Christmas and the writer

I tried to finish my Christmas shopping today.

I am a writer.

Someone suggested I could write stories and give them as gifts for Christmas and even suggested that some people in my family have been expecting something like this from me for some time now. This person said that all it would cost me is time. This person does not understand what storytelling is or what it means to me. If anyone did understand they would know that such an undertaking would take much more than just time. I do not just put time into the creation of a story. It takes much more than that.

Maybe what really bothers me is that I did not think of it myself. I have long desired to share my stories with the world. It did not occur to me to craft stories just for my family.
If I did do this I would not be able to write just one story for everyone. It just would not work. Everyone would get their own story. They would not be long but each one would have to be custom written for the person they would be given to.

But the idea is not my own so I can't do it. Maybe some other year I will remember early enough and I will be able to do something like this for everyone in my family. Not just my parents and my sisters but everyone, my cousins, and aunts and uncles and grandparents and even the ones I barely know and never talk to.

But I can't do it this year. The person who suggested it said all it would cost me is time. That one statement made me feel so alone and hopeless that I barely have the strength to write this now.

Maybe someday I will share my stories with the world and someone out there will be able to grasp what the process of writing and storytelling really means to me. But that is not today.

I love Christmas. I love this time of year. I wish more people understood the real reason behind why I do.

The only way I think I might be able to make any of this make sense is to tell you that I believe in Santa Claus. I don't know if he really lives at the North Pole and has flying reindeer or bends time and space to deliver presents. I have never seen these things.

I believe in Santa Claus the way I believe in Superman. I believe in what they stand for. I believe in the things they are meant to represent.

In closing all I can say is Merry Christmas to all.
I hope none of you are alone.

NaNoWriMo update #4

National Novel Writing Month has come to an end.
I finished A Space Story and now I plan to try to get it published.
Although I may have to come up with a better title.
I need to smooth out the ending some too.

At some point I will get back to working on Ms. October and the Vampire Prince but I will be doing some major reworking of the plot and how the main character Molly October gets introduced to the world of magic and what order and under what circumstances she meets the other characters.

I also got this idea for a werewolf story. I was never big on werewolves but I think I like where this story idea is going.

I will continue to share storys I am working on as well as any future videos I make.

NaNoWriMo update #3

So Part 2 is done. There was some sex. There was drama. Some characters died.

Now Part 3 is in progress. The characters are dealing with what happened in Part 2. They made their way to an alien planet and met their enemy face to face for the first time.

Next they must escape the mind trap.

NaNoWriMo update #2

Okay so it has been a lot longer than the next day it was supposed to be for these updates.

I finished Part 1 of A Space Story.
What happened you ask?
Janessa met the rest of the characters. Everyone learned where the starship Daedlus really came from. Zai, last of the Raath revealed himself and his mission.

I am almost done with Part 2.

I am not sure if I will be finishing Ms. October and the Vampire Prince as it is. I came up with an idea of how to better bring the audience into the world I am creating in that story and it will require a few major plot changes as well as a major alteration to the main title characters. But overall it will keep the concepts it started out with.

NaNoWriMo update #1

I started my NaNo novel today. It takes place on a spaceship. My working title is A Space Story. Feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions for something better.

What happened so far?

Janessa Kepshawn arrives on the starship Daedlus. She remembers a conversation with her friend Tania. She looks at the official starship wardrobe everyone was issued and she meets Junitha Pendragon.

More Tommorow.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Okay so National Novel Writing Month has started. I was going to try to have the next part of Ms. October and the Vampire Prince done before but I did not get to it. So there will not be any updates to that in November because I will be working on my NaNoWriMo novel. I may do some updates on that as I go along.

Megan Fox, feminism, nerds and the media video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkzDbQKTQro

Megan Fox, feminism, nerds and the media transcript

Feminism, the media, the nerd community and Megan Fox

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Online I am known as DJRM.
I would like to talk to you tonight about some subjects that have been on my mind recently. These subjects include feminism, nerds, sitcoms, and Megan Fox. You may not agree with my observations about these things. I only wish to share what I have seen. And recently I have seen a bit of a double standard in the feminist material I read and I have seen some rather unbecoming behavior in the nerd community of which I consider myself a member.
To start things off I need to tell you about a double standard that has long existed in the media we take in everyday. There is no shortage of the media sexualizing women. The best example that leads into what I want to talk about is the American sitcom. On lots of sitcoms there is a teenage daughter. And there is often and episode or series of episodes or a running joke throughout the series about the teenage daughter’s sexuality. Usually the teenage daughter wants to dress in a more revealing fashion or engage in some activity the parent is worried could lead to a sexual situation and of course it is the job of the father figure on the show to protect the daughter and stop her from dressing or behaving in a manner that would suggest she has any sort of explicit sexuality.
And therein lies the double standard in the media of constantly sexualizing young women but at the same time sending the message that their sexuality if something to be feared, something to be hidden and never acknowledged.
Now there is no shortage of feminist sources that point out this double standard in the media we watch everyday.
And yet the feminist sources I have come across seem to do something similar to what I see in the media.
They vilify the media for this portrayal of female sexuality as something to be feared and yet many of the feminist sources themselves also refuse to acknowledge a young woman’s sexuality.
Now I understand they do not want women to be solely defined by sexuality or that they argue women should be recognized for more than that and I agree. But more often than not when a woman does try to take charge of her own sexuality that woman becomes a target for feminists.
This brings me to the next part of the presentation. Megan Fox.
Now I am not a huge fan of Megan Fox. As a man I recognize that she is a very attractive woman but I have seen no evidence that she is a greatly talented since the only films I have seen her in are the Transformers movies and those are not a great display of anyone’s talent except the robot animation team. Nice job robot computer animator people.
Now Megan Fox and the comments made about her by feminists and nerds lately are the perfect example of everything that is just wrong and… okay let me try to explain this.
Megan Fox is an attractive young woman that is not afraid of her own sexuality in fact she uses it. She uses her face, her body, her whole sexual being and she has done very well so far using her sexuality as a tool.
And because of this open willingness to own her sexuality she has become a target for many feminist sources I have seen.
Because while these feminist groups or commentators say that the media or government should not control a woman’s sexuality, that a woman should control her own sexuality, the moment any woman, god forbid a young attractive famous woman, tries to own her sexuality, that woman becomes a target for criticism by feminists.
And what for? Why condemn Megan Fox for taking control of her sexuality and using it to her advantage?
Is it because she does not look like a feminist?
Is it because she is working within the system that so many feminists revile?
Is it really so wrong for her to use that system to her advantage?
There is the argument that Megan Fox is portraying herself as a sexual object and that is a disservice to all women. And I can understand that. But what I have seen in the last few months goes well beyond that argument.
And what I have seen comes not just from feminists but from the nerd community as well. It’s like they are just looking for any reason they can get their hands on to hate Megan Fox.
Now the nerd community has been and continues to be a male dominated culture. But that is hardly an excuse for the disgusting behavior I have seen from my fellow nerds lately.
The nerd hate for Megan Fox began with the movie Transformers 2 revenge of the fallen. A lot of nerds including myself hate that movie with a passion. And there is no shortage of hate to go around but most of it I have seen has been directed at Megan Fox for some reason.
Why is that nerds?
Is it because she is so untalented that she alone ruined the movie?
There were plenty of other actors who gave much worse performances. There has been plenty of hate for leading man Shia Lebouf and director Michael Bay, but nowhere near the level of venom I have seen directed at Megan Fox.
Come on my fellow nerds why so eager to jump on the Megan Fox hate bandwagon?
I have seen people in the nerd community say some awfully nasty things about Megan Fox as recently as last night.
They say she looks like a porn star. And what’s your point? Does looking like a porn star make you less of a person? Whether anyone feminist or nerd wants to admit it, porn stars are people too? Yes I did just say that.
I have also seen nerds call Megan Fox a used up whore?
And how exactly do you come to that conclusion?
Exactly what has Megan Fox done other than take charge of her own sexuality that makes you call her a whore?
And don’t give me that bull that ‘hey we were just joking around man’
No you weren’t that kind of contempt does not come from nowhere.
So what is the reason? Where does all this nerd hate for Megan Fox come from?
And what is it about Megan Fox that offends you so much?
Is it because she is not only an attractive young woman, but an attractive young woman that is not afraid of her own sexuality?
Where as you and everyone else has been conditioned to think its okay to hate a woman for taking charge of her sexuality?
This leads into another reason why Megan Fox is the perfect example for what I am trying to say. Ever watched the sitcom Two and a Half Men? I don’t watch it but I once saw some clips from an episode on Youtube.
It was an episode guest staring Megan Fox. She played the housekeepers teenage granddaughter. This episode of Two and a Half Men more than any other episode of any sitcom or any show on television is a perfect example of the double standard in media of sexualizing a young woman coupled with this message of fear. The whole episode revolves around the two adult male characters doing their best to avoid viewing the girl as a sexual object while she is constantly displayed in a sexually suggestive manner.
Some might call it ironic that Megan Fox has gone on to great success using that same sexuality, or you might just call it depressing.
Whether you agree with me or not, there is one thing none of you can deny, Megan Fox is hot. She is way hotter than you. She is way hotter than me. And she knows it and she uses it and if you have a problem with that, then it is just that, your problem.
So here we are now. I’ve got my words out there for you to hear.
I can only wonder if this video will make any kind of impression.

