Category: Uncategorized

I like the use of the word ‘dance’ to describe something that isn’t actual dancing.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Calm yourself Mierka, he was only doing his job.” Vincent turned from the window, regarded the only silent one in the room. As always, Joseph was keeping his opinions to himself, until he had Vincent’s ear only. Wondering at his loyal friend’s thoughts, he caught Mierka and Anthony’s gazes. “Leave us. Go train. We’ll join you shortly.”

The two left without a word, having been through the dance before. Joseph stepped out of the corner he was almost hiding in and poured himself a glass of brandy.

“You never ask my permission.” Vincent accepted the glass Joseph handed him.

“You have a case of this in your cellar, which I gave to you.”

I may have shared this before, but I don’t keep a record. I’m ok with that. Enjoy your day!

From Protector of the Grey House:

“I think it’s time you told him the truth of his first meeting with Natalia. It might be better if he knew why he didn’t trust her.”

“Do you think he would trust her if he knew?” Vincent set the untouched glass on the windowsill next to him.

“Possibly.” Joseph slowly spun his glass, letting the brandy breathe.

“Then I keep my secret.”

“Why? After seven years with her, why have one of your top men be suspicious of her?”

“Keeps me from having to.” Vincent strolled to his desk, leaving his glass on the windowsill.

There is a run on in this section. I’m working on it. This isn’t the final edit.

From Protector of the Grey House:

There was nothing she could do about that now. She had to get inside. She knew there were still a few hours before Markus, Kari, Ben and Owen would try and lure their targets out and allow Vincent the few moments he needed to feed Mayor Lawrence his blood. They had to arrive before visiting hours were over, though and would be waiting in various out of the way places for midnight, when there would be fewer humans.

Natalia nodded, readied herself mentally, stepped out of the shadows and stopped cold when a familiar form turned the corner. The lone figure moved closer and Natalia took a deep breath to stop shaking. Ashley. What was she doing here?

The word today was ‘give’. 90 variations of that word appear in this novel. Here’s the first appearance that doesn’t give anything too important away.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Her hand went to her neck, where the marks were still evident, if you were looking. Her silver necklace had been pressed into her skin hard enough to pierce the skin in a few areas. She was grateful her necklace had not broken.

“How did you escape?” Mierka’s voice was almost too quiet to hear.

Natalia turned her head to look at the lady. She sighed heavily before continuing. “The one who believed me gave me back my cell phone. When I was sure they had all left the house, I used my cell phone to call the police.” She paused, an odd look in her eye. Ashley, the youngest of the four Slayers, the only one who believed her story, had given her back her cell. She shook her head and continued her story.

Why does Natalia drink Vincent’s blood? And what is it doing to her?

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Take three swallows.”

Crimson spilled from his open wound. Natalia’s hands went to his arm; one near the elbow, the other gripping his fingers. She brought the bleeding wrist to her mouth, breathing deep to calm her doubt. She closed her eyes as her lips closed around the wound. Vincent’s sigh of pleasure was a whisper past her ear. She sucked at his wound carefully, not wanting to have a mouth full of blood.

His salty, coppery blood spilled over her tongue and down her throat. It wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t disgusting either. She took her three swallows and pulled back, trying not to react badly. She was able to contain her distaste long enough for him to turn her around, and by then the taste was mostly gone. There was a small tremor in his face; he seemed to be clenching his jaw. Natalia wondered at the barely suppressed emotions she saw swimming under the surface, but her head swam, and her vision blurred, and she waited for him to tell her what to do next.

More on Anthony and how he feels about Natalia.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Anthony was watching the scene in front of him with growing trepidation, understanding what it meant that Mierka and Joseph were protecting the human from their master. Anthony started to shake. Should he step out of line too much regarding Natalia, he would have Vincent’s most powerful allies against him. His discomfort eased though, as he realized the inverse was true as well. If she were to betray Vincent or any one of his top people, her pain would be infinite. She had integrated herself well into this household. Should she step out of line, her punishment would be glorious. Anthony settled into his skin and his place and waited to see if he were needed.

