The Mysteries of Inspiration – #NewRelease #lgbtq #scifi #HauntedOctober

My new novella Free Fall began with an impulse purchase. Just of fun, I was browsing the website of one of my favorite artists, James Help (https://goonwrite.com). His strikingly original pre-made covers always impress me, while his hilariously snarky demo titles often have me laughing out loud. Most of the time, unfortunately, the genres on which he focuses don’t match my work very well. On this visit, however, I noticed a cover that really spoke to me. It featured an evocative image of two beautiful women, one blonde and one brunette, sitting close together in some sort of a futuristic night club.

I didn’t have a book for this cover, but the drama and passion lurking in that image were so strong that I just had to buy it. The JPG file sat, untitled, on my hard disk for more than a year while I worked on other projects. Finally I cleared my WIP backlog and started thinking about what to write next. I pulled up the draft cover and got the same punch-in-the-gut feeling about the women that I’d experienced when I first saw it. I realized that I had to write their story—even though, at the start, I had no idea, aside from their obvious mutual attraction, what that story might be.

Creating Free Fall was far more difficult that most of my writing projects. Usually when I begin a book, I have at least a mental outline, with the major events and the expected ending already established. With this novella, I was feeling my way, trying to discover just who Rain and Mariel were, why they were in love, and how they were going to survive. When I sat down to write the first chapter, it flowed onto the page, desperately erotic. After that, though, I really had to dig. The fact that this was science fiction made things even harder; that genre requires a delicate balance between imagination and plausibility. And sometimes too much thought and calculation can stifle inspiration.

Now that the book’s done, I’m pretty happy with it. It captures the sense of danger I felt when I first saw the cover, as well as the love-and-lust connection between the two protagonists.

I only hope my readers agree.

 

Blurb

Welcome to Xanadu. For its elite customers, a space-based paradise of pleasure. For the slaves who work there, hell orbiting Earth.

Innocent and inexperienced, Mariel Linderman sells herself to Xanadu to rescue her farming family from starvation. Streetwise Rain Delgado accepts assignment as a Pleasure Rep in lieu of a prison sentence for murder. In a world that strictly prohibits same-sex relations, the passion that flares between them brings terrible risks. Their unexpected heart-and-soul connection turns their already precarious existence into a clandestine struggle for survival.

Buy Links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVVLV2N4

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FVVLV2N4

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1878604

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/free-fall-lisabet-sarai/1148528199

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/free-fall-escape-from-xanadu

Books2Read UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mKeK0E

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242662867-free-fall

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/free-fall-escape-from-xanadu-by-lisabet-sarai

Excerpt

Rain turns back to the screen, studying the three-dimensional model of a ship. It’s pretty compact, maybe bus-sized, with a streamlined profile to ease re-entry into the atmosphere. Seating for six, small cargo bay, fuel tanks, main engines and maneuvering jets—it doesn’t need much for the two or three hour trip to the station. Extensible fins for water landings. There are dozens of dials and gauges on the pilot’s panel, though. Normal navigation is computer-controlled, but she and Mariel won’t be headed for one of the standard landing sites. She needs to understand the manual overrides.

The mere thought of Mariel distracts her from her studies. Desire shudders through her as she recalls the blonde’s eager fingers and clever tongue. Lunch yesterday had been a grueling struggle for self-control. She’d been so tempted to grasp Mariel’s hand or trace the bow-shaped outline of her plump lips. Meeting in public, pretending to be mere acquaintances—it’s simply unbearable. The cramped air lock is scarcely better, though.

Rain is amazed and disturbed by the strength of her feelings for the other woman. After all, they are practically strangers. In the month since their first ecstatic meeting, how much time have they spent together? No more than a dozen hours in total, all rushed and stolen. She shakes her head. It’s not like her to be this susceptible.

Their erotic chemistry leaves her breathless, but what does she know about Mariel as a person? The blonde seems so innocent and fragile. Is she tough enough to face the challenges ahead? Can she be trusted? When the chips are down, will she break, or bolt?

Rain knows from hard experience that trust makes you weak and that feelings are dangerous. With Mariel, though, instinct and raw emotion overwhelm reason. Their physical connection mirrors a deeper bond. Rain’s no mystic, but with Mariel she’s almost ready to believe in telepathy. She understands what Mariel needs and what she fears. The blonde’s heart and mind are an open book; life on Xanadu is slowly killing her.

And the thought of life without Mariel has somehow become too awful to imagine.