And remember,
We all live on a yellow submarine.

Ms. October and the Vampire Prince: Part 4

VAMPIRES

“You want me to run an investigation with a vampire?” asked Molly.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” said Elaine, “I know some vampires. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
“I didn’t say I was afraid of vampires,” said Molly. Actually Molly was not sure if she was afraid of vampires.
“So these are real vampires?” Molly began asking again, “With fangs and they drink blood and coffins and all that.”
“Yeah that’s about it,” said Jim, “except for the coffins. Don’t say anything like that in front of them. And don’t mention garlic or poppy seeds either. They find those stereotypes offensive.”
“Poppy seeds?” asked Molly.
Valerie walked into the lounge followed by a man and a woman. The woman looked to be in her mid twenties. She was pale and had long dark hair. She wore a simple white blouse and black pants. She just looked like a pretty girl you might see anywhere. The man looked younger, barely out of his teens. He wore a long dark coat with black pants and an open collared red shirt. Molly thought maybe he could be considered dressed slightly vampire like but he just looked like a very handsome young man. A very handsome young man with very nice hair. He looked at Molly and she felt herself strangely enjoying this brief moment of his attention. He quickly looked away as Valerie spoke.
“Ms. October I would like you to meet Shannon the magistrate of vampirekind for the greater Chicago area. And with her is Lucas Rudoson a special investigator sent by the Vampire King himself.”
Molly stood up a little awkwardly as Shannon reached out to shake her hand. Lucas simply bowed his head to her.
“It is nice to meet you,” said Shannon.
Molly wanted to say something but she was still trying to get around the idea that these two people were actually vampires.
“So there’s a vampire king?” asked Molly.
There was a long pause from everyone that was broken when Lucas said, “You can’t be serious. How am I supposed to conduct an investigation if I have to deal with this?”
He had a European accent that Molly could not place. She might have thought it made him that much more attractive if she had not been angered by what he said.
“You don’t have to ‘deal’ with me,” said Molly, “I was under the impression that we were going to work together.”
“You said she was uninitiated into the world of magic,” Lucas continued, “You did not tell me it was this bad.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room,” demanded Molly.
“Hold on before this argument goes any further,” said Valerie, “There are some things we clearly need to get straight first. Listen to me Lucas, I don’t care whose son you are, to me you are just another vampire and I will not have you roaming my city on your own.”
“I am aware of your opinion of our kind,” said Lucas, “And I know my families reputation. I assure I do not live up to it. I do not need any assistance in my investigation. I already know who is responsible.”
“We all know your theory,” replied Valerie, “So far you have no evidence that proves it.”
Lucas was ready to continue arguing but Shannon stopped him by saying, “She is queen of this city Lucas, you had best obey her. The old king of this city was known for being lenient to our kind. She is not.”
“Can I just say something?” said Molly, “Listen Lucas, I have a personal interest in this case. I have been an agent of the FBI for over three years and I have closed all my cases until this one. Don’t for a second doubt that I am a competent investigator. So if you are willing to show me the way around all the magical stuff we can work together and solve this thing.”
Lucas looked her in the eye and said, “I can live with that.”
“Good we can all be civil,” said Valerie, “Do you know where to start?”
“We should go to this city’s marketplace,” said Lucas.
“Here they call it the Undermarket,” said Shannon.
“There is one other thing,” said Molly, “I don’t want to make myself look dumb or anything but since I’m new to all of this that might be unavoidable but anyway… You guys are really vampires?”
“Yes,” said Shannon.
Lucas rolled his eyes.
“It’s just that well,” Molly was not sure how to put it, “You just seem like two people, a man and a woman. I thought there would be more… You know what, never mind.”
“Show her,” said Valerie.
The first thing that changed was their eyes. They turned yellow like the eyes of a nocturnal mammal. Their skin changed too. Lucas became pale. The only time Molly could remember seeing skin that pale was in a morgue. It was even more significant on Shannon. Her skin was more than just pale. She was like a statue, or a painting, she was something that would never grow old, never change. Shannon opened her mouth. There was a tiny clicking sound of bone on bone as her fangs deployed. They were more than just two pointed teeth. They were sharp and deadly and would probably leave more than just two little holes behind if she used them.
“Holy shit,” said Molly quietly.

