subtledemon: Bibles, Law Dictionaries and Wrong Numbers

subtledemon: Bibles, Law Dictionaries and Wrong Numbers: When I worked for Borders (I left the company in 2007), we used to get faxes all the time from questionable sources, asking us to please s...

Bibles, Law Dictionaries and Wrong Numbers

When I worked for Borders (I left the company in 2007), we used to get faxes all the time from questionable sources, asking us to please sell them XX numbers of Law Dictionaries or Bibles. The reason I used two X's is because they always asked for double-digit quantities. They always offered to pay using a credit card number, and listed an address in another country as the shipping address.

Scam? Obviously. I even had one call me on the phone (I got the call because I was the manager on duty). I gave my apologies and said that we didn't ship outside the country. Really, scammers, why would anybody take you seriously when you are calling a store in OKLAHOMA for all your U.S. Law Dictionary needs?  From outside the country, no less!

Today, I got a text on my cell, assuring me that I'd won a gift card from a popular electronics store. My entry was selected, it said, and all I had to do was log onto their website and enter a code supplied in the text. REALLY? I DIDN'T ENTER ANYTHING. I seldom do. I'm not the winning kind of person, generally.

That brings me to wrong numbers. Curiously enough, my cell number is one digit away from the local Attorney General's phone number. I get calls frequently that are meant for the AG's office, usually from another cell phone, because it's easy to substitute one number for the other. A couple of times, the caller ends up telling me their story, even after I've explained that (A) I'm not the Attorney General, and (B) I'm not qualified to help them with anything, unless they want a recommendation for my favorite tea (It's Earl Grey, usually decaf).

One caller told me about a scam that she'd inadvertently participated in, and was now seeking legal recourse. I told her the AG's number. She kept talking. I sat down to listen (it was a long story) and she ended up saying that she was buying a gun in case these people (the scammers) came to her door. (Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!) I did my best to convince her to call the police AND the AG's office after that. I think I even looked up the police department's non-emergency number for her in the phone book, and really hoped that I didn't see a homicide on the evening news after she hung up.

That was a couple of years ago. If there was a homicide, it didn't make the news. I will say this, though. I've already considered this as a potential plot/subplot for a book. As for the message in this blog post, well, there's not much of one. All I can say is that if you text me, call me, email me or send me printed material involving a scam, or text me, call me, email me or send me printed material involving your (possible) intention to shoot, stab, hang, torture or otherwise do away with a scammer, bear in mind all of that may end up in a book.

With the following disclaimer, of course:

"All rights reserved. Void where prohibited. Only one offer per customer. For external use only. May contain nuts or nut products. Not meant to be used as a flotation device. If erection lasts more than four hours, for Pete's sake don't freak. Walk (if you can) to the nearest phone and call your physician. Outside Physician's business hours, please visit your local emergency room. After they stop laughing, you'll probably get treatment. If the problem still persists, well, fly proud.

In other news, Demon Lost may see an early release. That is all :D

Prologue: Demon Lost

"Jayd, we have to find Kifirin's tears."

 

"Glindarok, my love, what are you talking about?" Jaydevik Rath, King of the High Demons, looked up from a pile of reports sitting on his desk.  Glinda stood before him, beautiful as always, the river of white-blonde hair she'd inherited from her grandmother cascading about her shoulders. Carefully, Jayd covered the top report with a hand.

 

"Jayd, don't bother trying to hide it," Glinda's blue eyes flashed a warning. "How many did we lose to Baetrah this time?"

 

"Sixty-three, most from Greth," Jayd sighed. "I should know better than to hide anything from you."

 

"The High Demons are dying," Glinda muttered regretfully and dropped onto a chair beside Jayd's desk. "I hoped Jhase and Jheri might conceive as soon as they were mated, but that wasn't the case. The High Demon houses are losing hope, Jaydevik. They see no new females coming to them and that spells doom for all of Kifirin. That's why we must find the jewels my father called Kifirin's tears. My father always said that Kifirin hid them in the palace somewhere, and that we'd find them when our salvation was at hand. I felt sure we'd find them after Lissa fought off the Ra'Ak, but they never turned up. What if it's just a myth, Jayd? What if there's nothing to save us, now? Le-Ath Veronis is the balance for all the worlds instead of Kifirin. What if there's nothing that can bring us back?" Glinda wiped away tears as she stared at her husband.

