What, What? On My Gut!

 

READ IT, BITCHES!!!

99 CENTS ON AMAZON KINDLE

www.bellybillboard.com

Now that you're paying attention, a few things to remember about my work:

1.) I do not write "fluffy" romance. I do not, in all actuality, consider myself a "romance" author. No fluff muffin, girly-girl, pink-like-a-pussy SHIT.

2.) I do not write within the mainstream. I do not like work by authors who write watered-down, same-old-radio-playlist, macaroni-and-cheese type stuff. I like cult and "niche" authors who take it to the edge, and I write the same kind of stuff.

3.) I do erotica from the male POV more often than other female authors do. Yes, some of my work may appear to appeal to the Duke Nukem audience (shotguns n' knives, blood splatter, and post-apocalyptic style hunters)...so be it. I love it, so I write it. I am a Max Max dick flick gal who likes hot bikes, muscle cars, and hardcore dudes with big muscles and hair on their butts. And I write like one of 'em, too.

4.)  I do not write "sparkly" romantic "tormented" vampires. My vamps are ugly, stupid, and oftentimes bullet fodder. Just like they were in the old days. They go splat. A LOT. All over the wall.

5.) I do my own covers, MY WAY. No stock pics for me, and my publishers have that down pat. So if you are only attracted to an erotica cover with some waxed faceless model who has a Photoshopped "tribal" tattoo stuck on his arm, you may as well turn away, ladies.

6.) And finally, yes...I WILL buy an ad from a guy who uses his beer belly as a billboard. 'Cos that's just how I roll. ;-)

And may I say that this HAIRY BEER BELLY AD is dedicated with love to all the girls (and guys) out there who continue to love and support this crazy little author...despite her rebellious nature! I love you all, and want you to know that you make it worth it every crazy day.

 

Skin So Thin I Bleed...Thoughts on Bad Reviews

 "The biggest enemy of an author’s career is not bad reviews—it’s obscurity."
--Anonymous

"You're never as good as your most ardent fans proclaim, and you're never as bad as your worst critics accuse." --Anonymous

"Black Dog and Rebel Rose...is the best Urban Fantasy love story I've ever read."
--Two Lips Reviews, 5 STAR Review, Awarded BD&RR the Recommended Read Award and the Reviewer's Choice Award


"...everything in the story felt rushed; and the plot was very predictable..."
--A Reader, 2 STAR Review

Bad reviews.

 As authors, we all get them. Whether it's sooner or later, they manage to bite us in our most tender spots and leave us smarting like nothing else.

If you're me, you instantly feel like curling up in a ball, sucking your thumb, and eating french fries as you lick your wounds. Oh, and never picking up that laptop again...well, at least for a day or so...until, eventually, you get over it.

Writing, like any art, is a subjective business, and is tough as hell. I'm convinced that most could not stomach it. As my one-time tattoo teacher, the brilliantly talented Beth Emmerich, once told me: "There are days when I want to say 'Fuck it, I'm gonna go work at a gas station'." It sounds funny initially, but in the end I catch myself thinking that locking up the laptop and strolling into the local Gas n' Sip ain't such a bad idea.

Our books are like our children, at least in a vague philosophical way. They grow in the womb of the mind, nurtured as tenderly as a babe as it is cradled in its mother's belly. If we are good writers, we prune that sprouting tree with care, making sure it leaves our hands and enters the publishing world as polished as bright chrome. We offer it openly, saying, "Here world...take my offering, this piece of my spirit, and enjoy." And, again, if we are good writers, most of the world will do just that.

Most.

Since my most popular book, Black Dog and Rebel Rose, went on sale at 99 cents, sales shot up. As did bad reviews...most of them stating that the story felt "too short/rushed" and that the romance developed unrealistically "too soon" (which is really funny, since in the original final draft I had made the heat between Skrike and Rose come to the surface more slowly, and only changed things after a pro editor advised I "speed up the romance" since that's what readers of the genre "wanted"...go fig). And after my initial heartbreak and questioning as to *why* I ever thought about sitting down to create this story, I began to ponder just how bad a "bad" review really is.

