Sunday Snippet: Halloween Haunt (a Lantern Jack tale)

You know, I love a great fireworks display … but … I don't love almost a full week of random nonstop barrages from different locations where I can't even see them. Because at least I'd be able to enjoy something while my poor doggos are huddled against me shaking and freaking out. In all seriousness, I don't begrudge people having the funds and knowledge to celebrate with fireworks. But I also hate the first week of July for anyone who has pets that can't deal with the show.

It's been a weird week with a toilet repair followed by a washing machine leak that needed fixed. I'm still working on the leak because, seriously, it's never a simple thing when I'm involved. I'm crossing my fingers for not having anything else water-related to deal with this week.

Had another super busy week of work. I'm slogging through a very, very long proofread and I'm almost at the finish line. Completed a copyedit that ended up having some consistency concerns but ended up being such a great story. And it's a holiday book! I love editing holiday manuscripts.

Didn't get a lot of viewing in, mainly because the proofread is difficult subject matter and so long I don't want to risk losing my spot by getting distracted. I definitely don't want to do a lot of repeat work because I lose my place.

I did get to watch an episode of My Life Is Murder. I so enjoy this show. The characters are such a delight.

I also finished up the episode of Elementary that I started last week. I have to admit I'm not quite sure if I'm down with Mycroft possibly being a bad guy. My guess is he's working with someone we've seen before, and I have two people in mind. Stay tuned to see if I'm right.

And that's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Halloween Haunt, a Lantern Jack tale featuring clairvoyant and a vampire.

Here's the miniblurb:

Lantern Jack is back to right another wrong. Hadria Hardcastle is a clairvoyant medium who runs an investigation agency—she solves the unsolvable. Safford Sturgeon is a six-hundred-year-old vampire tired of his undead existence. When a trail of dead bodies leads Hadria to Safford's front door, she has to decide if he's guilty or being framed. Safford won't make her job easy, but meeting Hadria shakes him out of his lethargy and promises to make his life worth living.

And a preview snippet…

Safford Sturgeon closed his laptop and frowned. "The death of my contractor can't be a coincidence." Not within a month of his personal assistant and six months of the manager of his art gallery.

Three people in his trusted, but very limited, inner circle.

Safford curled his fingers into his palm. "Someone wants to turn my life upside down." And they were succeeding.

"You're not wrong. Even when you avoid the rest of the world, it has an uncanny ability to intrude."

Safford eyed the ugly monstrosity sitting on the table in his kitchen. "What the hell are you?" He sniffed the air. "Ugh, you wear the stench of several centuries." He wrinkled his nose.

The pumpkin smirked. Smirked!

It spoke again. "Hi, Pot, I'm Kettle." The gourd paused a moment. "You do understand the reference, don't you?"

Safford snorted. "Of course, Kettle. Why are you here? " Disturbing my inner musing.

The pumpkin sighed. "The name is Jack and I'm here with a warning."

Safford rolled his eyes. "Spare me the doom and gloom. I've seen several lifetimes of it. Why do you think I've limited my contact with outsiders?" Which definitely includes talking vegetation.

Jack scoffed. "Because you're a cranky old man with his boxers in a bunch?"

Safford snarled his response. "No, you moronic gourd. It's because I don't want to be bothered by anyone else."

Jack grunted. "Too bad, bloodsucker." He wobbled to the edge of the table. "Your past is getting ready—if you'll excuse the pun—to bite you on the ass."

Safford narrowed his eyes. "Do you have anything to do with the murders of my friends?" He'd smash the sneering pumpkin to pieces if he did.

Jack tsked. "No, I came to tell you to make a list. One of your enemies is making a move."

As if Safford didn't already know.

Jack moved back to the middle of the surface. "Don't dawdle, Sturgeon. While you're making that list, you're going to learn about what vengeance can do to wreak havoc on the universe."

Safford didn't relish the idea, but he sighed and dragged the notebook he'd already set out forward and started writing.

