things for dinner. The doors whooshed open, My first thought was: What is that odor? It smells like Greg left something out of the refrigerator too long. Then I realized there were an awful lot of balloons in the display area to my left. Slowly, I turned... Yes, I do know that old Burles-Que routine, and no, the trigger has nothing to do with falls.
It's all about the cheese.
Orange. Glassy. Ripe. Carved into a replica of a famous statue embellished with a big shield proclaiming, "Harris Teeter Salutes the Wounded Warrior Project."
In cheese.
According to this article, the sculpture's been around since at least Veterans Day. Based on personal observation, it's starting to separate in places. (See it while you can!) Store management tells me it's going to be taken away to the local homeless shelter any day now.
Words fail. My mouth opens. It closes. Somebody, somewhere thought it was a really cool idea to honor our veterans' service and sacrifice by memorializing it--
In cheese.
A half ton of cheese, people.  With little packages of Harris Teeter cheddar, the artist's chosen medium, artistically displayed around the base of the sculpture to let customers know that they, too, can buy a piece of (say it with me!)...
CHEESE!
I apologize in advance, but somebody's got to say it: This gives a whole new meaning to the word "cheesy".
And people wonder where I get my ideas. No way, NO FRACKING WAY could I make this stuff up.  *headdesk*headdesk*headdesk*

Princess Alethea's Traveling Sideshow, Dragon*Con Edition

More chewy video goodness. This one dates to Dragon*Con 2011 and features authors Leanna Renee Hieber, Gray Rinehart and Princess Alethea--Alethea Kontis--herself.

DC High Heel Race 2011

A little Halloween pressie from your Capital City. ;-)

My Capclave schedule

With no Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading in sight (sob), this year's Capclave schedule is a peach. I'll be participating in just three program items

Friday, 7 p.m.
Magical Worlds--The various uses of magic in fantasy, science fiction, horror and mainstream fiction. From the Force to spells, the panel will also look at unique forms of magic in a variety of books. Panelists: Danny Birt, Stuart Jaffe (moderator) and Jean Marie Ward

Saturday, 8 p.m.
Capclave Mass Autograph Session--A gathering of all the Capclave authors in one place, ready to sign books and chat!

Saturday, 9 p.m.
Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award and Party--Join us for the announcement of the winner of the WSFA Small Press Award. There will also be some other surprises revealed, plus cake! (Have I mentioned I'm nominated? With Capclave guests of honor Carrie Vaughn and Catherynne M. Valente? And Sarah Monette? And Jack McDevitt? And RJ Astruc? (You can't see it on the page, but my grin's reeeeeeaaaaaalllly wide right now. :D Heck yeah, there will be cake! And photos, too.)

This leaves me a lot of time to hang with friends, take pictues and, hopefully, shoot a few new author videos for Buzzy. So drop by and take in a few panels--they don't even have to be mine. You'll be glad you did. Promise!