Ms. October and the Vampire Prince: Part 3

THE WORLD OF MAGIC

“I’ll let Elaine and Charles take it from here,” said Valerie.
Charles stood up and looked at Molly so seriously she thought he might never smile again. He took a deep breath and said, “Molly, magic runs in our family. I know how perform magic. Not a lot but enough to get by in the magical world. Most of our relatives can also do magic.”
“I’ve never seen anyone in my mom’s side of the family do magic,” said Molly, “I think I would have noticed something like that.”
“Your dad’s family didn’t use magic, at all. They were hunters.”
“Hunters? Of what?”
“Witches,” said Charles, “You dad’s family, the October family, they were witch hunters, they had been for generations. Although towards the end they didn’t just hunt witches they hunted all kinds of magical creatures.”
Molly looked at Charles skeptically then at Valerie and said, “Oh come on.”
“This is serious Molly,” said Charles, “You mother was a witch. It’s how your mom and dad met.”
Molly stopped. For a time she did not move and all expression drained from her face. Finally she said barely more than a whisper, “That is not funny Charles.”
“I told you this was serious,” he replied, “Your dad left his family to be with your mom. Haven’t you ever wondered why you never met anyone on your dad’s side of the family? He married a witch. They didn’t want anything to do with him.”
Molly just stared for a long time again then said, “Are you saying this has something to do with my mother’s death?”
“I don’t know about your mom’s death,” said Charles, “your dad never told any of us about it. We trusted him when he told us he took care of it.”
“Excuse me,” said Valerie interrupting. A minute ago Valerie had been acting so smooth and in control. Now she seemed surprised.
“What’s this about her mother’s death?” said Valerie, “This is the sort of thing I asked you about Charles.”
“It was family business,” replied Charles without looking Valerie in the eye.
“I understand that,” said Valerie, “but given what we are asking your cousin to do, it would be best if I stay informed of everything.”
Molly wanted to ask a hundred different questions. But she was quickly seeing no one in here had the answers. She decided then that she would say yes to what they wanted. Because it might ultimately lead her to the thing she had been looking for most of her life.
“Do some magic,” said Molly.
Charles and Valerie looked at Molly. Elaine who had been sitting quietly looked up as well.
“You want me to believe that magic is real. Show it to me. One of you, do something magical.”
Charles and Valerie both appeared to be at a loss for words or ideas. Elaine stood up and said, “Okay I know something. Can I borrow a pencil?”
Elaine snatched a pencil. She held it out open palmed towards Molly. Elaine began to whisper to herself. The pencil began to turn black. It changed shape and moved. It became a snake. Elaine smiled as it slithered up her arm. The snake wrapped itself around Elaine’s neck. It changed color and became gold. Elaine reached behind her neck and unfastened the gold snake necklace and handed it to Molly. Molly took it and looked it over. It was made of gold and it looked like a snake. It glowed slightly and became warm. Molly dropped it. When it landed on the floor it was a pencil again.
“Son of a bitch,” said Molly.
She looked at each of them again. Elaine smiling pleased with herself. Valerie sat back causally in her chair. Molly looked at Charles who was far more solemn than usual.
“So magic runs in our family,” said Molly.
“Yes,” he replied.
“And you do magic? How many people in the family know about this?”
“Everyone but you knows about it Molly.”
“And is there a reason everyone decided to keep this from me?”
“It’s how your mom and dad wanted it. With your dad’s family’s history with magic users, they thought it best if they raised you unaware of magic. They didn’t want you to get caught up in it all. After your mom’s death your dad still didn’t want you to know and the family respected his wishes. Then when your dad died, you were an adult and we thought it would be better if you just stayed unaware.”
“Are you kidding me? You think I like not knowing…”
There was a knock at the office door.
“Hey Valerie are you busy?” asked a man.
“Come on in Jim,” said Valerie.
The man that entered the room was white in his forties. He was wearing blue hospital scrubs.
“Oh are you having a meeting in here?” he asked with a smile.
“This is my husband Jim Field,” said Valerie.
“Nice to meet you,” said Jim reaching out to shake Molly’s hand.
Molly accepted the handshake.
“We just got a call from Shannon,” said Jim, “and she is on her way over.”