 

I hope you’ll go check out my new release. And remember that every comment on this post also counts as an entry in my Haunted October giveaway!

 

Aliens in Suburbia – #SciFi #Giveaway #HauntedOctober

Blurb

A PSYCHO-CRIMINAL EXTRATERRESTRIAL ON A SUBURBAN CUL-DE-SAC

A FAMILY ON THE BRINK OF ALL-ENCOMPASSING INSOLVENCY

A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD UBER-GENIUS DAUGHTER IN THE LINE OF FIRE

CAN SHE SAVE THE FAMILY, NOT TO MENTION THE PLANET?

An extraterrestrial crashes into a suburban cul-de-sac Colonial, absorbs every binary bit of information ever chronicled in all of human history, rearranges its molecules and presents itself as a couple of late and legendary film noir superstars, then immediately displays an appetite for debauchery, depravity, decadence, and destruction, seducing the family into its psychopathic criminal orbit with irresistible Hollywood panache, alluring sexual charisma, and inconceivable intergalactic powers.…all in the name of saving the family from their emotional, marital, and financial ruin.

But uber-genius-daughter Mike Devine figures out fast that the extraterrestrial’s principal plan is to employ its unfathomable interplanetary muscle and implode the planet. Which leaves the fate of her family, not to mention the world, in her twelve-year-old hands.

Excerpt

“Maybe it’s a missile, or a rocket,” Emily said. “Jesus, it’s really moving fast.”

“Is it me?” Carol said. “Or is it coming right at us?”

“It’s not you,” Maggie said.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Lisa said.

“Do meteors split off from the flock?” Carol said.

“I don’t think meteors travel in a flock,” Maggie said.

“It’s like somebody aimed the thing right here,” Emily said.

And then they were silent, watching whatever it was shoot toward them. A fireball, they were now realizing, that was going to hit New Jersey any second.

“Jesus,” Lisa said, and the women dove to the ground. There was no time for them to think of their husbands, who, as it happened, were face down on Peter’s green, or their children, who were unaware that some kind of cataclysmic crash was about to occur.

No time even for their lives to flash before their eyes because the thing was low in the sky now and not aiming for New Jersey or Bergen County or Paramus. Aiming for The Stars. And not just for The Stars, for Hope Circle.

With a blinding blast of flame and a supersonic swoosh, the thing shot over their heads and hit the Devines’ roof at a forty-five-degree angle on the front side. There was a smashing sound that was oddly muted and echoless, though the original crash was followed by three successive lightning-quick crashes, and then there was nothing.

Maggie got to her knees first and followed the black, smoky, fast-dissipating trail over their heads to her house, where smoke was wafting around the hole in her roof where whatever it was had gone crashing in.

“Oh no,” she said, “My kids.”

About the Author

Rich Leder has been a working writer for more than three decades. His credits include eight novels for Laugh Riot Press and 19 produced movies—television films for CBS, Lifetime, and Hallmark and feature films for Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Longridge Productions, and Left Bank Films.

He’s been the lead singer in a Detroit rock band, a restaurateur, a Little League coach, an indie film director, a literacy tutor, a magazine editor, a screenwriting coach, a wedding consultant (it’s true), a PTA board member, a HOA president, a commercial real estate agent, and a visiting artist for the UNCW Film Studies Department, all of which, it turns out, was grist for the mill.

Website: https://www.richleder.com

Buy Links

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBLKSK2W

https://bookshop.org/p/books/extraterrestrial-noir-rich-leder/22774708

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Use the King Sumo widget below to enter.

Plus – every comment is an entry into Lisabet’s Haunted October giveaway!

Paranormal Polyamory for Halloween! #HauntedOctober #Vampire #Werewolf #MFRWHooks

It’s Wednesday again, and I’ve got another paranormal-themed Book Hook for you. This one’s from my vampire-werewolf polyamorous romance Fangs, Fur and the Single Girl. Instead of giving away just one copy of this spooky, sexy novel, I’ve decided to drop the price from $4.99 to only 99 cents for the rest of October. So grab yourself a copy while you can!

FFSG is definitely Halloween fare. Not only does it feature a host of paranormal creatures, it comes to a dramatic climax on All Hallow’s Eve. In this scene, Bianca arrives at The Cloisters museum in Manhattan, where the vampire mistress of New York has organized a Halloween Blood Drinkers’ Ball.

Blurb

A tragically attractive vampire, a hunky wolf-man and a skeptical but susceptible career gal. What could possibly go wrong?