Jack waited until Safford had one full column before he started his tale of woe. "A long, long time ago I got very angry…"

The Lantern Jack tales are a lot of fun to write. I love letting Jack get his snark on.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye 

Sunday Snippet: Halloween Haunt (a Lantern Jack tale)

Long week with a zillion phone calls to settle everything on getting a new vehicle to replace our totaled one. Happy to say as of Friday it's all taken care of. Yay!

Not a bad week with work projects and a solid week of good television. Started out with Street Legal and I'm ending with another episode of the same. Starting to really enjoy this show.

Caught another episode of the Ready Room and thoroughly enjoyed Evan Evagoria's interview. Such a great character he played. And he's a huge fan of the franchise and that came through so much.

Also watched another episode of Chicago Med and enjoyed the three threads playing out during the episode.

Enjoyed another episode of No Offence. This show … man, it's so good. Not sure if there will be more episodes, but I'm so glad I found this one.

Caught the second part of Silent Witness's two part episode. Yeah, they're all two part episodes, I know. This was a really great one and I liked how everything came together by the end.

Watched another arc of Classic Who. They're still on the trail of the time key components and this episode ended up being more fun than I originally thought it would be.

Started a new episode of Blue Heelers and it's got some drama, which seems to be woven in more than usual. Great episode so far.

Caught another episode of UFOs: The Lost Evidence. This one focused around UFOs and US presidents. Actually pretty interesting viewing.

Watched two more episodes of The Muppet Show. Dom Deluise and Bernadette Peters were the guest stars. I'm still nostalgic for the first season, which is probably my favorite.

The Hardy Boys had a great episode. The tall dude is finally—maybe—done for. Liked getting a little more information on Laura's past and I'm trying to decide if I want the grandmother to be super bad or a red herring of goodness.

I viewed another Master Class with David Carson on graphic design. This one had another lesson about color and I found it fascinating.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is going to some interesting places. I can't decide if I want Sabrina to really twist everything on its ass or if she needs something to blow up in her face. I'll find out by the next episode if that happens.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Halloween Haunt, a Lantern Jack tale featuring a clairvoyant medium and a cranky vampire.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Lantern Jack is back to right another wrong. Hadria Hardcastle is a clairvoyant medium who runs an investigation agency—she solves the unsolvable. Safford Sturgeon is a six-hundred-year-old vampire tired of his undead existence. When a trail of dead bodies leads Hadria to Safford's front door, she has to decide if he's guilty or being framed. Safford won't make her job easy, but meeting Hadria shakes him out of his lethargy and promises to make his life worth living.

And a preview snippet…

Hadria woke up from a nightmare that doubled as a prescient dream. "Someone is going to die." The gut-churning knowledge meant she wouldn't get back to sleep.

She got out of bed on shaky legs and almost tripped over an ugly, carved pumpkin. Her gift allowed her to see the man under the curse. He'd been trapped for a very long time.

She tilted her head to one side. "You must have done something horrible to carry the hex you have."

The pumpkin responded. "I did. But I've seen the error of my ways and I'm on the path to redemption." He paused a moment. "Folks refer to me as Lantern Jack. No one is allowed to speak my true name until I make my final amends."

Hadria dropped down to sit cross-legged on the floor. "You haven't wronged me so there's another reason you're here." She had to admit, he offered an excellent distraction from her nasty dream.

Jack made a tsking sound. "I'm sorry to say you won't be distracted for long. I'm here to help you find the killer."

Hadria narrowed her eyes. "You're speaking truth but you're not speaking all. What are you holding back?" The fact he mentioned her dream gave her additional insight to his nature.

Jack's carved visage shifted to surprise. "Your gift is strong."

She nodded. "Let's call it the curse I live with." Not exactly a wonderful blessing.

Jack spoke again. "I can't reveal all I know, but I can guide you where your gift can't."

Hadria sensed his honesty. "Do you know if I'll make it in time?" Her track record could use a boost.

She'd been too late the last two times. But she had helped catch the culprits in both recent cases. Maybe she'd actually have a chance this time.