Even a bad review (in my lucky case, only 2 star reviews thus far, though I know that first inevitable 1 Star is just around the corner--I can feel it in my bones, like an old man feeling a rainstorm coming on) is still a review. It mentions your work. A wise writer once said that many readers are leery about books with only 4 and 5 star reviews, since that shows that the writer's work isn't really "out there" all that much and circulating through the general public. Where would I rather be: in the magic 4 and 5 Star safety bubble, or out in the open, my heart and soul exposed a little bit more for the benefit of having it reach a larger audience? Gimme a larger audience any day...even though I will bleed more for it.

I think it's easy to feel like you let the reader down. I always feel that way...I have made it my practice to message certain writers of bad reviews to graciously THANK them for their candid opinion, since it may truly benefit me in the end to show potential readers a broader spectrum and give my work more weight. I also do it because it makes me feel better, and takes some of the crushing weight of second-guessing my work off of my shoulders. And I tell said reviewers that they have given me food for thought...because they have. In the end, they will have helped me become a better writer. I rarely hear back from them...maybe they think I'm a weirdo. But in the end, it did me good, and that's what matters.

There is always the little voice me that gets frustrated and starts to scream, "If you don't like quick reads, look at the goddamn page counts before you buy, people!!!" I think that's natural. I'm human, and that is a pretty human reaction. Will I ever become another Jacqueline Howett? Hell, no. The woman was insane, unprofessional, and quite frankly, a bitch. I understand her hurt at getting a bad review; we all feel that. But to go on such a tirade...it shows a distinct lack of respect for your readers, both current and potential, and does your work (and you) a serious disservice. And repairing such damage will most likely be impossible. But I acknowledge my feelings of frustration...and then I go and have a swig of whiskey (or, in my current pregnant state) a few spoonfuls of double chocolate ice cream, and move on. You cannot guess why someone didn't like some aspect of your work...and it is unfair of you to judge, no matter how thin and raw your skin may feel.

So I thank all of those who took the time to review my work...whether or not you found it worthy in the end. Because, at the very least, it was worthy enough for you to take the time to write about it period, and in the end, that is a gift I am more than happy to accept.

Character Specs!!! Skriker and Rose

Okay, I'll admit it. I am a character specs WHORE...I think that an author who is willing to list even mundane or quirky details about their characters provide said creation with even more life. Plus, it's entertaining as hell.

MEET ROSE:

Age: 23
Eye Color: Blue and Brown
Glasses or Contacts: No
Body Type: Pin-Up Sexy
Height: 5’11"
Skin Tone: Fair
Ancestry:
Father: Warrior Angel/Power, Mother: Human ( French, Jewish)
Supernatural Abilities: "Ether" speaking (telepathy), exorcism by touch, command of angelic fire, thought/emotive reading
Distinguishing Marks: A trio of thin clawmark scars on each cheek cutting from temple to chin
Predominant Feature: Her striking odd eyes
Hair color & type: Dark, wavy/curly
Character’s typical hairstyle: Long
Languages Spoken (other than English): Fluent in French, Hebrew, speaks functional Italian and a tiny bit of conversational Swedish learned from Skriker
Favorite Color: Pink (believe it or not!!!)
Favorite Band/Musician/Composer: Tori Amos, Chopin
Favorite Food: Rose doesn't eat much. Most of her meals consist of strong black coffee, cigarettes, and booze
Favorite Movie: Unusual foreign films, artsy porn
Occupation: Supernatural huntress
Siblings: One brother, Icarus, killed in-utero

Hometown: An unnamed urban wasteland
Lives Now: Same unnamed city in which she was born

MEET SKRIKER (ERIK):

Age: 28
Eye Color: Leaf Green
Glasses or contacts: No
Body Type: Warrior Muscular
Height: 6’3”
Skin Tone: Alabaster Pale
Ancestry:
Father: True Native Demon
Mother: Human (Swedish)
Supernatural Abilities: Morphing (into demon form), fire throwing/spitting, wall crawling