Bianca Sorenson understands obsession. Her phenomenally successful Vamp magazine feeds the popular fascination with the undead. The city is full of fanatics who want to believe vampires are real. Bianca knows that’s a fantasy. Then a blond, blue-eyed blood drinker walks into her office looking for a model’s job and turns her universe upside down. Jim Bush hasn’t been a vampire for long, but his terrible history and seductive hunger undermine Bianca’s single-minded ambition and her cherished self-control.

Trying to escape from Jim’s disturbing influence, she collides with a shaggy giant of a man whose mere presence inspires irresistible lust. When Zack Kane reveals that he’s a wolf shifter and claims Bianca as his mate, she finds herself on the horns of a supernatural dilemma. How can she resolve her feelings for her two mutually hostile lovers while defusing a city-wide conflict between the vampire clique and the werewolf pack?

Fans of Twilight: get ready for a wilder ride than you ever imagined!

The Hook

Bianca stepped into the Great Hall and was deluged by sensation. Pulsing red light bathed the Gothic arches two stories above her. Black-clad bodies thronged below. Wild strains of Mussorsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” echoed through the cavernous space. The octagonal central fountain had been turned into a lavish bar, multi-colored bottles ranged around a gaudy centerpiece of white callas. All around her, people writhed in abandon or drank crimson fluid from champagne flutes. Some, she saw, clutched their partners and drank straight from the source. Cries of pain and of ecstasy rose over the music. The rusty smell of blood mingled with the pungent scent of the lilies.

Bianca’s stomach turned over. She glanced around, noting motionless bodies slumped on some of the chairs that lined the hall. Barely eleven and the ball had already turned into a feeding frenzy.

She wanted to run, to hide, to pretend she had nothing to do with this abomination. But this might be her last opportunity to negotiate with Elena Lazarescu. As she breathed deeply to calm her nausea and pondered her next move, she caught sight of Jerry, Vamp’s photographer, presumably on site to take pictures for the next issue.

Like everyone else, he wore black. His camera hanging around his neck, he carried a glass of translucent red liquid in each hand. Even in the dim, rosy light, Bianca noted that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes had a feverish glitter.

“Bianca! Have a drink, darling.” He pressed one of the glasses on her. When she shook her head, he leaned in to press his lips to her cheek in an alarming and uncharacteristic demonstration of familiarity. “You look delicious,” he said with a lecherous grin. “Absolutely delicious.”

“Jerry! Please! You’re working, aren’t you?”

“No reason not to mix business with pleasure…” He downed one of the drinks in a single gulp, then held out the other. “Sure you don’t want this, babe?”

“Babe? What’s got into you, Jerry?”

With a giggle, he swallowed half the contents of the other goblet. “Dunno, but it’s really potent. Great party, isn’t it?”

Bianca shook her head. “Go take photographs,” she ordered. “That’s the only reason you’re here. And no more booze for you, either!”

“Okay, babe, okay. Whatever.” He staggered off and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Bianca to wonder whether the cocktails contained just alcohol, or something stronger.

Bianca scanned the room. Where was Elena? She’d expected the vampire queen to be presiding over the macabre festivities in her usual imperious style, but there was no sign of the platinum-haired dominatrix.

Someone grasped her elbow from behind. “The Mistress wants to see you.” She turned to face a handsome, clean-cut young man with the blank expression typical of Elena’s minions.

“Ah! Where is she? I was looking for her.”

“The Mistress awaits you in the chapel. I will take you to her.” He led her toward the rear of the hall. As they worked their way through clots of drunken revelers, she happened to notice the bartender. Though she was clad in black, with skin whitened by make-up, the woman had lush, honey-blond hair that Bianca immediately recognized. Uneasiness crawled up her spine; what was Artemisia doing here at the ball?

The minion marched her through a series of corridors, down a set of stairs and through an arched door twice her height. Ribbed vaults soared above marble sepulchers bearing the effigies of ancient knights and noble ladies. Three stained glass windows lined the apse, their jewel-like colors brought to life by artificial lights outside. Elena Lazarescu stood motionless before them, dressed like a nun: a long black tunic cinched at the waist by a rope belt, with a white collar, wimple and veil. The costume hid the glory of her silver-blonde hair while highlighting her pale cheeks, crimson lips and piercing violet eyes.

The vampiress favored Bianca with a brilliant smile. “My dear Bianca! I am delighted to see you. The ball is a triumph, is it not?”