The words keep leading me back to this scene. Eventually, all will be revealed, just not in order.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“I’m hoping she’ll stay. I have every reason to believe she will. She has told me of her desire to be changed, eventually. And soon, I may give her one more reason to consider it.”

Anthony stilled his movements. His voice showed his anticipated terror. “How?”

“Calm yourself Anthony. It doesn’t concern you directly.”

“With all due respect sir, will you allow her the blood she demands?” Anthony was wondering how far Vincent would go to keep the human here, and she had demanded his blood earlier.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Ben stood, moved the chair, and started toward the door. At Vincent’s side he paused, turned back to face Natalia. “Should something unforeseen happen to our leader, lady, do not hesitate to come find me and ask for my protection. It would be an honor to have you as my child.”

Ben bowed to her then turned and bowed to Vincent. He left under Vincent’s hard stare, smiling wide. Vincent watched him leave then came into the bedroom to lean against the bedpost. He stared at his human, wondering at her expression. It was unreadable. Or maybe he just didn’t want to guess at her thoughts. She lay in bed, her robe almost open, the comforter hiding her legs. Her hands were folded on her lap. Her posture suggested a child waiting for a teacher’s attention; her expression was all woman: defiant, deadly, beautiful and confident.

When I became a widow, a fellow widow introduced me to a term I’d never heard before: New Normal.

She said that after your spouse dies, you don’t go back to normal. You learn to live with the pain and go back to a new normal that includes the pain. I have expanded this understanding to include: if you had a bad relationship, you learn to live with happiness. I have learned to live with pain, but this is not about my relationship. This is about the United States of America and our President Elect.

Yesterday, Joe Biden was elected President with Kamala Harris as his Vice-President.

People are happy. People are breathing better. But we can’t allow this country to “go back to normal”. We must strive for a “new normal”.

Normal means police brutality.

Normal means a continuation of systemic racism.

Normal means health care is tied to work.

Normal means there are marginalized people.

Normal means women don’t have the same rights over their bodies as men.

Normal means some couples are not as free to marry as others.

Normal means some people are not as free to be themselves as others.

The list goes on.

We must fight to push past normal and find a new normal.

New normal means:

Abolish for profit prisons. Why the fuck are people making money off people in prisons?

Defund the police/change their role in our society. Get them more training. Get them to care about the people and protect them, not kill them.

Universal health care that covers ALL issues from dental, and eye care to mental health to plastic surgeries. Whether you want your tenth boob job or are getting reconstructive surgery, it should be covered. Why? Because if we start limiting some medical procedures, it opens the door for other procedures to be limited. I might expand on this another day, but there are other things to discuss.

Allow all people to be free to marry who they want. As long as it’s consenting adults, why does it matter?

Tax the rich. Don’t allow them to have offshore accounts and other ways of hiding money.

Abolish the electoral college. One person one vote.

Make voting an opt out, not an opt in.

Make mail in voting the norm. It allows people time to look up the policies on the ballot and allows them to look up the people on the ballot as well.

Make public education a PRIORITY.

Take big money out of politics. Stop gerrymandering. And for fucks sake, prosecute politicians that suppress voters.

This is not the end of the list. There are probably a lot more things that need to be said and changed, but this is where things start. We need a better country. We can make a better country. We need our politicians to understand that WE are in charge and WE want better. Hold them accountable. Always.

‘door’ shows up 95 times in my book. I picked the first instance and therefore this is connected to what I shared yesterday, though it may not seem like it. I can’t wait for you all to have access to the entire trilogy in print form. Working on it.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent stepped back from Anthony and crossed his arms. This time he truly was done with the subject. Anthony, still doubting somewhat that his neck wasn’t on the chopping block, stood unmoving for a few seconds. When Vincent raised an eyebrow, Anthony shook his head and left. He went to the front door where his driver was waiting patiently, not wanting to take Vincent up on his offer of a drink.

Vincent watched him leave from the ballroom door, knowing he needed to discuss the situation with Natalia. She had to release the man and they had to tell him the truth. It was getting dangerous to keep Anthony is such a state. He caught movement to his left and turned to regard Joseph.