And a snippet:

Alexander kicked aside snow until he found dirt and lowered Gregory down. Instantly he turned to Max. She was on her knees, pulling snow up over her melted flesh. He made harsh whining sound, stretching out for her and stopping when she flashed a look at him. Her eyelids were gone and most of her nose. Her hair was a matted black cap plastered to her skull. Her fingers were blackened stubs and her skin looked like melted wax.

His hands dropped and he swallowed bile. His Prime raged, clawing inside, shredding at his insides.

Thor had turned and was quietly retching. Gregory was struggling to stand.

“Let me—” he said and got no further.

A scouring blast of magic swept across them like the shock wave of a nuclear bomb. It brought with it a wind that rushed past with all the fury of a superheated tornado. Alexander pushed Max down into the snow and huddled over her to protect her. He felt her body quivering. Helplessness strangled him and he struggled to keep his Prime from overwhelming his mind. He was constantly fighting for dominance, to keep from sliding over the edge and disappearing entirely into his beast. He had thought he had gained mastery, or at least equilibrium, but when it came to his feelings for Max, all bets were off.

The snow in the trench melted instantly, leaving them in pools of tepid water and squelching mud. Gravel pelted them in a stinking hail. Then just as quickly, the wind stopped and the air dropped to well below zero. The water skimmed with a skin of ice. The temperature continued to drop. Thor wrapped Gregory in a hug, pulling the witch tight against him to keep him warm.

So anyhow, I was tinkering on this chapter. I was poking at some of the dialog and trying to bring more of the characters to the surface. And suddenly things clicked. I found them. It was like they were hiding behind a curtain and I pulled it back and yanked them out and they were abashed for a moment, then they got down to the business of being themselves. Whew. It was a relief. For a little while there, I was afraid they were going to be made out of cardboard. Heck, I was afraid they were as thin as the paper they were written on. Even thinner. Pixel thin.

In other not so important news, Voodoo (dog) has managed to hurt his himself. Not sure how, but he’s not wanting to put a lot of weight on his back leg. Giving him Rimadyl and coddling him, but if he’s not better soon, he’ll be heading for the vet come Monday.

We finally got around to raking up some leaves. Only a few months or so after they fell. That’s not terribly slow, is it?

Did a couple of geocaches today. It was sleeting. Better than snowing, I spose.

Saw Shadow City at Walmart. That was exciting. At least in so much as there’s some distribution on it. Now if it’s getting bought. What? Nervous writers are nervous?

Speaking of books, I’m pushing through this sticky spot in Blood Winter. It’s sticky because it’s where a lot of things have to come together and weave out and it’s a place for being careful. So it’s slow. Hopefully after that, the pace of writing will pick up. I’ve got a number of new characters and of course the old, and trying to keep them all juggled is interesting. Entertaining even.

Worst part is I want to read some stuff and I haven’t any time!!! Noooo!!!

We are expecting a storm. The number of inches of snow to fall varies by forecast, though my best guess is somewhere between 1 and 10. Yeah, I’m going to hit that target with a shotgun blast. Uhhuh. If it snows, sledding may follow, though right now, the way the wind is whipping, I want to hunch down by the fire with some tea and a book and just stay there. Sadly, there is still work to be done. No rest from the day jobbery. I think I should probably dig out my snow boots.

Work on Blood Winter is continuing apace. which is to say, not as fast as I should like because things have not gone as expected plotwise. It’s really interesting to hear from people what they think will happen, since I thought I knew and now I’m really not so sure. I’m totally pantsing it at this point, though I do still know some things.

I can tell you there’s action. Lots. Did you expect different? Also, I struggled with whether or not to include Alexander’s POV. He’s not around in the first seven or eight chapters, and I wondered if it would be weird to bring him back in so late. Well, I decided weird or not, I would do it, and looking back, I think I’m liking the way that went. So hopefully it’s not terribly odd. I also thought about having Giselle’s point of view, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in her head yet. She’s still struggling with herself and I like how Max and she deal with one another without knowing what she’s thinking.

“Quit wasting time,” Max said. “Give me your pain now.”

“I—”

For a moment Max thought she was going to have to pull Giselle into the abyss, far away from any attack. Then suddenly an ugly, grinding sensation flowed through her wrists followed by an unholy itching. It chewed its way up her arms and sank into her bones. The feeling was relentless. It gnawed in places she couldn’t reach. Her fingers curled, her nails digging hard into Giselle’s wrists. Bones compressed and cracked. Giselle made a high pitched sound that instantly cut off. It was all Max could do not to let go and scrape at the merciless sensations enveloping her. But if she did, Giselle wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

“Fix this,” Max hissed through clenched teeth. She’d suffered plenty before—pain of every kind. But this was different. It found places she’d not realized existed and it inflammed them with a violent itch. She want to rip herself apart to get at it. It was indescribably horrific.

Giselle’s face was set in a mask of cold fury. Once again her body had become her own. Her magic lost it’s tangled, matted look and became elegant, roping around her in muscular vines. She wrenched one hand free and gripped Max’s wrist with the other. Giselle towed her to the wall with sharp, determined strides and slapped one hand flat to the stone.

I’ve started a place board and a character board among a few others. I really like the fact that I can put a pin it button on my Firefox and whenever I run across a picture I want to remember, I can. That include Nation Geographic pics and many others. While the pictures are on your board, they lead back to where you got them, so there’s no copyright infringement. Which is cool.

In order to join, you have to ask to be invited. It took about a week for my invitation to show up, and then it was really quick to get started. Take a look around on all the boards. Think this will help you with your writing?

I just noticed I can send invites out, so if you want to try it, and you want to post your email, do so and I’ll send you an invite.