Bianca felt vague stirring between her thighs and a brief sense of disorientation, then clarity and reason returned. She sent a silent message of gratitude to Mirielle.

“Certainly we can’t complain about the attendance,” she replied, choosing her words carefully. “And I must congratulate you on the macabre atmosphere. Very artistic and appropriate.”

Elena’s laugh was liquid and beguiling, like water running over smooth stone. “We need only to show our true selves. The acolytes, as always, are drawn to our power.” She stepped closer.

Bianca found herself frozen in place, despite the amulet under her blouse.

The vampire reached out to stroke her cheek, fingers cold as the gravestone images around them. “Of course, much of the credit for our achievement goes to you and your magazine – your vision and your instincts. You understand, as few mortals do, our unique allure.”

Buy Links

Ebook – only 99 cents at all outlets!

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXF755SM

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CXF755SM

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1540924

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-lisabet-sarai/1145179250?ean=2940167695276

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl

Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6480071026

Audio Book

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Studios-Brilliance-Fangs-Single/dp/B0F63YJG4H

Audible - https://www.audible.com/ac/Fangs-Fur-and-the-Single-Girl-Audiobook/B0F64114PR

Add on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210320373-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl

Add on Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-by-lisabet-sarai

Grab yourself a copy of FFSG for only 99 cents to help you celebrate the season.

And don't forget to leave a comment. Every one is an entry in my giveaway for a $25 gift certificate.

I do hope you'll visit the other authors joining today's Book Hooks.

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The home she’s always dreamed of... #ComingOfAge #Giveaway

Lisabet: Welcome to Beyond Romance, Eric, and congratulations on the release of your first novel. Tell me about the genesis of the book. Where did the ideas come from and how did they develop?

Eric: The idea for what became “Accidental Paradise” was bouncing around in my head for years. No details, just broad ideas regarding what I wanted my story to say. When I retired, I finally had the time to fully commit to putting words to paper. It was a labor of love.

From the outset, I wanted my story to reflect strong family values, a two-parent household and a home with structure. Too often, Black families are depicted as female headed units bravely fighting to shield their children from the temptations of the crime filled streets of their neighborhood. In many cases this is all too true, but I wanted my book to combat those stereotypes. There are millions of Black families who, despite the odds, manage to work hard and guide and educate their children to successful lives. Why not trumpet their achievements and the fact that doing the right thing, though difficult, pays off in the long run. This is the theme of my novel.

I kept Baltimore as my base because the locations, the people, and the city are familiar to me, and they encompass the two contrasting lifestyles I mentioned above. Many of the incidents that took place in “Accidental Paradise” were based on my real-life experiences or those of family members or acquaintances. I used real locations and real traits and mannerisms of people I’ve met. These elements make my characters more relatable.

Blurb

Natural talent, hard work, and a childhood friend help LaVern Whitaker find her calling as an actress. When her life becomes overwhelming, they discover a small town where her true identity can remain unknown and she can stay out of the spotlight. The more she visits her secret getaway, the more deeply she feels connected to the history, the lifestyle, and the people. Could this place be her home away from home, or become the home she has dreamed of? Or will sinister forces rip it all away?

Excerpt

“Make me a promise, Shaundra. Promise me we will always be best friends.”

“I promise, Peaches.”

LaVern stood up and said she had better head back. “Are you coming over tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah.”

Both girls had a hardy laugh at that one.

As Freeman and Jackie watched their daughter recross the street, they noticed a more delighted and relieved child than the one who left a few minutes earlier.

The girls resumed their old routine of talking and gossiping in LaVern’s bedroom. Shaundra asked more questions about her new school; how did she like going to school with White kids? Did she hang out with the other Black students? How was she treated? LaVern did her best to answer; No, she wasn’t completely accepted by everyone, she wasn’t friends with all the Black kids, she still felt very self-conscious being one of a few Black students in an all-White school, sometimes she felt very alone but she had made a few friends.

“My daddy said it would take a little while, that I would get used to it. He said I would get a better education.”

“Well, you’re already smart Peaches. You’ll be smart no matter what school you go to.”

“Well, it is harder than 139, but I’m doing OK.

“I know you, Peaches. If you say you doing OK, I know you killin’ it.”

LaVern looked down at her feet. “Well, I’m doing alright.”

But the Big Dog was right. She was killing it.