Distinguishing Marks: Heavily tattooed, including two full-color sleeves, chest, and knuckle ink, heavily pierced ears including two large spikes shot through the center ear
Predominant Feature: His tattoos
Hair Color: Platinum Blond
Character’s Typical Hairstyle: High-spiked
Languages Spoken (other than English): Fluent in Swedish, also speaks functional French, Norwegian, and Finnish
Favorite Color: Dark Red
Favorite Band/Musician/Composer: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Nazareth
Favorite Food: Anything sweet and sugary, especially with jam
Favorite Movie: Post-apocalyptic action, documentary, non-artsy porn
Occupation: Underground Cage Fighter, Supernatural Hunter, Mercenary
Siblings: 1 younger brother, Rory, deceased
Phobias: Germs (Skriker is in all truth a neat-freak)
Hometown: An unnamed urban wasteland
Lives Now: Same unnamed city where he was born



Join Skriker and Rose's steamy, rollicking adventures:

BLACK DOG AND REBEL ROSE

COYOTE NIGHT

Add DEMON'S SLAVE, set for release on Hallowe'en 2011, to your TBR list!

Black Dog and Rebel Rose Receives the Reviewer's Choice Award

Well, it's been one hell of a week for Skriker and Rose fans...not to mention the sick and twisted little author who pulled these two lovelies outta her butt (ME!).

Yes, kids, TwoLips Reviews, one of the hottest erotica review groups in the biz, has fastened to Black Dog and Rebel Rose not onw, but TWO awards, including their most coveted, the TwoLips Reviews Recommended Read Award, a badge of honor placed on only 3% of the books they review. The other award, coming in at a close second to the Recommended Read, is the fab-u-lous Reviewers Choice Award, given to the book that a reviewer found to be the most fabulous that month.

Below is the 5 Kisses review that earned Black Dog and Rebel Rose these coveted honors:

"A dying demon's tip leads Rose to an abandoned town off the beaten path, a place once called Paradise Hill that's no more than an unfortunate run-down shadow of the nice little place it once was, a place where people worked and kids went to school. Now, it shelters things that go bump in the night: vampires, ghouls...and the worst of the worst. Demons. Just what Rose is looking for. As a hunter, it's her job – and her pleasure – to rid the human world of such deviant abominations.



Skriker does two things well. Fuck and kill demons. Women and his father's kind fell at his feet, though in different ways. Handsome as sin, he was glorious to behold, both in bed and in battle against the same monsters that had killed his mother and little brother and dragged his old man off to Lucifer knew where when he was just eleven. Half human, his demon side provides him with all sorts of useful weapons, from his inner hellfire to the black claws that pop out of his fingertips when he shifts into the hideous beast that lurks beneath his rock star looks.


When Skriker arrives in Paradise Hill to hunt the derelict town's newly reported nest of vampires, he finds that another hunter has arrived before him. And Rose, he quickly discovers, doesn't like to share. Skriker has always been able to love 'em and leave 'em, but Rosie...she's not like any woman he's ever known. She's big, tough, and dangerous. And her inner light intrigues the hell out of him, no pun intended. From where did she draw such pure white power? Who was she? And where does she come from?


As they work their bloody way through the vampires and ghouls residing in the Paradise Hill Elementary School, Skriker finally discovers why Rose has a set of wings tattooed on her back. But it's when Rose discovers what Skriker really is that she must decide where her heart lies. Is she with him? Or against him? Zafira, the demon daughter of Lilith, might have something to say about that, since she wants Rose dead in the very worst of ways.


Sequel to Psyche's Gate (Liquid Silver Books), Black Dog and Rebel Rose by Danielle D. Smith is the best Urban Fantasy love story I've ever read. It's a short but action-packed adventure centered around the most unlikely of couples – one of darkness, the other of light. One rides an All-American Harley, the other a “Eurotrash” Ducati. He carries a shotgun, she carries a Glock, and they can both slice and dice with ninja accuracy. Together, they deal in blood, gore, and bodily fluids. Believe me, their raunchy sex does more than just fill up pages. It's profound and entrancing. And most of all it's love – pure, deep, and intense. Each would give his or her life for the other. And you know that they will stand side-by-side against any adversity, something that both Zafira and Rose's all-powerful father find out rather convincingly.


Skriker is tough, strong, and determined to wipe out every single demon single-handedly if he has to. Yet, there's a depth of heart to him that allows him to cry with and for someone else. I loved that about him, even more than I loved his blonde sex appeal. And HE...IS...HOT, ladies! Black leather-clad HOT! In all respects, Rose is his perfect foil. She's a black-haired bitch on wheels, a hard-core killer in combat boots and a body-hugging’ jerkin. But her soul is the other half of his. Together, they're better than Bonnie and Clyde. Better than Bogart and Bacall. Better even than peanut butter and jelly.