 

"Come here, my love," Jayd pulled Glinda into his lap. "Kifirin made a promise to me when the balance was moved from the High Demons to the vampires. He told me he would do whatever was necessary to keep our race alive. We have to trust him, I think."

 

"I hope he does something soon, then," Glinda buried her head against Jayd's shoulder. "We've lost so many already."

LeAthVeronis.net

Just wanted to say hello and let you know about a new Fan Site: LeAthVeronis.net. It is a forum to discuss my books, etc., so check it out!

Many thanks to Larry for designing and setting up the site--you are awesome!

Happy Tuesday, everybody :)
Connie

Blood Reunion Release

It's here!
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Reunion-Destiny-10-ebook/dp/B0099EEVEY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347455307&sr=1-1&keywords=blood+reunion+connie+suttle

Update!

I just changed the title of the second High Demon book. It is now "Demon Revealed" instead of "Golden Demon". This fits the book better and aligns better with the series. The titles of the High Demon series (in order) are:
Demon Lost
Demon Revealed
Demon's King
Demon's Quest
Demon's Revenge
Demon's Dream
The release date for Demon Lost (High Demon #1) is October 15th. If all goes well, Demon Revealed will arrive November 15th, and (hopefully) Destroyer (Legend #5) will be released December 15th!
The reason I say hopefully on Destroyer is that it has less than 20,000 words written so far, so I will be hauling a$$ to finish it by the deadline. 

I haven't worked out the schedule for next year yet; I will likely sit down with Joe (my editor) soon, and hammer something out. The last four books in the High Demon series will be released, but I would also like to finish a few others. What is in the pipeline, in various stages of completion is:

Blood Double (35,000 words)
Blood Trouble (outline)
Hope and Vengeance (8,000 words) This is a rewrite of an already completed work.
Chain--a Conner Francis Mystery (2500 words)
Finder (44,000 words)

The seeds for Blood Double and Blood Trouble are sown in Blood Reunion. There may be another book, too, Blood Resolution, but that one is still in the idea stage.

Happy Wednesday, everybody :D

Blood Reunion (Long) Teaser

Here are the first four pages of Blood Reunion. It took longer for this one because the book wasn't finished when I turned my full attention on it after Vendetta's release. I had approximately 65,000 words done on the manuscript at the beginning of August. It now sits at around 85,500 and it's going through edits. I'm hoping to get the book to you around the 12th of September, if nothing untoward happens between now and then. Enjoy!

     Toff was seventeen and his life was in ruins. He didn't look seventeen or anywhere near that age. Twelve was closer to the mark; his height and face worked against him. The others teased him mercilessly about it, although he kept up easily with his work and in all the lessons.

 

Today was one of the bad days. Toff jumped into the chilly pond with the others after a long day of harvesting grapes, throwing off his clothing just as the others did. The boys he swam with were all proud of what they had between their legs. Toff didn't have that. Had never had that. The word eunuch had been whispered around him since he was old enough to work in the fields during the summer and early fall. At first, he hadn't known what the word meant. Toff had learned, however, and the revelation embarrassed him. He was less than the others.

 

"It's nothing," his mother, Redbird, told him when he came home in tears at age nine. At the time, it hadn't mattered so much. Now it did. The males his age would pair up at times with one of the girls, and they'd go off together, down by the pond or into one of the orchards. Toff saw their smiles as they returned. The older boys didn't hold back their sneers or taunts either, whenever they caught Toff looking their way. Of course, they never did it around the elders—they knew better. Toff's persecution was always done away from anyone who might intervene.

 

"Mother, tell me again what I am," Toff sat dejectedly at the kitchen table while his mother worked to finish dinner.

