My new release MEET ME IN MAINE(Book One of The Blue Harbor Series) brings murder, mystery, and romance to a seaside town.
Sit back, put up your feet, and let me bring mystery and romance to your lives.
I live in the shadow of the moon. I have grown and sprouted much too soon. I will try with all my might To live in the bright sunlight. I close my eyes but yet I’m still here. Sitting on a branch next to a pear. My petals are white as snow Because of this fact I know. I will never be awake at day No matter how hard I wish and pray. For I live in the shadow of the moon And I’m slated to sing the nightly tune.
I live in the shadow of the moon. I have grown and sprouted much too soon. I will try with all my might To live in the bright sunlight. I close my eyes but yet I’m still here. Sitting on a branch next to a pear. My petals are white as snow Because of this fact I know. I will never be awake at day No matter how hard I wish and pray. For I live in the shadow of the moon And I’m slated to sing the nightly tune.
Here comes the moon. Taking the place of heat. Bringing with it a coldness. A darkness. Up it goes into the sky. Towering above us all. Ruling over its domain. Some nights it reveals its full face. Other nights it hides in the shadows. While it watches. Watches us. While we wait for the heat to return.
What if one day, the moon refuses
to remain in second place?
What if it gets tired of the sun?
The sun owning the day.
The sun lifting people’s spirits.
Giving warmth to the planet.
Having its face reflected in the ocean.
The moon might rise up,
and take control of the day.
But would it look strange?
Would it glow like the sun?
Would it give warmth?
No.
The moon should remain where it belongs,
as the shadow of the night.
Its assigned place in the universe.
The moon brings out the best in us. It reflects our inner thoughts and desires. Some may howl at the moon, while others are impelled to dance. Dance until the sun rises. Dance until your limbs grow tired. Dance until you feel at peace. At peace with the world.
Guess who? It’s me, honey. I’ve had a long day at work. It has made me feel grumpy. I feel changed in some way. Do my hands feel furry? They look furry to me. All of a sudden I’m hungry. Hungry for you, my darling. Come with me and we’ll dance into the night. The night holds mystery and adventure for us. There are creatures who walk the night. Come with me…
The night is here. It leaves dark shadows in its wake. The rising moon spins on its axis. Creatures settle down for sleep. But the wise owl opens its yellow eyes in defiance to glare at those who creep in the night. Who are these shadows that interfere with the peace of the night? Who dare to leave dead bodies in their nightly path? Hide ye beyond your closed doors and shuttered windows. For THE DEAD own the night.
Once inside, they were stunned by the drastic transformation from the
colorless scene outside. Whereas the outside was dull and lifeless, the
inside was alive with colors and a wide range of fabrics and styles. In
the front hall, Linda twirled around in a circle to admire the
museum-quality rugs, paintings, furniture, and chandelier. The house
looked like a page torn out from a nineteenth-century magazine.
James took them on a grand tour through the countless number of
rooms in the house. The hallways were lined with mirrors, with intricate
carvings around them. The first room they entered was a sitting room,
decorated in a French style. The room was painted a bright yellow color
with matching cushions and drapery. Everything looked much too delicate
to touch, so Linda just observed without touching anything.
Next they entered a huge library, its four walls filled with books
all the way up to its high vaulted ceiling. Linda, who had always loved
books, walked around the room, touching the bindings on the old books.
She couldn’t believe that any library in the world could carry such a
vast collection of priceless books in one place. Shana had to drag her
away from the library to continue on with their tour.
James led them to the kitchen, which seemed to be straight from the
past, with old-time appliances and a huge hearth. There wasn’t one
modern appliance—like a dishwasher or even a coffee maker. Linda
wondered about who cooked in this huge mansion. Then she began
envisioning the whole place as a pretty illusion. No cooking or cleaning
was ever done here—since no one lived here. The fancy period rooms
simply disappeared when they left the house.
They were led to the ballroom, which Linda felt was the most
beautiful room, with its massive sparkling crystal chandelier and
mirrored walls. The room was enormous, with an open dance floor—just
waiting for the right party, except she didn’t believe that any dancing
would ever take place here.
Afterward, James guided them upstairs to view the ornate bedrooms:
each room having its own theme correlating to the time period of the
room’s furniture. One room resembled a bedroom in the South during the
Civil War, with heavy draperies and rugs—similar to the furnishings in
the movie Gone With the Wind. Another bedroom looked very English, with
needlepoint pillows laid out on its huge canopied bed.
Linda’s favorite bedroom was decorated in the theme of the Wild
West, with cowboy boots standing by the bed, sawdust on the floor, and a
lasso resting along the top of the dresser. She could see the cowboy
sauntering in after a hard day lassoing horses, leaving his boots by the
bed and his lasso on the dresser, before flopping down on the bed. She
could almost hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance.
Linda reluctantly followed James and Shana back down the stairs
after their fascinating tour was completed. They bid their host goodbye
and departed from the unreal mansion with its elaborate but empty rooms.
“Am I going to hear an ‘I told you so’?”
Linda replied, “No…I would never give up the chance that I’ve just had to touch all those precious books.”
“But I don’t think they were really there,” she continued.
“I don’t think the house or any of it was real. How could a man
live there alone without servants? He doesn’t even go into town…. How
could he survive like that?”
“He could survive if he was a vampire.”
Linda finally understood what Shana was hinting at: John was a
vampire and therefore, Abe and Anna were keeping a close eye on him.
“There seem to be too many vampires roaming around this town.”