“Great,” said Valerie as she got up form her chair, “we better do this in the lounge. This office is way too small. Charles, Elaine, take Ms. October to the lounge. I’ll meet you there as soon as Shannon gets here.”
Molly followed Charles and Elaine down the hall.
“That was her husband?” asked Molly, “he was a bit old for her.”
“Actually they are about the same age,” said Elaine.
“What?” said Molly, “He’s got to be in his forties? And what is she like nineteen?”
“Valerie is forty five,” said Elaine, “and Jim is only two years older than her.”
“She’s forty five? Does she use some magic to make herself look so much younger?”
“Valerie doesn’t use magic often,” said Charles, “it’s complicated. And it’s personal.”
They came into the lounge. Molly had walked by it a few times since she had arrived. It was a decent sized area. You could have had a nice office party there. There was a couch and some chairs in a corner. There was a pool table with a pool cue rack along the wall. There was a candy bar vending machine and a soda machine as well.
Molly knew she was going to need to sit down and think. She went for one of the chairs. A number of thoughts began to dawn on her about her family.
“So magic runs in our family?” said Molly to Charles, “Does magic have anything to do with the fact that you don’t talk to your brother Alexandre anymore? Or why no one ever wants to talk about him? I assumed it was drugs but now I can’t be sure.”
Charles sat down on the couch across from Molly. Elaine sat down next to him.
“Alexandre was never on drugs,” Charles began, “When Uncle Louis was raising us he taught us magic. I never got past learning some basic spells. But Alexandre had a greater affinity for it. It was never enough for him. A few years ago he started studying older darker magic. He became obsessed and ran off. There are systems in place to monitor and police dark magic users now. Every once in a while I hear news about Alexandre. None of it is ever good.”
“Holy crap Uncle Louis,” said Molly, “He taught you magic.”
“He taught a lot of people magic,” said Charles, “It was sort of his calling.”
“Did magic have anything to do with his death? I know the police said it was a home invasion.”
“We think Uncle Louis was killed by another sorcerer,” said Charles, “The local magical authorities down in Louisiana investigated but they only found small traces of the magic that was used. Whoever killed Uncle Louis knew how to cover their tracks both magically and regularly.”
“What about you?” said Molly to Elaine, “Is there magic in your family? Is that how you became a witch?”
“I’m not a witch,” said Elaine, “I’m a sorceress. It can take some time to get used to all the different terms. But as to how I got into magic. When I was in high school I was all into goth culture. Mostly because I was always angry at my parents and wanted to get back at them. Anyway I got involved with this group of kids that was into paganism and stuff. There was this one guy in the group through, his name was Arthur, we called him Arty, and he was a little more hardcore than everyone else. He got this idea we should do a pagan ritual. What none of us were smart enough to figure out at the time was that the ritual wasn’t pagan it was satanic. Arty was trying to raise a demon slave to serve him and he was going to sacrifice all of us to do it. The ritual did not work the way he thought it would. That’s actually how I met Valerie and it’s kind of a long story after that. I’m not sure if I really have time to go into it.”
“I hate to interrupt,” it was Jim entering the lounge, “But Shannon and the investigator just got here. Valerie will be up with them in a minute.”
Jim went to Molly and said, “There are still a few things we need to go over before you meet your partner.”
“Partner?” said Molly, “When was it decided that I needed a partner?”
“No offense Ms. October but you know next to nothing about the magical world. You are going to need help navigating your way around. And there are other issues to consider. The vampires have insisted that one of their own be involved given the significance of the case to them.”
Before anything else Molly had to be clear on one thing Jim had said.
“Did you just say vampires?”
“Oh right,” said Jim, “No one told you about the vampires yet. Well all of the items stolen from private collections were from collections owned by vampires. And the ones stolen from museum and galleries were items the vampires have been trying to get back for years.”
“Vampires are real?” said Molly.
“Yep,” said Jim, “And I’m sorry you don’t have more time to get used to the idea but they will be here any minute now.”