 

About the Author

Eric Grandy was born and raised in Baltimore City and graduated from City College. After he graduated from Essex Community College, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played six years for that team. He went on to a variety of jobs: photographer, lab manager, driver for DHL and warehouse manager. After retirement, he decided to devote himself to writing, producing several short stories and Accidental Paradise, his debut novel.

Grandy still lives in Baltimore with his wife Rhonda and his daughter Marti.

Buy Link

https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Paradise-Eric-Grandy/dp/B0FKPYYH8S

Eric Grandy will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Use the King Sumo widget below to enter his contest.

Also, this post is part of my Haunted Halloween celebration. Every comment you leave counts as an entry toward my Halloween grand prize of a $25 gift certificate.

As the ancient world begins to crumble... #HistoricalFiction #SaharaDesert #Giveaway

Blurb

TAMANRASSET is historical fiction set on the edge of the Sahara as the ancient world begins to fade and great empires collide. Four strangers—a mature Foreign Legionnaire, a Sharif’s wrathful son, an ambitious American archaeologist, and an abandoned Swedish widow—become adrift and isolated, but when their paths intersect, the fragile connections between them tell a story of survival and fate on the edge of the abyss. Blending the sweep of classic adventure with the horror of a great historical calamities, Edward Parr’s TAMANRASSET is a saga about the crossroads where nomads meet.

Excerpt

The Sun had not yet risen above the ruins of the Mechouar Palace, but at the mosque nearby many Muslim people of the city of Tlemcen were already at their morning prayer. It was a great privilege to be admitted to one of the oldest mosques in Algeria, over eight hundred years old, and an even greater privilege to be allowed to pray before the mihrab there among the great white columns that lined the enormous hall. As the prayers ended, there was a gentle rustling of movement as the faithful rose and exited to the open and airy marble-tiled courtyard of the mosque, still quiet in the twilight of dawn. Isabel retrieved her leather boots and exited a side door beneath the shadow of the towering brick minaret. Covered by her tightly drawn dark brown burnouse, khaki pants, white shirt, and a black hijab, Isabel walked along the great stone wall to the main gate of the palace. The few buildings in the complex that were still usable had been made into offices for the French army, but the pool and gardens of the central courtyard were peaceful and shadowy. She passed an alcove that featured Islamic calligraphy carved into the stucco, and Isabel stopped to read it: “Allah is God, there is no god but He: the King.”

A quiet voice behind her asked: “Madame Pedersen?”

She turned to find a short, elegantly dressed French officer approaching her. His flat-topped white hair was soldierly, but his crisp, tailored uniform, polished boots, and wide waxed mustache displayed a carefully composed appearance.

“Peace be with you,” she said, casting her eyes downward and crossing her arm over her chest as she nodded.

“Peace be with you, Madame. I apologize if I disturbed you; will you come inside?”

“As you wish.”

She followed the French colonel to a charming wood-paneled room overlooking an orchard of citrus trees bearing large green fruit. The colonel sat on a bare wood chair beside a wide wooden table, crossed his legs, and twirled the end of his wide mustache. Isabel stood silently before him in a respectful posture.

“I have the greatest respect for your beliefs, my dear, but it would be helpful to me if you would sit and speak to me informally. Would you be so kind?”

“Of course,” she said and she sat on the chair beside his. Her demeanor now expressed more of her experience and self-assurance, her hijab more a symbol of her confidence than of her humility. The colonel raised an eyebrow in appreciation of her serene face and brilliant blue eyes.

About the Author

Edward (“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.

Social Links

Website: https://edwardparrbooks.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-parr-5808b15/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7369165.Edward_Parr

Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Edward-Parr/author/B00GACO3NC?ccs_id=a023fe74-dd9a-429f-b56a-5cfe148dafc5

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/DryCar9119AB/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwardparrbooks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576965808471

Buy Links

Amazon: https://a.co/d/44XsoJU

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tamanrasset-edward-parr/1148255148

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

Plus every comment counts as an entry in Lisabet’s Haunted October giveaway (another $25 GC)!

Eventually it will kill me – #PNR #MMRomance #HauntedOctober #FreeBook #MFRWHooks

It’s Wednesday again, which means I’m showcasing another one of my paranormal romance titles as part of my Haunted October celebration. At the Margins of Madness is a dark, intense MM erotic romance that illustrates the price of power.

You could win a copy of this thrilling and suspenseful novel. Just leave me a comment. In addition to being an entry for the free book, your comment also could help you win a $25 gift certificate on Halloween.