Ms. Smith is now hard at work turning Black Dog and Rebel Rose into a graphic novel and screenplay. I would love to see her write a story about Skriker's father, who – if he's even half as tough as Skriker – just has to be alive somewhere and in need of his own Rosie to rescue him."

HOW FABULOUS IS THAT????!!!!!!!!! *Happy dance*

To peek into Skriker and Rose's award-winning world yourself, pick up a copy of BLACK DOG AND REBEL ROSE on Kindle (for sale now on Amazon for just 99 cents US or 71P UK!), the E-book for @3.99, or, if you prefer the lovely feel and smell of ink and paper, the Print Edition is a teenie tiny sacrifice at $12.99. Grab a cold beverage, kick back, and get your sweet funky ON!!!

Why I Don't Write Mainstream Paranormal Fiction (and why preggo bedrest eats your brain)

Bedrest can't be good for your brain.

Really.

You lie there and think waaaaay too much.

And everyone knows that thinking never did ANYONE any good.

I was on doctor ordered pelvic rest for the last 2 weeks, and lying there staring at the cieling fan in my bedroom created a lot of opportunity for me to ponder. Ponder, ponder, ponder.

Thinking never did anyone any good.

I have been working on my first anthology, a project that has been interrupted on and off my complications with my pregnancy, and while resting, I found myself in a pensive state (overly so), wondering about a question that has been posed to me on more than one occasion: why don't I take advantage of the trends in the literary market and write a vampire novel? Or werewolf tale? Throw joe public a bone and possibly rake in the big bucks, a la Twilight?

I can't say that I haven't stressed out over the concept--something that's a bit hard for me to admit. All creatives find themselves second-guessing their work from time to time--this is ultimately to be expected. Should I be jumping on the bandwagon? Or should I cherish the mid-sized pubbed cult status that I am earning now and forgo the commercially "right" thing to do?

After rolling this around in my brain for a while, I always find myself coming to the same conclusion: I will never be a "mainstream" fiction writer simply because I CAN'T be! It simply goes against the very grain of who I am. I look at other books in the same genre as my passion--angels and demons--and I see fellow authors falling into the same old mainstream trap. They may have the basis for a killer paranormal tale about a warrior angel, or a freaky badass demon--and then it all goes into the same old recycled pit with a swooning female love interest who is a vampire, or a recent example I stumbled on at Amazon, where the angel is leading a werewolf pack (sorry, but WTF?!)...sure, they may sell a lot more books, but I wouldn't feel right about watering my work down to please the masses. I look at my characters and their extraordinary, outside-the-mainstream adventures, where the only vampires are bullet fodder, and I feel...pleased. Fulfilled in a way that no trendy mainstream plotline under my belt could ever satisfy. Looking back, I have always been that way as a painter, too--Thomas Kincade can kiss my ass, despite all the bazillions of dollars he's raked in.

Not to say that I wouldn't LOVE to be on that NYC Bestseller list...who wouldn't? And yet I have started to think of myself, and others like me--small and mid-sized published (and good quality self-pubbed) authors whose work doesn't fit into the same old mold--as the equivalent of the "indie" bands of the music industry. Sure, they may not be attending the MTV Music Awards (a select few may eventually, but it will not be an easy road), and the teenage groupie masses may not be flinging themselves at us, but what we offer is valuable...something different. Honestly, I adored vamps and weres when I was a teenager--Anne Rice had a definite fan in me--and I can understand the attraction. But let's admit it--the genre has been done to death, and now that it's dead, publishers and their authors keep beating it with the same...stake. If I see one more teenage (or "sexy") vampire with douchebag hair or another Fabio-esque "Alpha" wolf, I'm gonna puke, and it ain't gonna be morning sickness!

So after lying in bed, brain cells wasting away with pregnancy boredom as I rest the womb in which my first offspring is merrily sprouting, I have come to the conclusion that I would not trade my outside-the-vampire-stable work for all the literary world...and I think that my little cult of fans prefer it that way.

