Good day, gentlepeople of all persuasions! I bring to you a novella filled to bursting with craziness, including in no particular order: a magical evil gun, a witch, alcohol, vampires, involuntary dimension hopping, alcohol, a missing elevator, using a bus as a getaway car, notable eye pigment shifts, alcohol, a pool hall, and Adam.

Did I mention booze? There’s some of that in there.

What No Eye Has Seen is available now at most of the major ebook retailers. So go ahead and make with the clicky-clicky, and give your eyeballs and your brainmeats a treat!

WARNING: This entry contains some adult references, and is Not Safe For Work.  Proceed at your own risk.

What is going through Susan’s mind?

• Human fear of judgement and reaction from the scars on her arms.
• Human and vampiric lust. She wants him, and she wants to drink from him.
• In the back of her mind, she’s pleased with herself at her successful seduction, but worries that it’s another step away from being human.

What next?

• Leave the shower scene where it is, maybe have her come in covering up her inner arms.
• Next scene should be the following morning, Adam waking up nude on the couch, no idea where his clothes are.
• He’ll go over the night before, his exhaustion, her scars, her complete lack of hair, the experience of her cleaning him like it was a holy rite,

WAIT. STOP. This story is told from Susan’s POV, not Adam’s. Let’s flip this around, shall we?

What next?

• Leave shower scene as it is, maybe have her come in covering up her inner arms.
• Next scene should be the following sunset, Susan waking up nude and hopeful.
• She’ll get dressed, going over the night before, his exhaustion, lack of judgement about her scars, his excitement over her complete lack of hair, how he’d seemed to enjoy the cleaning, how they’d ALMOST had sex and/or fed.
• Find out what Adam had been up to during the day. Made himself at home? Sammy-style research from a laptop that he didn’t have at the end of the last book? Does Susan have a computer in the apartment?
• What color are Susan’s eyes? Her sister’s? Need to know that for when she meets Adam. What is the sister’s name?
• The sister has been dreaming about Adam, and will speak to him, but will still be confused. She’ll want to talk about the green cavern and the story writers, not what happened to her compatriots.
• When they do get her to speak of it, she’ll recount the events haltingly, and she’ll go on a rant about Walter’s eyes, an imbalance of powers, and the demon. It’ll tangent, like conversations do.
• The sister is on house arrest at her home, and is guarded by several uniformed CPD officers. If they are in the home during this (likely taking notes for the investigation into the murder of three officers), they will certainly react to the strangeness.

What am I trying to accomplish in the next chapter?

• Continue getting to know Susan.
• More about her ties to Michigan and John.
• Introduce Susan’s sister, the woman in Girl Ritual.
• Expand on the Cavern that showed up in the last book’s epilogue.
• Reveal to the characters that not only is Walter meddling in this Chicago, but he is physically there searching for the gun.

Adam’s Name in Chicago, from 18 July

Susan lives in a very nice high-rise apartment building in Chicago’s business district. It has a basement garage that is staffed with security personnel 24/7. The cars parked there are nearly all high-end luxury or sports cars, almost none domestic, describing the general wealth of the residents. Her apartment is about halfway up, and even the elevator has someone to push the buttons. The hallways are busy during the night, but not crowded. Susan and Adam aren’t alone with each other from the time they pull in the driveway until Susan’s apartment door closes. Even then, the impression of being watched follows them in.

The apartment is perfectly clean. Metal and glass surfaces gleam, wood flooring has the perfect luster, vacuum lines in carpet are undisturbed and straight. Books on shelves are arranged and artwork is hung precisely. Anyone would feel like a slob in contrast to this place, and Adam is no exception.

The artwork is all photography, and is a tasteful mix of famous photographers and Susan’s own work. There are a few floating shelves with books on them, again a mix of classics and an unknown writer named John (the hell was his last name?). The furniture is arranged in matching sets by room, nothing stands out or grants a room any special personality. It’s a two-bedroom apartment, with one windowless bedroom where Susan sleeps during the day, and a second bedroom that has been converted into a darkroom and workroom. The latter is Susan’s most precious space, and Adam will not be allowed in… at first.

The kitchen is unusually small for an apartment of this size, except for the refrigerator. Susan’s is filled with various brands of synthesized blood, a couple of beers, and a water filter jug. Her freezer is empty, save for some ice cubes (re-usable).

In reality, this building is a home for troubled “young” vampires. Susan was “invited” to stay there after her second attempt to flee Chicago and return to Michigan. Security serves the second purpose of keeping tabs on the comings and goings of all of the residents. They report anything troubling and take care of any remains from lethal feedings that happen in the building. They are extremely well paid, and are likely also blackmailed in case of any bouts of disloyalty. The dangers of housing so many vampires in one place, in addition to the natural territoriality that comes with being a vampire serve as motivation for the residents to earn their way back out into the city at large.

Adam’s Name in Chicago, from 18 July

How strongly do I want Susan (so glad I re-named the character in the last story) to come on to Adam? Unlike with Julia, where Adam’s extra realness triggered a very human you’re-different-than-me fear response, Susan’s entranced by him despite her best efforts. She hasn’t had any real blood in over a month, instead living off of synthesized bottled stuff, marketed to her and her brethren. And yet, her struggles with her thirst immediately take a back seat to her fascination with Adam and his bike. Does she have the steadfastness to resist him AND her thirst?

I don’t think she does, and I think that she’s got plenty to rationalize with. Chicago is controlled by vampires, who hide in plain view throughout the city. In this Chicago, organized crime became the human face of the blood-drinkers, and so you have people, acting like mobsters, but in legitimate positions of citizen control in addition to actual organized crime. This makes the city even more dangerous to do-gooders.

What the hell was that task force thinking, going up against this? Is ignorance of the puppetmasters a possibility; are the vampires incredibly good at keeping low?

Then there’s Walter and his demon, who have disrupted the city’s status quo. The hornet’s nest is on high alert, making the city yet MORE dangerous. Definitely a pattern here.

Being a relatively new puppetmaster herself, Susan is aware of all of this except for Watler and his demon. She knows something has everybody spooked, but has been kept from the details. Her sister went crazy at about the same time, so she suspects a connection, but had resigned herself to playing the long game. Now Adam has fallen in her lap, and his aura is alight with strangeness.  He’s as good a chance as she’s had, and she can’t pass up the opportunity.

So, to protect Adam, she’ll offer up, then insist on him coming home with her. This feels contrived and obligatory, but is there anywhere else in the city that he’ll be both safe and unable to be poached by her “second family”? No, she’s too new to be able to assure his safety anywhere else.

So, he’ll go to her place, and sexual tension will ensue. Good times!

In case any of you were wondering, yes, I’m still writing! Here’s my current project status:

• The Remembrance rewrite is still progressing at full steam. We’ve had some throw-up-our-hands-and-ask-ourselves-why-we’re-doing-this moments, but if there’s anything we Michiganders have, it’s tenacity.
• Too Dimensional, my novella that will kick off the Adam’s Name universe, has been completed for some time, and will be released as soon as I get some cover art and do the formatting. The first is in progress. The second has yet to be started.
• The Glass Crown (sequel to the above rewrite) will have a finished first draft this year. I’ve been writing it since my first NaNoWriMo in 2006, and by the gods above and below, I will finish it.
• I have the beginnings of another project sketched out (because the rewrite of the first novel, the rewrite of the sequel, and a second Adam’s Name work aren’t enough projects for one year) and almost ready to start. I hate to admit this, but I actually want to do some world building before I put rubber to the road.

In other news, Nikki has started writing her own stuff again between editing chapters of the Remembrance! This thrills me to NO END, let me tell you.

I hope that your holidays were grand, and that the new year greets you well!