“I think one vampire is too many. We’d better get back before dark
and Todd finds you gone. I don’t want him to know what we’ve been up
to.”
“The less Todd and Sam know the better.”
Linda and her three friends were beginning to realize that their town
was under someone’s control–someone with super-human strength. They
didn’t believe in vampires or witches, but events were becoming
unexplainable and leaning towards the supernatural. “You can’t tell their parents about what really happened to
them: no one is going to believe the true story. People don’t exit
through disappearing doorways—never to be seen again. You could just
tell them that they closed their shop and then left town together,” said
Shana.
“Great! Now I have to lie to the poor people!” replied David.
“I’ll call them today to tell them that their sons have left town
together…without informing anyone where they were going. I agree that
this way will be better for everyone,” said Mike.
“I’m sure that this is the best way,” said Linda. “Meanwhile, we
can attend this party and find out why the hill residents meet in secret
at Diane’s house twice a year. The more we find out, the better chance
we have of finding Tom and Edward. We can’t give up!
“Oh! By the way, we haven’t had a chance to tell you about our
visit to the village. At the diner, some of the villagers had related to
us two strange legends—that their families actually believe in. One
legend claims that the people living on the hill are vampires. The
villagers have also noticed dark figures lurking around town at the time
of Diane’s parties.”
“There’s also a second legend being told by the villagers,” added
Shana, putting on a scary voice to enhance the tale. “The hill people
are depicted as good vampires, who are combating a group of bad vampires
called The Dead—who kill people just for sport. To me, it sounds like
what happened at End House.”
David spoke up. “That party made no sense whatsoever: it may have
been executed by real vampires, who were trying to kill us. This is
beginning to sound a lot like those vampire movies that I’m usually too
terrified to watch. That would explain everything—even the creatures
that tried to knock us off the cliff!”
“And don’t forget the hooded figures I saw circling Louise in the gazebo,” added Mike.
“A lot of weird things have happened that still don’t make any sense,” said Shana.
“But why were the upstairs rooms controlled by a computer system,
while the illusions in the basement seemed to be have been under some
kind of supernatural force?” asked Linda. She wanted to hear what they
thought about this, knowing that this inconsistency had also puzzled the
great know-it-all Todd.
“Maybe this evil being wanted to appear human and therefore, rigged
the fancy computer system to confuse us,” said Shana, “or on the other
hand, he could be human and only created a trick basement to make us
think that a demon was in control.”
Linda nodded her head in agreement: that was exactly what she had told Todd.
“Well, it definitely worked: I’m so confused and frightened that I can’t think straight anymore,” said David.
“Like you ever thought clearly,” said Mike.
“Ha! Ha!”
“Since you guys seem back to normal…we’ll leave you now. Be ready
at your store at 8:45 tonight. We’re also picking up Shirley—she offered
to take us as her guests. Remember to wear tuxedos,” said Linda.
“I don’t own a tuxedo!” said David.
“I should have known. You can wear one of mine,” Mike said.
“Gee! Thanks! Yours will be much too short on me.”
After Linda and David were
gone, Todd quietly asked Sam, “Is everything under control? Can we keep
this contained, with everything else that has happened? People are
getting too suspicious. This last killing has raised questions about
vampires.”
“I’ll keep it contained…I have no other choice. Maybe someone
from our group has turned. This has to involve more than one person.
This time bite marks have been left behind on a body fully drained of
blood. The culprits are either getting more careless, or else they are
leaving behind clues because they want to be found out. It’s getting
harder and harder to cover up the bodies.”
“I’d like to find the
guilty party before Diane’s next meeting. We must deal with this
situation quickly and quietly,” said Todd.
He decided that this was a
good time to update Sam of recent events in town. He pulled Sam away
from the other police officers who were busy examining the crime scene.
He began, “I almost lost Linda this week!She was attacked
in the ocean. I wasn’t able to identify the swimmer, since he was
wearing a wet suit with a mask. He looked tall and muscular.
Unfortunately, this description fits most of the men from town, except
for Carl, who is much too skinny. In addition, her store had been almost
destroyed by an earthquake-like force, but there had been no earthquake
or tremor of any kind in town that day.”
Sam was shocked to hear of
these new developments. “This situation is growing worse by the day.
Shana also had a life-threatening incident. In the middle of the night I
found her balanced on the ledge of the church’s tower…looking like she
was about to jump off. Only after I shouted her name a few times did she
finally notice me and move away from the edge. Afterward, she claimed
that she’d been hypnotized. I don’t understand how she could’ve been
hypnotized if I’d been with her the whole evening…just outside her
bedroom door where she’d been sleeping….”
“I agree. It had to be
someone with great powers, who was able to hypnotize someone against
their will, and from a good distance. If he’s from the splinter group,
then this will continue to grow worse—unless we stop them for good.”
Todd continued, “Events in town have taken a shocking turn:
becoming more unexplainable and hinting more of the supernatural. David
and Mike complained about bat-like creatures attacking them on the
cliff below End House, and then at Wolf’s house, we were attacked by a
cave full of bats. Did you know that Wolf sits on the board of the
company that owns End House? Wolf is someone we should be investigating
further.”
“Oh great! This situation
keeps getting sicker and sicker. Do what you have to; but don’t get too
close to Linda—it could get too dangerous for her.”
“What about you and Shana? Practice what you preach.”
Look up into the stars. What do you see? Do you see the moon? Do you see the man in the moon? Wait! It’s not a man. It’s the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland! Open your eyes and your imagination, and you never know what you might see.