Ms. October and the Vampire Prince: Part 2

THE QUEEN

Molly October was twenty eight years old. She had no immediate family and was the oldest of her various cousins. Some people who saw her saw her as white, some people saw her as black. She had shoulder length dark hair and dark brown eyes. She was not fond of exercise but did what she had to in order to stay in shape. Men had often told Molly that she was attractive. Most of the time they would follow it by a list of things they wanted to do to her. Molly’s favorite way of getting rid of them was letting them see her sidearm. Occasionally she would even take it out of the holster.
Molly October was in a used bookstore without her gun or her badge. The building was located on a part of Wabash that had not yet had the benefit of some of the city’s recent beautification initiatives. A used bookstore took up most of the first floor. The rest of the building held apartments for rent. This was where Charles and Elaine lived and worked and where Molly was staying while she was in Chicago.
Molly was looking at some old hard covers of Stephen King novels. Charles and Elaine had gone upstairs to their boss’s office. Molly had not met the woman who ran the bookstore and owned the building. She got tired of looking at books she would never have time to read and went up to Charles’ apartment. She turned on the television and found a news report about the Art Institute. There had been a robbery and one security guard had been killed. The wheels of Molly’s mind began to turn and she knew they would not stop until she was sure of something. She headed back downstairs. She was about to go out the front door when the blonde girl at the front register stopped her.
“Hey aren’t you Charles’ cousin?” she asked smiling as she put herself between Molly and the door.
“Yeah,” Molly replied, “I’m just staying for a week or two.”
“My name is Angie,” said the blonde girl. She was young and pretty and she had blue eyes to boot and to Molly she seemed very nervous at the moment.
“I’m Molly and I’m going to be out for a while.”
“Where are you going?” said Angie still smiling nervously and refusing to move.
“No offense but I don’t have to explain myself to you,” said Molly.
She tried to go for the door but Angie pushed herself up against it.
“I’m not supposed to let you leave,” said Angie.
“Excuse me?”
“You have to talk to Valerie first.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Who’s Valerie?”
“I am Valerie,” a woman called from behind.
The first thing Molly noticed was the woman’s red hair. Not just red but crimson like blood. And she was gorgeous; she had a fair angelic face. She had a strange regality to her even though she was wearing jeans and a white tank top.
“Okay then,” said Molly, “is there some reason you’re making this girl prevent me from leaving.”
“You and I need to talk,” said Valerie, “Angie you can head home I’ve got this covered.”
Angie, still quite nervous, carefully moved away from the door and went to get her things from behind the register. As she went out the door she looked back and said to Molly, “I’m really sorry about that but you should trust Valerie this is serious.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on but I’m leaving now,” said Molly.
“Do you want you job with the FBI back?” asked Valerie.
Molly froze with her hand on the door handle. She slowly turned around and said, “How do you know about that?”
“I know everything,” said Valerie, “I know about Agent Banks. I know about the robberies. I also know the one at the Art Institute this evening is in fact linked to the case you were working on.”
“And how do you know all this? Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Valerie Field and I’m the queen of Chicago final member of the council of seven. But we can talk more about that later. I own this building and this is my bookstore down here. Now if you will come up to my office I will explain everything to you.”
Valerie turned on her heel and headed for the stairs at the back of the store. Molly hesitated just for a moment before following.
The office was not very large and it was a bit crowded. Valerie was seated in a large leather chair that made her petite frame seem even smaller. Her desk was a large wooden antique with various cluttered papers and snow globes and brass monkeys and other office paraphernalia. There was a glass case against the wall with a selection of old comic books. The only one Molly was familiar with was Wonder Woman #1. There were two chairs on the other side of the desk also made of leather. Elaine was sitting in one with Charles standing behind her. Molly was offered a seat in the other chair but she chose to stay standing.
“Do you believe in magic?” asked Valerie leaning back in her chair.
“Excuse me?” said Molly.
“Do you believe in magic?” Valerie asked again, “And I don’t mean that crap David Copperfield and Criss Angel do. I mean real magic. That there are forms of energy out there that can’t be analyzed with machines, energy that can be harnessed with thought given the proper training. Do you believe that creatures born of magic can exist?”
Molly hesitated but quickly comprehended that Valerie was serious.
“I like to think I’m open to the possibility that there is more to the world than just what we see everyday,” said Molly, “I can’t honestly say I believe in magic. But I’m willing to believe that there are still things to be discovered.”
“I like your answer,” said Valerie, “Now let’s talk about that case you were working on before your forced leave of absence.”
“What do you know about it?” said Molly.
“I know that Special Agent Samuel Banks went to great lengths to discredit you in an attempt to further his own career. I know about the thefts that have occurred in several museums and private collections over the last year. The items stolen don’t seem to have anything in common other than that they were stolen by the same men. Men who wear long white coats. I know that several of them resulted in the night watchmen on duty being murdered.”
“How the hell do you know all that?” said Molly.
“I have contacts within the FBI,” said Valerie, “But that is not the issue. I know things about this case that the FBI has not even guessed at yet. I would like to offer you a job. I want you to solve this case.”
“For the sake of argument,” said Molly, “if you actually could get me the chance to finish this case. And I’m not saying I believe you can do that. Why would you offer me that chance?”
“You have prior knowledge of the case it saves me the time it would take to catch summon one else up on it. I like it when my city is safe. These guys in the white coats are breaking the laws not just of my city but of the world we are a part of.”
“Yeah because you’re the queen of Chicago,” said Molly skeptically.
“To be more accurate I am the Queen of Chicago’s magical underworld,” said Valerie, “Chicago is part of the council of seven. The seven cities that govern the Earth’s magical beings. The other cities on the council are New York, London, Moscow, Tokyo, Mexico City and Jerusalem. Magic is real Ms. October. The men who committed those thefts used magic. That is why you found no physical evidence of them other than the security tapes.”
“Magic?” said Molly still skeptical.
“The world is much bigger than most people realize,” said Valerie, “The magical world does exist but it is hidden from the regular world. But I suppose just saying that is not enough. We will have to show you.”