Jack gave her a careful answer. "It's possible but not certain."

Hadria sighed, picked him up, and carried him into her small kitchen. "Tell me what you can. I won't be able to go back to sleep anyway." She grabbed the coffee canister and started filling the basket to brew a pot.

Please let this pumpkin help me this time.

The Lantern Jack stories have been a lot of fun to write. This one is getting Jack closer to his goal and he'll have one more hurdle to jump if he manages to get Hadria and Safford together.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Halloween Haunt

Whew. Crazy-busy week. I spent much of the past seven days brainstorming a new business idea with one of my closest friends. We're close to making a decision about moving forward or not. I'll keep everyone posted.

Not a bad week for television. Got in more Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Decent episodes but I'm always thrown by Batman not being Kevin Conroy. Ah, well. That's how it goes.

Got a couple episodes of Constantine in. I'll have one more to watch to finish up the season. Also caught the first episode of Lexx. I remember the original run but didn't get to watch everything from start to finish. Looking forward to seeing the entire story.

Watched another episode of The Coroner. It fits in well with my other mystery shows. Got two episodes of Midsomer Murders and Endeavor in. I'm caught up as far as I can be with Endeavor. Have to wait for season five to become available for binge-watching.

Watched a Hallmark movie, The Art of Us. I had the pleasure of editing the wonderful book from Tule Publishing. The movie turned out really well.

Caught my military shows with one episode each. Band of Brothers and Strike Back. Also followed up with an episode of Chicago Fire.

Sense 8 had another terrific episode. I'm always blown away with the seamlessness of the cluster interactions. I can't wait to watch more of this show. Started The Dresden Files with the first episode. I enjoyed this show when it originally aired. I'm up to episode seven of Canal Road and the twisty turns keep on coming. I'm very invested in seeing how the show plays out with regards to Spencer's wife's death.

I started a classic series in black and white called Medic. There are only twelve episodes available on the app, but I'll see how the second one is before deciding to continue or not.

Finally started the second season of The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I so wish there had been more of this show. Things really jelled in season two.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Halloween Haunt, a sexy short featuring Lantern Jack.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Lantern Jack is back to right another wrong. Hadria Hardcastle is a clairvoyant medium who runs an investigation agency—she solves the unsolvable. Safford Sturgeon is a six-hundred-year-old vampire tired of his undead existence. When a trail of dead bodies leads Hadria to Safford's front door, she has to decide if he's guilty or being framed. Safford won't make her job easy, but meeting Hadria shakes him out of his lethargy and promises to make his life worth living.

And a preview snippet…

Lantrien Jacquard, also known as Lantern Jack, had righted all of his wrongs. But his efforts weren't enough to break the curse that kept him trapped and living his life as a jack-o-lantern. Nope. He had another hurdle or two to clear before he'd be allowed to live in peace.

And he didn't know if he could pull off the required tasks. He didn't like not being confident. Not one damned bit.

"I have to bring two polar opposites together. And there's no history to fall back on." With every other couple he'd brought together, there had been some kind of "in", something Jack had done that could be changed, to fix the harm he'd caused. "But this new challenge? Bringing a clairvoyant named Hadria Hardcastle together with a centuries-old vampire named Safford Sturgeon? Where do I even start on this?"

The one advantage Jack had at his disposal? Being able to see key points, places where Hadria's path might converge with Safford's. And Jack wanted to start with the gifted medium. Vampires were notoriously uncooperative and Safford had six hundred years of baggage getting in his way.

Which meant some old enemies had a few scores to settle with the cranky undead man. A score in the plus column for Jack. But Hadria would be easier to guide, her open mind susceptible to what Jack could reveal. And her passion for the truth should give him room to maneuver the duo into seeing their salvation from loneliness in each other.

He hoped.

"Now I have to test my theories and set the stage."

If he succeeded here, he'd have one more obstacle to overcome then he could seek his reward with his lady queen.

Jack is almost finished with his challenges. This story brings him one step closer to his ultimate goal.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye