Thursday News Bites - Carrington Awaits Decision

That sounds rather ominous, doesn't it? All it means is that our vampire police officer, Carrington Loveless III, and his story Skim Blood and Savage Verse have gone off to my editor. It's a bit longer than either of the first two, coming in at nearly 47K. This is the third Offbeat Crimes story and the first of four that I promised to Nicki Richards over at Pride Publishing in a moment of slightly deranged optimism.

My hope is to keep on track with the tentative schedule we hammered out. So far, so good. Fingers crossed and I won't talk about any scheduled release dates before each contract is final.

However, I can give you a working blurb:

Skim Blood and Savage Verse

When a ferocious book attacks Carrington at his own birthday party, he believes it's an isolated incident. But similar books soon pop up all over town, menacing innocent people with harsh bits of poetry and blank verse that deliver damaging physical blows. It's a frustrating case with too many variables and not enough answers, and the stakes go up with each attack.
 
With the help of his misfit squad mates at the 77th and the public library's rare book department, the missing pieces decrease but not Carrington's vexations. His commanding officer rakes him over the coals at the beginning of every shift. His police partner has lost patience with what she sees as his delusional relationship choices and his inability to pick the right man in a vast field of two. City Hall demands that the books be stopped immediately. It's enough to put a nutritionally-challenged vampire off his skim blood.

If you need either of the first two Offbeat Crimes stories, those are available at Pride and Amazon and so on and so forth. The first two Offbeat Crimes stories are also available together in a convenient paperback. 

​Paperback

Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters: Offbeat Crimes 1
Pride Publishing
Amazon
Kobo
​B&N

Kyle Monroe’s encounter with a strange, gelatinous creature in an alley leaves him scarred and forever changed, revealing odd abilities he wishes he didn’t have and earning him reassignment to a precinct where all the cops have defective paranormal abilities.

Just as he’s starting to adjust to his fellow misfit squad mates, Kyle’s new partner arrives. Tall, physically perfect, reserved and claiming he has no broken psychic talents, Vikash Soren irritates Kyle in every way. But as much as he’d like to hate Vikash, Kyle finds himself oddly drawn to him, their non-abilities meshing in unexpected ways. If they can learn to work together, they might be able to stop the mysterious killer who has been leaving mutilated bodies along the banks of the Schuylkill.

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The Pill Bugs of Time
Pride Publishing
Amazon
Kobo
B&N

Vikash Soren, the perfect police officer except for his odd paranormal ability, never seems to lose his temper. Always serene and competent, he’s taken on the role of mediator in a squad room full of misfits. But on the inside, he’s a mess. Unable to tell his police partner that he loves him, Vikash struggles silently, terrified of losing Kyle as a lover, partner and friend.
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But life in the 77th Precinct doesn’t leave much room for internal reflection. A confrontation with a stick-throwing tumbleweed in Fairmount Park leads to bizarre consequences involving pill bugs, statues and…time travel? If Vikash manages to survive the week and stay in one point in time, he might be able to address normal things like relationship problems. He just needs Kyle to have a little more patience. Maybe a few centuries’ worth.

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