*wink*

Artwork: a prelim digital illustration of Rose, the heroine of my book Black Dog and Rebel Rose, as a "badass mama".

Valentine's Day Guest Author: Taige Crenshaw

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I am pleased to welcome Guest Author Taige Crenshaw, here to discuss her latest release, Power of Attraction.


1. What inspired you to begin writing?




Writing has been in my blood and soul forever. For as long as I can remember I’ve always been an avid reader and a writer. When I was a child I used to make up my own stories and share them with my family and friends. As I got older I continued to write. When I went to college I started getting more information on actually writing professionally. I joined some writing organization and started to learn my craft.

2. What was the inspiration behind the characters in your most recent release?



Power of Attraction features Peyton and Wesley who are two complex characters who have so much to face. Their story was inspired by legacies and what happens when you have to face such things.


3. Which character did you have the most fun writing in this story?



They both were.



Peyton Blackstone is a natural born witch who has to face her family legacy, destiny, and a prophecy that could mean her end. When she meets this man she is taken with him but he has some hidden shadows. He has some things he must face. When they find out what it complicates an already tenuous situation.



Wesley McCarty is a man on edge. He thinks he is losing his mind. With unexplained blackouts and mysterious absences he doesn’t know what is ging on. Meeting Peyton he thinks she is an illusion but when he realizes she is very much real he won’t let anything stand in his way to make her his. No matter what he must face he will. But what happens when his own problems come front and center. He is shaken. His beliefs shattered. Can he look past all he learns before it is too late.



There is so much riding on the outcome of what they do.



4. What originally drew you to the paranormal/ dark fantasy genre?



I’ve always been drawn to the what if. What if’s that can happen in the world. I love taking the normal world and making it more. It is fun bring creating worlds.



5. Do you have any favorite paranormal-themed films or TV shows?



I have too many films and TV shows to list.


6. What literary projects can we expect from you in the future?



Indigo Rain, book 1 in my Phoenix Intelligence Agency will be released on March 14, 2011.



I’ve submitted Power of Instinct book 2 in the Blackstone Haven series. Started working on 3rd book in the Blackstone Haven series. And 2nd book in the Phoenix Intelligence Agency. I’m working on some joint projects. There are a few surprises I have in store for the series. I’m also self editing some books in my series that I have at various publishers. It is going to be a sizzling and busy year. LOL.



Here are some places you can find me on the web.



My Website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/



My Blog - http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog



Chat Group ~ Crenshaw Café - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crenshawcafe



To sign up for my Newsletter ~ http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/newsletterandgroups.shtml



To email me: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/contact.shtml

Satin Notes (Free Reads): http://www.satinnotes.com



****

Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora's Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Total-E-Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroines, and sexy heroes. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog.

About the Book:

Power of Attraction

(http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/books/eseries/powerofattraction.htm) - A woman whose destiny has been ordained from birth meets the man who has been prophesied for her--but there is more to him than meets the eye. With prophecies and legacies to fulfill, which way will she go: to a man who may be possibly her mate, or to a dark legacy that could take her life.

Buy Here - (http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1061) at Total-E-Bound.

Mommy, Where Did Skriker Come From?

It's time.
Time to realease the next Danielle D. Smith "power couple" on the masses.
Since the release of Black Dog and Rebel Rose, I have gained many new readers and fans who have developed a strong affinity for my characters. Said affinity has incuded a demand for telling the tale of where everyone's favorite half demon bad boy came from...

Here is a snippet from my upcoming erotic horror story, In The Neon, which my beta readers are practically salivating to get their claws on...


Faust chuckled to himself and soon he had slipped in alone to see Annie.



Once again he waved his hand in front of the token box, like a magician, and the velvet screen had pulled aside, revealing Annie sitting on her stool. This time she was dressed in a purple bustier, flouncy see-through black lace miniskirt and shiny black vinyl stiletto sandals that laced all the way up to her slender thighs. She raised her head and her weary eyes lit up when she saw him.


“Faustie!” she cried merrily, grinning from ear to ear. “You came back!”


Faust sat down on the stained cement floor, cross-legged, and pressed his palm to the Plexiglas that separated them.


“Of course. I couldn’t stay away too long, Annie.”