Ms. October and the Vampire Prince: Part 1

I will now be posting my novel in progress on this blog. Here is part one.

CHICAGO

Molly October did not have a good feeling about this. She did not know how to pronounce half the things on the menu. And every other thing seemed to have goat cheese in it. Molly was not totally against the idea of goat cheese but she was cautiously suspicious of it.
Coming to this little café/sandwich shop/bookshop, whichever it was, had been her Cousin Charles’ idea. Or to be more accurate his girlfriend Elaine had suggested it and he had agreed it was a good idea.

“Are you guys sure about this place?” Molly asked.

“Yeah,” said Elaine, “This is a really good restaurant.”
“Are you sure this is a restaurant?” said Molly, “Restaurants have waiters. This place has… bookshelves. And why does everything on the menu come with goat cheese? Do they have something against regular cheese from cows? Are there a lot places like this in Chicago? How do they stay in business?”
“Come on relax Molly,” said Charles, “You came out here because you wanted to get away from your work. Just stop asking questions for a minute and enjoy things.”
“Yeah sure,” said Molly halfheartedly.
It was nice seeing Charles but what she really wanted was to get back to work. She wanted to be in her office back in Washington D.C. at FBI headquarters. She wanted her case back. But now Molly was on a forced leave of absence and she could not bring herself to stay in DC and not investigate. So she had flown out here to Chicago to see the only family she felt close to.
“They do pretty good business here,” said Elaine, “They’re on Michigan Avenue and close to Printer’s Row so they get a lot of college students in here. Mostly the vegans and communists.”
Charles and Elaine laughed at this. Whatever the joke was it was lost on Molly. She found Charles and Elaine to be an odd match. Not because he was black and she was white. Molly herself was of biracial decent; her father had been white and her mother black. The odd thing was that Elaine was a skinny pale Goth girl, she had black hair, she dressed in black, and she wore various pieces of metal on her face and fingers. Where Charles, as Molly had always thought of him, Charles was a health conscious academic, he kept his hair cropped very short, he had no tattoos or ornaments of any sort and always seemed to wear something that showed of his muscles. He was not a vegetarian or anything but he did take care of himself and he was very intelligent. It was easy to see why any woman would be attracted to Charles. But Molly had never been sure what he saw in Elaine.
It was then that Molly noticed the first police car through the front window. Its siren was blaring and its lights flashed. It was followed by two more. People began walking in the direction of the police cars. Molly stood up and headed for the door.
“Are you okay?” asked Charles.
“I want to check something out,” said Molly without looking back.
“Where are you going?” asked Elaine.
“Just order whatever, I’ll be back later,” said Molly.
She jogged down Michigan Avenue in the shadow of the buildings only glancing to see if there was oncoming traffic when she crossed a street. There were people gathered a street away from The Art Institute of Chicago. Molly could see a police line and an ambulance along with many police officers telling people to stay back.
“Did something happen at the Art Institute?”
Molly turned around. Charles and Elaine had followed her.
“Oh my gods do you think anyone was hurt?” said Elaine.
Hearing that reminded Molly that Charles had mentioned Elaine was a pagan at some point.
“I’m going to try to get a closer look,” said Molly.
“No you are not,” said Charles, “You warned me not to let you do anything stupid while you were here.”