Blurb

Nineteen year old Kyle has devastating visions of horrific disasters. Everyone assumes Kyle is schizophrenic, but Rob, the cop who picks him up off the street, knows better. Since his telepathic sister's brutal murder, Rob wants nothing to do with "gifted" individuals like Kyle. Yet he can't deny his attraction to the beautiful, tortured young man -- an attraction that appears to be mutual.

The Hook

First came the flames. Then, the screams. Each cry was distinct to Kyle’s ears—the men’s hoarse yells, the women’s shrieks, the inarticulate wails from the infants. He couldn’t see them, not yet. Sooty smoke billowed up, hiding the plummeting bodies, making his eyes sting. Orange tongues of fire pierced the black cloud. The cries grew louder as the heat intensified.

He took a big swig of cheap vodka. The bottle was already half empty. His head spun and he knew he couldn’t stand, but the awful screams still rang in his mind.

Please, he thought. No more. I can’t take any more. Let me pass out soon. He drank again, his gut churning as the raw liquid splashed into his empty stomach.

He tried to focus on the present—the rough stone pressing against his back, the chill wind biting through his ragged jacket, the faint smell of urine that filled the passageway under the highway. Useless. The sensations of the real world seemed thin and frail, powerless to overcome the horrible scenes in his head.

Every time, it got worse. It took more alcohol to remove him to that state of blissful oblivion. I’m adapting, just like any drunk. Before long, I’ll need a whole bottle to drown out the visions. Eventually, it will kill me. The thought was a relief.

The spells came more frequently these days, and not just during his waking hours. Nightmares stalked him, full of bloody flesh and torn limbs, searing fire or icy floods. He’d claw his way back to consciousness, howling like an animal, trying to escape. He’d been kicked out of every shelter in the city. He upset the other residents too much.

He could always go back to the hospital. Thorazine didn’t completely smother the visions, but it deadened the emotional impact. He could sit for hours, watching disasters play themselves out on the screen of his mind, and not care.

It worked for a while, but then he always ended up signing himself out again. As painful as consciousness was, it was better than the half-life of being drugged. At least, that was what he told himself, on the good days when his curse was in remission. The staff looked relieved when he left. Even the professionals had trouble dealing with his “hallucinations”.

“Hey, gimme a drink, will ya?” A voice cut through the screams echoing in his head. The grizzled man lying next to him on the sidewalk smelled like long-unwashed socks. “Come on, please? Us bums got to stick together.”

Kyle handed him the bottle. His hand shook. “Sure, help yourself.”

The old timer took a deep swallow, then grinned at him. “Thanks, kid.”

The flames flared up, hiding the man’s pock-marked face and gap-toothed smile. A woman’s cry rang out, full of terror. “No, please, no more…” Kyle muttered, closing his eyes. The hungry fire continued to dance behind his eyelids, mocking his attempt at escape. He groped for the bottle.

Brilliant white light flooded his vision, momentarily chasing the inner fire away. “Okay, boys, time to get up.” The masculine voice held a natural authority—strength without cruelty. “Off to the shelter with you. You know you can’t stay here, getting drunk and blocking pedestrians.” A firm hand grabbed his arm and tried to haul him to a standing position. “Come on. We’ve got a wagon right here. Wouldn’t you rather be in a nice warm bed than a stinking underpass?”

Kyle opened his eyes, blinking in the glare of the cop’s flashlight. “I…no, please…I can’t…” A scream of agony assaulted his inner ears. He doubled over, answering the pain tearing through his stomach. Only the cop’s grip kept him from collapsing onto the damp cement. Another pang knifed through his abdomen. The fire roared inside him.

“Are you sick?” Barely conscious, Kyle had a confused impression of the other man’s face—square jaw, sandy hair, warm blue eyes.

“My stomach… The fire…”

“What fire?”

Kyle couldn’t think, couldn’t focus. The policeman searched his face, trying to understand.

“They’re dying,” he moaned. Maybe he was dying himself. He retched and tasted blood. He was sinking into a rosy, fire-lit haze.

“Who? Who’s dying?” The policeman gripped his shoulders, shaking him, trying to bring him back. “What’s going on, boy?”

The address appeared out of nowhere, written in chalk on a wall of black stone. “Gardner Street,” Kyle whispered, slipping away. “29 Gardner Street.”

Find the buy links (ebook and audio) here: https://www.lisabetsarai.com/marginsofmadnessbook.html

Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks hop! And don’t forget to leave a comment.

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