Annie knelt down across from him and pressed her pale hand to the window; it was as if they could almost touch, and Faust once again felt the most powerful, forbidden emotions rocketing through him like fireworks.


“I missed you,” Annie whispered, her cheeks flushing prettily, like soft pink roses blooming beneath her skin, and he couldn’t agree with her more. “Can I ask you something?”


Faust smiled; she could ask him anything, anything at all. “Of course.”


Annie pushed away from the plexiglass wall and twirled prettily; the sheer lace skirt swirled up around her hips. She paused, her back to him, lifting the skirt to reveal the high ripe slope of her buttocks and tiny floss g-string. Faust sucked his breath in sharply.


By the Master...


“Is my butt looking okay?”


“Looks beautiful,” Faust choked. Annie's green eyes twinkled merrily. She turned to face him; she unhooked the purple bra and suddenly Faust was staring at her gorgeous full breasts. Annie cupped them and gave them an appraising massage, her rose-pink nipples hardening between her fingers.


“Do I need bigger tits?” Her eyes gleamed again. He exhaled raggedly.


Shit...


“No,” he murmured, “why do you ask?”


Annie laughed. She swirled her hips seductively and crouched down before him again.


“The guy who was in here before you said I have a squishy butt and I need a boob job.”


Faust grunted and decided that he had another soul to hunt down later tonight. “A fool. They're all fools, Annie. Your beauty...is paramount. That they would even speak such filth...”


Annie sighed, blushing. “I love the way you talk, Faust.” She ran her fingers through her long blonde tresses and sent his heart pounding in a flurry.


“How have you been outside of here, Annie?” he asked her softly.


She shrugged. “Okay. Nothing out of the ordinary. Same old, same old. I did pick up a copy of Goethe’s story about Faustus and Mephistopheles at a used book store the other day…I think you inspired me to read it a second time.”


Faust found himself grinning hugely. “That is well, Annie. I’m glad I…I inspired something of interest to you. Are you enjoying it again?”


“Quite. Maybe even a little more than I did the first time I read it.”


There was a sweet silence between them, and they gazed at each other, onyx black meeting pale lime green. Annie tapped the glass with a long pink nail and smirked, winking at him.


“You know,” she mused, “we really should make time to meet outside of this place. It might be a little more comfortable to talk without a sheet of plexi between us.”


Faust cocked his head, and his dark eyes gleamed.


“Are you suggesting,” he said softly, “that you would like to meet me elsewhere…perhaps a social calling?”


Annie nodded, grinning; her teeth were straight and white and lovely.


“Yeah, I think I am. Tell me, Faust, are you always a late night man?”


Faust spread his burly arms, his chin raised proudly. “The night is my mistress, and I her eager lover.”


Annie licked her rosy lips then, and something stirred in him, something very much like a whirlwind, one that picked him up and spun him around helplessly like a leaf in a tornado. To Faust, demon-born, this was entirely new. He was not used to feeling so very helpless, so very enamored.


“Very sexy…you have a way with words,” Annie murmured. “What would you say to meeting me here tomorrow night, when my shift is over? I get off early, if you can call midnight early—we could grab a coffee, or something. Talk about books.”


Faust gazed at her, his lips parted; her very words were, on one hand, like a dream come true. She wanted to meet with him, outside of this place, the place where he fished for his victims, where he plucked the Master’s fruit and sent them screaming to Hell in a hand basket. And he wanted to; oh, how he wanted to, if only to be near her in the open air, to smell her perfume and hear the rustle of her clothing up close. Another part of him, the dutiful demon who knew only one thing


(damnation of all)


screaming and pounding at his skull


(we are not of God we do not love we do not do not do not!!!)


and he suddenly found himself pushing away at that voice, that screeching infernal beastie that was him, or what he had thought he was, up until now.


By the Master…is she transforming me?


He pushed the thought away and pressed his hand once again to the glass.


“Annie,” he said, “it would be my pleasure.”


She grinned hugely, her jade eyes sparkling, and he sighed audibly at the joy in her face.


“Great, Faust. I’m so glad. Tomorrow night then. Midnight.”


“As you wish. The witching hour it is. I shall…see you on the morrow.”


There was a rusty clank and the velvet curtain swished closed, separating them once again.


(c) Danielle D. Smith
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!!!
http://www.danielledsmith.com