Canine Conundrum

Our four-footed friends appear to be capable of recognition through more than a sniff and a wagged tail. They can actually pick up the doggy concept directly off the computer screen. Selection may have been with a nose rather than a paw, but are we so very different, in conceptualizing two dimensional images as three dimensional concepts?

How do I sum up 2007? It was the year I finished In Flames, Of Dragons, Art & Soul, GlassWorks, Squeams, Artifact, Emerald City - and the year I contracted In Flames, The Hollowing, Gray Beginnings, and GlassWorks! An unbelievable year!

1 - In Flames is released January 1st! Yay!

2 - Drollerie Press offers contracts on both Relic and BoneSong!  Woohoo!

            There was no right or wrong to it. The hole, the crevice, the crack into the Earth was waiting, right where it should have been. There was nothing left but to—quite simply—enter.

            Only, his research, his background, his reason—hell, even his gut—told him it was wrong. That all the clues which had led him here had also forbidden his ingress. That this land, this ground, was sacred…

            I'm a twenty-first century explorer. Better that, than to claim his archeology roots. Then, this really would be wrong. He was here to steal secrets, unlock hidden and long-revered messages from the rock—to place his personal twist and interpretation on paintings and symbols which had been defined long ago. All in pursuit of a claim, to be the first, the expert. To make it his. To take photographs, lithic samples, even the odd artifact or three which came his way.

            In today's archeology, you didn't disrupt, and you disturbed as little as possible. But this was a dig for which he'd never get funding.

            And if grant money was unlikely to ever come your way, sometimes you just needed to take that extra step…to secure funding on your own.

            His fingers itched with anticipation.His mouth was dry with eagerness, fear…regret? He stood tensely, chewing his bottom lip with nerves.

            Only one thing stayed him—if I die here, this day, who will ever know? He'd no more shared his Verge of Greatness than he'd shared the location on a map, or the research which had brought him here.

            They'll never know. One way or the other, no one would ever know.

American Bone Marrow Donor Registry

For the Tough...

Bone marrow is needed for bone marrow transplants for leukemia patients, among others. A simple blood test (a few droplets of your blood) can determine whether you'd be a suitable donor. Go here to the "Register" link to download the forms. You could save a life this year!

Blanketed in Snow? For Heaven's Sake, Let's Give Them Blankets!

1 - New or good used blankets are needed for families in Bethesda. They can be dropped off at Genesis Good Samaritan, so if you're close, it might be a good cause.

2 - Along similar lines, Project Linus in Utah is seeking individuals to donate their handmade, child-friendly blankets for sick or traumatized children.

3 - If you'd like to help out orphaned pets, check your local animal shelter. A poster in Louisiana says blankets are needed for winter bedding, so any that are too worn for Bethesda, might find a home at your local animal shelter.

Peri picked up speed, sure she’d heard movement at her back. With renewed terror, Venkman’s waxy face rising behind her eyes, she dove under a low-hanging stone, and crawled rapidly on all fours. Ahead, there was noise—lots of it. Some kind of cataract, maybe a way out.

Another scuffle behind her. Peri sobbed with the stress. Her elbows and knees were skinned with scooting and crawling, and she’d grazed her forehead at the last rise.

If she’d meant to lead him away from Sophie, she couldn’t have done a better job. He was on Peri’s tail, and determined to stay there.

And if she didn’t move like fury, she’d never see Jake or Pieter again. She’d be gone, vanished, and Pieter would be left without a mother.

Jake would never forgive her.

With that last thought, Peri wriggled recklessly forward, aiming for the patch of paler light ahead. A round hole, the scent of water, of night—freedom! She launched herself through that cylindrical orifice like a runner on her last dash.

It was her last splash, instead. In consternation, Peri flapped and tried to back pedal, but she’d never learned to fly. The next thing she knew, she was sailing out, into, and over the cataract and its underground river below.

Into MySpace? Add me. Published by Fictionwise, Cerridwen Press, Linden Bay Romance, Five Star, Red Rose Publishing, & Drollerie Press