 

"You're Vionnu—from Vionn. That's where I adopted you, my son." Redbird smiled at him. She was beautiful—most of her race was. Redbird had red hair the color of maple leaves in the fall. Her hair color had given her the name—she was of the Briar Clan and Tiearan, her father, was Head of the Green Fae settlement. Redbird's skin was clear and youthful in appearance, her eyes a vibrant green. She had power, just as the other Green Fae and their Half-Fae children did, and that was something else Toff would never have. Redbird's race was a small one—they called themselves Green Birth, a branch of Fae that ate no meat and did not engage in any form of violence. They often married into the mortal races, though, and now lived alongside many Half-Fae and their all-humanoid relations. Their small village had grown during Toff's short life and now held nearly four thousand members.

 

"Are all Vionnu like me?" Toff had asked this question before, but Redbird always said she didn't know.

 

"My son, you know I have not the answer to that question," she tousled his straight, dark hair before setting plates on the square table in their tidy kitchen. Lengths of tied garlic hung beside the stove and tightly sealed jars of herbs and spices stood in neat rows upon the counters. Toff's adoptive father, Corent River, often set Toff to sanding and polishing the wood countertops. Corent was Half-Fae, but he had power, just as the other Half-Fae did. Toff only had the strength of his hands, which was another reason he was often teased and humiliated.

 

Toff's first memories of Corent had been of the Half-Fae's hands—they were large and gentle when he showed Toff how to sand the wood or smooth the stones set in the floor of Toff's bedroom. Corent had built the addition to the house that became Toff's bedroom when Toff turned thirteen. "Old enough to have a room to himself," Corent had smiled at Redbird and took Toff to select the trees to cut for the wood.

 

"What were the Vionnu like?" Toff was still attempting to get information about the planet of his birth as he took a seat at the table. Idly he traced the edge of the blue plate that Redbird set before him.

 

"Like many other races. No more questions, I must finish dinner. Your father will be home soon." Redbird turned her back on him and busied herself at the stove.

 

Corent came in moments later, his hair a dark blue, which meant the sun was still shining in a clear sky outside. Corent's hair, like that of a handful of Green Fae, changed with the weather. It became a light blue-green if the skies were overcast or gloomy. Deep blue meant a sunny sky outside. Toff had learned to look to his adoptive father's hair as the barometer for the outside climate.

 

"Son, how was the grape harvest?" Corent smiled at Toff.

 

"Good, Father." Toff wanted to smile back, but he was too depressed to make the attempt.

 

"Child, what's wrong?" Corent always knew, even if Redbird brushed it off.

 

"Nothing, Father." Toff looked down at his plate.

 

"Have you washed your hands yet?"

 

"No."

 

"Then come with me."

 

Corent didn't scold Toff for not washing his hands before sitting at the table, as he normally would. "Son," he said instead, "Don't compare yourself to the others. They know you're not what they are and they do this anyway. They won't grow sense for another ten years, if they grow any at all. I'm beginning to have my doubts about some of them. Tiearan says he may speak with the Queen."

 

Toff looked sharply at Corent. The Queen. Just the mention of her sent Redbird into a hysterics. Redbird was afraid of the Queen. Toff had only seen the Queen from a distance—Redbird had taught him to stay away.

 

"She'll drink your blood!" Redbird hissed at him once, outside Corent's hearing. Toff had no idea what his foster-mother meant when she'd given him that warning.

 

"What will the Queen do?" Toff asked quietly. He didn't want his foster-mother to hear him say anything about the Queen.

 

"She'll come and take a look for herself. If they're not suitable to stay, she'll send them away. The Queen gave this land to us to settle on, since we were forced away from Vionn. We're here through her generosity. If those young ones with no power fail to follow the laws, they won't be allowed to remain on Le-Ath Veronis." Toff watched as the deep blue of Corent's hair turned a lighter shade. Clouds must be coming in.

 

"Where will they go, Father?" Toff was curious, now.

 

"No idea. That will be the Queen's worry, not ours. My concern will be their parents—they don't watch them as closely as they should." Corent's eyebrows dipped in a frown.

 

"Gren's always been a bully," Toff muttered. Corent was lost in thought as he dried his hands and didn't hear Toff's words. Silent now, they walked to the kitchen for dinner.