“I just want to get a better idea of what’s going on.”
“No you want to investigate,” said Charles, “come on its getting late. We should head home.”
“It’s not that late,” said Molly, “Why do you really want to get back to your place? Does it have something to do with the call you got just before you caught up with me?”
“How do you do that?” asked Elaine, “How does she do that? We just got a call from the… from out boss. She needs out help tonight.”
“Then just say so,” said Molly, “and to answer your question, I saw you put your phone in your purse when I turned around and you both seem vaguely nervous. Is your boss really that intimidating? And is it weird living in the same building you work in?”
Molly went with Charles and Elaine back to their building but the whole time she kept looking back towards the Art Institute scene even when it was out of sight and two streets away.

what do you think?

How do you like this little tidbit of story?
Should I post the synopsis?
Or should I just go from the start and let people see the progress?
Is anyone reading this?

Space story that has no title yet

“Where did this ship really come from?” demanded Janessa, “I know the story but it doesn’t add up. There is no way the Solar Fleet was able to develop this technology this fast.”
“We have had twenty years to work on it,” said Kerrigan, “We have spent that entire time finding new ways to fight the Ghost Horde. This ship is the culmination of that achievement. Why is it so hard for you to accept that little girl?”
“Because she knows it is a lie,” said Duron.
Janessa said nothing when he entered. Of all the people she had tried to convince. Why did it have to be him that believed her?
“You do not have permission to divulge any such information Commander Duron,” said Kerrigan.
“He has my permission,” said the deep voice behind Duron.
The thing that stepped out of the shadows was the shape of a man. He was over six feet tall. He wore a black bodysuit and a rather menacing helmet with sharp mandibles sculpted on it and horn like antennae.
“What are you doing out here?” said Kerrigan startled.
“You are a very clever young woman,” said the tall dark creature, “you are right. This ship was not developed by the Solar Fleet. This ship belongs to me.”
“And who are you?” asked Janessa.
“I am Zai, last of the Raath,” he replied, “That which I serve has sent me to aid humanity in this time of crisis. I have come here with this ship, the last remaining Raath warship and I am allowing the Solar Fleet to use it to combat the Ghost Horde.”
“Are you an alien?” asked Janessa coming to the realization.
“By your definition I am an alien. I come from the planet Zeith. My world is gone now, my people destroyed.”
“Were your people attacked by the Ghost Horde?”
“No they were destroyed by a force far more dangerous.”
Janessa wanted to ask what could possibly be worse than the Horde but Zai turned away.
Before he was gone Zai said, “You would do well to remember who this ship belongs to Mr. Kerrigan. You may have a position of authority in the Solar Fleet, but you have none over me.”
Kerrigan was sweating slightly. He told Janessa she was not to speak of this to anyone and stormed off. She was left there standing alone in the corridor with Duron. She caught him looking at her and she turned away in disgust.
“We will be approaching Mars soon,” he said, “Make sure you are ready to deploy if necessary.”
“I know my duty,” Janessa snapped at him.
“You do not have to like me Pilot Janessa,” said Duron, “but remember that I am your superior officer.”
He walked away without saying anymore. And for a moment Janessa remembered a time when he was the center of her world and she was the center of his. Then she remembered the day Tania died and why she could never forgive Duron for it.